WO2009157971A2 - Arts display - Google Patents

Abstract

A novel sheet holder for holding sheets. The sheet holder comprises a base and a holding plate, connected by extension springs for toggling said holding plate between a closed position for holding said sheets and an open position for removing said sheets. Two pegs and a rubber block with groove are installed for increasing the number of held sheets and more securely holding the mounted sheets. A novel art hanging and control system will raise and lock the art for display, and lower it to a reachable position for display change. This art may be an art sheet, 3D art, or a computer monitor showing advertisement message. Two supporting ropes and two guiding ropes, with either extension springs or stretching weights, will securely mount the art on a fixture. Once each guiding rope is released, a hanging pulley riding on this rope will roll down and move this rope to a reachable position for hand guiding the rising and lowering of the art.

Description

CHANG, CHERNG for Title: ARTS DISPLAY

Claim Priority: Provisional Patent Application No. 61/007,535, filed 31 May 2008 US Patent Application No. 12/221,700, filed 06 Aug 2008

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates in general to holding and displaying arts, and more specifically, to sheet holders for holding and displaying the sheet arts. Here the arts may include sheet arts, 3D arts, and advertisements displayed in a TV or monitor.

The most well-known type sheet holding board is a commonly termed clipboard. It is a thin board that is typically slightly larger than a pad of sheets of paper. Each clipboard has a large clip at the top for holding the sheet pad. In addition to holding the sheet pad, the clipboard also provides a good writing surface for writing any information on the sheet pad.

Such clipboard works fine for holding a sheet pad, but is not ideally suitable for holding and changing the display of a stack of loose sheets. The user must continuously press down the clip handle with one hand to keep this clip open, while inserting the loose sheets with the other hand. It is not an easy job with just one hand, to remove the existing sheet stack, resort the new loose sheet stack, insert the new loose sheet stack, and reposition the sheet stack to make it neat in appearance. For more extensive art sheet display changes one may have to perform the clipboard open-close cycle several times to get it right. Such display change is even harder to perform while the clipboard is hanging on a wall.

Partially due to the above-stated inconvenience, such clipboard is rarely used to display a stack of loose art sheets. Clipboards of size much larger than the letter size are rarely seen in the market place. Such a large clipboard would be very cumbersome to operate. Its clip also may not securely hold a stack of loose art sheets when the clipboard is hung on a wall.

Many large size art posters are displayed without a frame or mounting board. It is not necessary that users prefer to stick a poster on the wall using adhesive tape or thumbtacks. It is more likely they don't like to pay a high price for a frame, which is difficult to use, and not easily reusable because of frequent change of poster sheets' sizes.

Many art sheets of various sizes are needed for advertisement to be displayed indoor or outdoor. Due to lack of appropriate sheet holders for removably holding such advertisement, most advertisement art sheets must be custom glued to a thick rigid board for display. Often a worker must be physically raised to the display height for achieving the change of the advertisement display. Due to relatively large initial cost, the users are reluctant to change the content of such advertisement; even it should be ideally changed frequently for the business.

In a conventional flagpole, the rope used for holding a flag over a period of time tends to stretch to various degrees. As a result, the flag held in this flagpole will be shifted to a position below its normal uppermost position, an unsightly scene to the grace of the flag on display.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In the present invention a novel sheet holder for holding and displaying a double sided art sheet or two back-to-back art sheets is disclosed. A spring loaded holding plate in this sheet holder can be toggled between a closed position and an open position. When it is turned to the closed position it will remain closed for holding a stack of art sheets. When it is opened, it will stay opened for removing or loading a stack of art sheets.

In order to enhance the holding capacity of the sheet holder, a novel rubber block with a groove is installed beneath the holding plate. A stack of art sheets placed between the holding plate and the rubber block will be pressed under the spring force and be creased and seated deeply in the groove. The friction between the art sheets and the rubber surface may be greatly increased as a result, which would prevent the slippage of the vertically mounted art sheets.

One other measure for increasing the number of art sheets to be mounted in this sheet holder is to install two pegs on the base of the sheet holder. Many more art sheets with two matching mounting holes can therefore be held in these two pegs and mounted on the sheet holder.

A novel sheet holding board system is disclosed, which comprises a sheet holding board and a cover rotatably mounted on the sheet holding board. The sheet holding board includes a above-described sheet holder attached to a board. The cover is essentially a picture frame but with a hollow space on its backside to accommodate the sheet holder of the sheet holding board and the art sheets stack held by the sheet holder once the cover is closed. This system has an outer appearance of a conventional picture frame with an elegant frame molding displaying an art sheet. But once the cover is opened, the user will be able to instantly view many more art sheets by flipping the art sheets stack mounted on the sheet holding board. The closed unit can also be locked so only the user can get access to this art sheets stack.

An US flag mounted on a sheet holder can be hung on a flagpole. A spring can be employed in a flagpole for ensuring the flag to be displayed in its uppermost position.

One important use of the present novel sheet holder may be the display of a two-sided art sheet or two back-to-back advertisement sheets. Several novel art display systems are disclosed. For indoor art display, each art display system comprises an art either by itself or mounted on a sheet holder, a fixture for supporting this art, and two ropes for raising, lowering and locking this art. Stretching means, either two extension springs or weights, are used for maintaining the displayed art at its uppermost position.

