WO2000070588A1

WO2000070588A1 - Support device for an information carrier

Info

Publication number: WO2000070588A1
Application number: PCT/DK1999/000268
Authority: WO
Inventors: Hans Jørgen TOLBØLL; Henning Ertzeid
Original assignee: Tolboell Hans Joergen; Henning Ertzeid
Priority date: 1999-05-17
Filing date: 1999-05-17
Publication date: 2000-11-23
Also published as: AU3810199A

Abstract

A support device for an information carrier with a suspended information surface, in particular for advertising purposes and the like, comprising a pole or a mast (2), the upper part of which, to which the information carrier (3) is connected, is made as a tubular profile (1). An operating device is mounted at the top of the tubular profile (1), said operating device comprising a guide rod (6) positioned in the tubular profile (1), to which guide rod a first member (5) is secured in abutment against the upper end of the tubular profile (1), while a second member (8) is pivotal about the guide rod (6) and fixedly connected with an upper end of a tubular guide (4) connected with the information carrier (3). End surfaces facing one another of the first and second members (5, 8) comprise a substantially tilted end surface (10) of the stationary first member (5), a substantially radially orientated groove (11) being provided in the lowermost part of said end surface of the first member (5) for receiving a downwards projecting protrusion (12) from the end surface of the pivotal, second member (8).

Description

SUPPORT DEVICE FOR AN INFORMATION CARRIER

The present invention relates to a support device for an information carrier with a suspended information surface, in particular for advertising purposes and the like, comprising a stationary anchoring with a substantially vertical support member, with which the information carrier is connected.

Information carriers in the form of outdoor advertising signs have traditionally required a considerable amount of space on the exterior walls of buildings, or a very strong anchoring if positioned outside existing buildings to withstand wind loads and other climatic influences. Consequently, the costs of mounting such advertising signs and similar information carriers, in particular large-sized ones, have been quite considerable.

Consequently, as an alternative to big information carriers of rigid material, conventional flags hoisted with flag halyard on common flagstaffs have often been used for advertising purposes and the like, but the use thereof suffers from the drawback that upon cessation of the wind, where a flag droops saggingly, the information contents will not be visible. FR-A-2 , 678, 414 discloses a support device of the above type, in which an information panel connected with a support column is kept in a rest position by means of a counterweight until a wind load by exceeding a threshold value acts on the panel so as to pivot it into a yielding position. When the wind drops again below the threshold value, the counterweight brings the panel back into rest position.

The problems of the above-mentioned traditional information carriers are solved by the present inven- tion by means of a novel support device of the kind defined having a design which is simpler from a constructional point of view.

The support device according to the invention is characterized in that an operating device connected with said support member comprises a stationary first member fixedly connected with a guide rod and a second member pivotal around the guide rod and positioned above the first member and being fixedly connected with a tubular guide connected with the information carrier, end surfaces facing one another of the first and second members comprising a substantially tilted, upwards facing end surface of the first member and a downwards facing end surface of the second member, a substantially radially orientated track being provided in the lowermost part of said end surface on the first member for receiving a downwards projecting protrusion from the end surface of the second member.

By means of the support device according to the invention, an information carrier, even of considerable size, may be mounted on a stationary anchoring, like a single pole or mast, for instance in the form of a common flagpole. By means of said operating device, the information carrier will be pivotal relative to the anchoring, such that from a rest position or a basic position, in which the downwards projecting protrusion from the pivotal, second member is positioned in the track of the oblique end surface of the stationary first member turned towards said second member, the information carrier may pivot freely to both sides when affected by the prevailing wind load.

By cessation of the wind loads, the information carrier will as a consequence of said oblique end surface and the influence of gravity by itself find it's way back to the rest position or the basic posi- tion. When mounting the support device either on an already existing pole or mast, for instance a flagpole, or on an independent mast, the information carrier with associated tubular guide may without any difficulty be fastened in such manner to the second member that in the rest position or the basic position it is parallel to the prevailing wind direction, on the Northern hemisphere for instance the west wind.

Alternatively, the support device may be mounted with fittings directly on a wall.

In particular, when erecting an arrangement of information carriers on a number of support devices according to the invention, a parallel positioning of the information carrying surfaces can be attained substantially independently of the wind direction, the result being a considerably synergetic effect in respect of visualization of the information contents.

The support device according to the invention may be adapted both to plate-shaped and flexible informa- tion carriers of desired sizes ranging from compara- tively small ones with a surfac :ee area or 1 - 2 m 2 to very big ones of more than 100 m2

Advantageous embodiments of the support device are stated in the dependent claims. The invention will be explained in detail in the following with reference to the schematic drawings, in which

Fig. 1 shows an embodiment of a support device according to the invention, Fig. 2 an exploded view of the embodiment in Fig.

1,

Fig. 3 a cross-sectional view along the line III- III in Fig. 1,

Figs 4 - 7 alternative embodiments of the support device and the information carrier, Fig. 8 a-d various views of a further embodiment of the stationary member,

Fig. 9 the support device mounted on a solid mast, and Fig. 10 a perspective view of the sliding surface of the stationary first member in Fig. 8 a-d.

