WO1998028730A1

WO1998028730A1 - Placard and advertising panel

Info

Publication number: WO1998028730A1
Application number: PCT/IT1996/000259
Authority: WO
Inventors: Pier Luigi Maestro Cottini
Original assignee: Societa' Per La Promozione Della Pubblicita' Esterna S.R.L.
Priority date: 1996-12-20
Filing date: 1996-12-20
Publication date: 1998-07-02

Abstract

An advertising device comprises a placard (1) consisting of a plurality of paper elements (2-13) bonded to at least one film of plastic material (P) and joined together to compose a message, a panel (17), means (14, 16, 20, 21) for the reversible fitting of the placard onto the panel (17) and means (22-25) for moving the means of fitting of the placard between two opposite sides of the panel (17).

Description

PLACARD AND ADVERTISING PANEL Technical Field

The present invention relates to a placard and a panel to display such a placard. In particular, the invention relates to placards and panels of large dimensions of the open-air type for advertising purposes.

The term "placard" in the following description refers to a placard or any other equivalent means that is applied to a support ( i.e. the "panel") to display its content to the public. The content of the placard is generally an advertising message, but the invention is not limited thereby solely to advertising placards. Background Art

Large dimensional panels consisting substantially of a surface with large area, for instance 6 3 meters, on which the placards are pasted are commonly known. The placards are made of paper and are consisting of a series of single elements of reduced dimensions (e.g. 1 x 1.4 meters) which can be easily manipulated and pasted. This type of advertising structure presents a series of disadvantages. In the first place, the placard is constructed by manually pasting single elements one beside the other, an operation that requires a relatively long time if good final results are to be obtained. Furthermore, the use of glue leads inevitably to fouling the sidewalk underlying the panel; the panels must be periodically cleaned of the messages pasted onto them; the said massages may also wash off after heavy rain. A further problem arises from the need to suppress the message on the panel once the exposure time has been used up,- if no other placard is available to be pasted over it, then the existing one must be either removed or covered by blank paper.

Equally well known are advertising messages on canvases made of a plastic material, usually PVC, which are attached to panels, but this operation has proved long and complex. Besides, messages on PVC and similar canvases are expensive to produce.

The European application N. 0617393 describes a panel using messages on a canvas. To reduce the costs, more messages are scheduled in succession than are usually displayed to the public; the panel comprises a large case equipped with a motor that moves the display in the form of a continuous belt carrying several different messages. This device is, however, very bulky and requires long times to substitute placards on the part of the operator. A further problem arises from the need to dispose of the PVC canvases, once they are no longer useful. The aim of the present invention is to solve the aforementioned problems by providing a panel and a placard that are inexpensive, that allow fast substitution or removal of the messages, but are also valid from an aesthetic point of view.

Disclosure of the invention

Such an aim is achieved through the present invention which relates to an advertising placard according to claim 1.

The invent i on al s o re l at e s t o an adve rt i s ing pane l according to claim 8 .

The invention also relates to a method for the realization of the placard described above , characterized according to claim 12 .

According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, the paper elements that form the placard are plasticized, i.e. joined with two plastic films on front and rear in two groups corresponding to the horizontal lines of the placard. The two plasticized groups are in their turn welded together to form the placard.

The means of fixing the placard to the panel preferentially comprise a bar, or a rigid element, e.g. in plastic material, provided with holes or slots that engage with a series of pins present on a rod located on the panel .

According to a preferred embodiment of the panel, the panel has a panelling in which are cut vertical slits that house the pins of the second bar, which is fitted with cables and pulleys to move it from one side of the panel to the other.

The present invention offers numerous advantages over the prior state of the art. In fact, the cost of a placard according to the invention is 70-80% lower than that of a corresponding canvas in PVC; applying the placard to the panel takes less than half the time needed to paste up the traditional bill poster; the plastification protects the paper part from the weather; the placard can be removed quickly, making periodic cleaning of the panel superfluous; after it has been used the placard could be stored and used again at some other time,- disposal of the placard is easy.

Brief description of the drawings

The invention will now be described in more detail with reference to the enclosed sketches which are of illustrative title and not limiting, in which:

- fig. 1 is a plan view of a placard according to the invention;

- fig. 2 is a view in prospective of the placard of fig. 1, ready for attachment;

- fig. 3 is a schematic frontal view of a panel according to the invention;

- fig. 4 is a rear view of the panel of fig. 3; - fig. 5 is a top view of an attachment bar of the placard; and

- fig. 6 is a schematic and partial view in section of the panel of fig. 4.

Best modes for Carrying out the Invention

The placard 1 comprises a plurality of paper elements 2-13 paper sheets) each of which carries a portion of the message of the placard. These elements or sheets are printed in a way already known to the art.

There are two lines of elements present in the placard of fig. 1, the upper line comprises the elements 2-7 and the lower line comprises the elements 8-13. Preferably, an identical portion of the message is printed on the adjacent edges of each element and the elements are superimposed on these edges at the moment of assembling the placard.

According to the invention, the elements 2-13 are plasticized, i.e. they are bonded to plastic films P on one or preferably on both sides, forming a laminate. The elements 2-13 could be plasticized singularly and thereafter joined together to form the placard by means of welding of the plastics films. Alternatively, the single elements could be first assembled to form a portion of the message and thereafter plasticized as a group: in the embodiment of fig.l the elements of the upper line 2-7 are plasticized together, as are the elements of the lower line 8-13. The two laminates i.e. the two plasticized groups are thereafter joined together along the S welding line to give a single placard. In a further embodiment, the single elements have been plasticized all together, after being grouped. The technique of plastif ication and welding of single elements or of groups of elements allows one-piece placards of large dimensions to be produced which would otherwise not be obtainable with the traditional methods.