For outdoor art display, each art display system comprises an art with its associated device such as a sheet holder, a clear vinyl cover or a TV or monitor, and a fixture for supporting this art/device. This fixture has two supporting ropes for raising and lowering said art/device, and two guiding ropes for guiding the raising and lowering of this art/device. Each of the above four ropes can be attached to an extension spring or loaded with a weight in order to ensure the art/device be securely held at its uppermost display position without dangling or swinging.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a sheet holder of the present invention.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged side view of the sheet holder shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a perspective view, showing a two-sided advertisement sheet held by a sheet holder hung by two ropes, which can be moved up or down and locked at a desired height for display in a retail store.

Fig. 4 is an elevational view, showing a system for raising and lowering a two-sided advertisement sheet or two back-to-back advertisement sheets, and for locking these sheets at a predetermined height for indoor display.

Fig. 5 is an elevational view, showing another system for raising and lowering a two-sided advertisement sheet or two back-to-back advertisement sheets, and for locking these sheets at a predetermined height for indoor display.

Fig. 6 is a perspective view, showing a sheet raising, lowering, and locking system attached to a building for displaying an advertisement sheet held in a sheet holder positioned in parallel with respect to the outside wall of said building.

Fig. 7 is a perspective view of a sheet holding board system of the present invention.

Fig. 8 is an elevational view, showing a bolt pulley of the present invention.

Fig. 9 is an elevational view, showing a rod clamp of the present invention.

Fig. 10 is a perspective view, showing a sheet raising, lowering, and locking system attached to a building for displaying a two-sided advertisement sheet or two back-to-back advertisement sheets held in a clear vinyl cover and positioned at right angle with respect to the outside wall of said building.

Fig. 11 is an elevational view, showing a flagpole system with its rope tied to an extension spring for maintaining the flag at its uppermost display position.

Fig. 12 is a perspective view, showing an art display system attached to a building for displaying a computer monitor or TV showing videos and/or pictures for advertisement.

REFERENCE NUMERALS IN DRAWINGS

Figs. 1,2 5100 sheet holder 5103 base plate

5105 holding plate 5107 tension or extension springs

5109 rubber block with groove 5110 groove

5111 pegs 5112 nuts

5113 hanging holes 5114 first angle bracket

5116 rivets 5118 second angle bracket

5122 rivets 5126 rivets

5128 rivets 5132 knob

5134 spring line 5136 poster art

5138 transparent sheet

Fig. 3 5400 sheet holder 5402 base plate

5403 pegs 5405 advertisement sheet

5406 rope 5408 rope

5410 pulley 5412 control box

5420 pulleys 5422 stationary roller

5424 movable pinion 5428 rack 5430 stop bar

Figs. 4-5 5960 display system 5962 horizontal bar

5964 bolt pulleys 5966 double width sheet holder

5968 back-to-back art sheets 5970 pulleys

5972 rope 5974 rope

5976 extension springs 5978 rope

5980 cleat 5982 display system

5983 control box 5984 cleats

5986 clear vinyl cover 5988 weights

Fig. 6 5600 art sheet display system 5601 fixture

5602 vertical bars 5604 top horizontal bars

5606 bottom horizontal bars 5608 side horizontal bars

5610 advertisement sheet 5612 clear vinyl cover

5614 sheet holder 5616 top rod

5618 bottom rod 5620 rope

5622 rope 5624 rope

5626 rope 5628 hose clamps

5630 eyelet bolts 5632 pulleys

5633 hanging pulleys 5634 control box

5635 cleats 5636 weights

5638 open loop weight

Fig. 7 4900 sheet holding board system 4902 sheet holding board

4906 sheet holder 4910 base plate

4504 cover 4508 board

4512 holding plate

4514 tension or extension springs 4516 rubber block

4518 art sheet 4520 art sheet

4522 pegs 4524 mounting holes

4526 hinges 4530 frame molding

4532 front glass (not shown) 4534 backing plate

4536 turn buttons 4528 hasp

Figs. 8,9,10 5800 art sheet display system 5801 fixture

5802 long vertical bar 5804 short vertical bar

5806 horizontal bar 5808 advertisement sheet

5810 clear vinyl cover 5812 top rod 5814 bottom rod

5820 bolt pulley 5822 pulley

5824 bolt

5830 rod clamps 5832 eyelet hole

5834 open cylinder 5836 flat end wing nut

5839 hole

Fig. 11 5900 US flag 5902 flagpole

5904 rope 5906 pulley

5908 flag snaps

5912 extension spring 5914 cleat

5916 cleat 5905 rope

Fig. 12 6050 art display system 6052 fixture

6054 long vertical bar 6056 long horizontal bar

6058 short horizontal bar 6060 short horizontal bar

6062 short horizontal bar 6064 short horizontal bar

6066 side horizontal bar 6068 bolt pulley

6070 bolt pulley 6072 bolt pulley

6074 bolt pulley 6076 bolt pulley

6078 bolt pulley 6140 winch

6090 mounting rope 6092 mounting rope

6094 guiding rope 6096 guiding rope

6098 power cable 6100 signal cable

6102 control box 6104 pulleys

6106 TV or monitor 6108 hooks

6110 power receptacle 6112 signal receptacle

6114 power plug 6116 signal connector

6118 hanging pulleys 6120 knots

6122 computer 6130 winch assembly

6132 hanging pulley 6134 spool

6136 crank 6138 extension springs DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Figs. 1, 2