In the embodiment shown in Figs 1 - 3 an upper portion 1 of a pole or mast 2 is made as a tubular profile, for instance from galvanized steel tube, while an information carrier 3 in the form of a comparatively big plate member of considerable rigidity is secured to a tubular guide 4.

An operating device, which is mounted on top of the tubular profile 1, comprises a first member 5, which with an end portion 19 is positioned in abutment on the upper end of the tubular profile 1 and secured against turning in the tubular profile 1 by being fastened to a guide rod 6 retained in the tubular profile 1 by means of a lower plug member or bushing 7, which may advantageously be made as a resiliently expandable plug member to be retained in the tubular profile 1 by compression, such that separate securing means in the form of exterior screws or the like are avoided. To enable adaptation to different diameters of the tubular profile 1, the end portion 19 of the member

5 is advantageously conical.

On the guide rod 6 a second member 8 is pivotally mounted above the stationary member 5, and the upper end of the tubular guide 4 is secured thereto, for instance by bolts (not shown) through screw holes 9.

The end surface 10 of the stationary first member 5, which faces the pivotal, second member, is tilted relative to horizontal, i.e. under an angle of approximately 30° , and is provided in its lowermost portion with a radially orientated track 11 which in a rest position or a basic position of the information carrier 3 accommodates a downwards projecting protrusion 12 from the end surface of the pivotal, second member 8. In calm weather, the protrusion 12 will remain in place in the track 11 on account of the influence of gravity on the information carrier 3. In case of a wind load of another direction than the one corresponding to the orientation of the plate-shaped information carrier 3 in the rest position or basic position, the informa- tion carrier 3 will tend, however, to take up a position parallel to the wind direction and will thereby through the tubular guide 4 and the second member 8 turn the protrusion 12 out of the groove 11, the protrusion 12 remaining in contact with the oblique end surface 10 of the first member 5. When the wind load ceases again, the information carrier 3 will as a consequence of its weight turn the second member 8 back towards the rest position or the basic position until the protrusion 12 is back into its position in the track 11.

To ensure a straight pivotal movement of the tubular guide 4 around the tubular profile 1, a guide and centering ring 13 may, as shown, be mounted on a lower part thereof, said ring being made from a suit- able plastics material with low friction against the inner side of the tubular guide 4.

As shown in Fig. 3, the tubular guide 4 may advantageously consist of two substantially semicircular profile members 4a and 4, for instance in the form of aluminium profiles, which along one edge are provided with e.g. hook- shaped hinge members (not shown) for the formation of a hinge connection and may at the diametrically opposite side be provided with securing flanges 15 to be positioned on each side of an edge area of the information carrier 3, such that it is safely secured to the tubular guide 4 , for instance by means of bolt-nut joints 16.

The plate-shaped information carrier 3, which is provided with a desired information content, which for advertising purposes for instance may consist of company name, trademark, logo, slogans or the like, is in the embodiment shown made as a rigid plate member, which at least in surface parts consists of a weatherproof plastics material, for instance foamed PVC. Particularly in case of information carriers with big dimensions, the information carrier 3 may as shown advantageously be provided with a rigid, supporting panel member 17, for instance of steel or another kind of metal sheet, to which on each side a surface part 18 of said weatherproof material is secured.

As shown in Fig. 4, the information carrier 20 may alternatively be made from flexible material, for instance flag cloth suspended between protruding securing profiles 21 and 22 in connection with the tubular guide 24, which, like in the embodiment of Figs 1 - 3, surrounds the upper part of the mast 25 shown in Fig. 4 and the operating device according to the invention mounted therein (likewise not shown) .

In case of big sizes the information carrier may, as shown in Fig. 5, advantageously be designed as an elongate wing profile 3' , for instance with fixed front and rear edges, ribs and an information surface suspended thereover, and the tubular guide may in particular advantageously coincide with the axis of the aerodynamic centre.

As shown in Figs 6 and 7, the stationary anchoring may be a bracket 26 which makes the information carrier mountable on a wall 27. Fig. 6 is a lateral view of a wall -mounted support device, and the tubular guide and the information carrier are hinted. The bracket 26 has a lower end flange 28 in connection with a first member 29 and an upper end flange 30 in connection with a guide member 31 for an upper end of the tubular guide connected with the information carrier, said tubular guide being at a lower end connected with a second member 32. In the figure, the pivotal, second member 32 is for the sake of clarity shown in the fully swung position, in which the downwards facing protrusion is turned up the oblique upwards facing end surface 34 of the stationary first member. Fig. 7 shows a support device for wall -mounting seen from above, and for the sake of clarity the bracket 26 is shown partially translucent to make it possible to see fastening screws 35 and the tubular guide. Fig. 8 a-d shows an advantageous embodiment of the above-mentioned stationary first member 36, which may be used both in connection with mounting on hollow masts and in connection with mounting on solid masts of wood or the like, Fig. 8 a) showing the member seen from the end surface, while Fig. 8 b) and 8c) are sectional views A-A and B-B of Fig. 8 a) and Fig. 8 d) is a sectional view C-C of Fig. 8 b) . The lower portion 36' of the stationary first member 36 may, when mounted on a solid mast, cf. below, be cut, for instance along the broken line in Fig. 8c) . The member has conical support walls 37 for centering in the top of hollow masts, and two of the support walls 38 protrude radially farther than the other ones . In the top of the hollow mast, two cuts are made diagonally, in which cuts the two extended support walls 38 are inserted, whereby the rotation of the stationary first member 36 is prevented.