The placard is provided with means of locking in a reversible way to a display panel. To such end, the embodiment of fig. 1 provides for a rigid bar 14 applied to the upper edge of the placard and having a series of holes or slots 16.

The placard is provided with a tubular element 15 disposed on the lower side. The placard is rolled up on the pipe 15, as shown in fig. 2, to be quickly attachable to the panel, as shown in figures 3-6.

The panel 17 comprises a support surface 18 for the placard, means for the reversible attachment of the placard and means of moving the means of attachment from one side of the panel to the other.

In the embodiment shown in figs. 3-6, the support surface 18 is formed from panelling that has the function of facilitating the perfect display of the message and preventing the action of the wind from creating a sail effect. The support panelling 18 presents a series of slits 19 that extend vertically substantially for the height of the panel. In practice, the panelling consists of five sub-panels assembled onto a frame 17a and slightly separated to give slits 19.

In the panel, the means of reversible fixing of the placard comprise a supporting rod 20 which carries a plurality of pins 21. The rod 20 is located on the rear side of the panel i.e. on the side away from public view.

The pins 21 pass through the slits 19 and stick out on the front, i.e. the visible part, of the surface, or panelling, 18.

To hang the placard, the bar 14 of the placard is hooked on the projecting pins through holes 16.

Four cables 22 are connected to rod 20 and pass over as many pulleys 23, for instance comprised by roller bearings, and from there down to a winding shaft 24 on the lower side of the panel.

The support rod 20 is provided with four dollies 29 running in four guides 30 fitted to the rear of the panel

17. To each dolly 29 is fixed a cable 22.

The shaft 24 is supported in a way known to the art on the rear of the panel, and engages with a suitable drive shown schematically as 25. This drive (known to the art) causes the shaft 24 to rotate in one sense or in the other and therefore the winding and unwinding of cables 22 on shaft 24 and the rise and fall of the support rod 20 of the placard 1. The drive 25 preferably is hand-driven. The panel 17 is completed by a frame (fig.3) whose side elements 27, 28 and lower 26 tip up to open the frame and allow the placard to be inserted. The lower portion of the frame, 26, acts as housing for the pipe 15 of the placard. The tipping elements 26-28, in the closed position, urges on the placard and block the placard on the panelling 18 after the placard has been raised by the support rod 20. The operation happens in the following way. The panel frame is opened by tipping the portions 26-28 and the placard 1 is set, rolled up around the pipe 15, in the lower portion 26. Thereafter the rigid bar 14 of the placard is hooked to the pins 21 of the support rod 20, through the holes 16. The placard is raised by operating the driver 25, which causes the shaft 24 to rotate, thus winding the cables 22. When the placard has been raised, the tipping parts of the frame are closed again stopping the placard on the panel . The placard is removed by reversing the procedure.

Claims

1. A placard (1) comprising a plurality of paper elements (2-13) which together compose a message, characterized by said elements being bonded to at least one film of plastic material (P) and being joined together to compose the said message, and by comprising means (14,16,20,21) for the reversible fitting of the placard onto a support panel (17) .

2. Placard according to Claim 1, comprising a film (P) for each paper element (2-13), said elements being bonded to each other by means of the said films.

3. Placard according to Claim 1, comprising two or more groups of paper elements (2-13) and a film (P) for each group, said groups being bonded together by means of the said films.

4. Placard according to Claim 3, in which said message is formed by two groups of two lines of elements (2-7,8-13) and where each of said groups comprises all the elements of each line of the message.

5. Placard according to Claim 1, comprising a single film (P) for all the said paper elements (2-13) .

6. Placard according to any of the preceding Claims, in which said means of reversible fitting comprise a bar

(14) disposed on one side of the said placard (1) and provided with a plurality of holes or similar means of engagement (16) .

7. Placard according to Claim 6, comprising a tubular element (15) disposed on the opposite side to that of the said bar (14) .

8. A panel (17) for the display of a placard (1) according to any of Claims 1 to 7, characterized by comprising a support surface (18) for the said placard, means (20,21) for the reversible fitting of the placard on said panel and means (22-25) for moving the said means of fitting of the placard between two opposite sides of the panel (17) .

9. Panel according to Claim 8, in which said means for the reversible fitting of the placard comprise a rod (20) provided with pins (21) or analogous means of engagement and said means of moving comprise a plurality of pulleys (23) and of- cables (22) linking said rod (20) to a rotating winding shaft (24) .

10. Panel according to Claim 9, in which said rod (20) is located on the rear of said support surface (18), said surface is provided with a plurality of slits (19) and said pins (21) extend through said slits (19) to the visible side of the said panel, to engage the said bar

(14) .

11. Panel according to any Claim 8 to 10, comprising a frame which can be opened on at least one side (26-28) .

12. A method for the production of a placard according to any of Claims from 1 to 7, characterized by joining a plurality of paper elements (2-13) , that together compose a message, with at least one film of plastic material (P) and by applying to at least one of the edges of the thus obtained laminate means (14,16) for binding the placard to a panel in a reversible way.

13. Method according to Claim 12, in which the said paper elements are joined together in groups (2-7, 8-13) with said films of plastic material (P) and the laminates obtained are joined together by welding (S) of said films to form the placard.

14. Method according to Claim 12 or 13, in which said paper elements and/or said laminates are partially superimposed before carrying out the joining or the welding.

15. An advertising device comprising a placard according to any Claim 1 to 7 and a panel according to any claim 8 to 11.