Fig. 1 and 2 show a sheet holder 5100 of the present invention. It comprises a base plate 5103 and a holding plate 5105. These plates 5103 and 5105 can be made of extruded aluminum angle plates. The sheet holder 5100 can have a length of 24" (61 cm) for holding typical poster arts (24" x 36", 61 cm x 91.4 cm). Obviously, such sheet holder of different length can also be chosen for holding sheets of different sizes.

As seen in Figs. 1 and 2, a first angle bracket 5114 is mounted on each end of the base plate 5103 using two rivets 5116 or other suitable fastening devices. A second angle bracket 5118 is mounted on each end of the holding plate 5105 also using two rivets 5116.

At each end of the sheet holder 5100, a first angle bracket 5114 is shown joined to one corresponding second angle bracket 5118 using one rivet 5122. Enough clearance is provided at the joints such that the two joined brackets 5114 and 5118 are rotatable with each other. This setup will enable the holding plate 5105 to be rotatab Iy joined to the base plate 5103.

As seen in Fig. 2, located in one end of the sheet holder 5100 is a tension or extension spring 5107 with two end hooks, which are attached to a rivet 5126 on the first angle bracket 5114, and to a rivet 5128 on the second angle bracket 5118, respectively. Both the rivets 5126 and 5128 have long stems with space long enough to install several spacers, essentially hex nuts, therein for centering the extension spring 5107, and allowing free rotation of the spring hooks with respect to the rivet stems. Also shown in Fig. 1 is a second and identical extension spring 5107 mounted on the other end of the sheet holder 5100.

As shown in Fig. 2, a poster art 5136 and a covering transparent sheet 5138 are placed in and held by the sheet holder 5100. Since the two extension springs 5107 are stretched when they were initially installed in the sheet holder 5100, these two springs will pull down the holding plate 5105 and press it against the poster art 5136 and the transparent sheet 5138 as seen in Fig. 2.

The holding plate 5105 seen in Fig. 2 is said to be in a holding position for holding the mounted sheets 5136 and 5138. At this position, the angular position of the extension spring 5107 can be represented by a dash line 5134, termed angular position line, or spring line. This line will pass through the centerline of the spring 5107 as well as the rivets 5126 and 5128.

A knob 5132 is shown in Figs. 1 and 2. A user can grab this knob 5132 and lift up the holding plate 5105 against the force exerted by the extension springs 5107. The hand force will cause the counterclockwise rotation of the holding plate 5105 with respect to the base plate 5103 until the knob reach the position marked by the spring line 5134'. This is a critical position, in which position the three rivets 5128, 5122, and 5126 are in alignment, and the spring 5107 is stretched to the maximum length.

Once the knob 5132 is further rotated just beyond the spring line 5134', the force by the extension spring 5107 will take over and cause the holding plate 5105 to further rotate until it is stopped by the base plate 5103. Without further hand force, the knob 5132 will rest at this position marked by the spring line 5134" indefinitely.

To rotate the holding plate 5105 back to the initial holding position the user can grab the knob at the 5134" position and rotate it clockwise against the spring force. Once the holding plate 5105 rotates beyond the critical position marked as 5134', the force exerted by the extension springs 5107 will cause the holding plate 5105 to continue its rotation clockwise until it is stopped at the original holding position, firmly holding the poster art 5136 and the transparent sheet 5138 in place.

This holding plate 5105 can also be called a toggle plate 5105 because it can be toggled between a closed or holding position and an open position. Once it is open, it will stay at the open position indefinitely. This will allow a user ample time to remove the existing art sheets, resort the art sheets to be inserted, insert the new art sheets, reposition the stack to make it neat in appearance. Only when everything is to the user's satisfaction the holding plate 5105 can then be pushed to its close or holding position for firmly holding the new art sheet stack in its mounted position.

The region between the spring position 5134 and the spring position 5134' is termed first zone. The region between the spring position 5134' and the spring position 5134" is termed second zone. When the holding plate is manually moved by hand from the second zone to the first zone and then let go the hand, the holding plate 5105 will be pulled by the extension springs 5107 and rotate clockwise until stopped by the mounted sheets 5136 and 5138. This is the holding or closed position of the holding plate. When the holding plate 5105 is moved by hand from the first zone to the second zone and then let go the hand, the holding plate 5105 will be pulled by the extension springs 5107 and rotate counterclockwise until stopped by the base plate 5103. This is the open position of the holding plate.