In Fig. 9 the support device is shown mounted on a solid mast 39. In the top of the solid mast 39, a long, elongate hole has been bored, in which the guide rod 40 is inserted. An adapted tube 41 with a top plate is mounted at the top of the mast, and the stationary first member 36, of which the lower portion 36' shown in Fig. 8 is cut right under the bottom plate, is secured to the top of the mast through the top plate on the tube, the stationary member 36 being thereby prevented from rotating.

An embodiment of the sliding face 42 of the stationary first member 36 is shown in Fig. 10.

Claims

P A T E N T C L A I M S 1. A support device for an information carrier with a suspended information surface, in particular for advertising purposes and the like, comprising a sta- tionary anchoring (2) with a substantially vertical support member, with which the information carrier is connected, c h a r a c t e r i z e d in that an operating device connected with said support member comprises a stationary first member (5) fixedly con- nected with a guide rod (6) and a second member (8) pivotal around the guide rod (6) and positioned above the first member (5) and being fixedly connected with a tubular guide (4) connected with the information carrier, end surfaces facing one another of the first and second members (5, 8) comprising a substantially tilted, upwards facing end surface (10) of the first member (5) , and a downwards facing end surface of the second member (8) , a substantially radially orientated track (11) being provided in the lowermost part of said end surface of the first member (5) for receiving a downwards projecting protrusion (12) from the end surface of the second member (8) .

2. A support device according to claim 1, c h a ra c t e r i z e d in that said support member com- prises a tubular profile (1) fixedly connected with said guide rod (6) and surrounded by the tubular guide

(4) connected with the information carrier (3) , said first member (5) being placed in abutment on an upper end of said tubular profile (1) and said second member (8) being secured to an upper end of the tubular guide (4) .

3. A support device according to claim 2, c h a ra c t e r i z e d in that said tubular profile (1) is made together with said operating device and the tubular guide (4) for the information carrier (3) as a unit .

4. A support device according to claim 3, c h a ra c t e r i z e d in that the stationary anchoring is an anchoring secured in the ground.

5. A support device according to claim 4, c h a ra c t e r i z e d in that the stationary anchoring comprises a pole or a mast which at the top is connected with said unit.

6. A support device according to claim 4 or 5 , c h a r a c t e r i z e d in that a guide and centering ring (13) is connected with said tubular profile (1) within a lower portion of said tubular guide (4) .

7. A support device according to claim 4, 5 or 6 , c h a r a c t e r i z e d in that said first member (5) opposite said end surface (10) comprises a conical end member (19) which is partially introduced into an upper end of the tubular profile (1) .

8. A support device according to one of the claims 4 - 7, c h a r a c t e r i z e d in that the guide rod (6) is retained in the tubular profile (1) by means of a stop member (7) secured at or in the vicinity of a bottom end of the guide rod.

9. A support device according to claim 8, c h a ra c t e r i z e d in that said stop member is made from resilient, expandable material.

10. A support device according to claim 1, c h a r a c t e r i z e d in that the fixed anchoring comprises a bracket for mounting on a brick wall or a wall, said bracket having a lower end flange in connec- tion with said first member and an upper end flange in connection with a guide member for an upper end of the tubular guide connected with the information carrier, said tubular guide being connected at a lower end with said second member.

11. A support device according to any of the preceding claims, c h a r a c t e r i z e d in that the information carrier (3) is made as a substantially rigid plate which at least in surface parts (18) consists of a weatherproof plastics material.

12. A support device according to claim 11, c h a r a c t e r i z e d in that the information carrier (3) comprises a load-bearing panel (17) of metal sheet of high rigidity.

13. A support device according to claim 11 or 12, c h a r a c t e r i z e d in that said tubular guide

(4) consists of two substantially semicircular profile members (4a, 4b) , which at one of two diametrically opposite, axis-parallel sides are provided with hinge members (14) for mutual engagement and which at their opposite sides are provided with protruding securing members (15) for connection with at least one edge member of the information carrier (3) .

14. A support device according to claim 13, c h a r a c t e r i z e d in that said securing members comprises securing flanges (15) for connection with an edge member of the information carrier (3) , said edge member being parallel to the tubular guide (4) .

15. A support device according to claims 1 - 11, c h a r a c t e r i z e d in that the information carrier is made from a flexible material in the form of a cloth suspended between elongate securing profiles protruding from the tubular guide (4) .

16. A support device according to one of the preceding claims, c h a r a c t e r i z e d in that the information carrier is made as an elongate wing profile with said tubular guide coinciding with the axis of the aerodynamic centre.