The present sheet holder 5100 is also shown with an elongated rubber block 5109 for enhensing its sheet holding capability. This rubber block 5109 is glued to the base plate 5103 by any suitable adhesive means. It has a groove 5110 formed on top of this block. This groove 5110 is preferably V-shaped or U-shaped, extending over the entire length of the rubber block 5109 and in alignment with the base plate 5103.

In addition to the pressing force exerted by the holding plate 5105, there is one other mechanism in play for holding the sheets 5136 and 5138 on the sheet holder 5100. As seen in Fig. 2, since the poster art 5136 and the transparent sheet 5138 are placed above the rubber block 5109 with its groove 5110, the portion of these two sheets immediately below the holding plate5105 will be pressed into a shape outlining the groove 5110. The creation of this crease, as well as the surface property of the rubber, coupled with the strong pressing force by the extension springs 5107, will result in a strong friction between the sheets and the rubber block 5109 and will prevent the slippage of these two sheets as they are vertically mounted on the sheet holder 5100.

Rubber is one of a few materials that can achieve strong friction and prevent slippage of a sheet in contact with the rubber. It is well known that the achieved friction between any two contact surfaces is strongly dependent on the applied force. This friction is also greatly enhanced due to the elastic property of the rubber block. As the force is applied through the holding plate 5105 to the art sheet and the rubber block, a portion of the sheet directly under the holding plate will deform thus forming a valley not presented before. This valley will take on the shape of the bottom edge of the holding plate. Such intimate contact between the rubber and the art sheet in this valley region will literally cause the microscopic hills on the surface of the art sheet to be imbedded into the rubber surface, and prevent the slippage of the art sheet.

In addition to holding just one or two sheets, the rubber block 5109 with its groove 5110 of the present invention is also intended to securely hold a stack of more than two art sheets. It is important that the size of the groove 5110, and more specifically, its width and depth, must be large enough to accommodate the bent portion of the art sheet stack. It is also preferable that each art sheet in the stack be individually creased as it is mounted and pressed by the holding plate. It is also suggested that additional hand pressing force be applied to the holding plate so that each art sheet is tightly packed and creased in the stack. Once the crease is formed and the hand force is removed, this crease will maintain its shape indefinitely.

As more and more art sheets are added to the stack, the crease formed on the top sheet will get shallower. A point will be reached when the crease formed on the top sheet is so shallow that a heavy shaking of the sheet holder 5100 may cause the top sheet to fly out. Clearly, this is the upper limit on the number of art sheets in this stack that can be safely held on the rubber block 5109.

As shown in Fig. 1, the sheet holder 5100 of the present invention also has two pegs 5111 inserted into two spaced apart holes in the base plate 5103. These two pegs 51 11 may be two partially threaded rods which can be held by two matching nuts 5112 as seen in Fig. 2. It can be used for holding art sheets having two punched holes matching these two pegs 511 1.

Since most art sheets do not have two such punched holes, it is desirable to provide a template and a puncher for a user to manually punch two such holes for mounting the art sheet on the pegs 5111 of the sheet holder 5100. This template is preferably made of some clear plasties such as Mylar, which has a rigid and lay flat property. Two holes are provided on this template for guiding the punching of two mounting holes on an art sheet.

For art sheets with matching mounting holes, both the pegs 5111 and the rubber block with groove 5109 are two different and effective holding means. Obviously, for art sheet without the matching holes or with width smaller than the distance between the two pegs 5111, the rubber block 5109 is the only one way to hold this art sheet in the sheet holder 5100.

When the number of art sheets to be mounted on the sheet holder 5100 exceed the capacity of the rubber block 5109, these additional art sheets can be held by the two pegs 5111. Obviously, these art sheets must all have two matching holes needed for the peg mounting.

A user with many art sheets to be mounted on the sheet holder 5100 may decide to have all of them held by the two pegs 5111 without the need of the rubber block 5109. In this case this user can simply load all art sheets on the pegs and then close the holding plate 5105. Since so many sheets are loaded in one operation, the holding plate 5105 will allow them to be held by the pegs 5111. No crease will be formed when many sheets are added together.

If the user has only one or two precious art sheets to be loaded onto an empty sheet holder 5100 and held by the pegs 5111, but does not want any crease to be formed, he can first place the template above described in the empty sheet holder 5100 and hold it with the pegs, and then loads the art sheets. The rigid template 5200 will prevent the formation of crease even only one art sheet is to be loaded.

Fig. 3

Shown in Fig. 3 is another sheet holder 5400 of the present invention. It is mainly applicable for displaying large format advertisements or art sheets. It comprises two holding plates 5105 of Figs. 1 and 2 and one single base plate 5402, which is more than twice the length of the base plate 5103 shown in Fig. 1. Two sets of springs and associate supports used in the sheet holders 5100 are employed here for independently toggling these two holding plates 5105 between an open and a closed positions. Two pegs 5403 are installed on the base plate 5402 behind each holding plate 5105.

A double side ad sheet or two back-to-back advertisement sheets 5405 as shown in Fig. 3 are mounted on the sheet holder 5400. It can be hung in an aisle of a retail store to be viewed by shoppers coming from either side of the aisle. Two separate ropes 5406 and 5408 are used to hang this sheet holder 5400. Each of these two ropes can be tied to the backside of the of the sheet holder 5400 in any suitable manner.

A group of pulleys 5410 can be installed to lead these two ropes to a control box 5412 in the store at a height readily accessible to a store operator. For example, this control box 5412 can be individually lockable and mounted on a column right next to the aisle. If many ad sheets with many sheet holders 5400 are to be controlled, all these control boxes 5412 can be centrally located in a lockable control room.

Following items are installed in the control box 5412: two pulleys 5420, a stationary roller 5422, a movable pinion or serrated roller 5424, a stationary rack 5428, and a rigid stationary stop bar 5430. The two ropes 5406 and 5408 are first led into the control box 5412 and routed by the two pulleys 5420. These two ropes are then adapted to pass slidably over the stationary roller 5420 and fall downward between the stationary roller 5422 and the movable pinion 5424. After splitting around the rigid stop bar 5430 the remaining portion of these two ropes 5406 and 5408 are allowed to fall and rest on the bottom of the control box 5412.

The stationary roller 5422 and the movable pinion 5424 are shown in parallel with each other. The length of these two items are long enough to engage the two ropes 5406 and 5408 or more ropes positioned vertically there in between.

As seen in Fig. 3, the serrated outer layer of the pinion 5424 is engageable with the rack 5428 which also has one matching serrated surface but of straight form. The rack 5428 should also have a width matching the length of the pinion 5424.

The art sheet 5405 shown in Fig. 3 is at a height appropriate for display in the store. The two ropes 5406 and 5408 are sandwiched between the stationary roller 5422 and the pinion 5424. The weight of the sheet holder 5400 and the art sheet 5405 will constantly urge the two ropes 5406 and 5408 in the control box 5412 to move upward. This upward force will cause the sharp serrated teeth of the pinion 5424 to press into the surface of the ropes 5406 and 5408, which are engaging with the pinion 5424 and urging it rotate clockwise and preventing it from falling. The sheet holder 5400 and the art sheet 5405 are in effect locked in this displaying position.

To unlock this sheet holder and the displaying art sheet 5405, the user can simply pull the two ropes 5408 and 5406 to the left along the marked "Up-Down" arrow direction. One slight pull will initiate the counterclockwise rotation of the pinion 5424, which is followed by the free falling of the pinion 5424. This pinion 5424 will quickly settle on the center portion of the stationary stop bar 5430 free from the ropes and the rack.

Once free from the pinion 5424, the ropes 5406 and 5408 can be pulled or released to raise or lower the sheet holder 5400 and the art sheet 5405. During this time the ropes must still be held by hand to guide the ropes to slide over the stationary roller 5422, and move the ropes up or down along the marked line.

One common reason to free the ropes 5406 and 5408 from the locked position is to lower the sheet holder 5400 to a hand-reachable position for changing the art sheet display. Once the sheet holder 5400 is lowered to just a few inches above the desired height, the user needs to swing the ropes 5406 and 5408 to the other side along the other arrow marked "Lock". At this position the ropes will partially wrap the left side of the pinion 5424. Now the user can release the holding force but still keep wrapping and thus engaging the pinion 5424. The weight of the sheet holder 5400 and art sheet 5405 will take over to raise the ropes, which in turn will cause the pinion 5424 to rotate clockwise up along the rack 5428.

It is noted that the rack 5428 is positioned inclined as shown in Fig. 3, such that when the pinion 5424 is rotated upward along the rack 5428, it will steadily move to the left. The stationary roller 5422 and the stationary rack 5428 are positioned in such a way that the upward motion of the pinion 5424 eventually must stop when it reaches at the position as shown in Fig. 3. This final upward movement of the several inches by the pinion 5424 will lower the sheet holder to its desired location.

Once the sheet holder 5400 is lowered to the desired position, the user can start the art sheet changing operation. The user can start opening one holding plate 5105 and keep it on its open position. He can proceed next opening the other holding plate 5105 and leaving it on its open position. Now the existing art sheet can be removed from the pegs 5403 of the sheet holder 5400. The new advertisement sheet with the hanging holes can be loaded on the pegs 5403. If two new sheets back-to-back are to be loaded, all old art sheets can still be kept on the pegs, but between the two newly added sheets. Now the holding plate 5105 can be closed one by one, which completes the sheet changing process.

Now the sheet holder 5400 is ready to be raised back to its displaying position. The ropes 5406 and 5408 are swung to the left to the "Up/Down" direction, and then pulled down until the sheet holder 5400 is raised to a few inches above the final displaying position. Swings the ropes to the right and engage it with the pinion 5424. Let the sheet holder 5400 to fall a few inches while guiding the pinion to rise along the rack 5428 until it stops at the position shown in Fig. 3. This completes the sheet changing and displaying operation.

The above operation illustrates two unique advantages of the sheet holder of the present invention. First, this sheet holder 5400 can maintain its hanging position, without removal, to do the sheet changing operation. Second, because each holding plate 5105 can be opened and stays open, and closed and stays closed, two or more holding plates can be operated in sequence to achieve the job of mounting or removing a large poster sheet. This is simply impossible if two or more conventional clips are to be used in sequence as an one man operation.

There is one other occasion in which one may need to unlock the sheet holder 5400. That is when the sheet holder in the hanging is not quite level and must be adjusted by raising or lowering just one of the two ropes 5406 and 5408. After the ropes 5406 and 5408 are swung to the left and the pinion 5424 drops off, these two ropes are still held in the user's hand. The user at this time needs to check which rope will need to be adjusted. Since these two ropes are separated by the stop bar 5430,it is a good idea to separate out these two ropes by holding one rope by the left hand and holding the other rope by the right hand. For the rope does not need adjustment, just hold it steady without movement. For the rope to be adjusted, the user pulls it or let go of it along the "Up/Down" marked arrow line until the displayed art sheet 5405 is leveled. Then return both ropes to one hand and adjusts the height if necessary. Finally locks the sheet holder 5400 at the desired displaying height to complete the operation.

There is one other advantage in the use of the pulley system of the present invention. For an indoor advertisement display, the display height in this system can be easily adjustable depending on the size of the advertisement sheet to be displayed. Foe example, if the advertisement sheet 5405 is to be replaced by a new advertisement sheet of equal width but twice as long, the display height of the sheet holder 5400 may need to be adjusted higher in order to prevent the advertisement sheet from interfering the shopper walking underneath it.

The sheet holder 5400 of the present invention can be expandable to have three or more holding plates 5105 for holding and displaying an even larger art sheet or advertisement sheet. The base plate for such sheet holder can still be a single piece metal angle plate, but may need a thicker metal for handling such larger sheet weight. A two rope hanging and control system can still be used, but these two ropes must be tied to the back of the sheet holder near the two outer holding plates to properly control the level and height of the displayed art sheet.

Figs. 4 and 5

Figs. 4 and 5 disclose two different display systems for raising and lowering an advertisement or two back-to-back advertisement sheets, and for locking these sheets at a predetermined height for indoor display.

The display system 5960 shown in Fig. 4 includes a horizontal bar 5962 attached to the ceiling of a store building. Two bolt pulleys 5964, which will be described below, are mounted on the horizontal bar 5962 spaced apart as shown in the figure.

Hung below the horizontal bar 5962 is a double width sheet holder 5966, which is essentially the same as the sheet holder 5400 shown in Fig. 3 and described above. Two back- to-back advertisement sheets 5968 are shown mounted on this sheet holder 5966.

Two ropes 5972 and 5974 are used for hanging these art sheets 5968 on the horizontal bar 5962. One end of each rope is tied to the sheet holder 5966. The other end of each rope is passing through one said bolt pulley 5964. One pulley 5970 is attached to the building for redirecting each rope downward as shown in the figure. The lower end of each rope is tied to an extension spring 5976. The other end of each extension spring 5976 is tied to another rope 5978.

The art sheets 5968 are raised by pulling both ropes 5978 downward, until the sheet holder 5966 is stopped by the bolt pulleys 5964 as shown in the figure. This is the uppermost display position of the art sheets 5968.

At this point, the user still continues pulling the ropes 5978 downward. The art sheets 5968 will not change its display position, but instead the spring 5976 will be stretched. Before reaching to the spring's allowable stretching limit, the user will stop pulling and tie each rope 5978 to a cleat 5980 as shown in the figure.

Most ropes are known to be somewhat stretchable. After holding the sheet holder 5966 for sometime, these ropes 5972 and 5974 may become somewhat longer, which would cause the sheet holder 5966 to separate from the bolt pulleys 5964 a little. But with the stretched springs 5976, it will take up this slack by returning itself back toward the unstretched state. The result is that the sheet holder 5966 will always be secured to the bolt pulleys 5964 and displayed at its uppermost position. Consequently, the art sheets 5968 will always be evenly displayed with no leveling problem.

The art sheet display system 5982 disclosed in Fig. 5 is very similar to the display system 5960 shown in Fig. 4 and described above, except for the replacement of the two extension springs 5976 by a different rope extension method described below.

In Fig. 5, the two ropes 5972 and 5974 for hanging the art sheets 5968 will go through the two bolt pulleys 5964 and two other pulleys 5970, which redirect the ropes 5972 and 5974 downward to a control box 5983. Each of these two ropes in the control box will go through two spaced apart pulleys 5982 and is then tied to a cleat 5984.

The back-to-back art sheets 5968 are covered by a clear vinyl sheet 5986 on each side of the art sheets. Just like the art sheets 5968, this clear vinyl sheet, with a size slightly larger than the art sheet, also has several punched holes for it to be mounted on the pegs of the sheet holder 5966. It serves as a good protection to the displayed art sheet, and adds a touch of beauty and surface shine to the overall display.

The sheet holder 5966 and the back-to-back art sheets 5968 are shown held at a lower position ready for art sheet replacement. Such replacement can be done without taking down the sheet holder 5966. Once the two holding plates are opened in sequence, all art sheets and vinyl sheets can be removed for replacement.

Before raising the replaced art sheets for a new display, the user will first remove the ropes 5972 and 5974 away from the cleats 5984. With both ropes pulled downward, the replaced art sheets and the sheet holder 5966 will be raised until stopped by the two bolt pulleys 5964, just like what is shown in Fig. 4. At this point, both ropes 5972 and 5974 can be tied to the cleats 5984. Each of the two idled weights 5988 can be placed on one of the two ropes between the two spaced apart pulleys 5982.

Once placed on the ropes, these weights will stretch the ropes but not change the display location of the art sheets. With time, these ropes will continue taking up the slack in the stretched ropes and always keeping the art sheets displayed at its uppermost display position and leveled.

Fig. 6

Fig. 6 discloses an innovative art sheet display system 5600 for displaying a vinyl banner type advertisement sheet 5610 mounted in a sheet holder 5614 of the present invention in an outdoor setting. The emphasis is on the ease of raising and lowering the advertisement sheet and securely locking it at a desired height for display.

The first member of the art sheet display system 5600 shown in Fig. 6 is a fixture 5601. It comprises two vertical bars 5602, two top horizontal bars 5604, two bottom horizontal bars 5606, and two side horizontal bars 5608. Several conventional angle brackets are employed for assembling these bars into the fixture 5601.

The vertical bars 5602 and the side horizontal bars 5608 can be attached to the side wall of a building using conventional fastening means such as angle brackets and concrete bolts or screws. This fixture 5601 can also be mounted by fastening the legs of the vertical bars 5602 on the top ceiling floor of the building using similar fastening means.

An advertisement sheet 5610 is enclosed in a clear vinyl cover 5612, and held in the fixture 5601, and on display on the building. The clear vinyl cover 5612 is shown mounted on a sheet holder 5614. Depending on the size of the advertisement sheet 5610, this sheet holder 5614 could be a double width sheet holder 5400 shown in Fig. 3. If the fixture 5601 is mounted on one side wall of the building, this advertisement sheet 5610 is then displayed in parallel with this side wall.

A top rod 5616 and a bottom rod 5618 are embedded within this clear vinyl cover 5612 to impart some rigidity in the displayed art sheet 5610 and the vinyl cover 5612. Two or more punched holes, with or without the matching grommets, are provided to be inserted by the pegs on the sheet holder 5614 for mounting the clear vinyl cover 5612 on the sheet holder 5614.

With the advanced printing technology, the advertisement sheet 5610 can also be a vinyl sheet printed with advertisement material. This vinyl sheet 5610 can have a top sleeve and a bottom sleeve for housing the top rod 5616 and the bottom rod 5618, respectively. Punched holes with its matching grommets can also be provided on the vinyl sheet 5610. Such design of the sheet 5610 will no longer require a clear vinyl cover 5612. At a later time when the advertisement sheet 5610 is to be replaced by a new advertisement sheet, the existing rods 5616 and 5618 can simply be removed from the old sheet 5610 and reused for the new sheet.

In the present art sheet display system 5600, four ropes 5620, 5622, 5624, and 5626 are employed for raising, lowering, and locking the art sheet 5610 for its display on the fixture. As seen in the figure, the front end of each of the two top ropes 5620 and 5622 is attached to the sheet holder 5614 with the use of a soft washer 4614 and four screw-nut sets. The leading end of each rope is tied to itself to form a knot to prevent the slipping of the rope.

As shown in the figure, two hose clamps 5628 are clamped on the bottom rod 5618. The front end of each of the two bottom ropes 5624 and 5626 is tied to this clamp 5628.

As seen in Fig. 6, there is one eyelet bolt 5630 mounted on each of the two top horizontal bars 5604 and two bottom horizontal bars 5606. Each of the four ropes 5620, 5622, 5624 and 5626 will pass through one eyelet bolt 5630 and one or more pulleys 5632 and finally enter a control box 5634 near the ground level. Most of these pulleys 5632 are mounted on the outside wall of the building for redirecting the flow of these ropes. For simplicity, only one such pulley is shown for each rope.

After entering the control box 5634, each of the four ropes 5620, 5622, 5624, and 5626 will go through two pulleys 5632 spaced apart but located at the same height. There are four cleats 5635 installed in the control box 5634, one for each rope individually. After going through the two spaced apart pulleys, each rope is then tied down on one cleat dedicated for this rope.

Fig. 6 shows four weights 5636 inside the control box 5634, with two of them placed in idle. Each weight is in the form of an open loop, similar to a conventional quick link. Two of these weights are shown placed on the top ropes 5620 and 5622. The weight of this weight 5636 will stretch the rope and pull down a section of the rope between the two spaced apart pulleys. Since these two ropes are tied to the sheet holder 5614, this sheet holder will be pulled and tightly secured to the eyelet bolt 5630 and the fixture 5601. Although over time the rope may stretch further, resulting in the downward shift of the weight 5636, the sheet holder will remain tightly secured on the fixture.

It is noted that as shown in Fig. 6, the other two bottom ropes 5624 and 5626 are tied to the two hose clamps 5628. A hanging pulley 5633 is shown freely suspended on each rope between this hose clamp 5628 and the adjacent eyelet bolt 5630. A small open loop weight 5638 is also shown hung on a hole of each hanging pulley 5633. For the purpose of illustration, the other end of each rope is tied to its dedicated cleat 5635, but leaving with a small slack on the rope. This slack will be immediately taken up by the two hanging pulleys 5633 and the linked weight 5638 due to their weight, which causes the hanging pulleys 5633 to suspend at a height lower than the adjacent hose clamps 5628 as seen in the figure.

If the user frees up the ends of the bottom ropes 5624 and 5626 tied to their cleats 5635, and continues feeding more slack, the suspended hanging pulleys 5633 will also freely roll down until they reach the ground. On the other hand, if the user pulls these ropes, the suspended hanging pulleys 5633 will roll up until each hanging pulley is snuggly fitted between the hose clamp 5628 and the adjacent eyelet bolt 5630. At this time the user can tie down each rope on its cleat 5635. One idle weight 5636 can then be placed on each rope between the two spaced apart pulleys 5632. After both bottom ropes 5624 and 5626 are so tied down and loaded with the two idle weights, it will tightly hold the two hose clamps 5628 and the clear vinyl cover 5612 or the vinyl sheet 5610 on the fixture 5601.

In the present art sheet display system, the art sheet 5610, the clear vinyl cover 5612, and the sheet holder 5614 are securely held by the fixture 5601 on four anchoring points. As long as the weight of the four weights 5636 is heavy enough to withstand the wind applied to the vinyl cover 5612, it may be wavering in the wind, but is still securely held in place on the four anchoring points. Even if the applied wind force is extremely strong and thus pull up the weights 5636, the displacement of the displayed art sheet 5610 is still very limited as long as all ropes are not broken and remain tied to the cleats 5635. Once the wind is died down, the art sheet 5610 will be restored to its original mounted position.

At any time the displayed art sheet 5610 is to be lowered for occasion such as changing the displayed advertisement, the first step to be performed is to lower the two suspended hanging pulleys 5633 and the two open loop weights 5638 to the ground following the procedure just given. The next step to be performed may require two or three persons. While one person will remove the two top ropes 5620 and 5622 from the cleats 5635 and slowly releasing these two ropes, the other one or two persons will hold and guide the other two descending bottom ropes 5624 and 5626, making sure the slowly descending art sheet and the vinyl cover are not browned away in the wind and hitting the adjacent building or passing by walker. It is advisable that all art sheet lowering and lifting work be performed in a windless day.

Once the art sheet and the vinyl cover are lowered to a hand reachable position, the person releasing the top ropes 5620 and 5622 can stop releasing and tie these two ropes back to the two cleats 5635. The art sheet is now locked at this suspended position, ready for replacement. It is recommended that only the vinyl cover and the enclosed art sheet be removed together and taken to a table for further work.

The removal of the vinyl cover 5612 can be achieved first by loosening the two hose clamps 5628 and followed by removing the bottom ropes 5624 and 5626 from the hose clamps 5628. The sheet holder 5614 is next opened to take out the vinyl cover. But if the sheet holder 5614 is also to be removed, one can loosen the four screw/nut pairs and remove the top ropes 5620 and 5622 away from underneath the soft washer 4614.

Once a new art sheet or two back-to-back art sheets are loaded, the vinyl cover 5612 can be reassembled and ready for display again. This is normally achieved first by mounting the vinyl cover 5612 to the suspended sheet holder 5614. This is followed by reinserting the two bottom ropes 5624 and 5626 into the loosen hose clamps 5628. Now these two hose clamps can be tighten making it ready for raising the whole assembly to the fixture 5601.

To begin raising the art sheet 5610 the user first needs to make sure that all four weights 5636 are placed in the idled position. The two top ropes 5620 and 5622 are then removed from the cleats and pulled down slowly to raise the art sheet 5610. Once the ends of the two bottom ropes 5624 and 5626 are pulled off the ground the second person, and the third person if available, can start holding these two ropes and guiding its rise. Make sure the art sheet and the vinyl cover do not rotate or heavily swing in the wind. This process will continue until the rise of the art sheet is stopped and the sheet holder 5614 is butted against the two eyelet bolts 5630 on the two top horizontal bars 5604. At this time the user can wrap the loose ends of the top ropes 5620 and 5622 around the two matching cleats and tie it up. After this, he can pick up the bottom ropes 5624 and 5626, pull down these ropes and watch the two hanging pulleys 5633 to roll upward, until they are snuggly sandwiched between the two hose clamps 5628 and the two eyelet bolts 5630. The user can proceed to wrap the loose ends of the two bottom ropes 5624 and 5626 around their cleats 5635 and tie them up. Now all four idled weights 5636 can be placed each on one rope anywhere between the two spaced apart pulleys. This complete the mounting and securely locking of the art sheet and its vinyl cover on the fixture 5601 for display.

It is clear that the hanging pulleys 5633 and the link weights 5638 play an important role in the present art sheet lifting and lowering operation. Before lowering the art sheet, the two hanging pulley-weight pairs are first lowered to bring down the bottom ropes 5624 and 5626 to the hands of the user in order to guide the lowering of the art sheet, as well as the later raising of the replaced art sheet. Once the replaced art sheet is fully raised and seated in its display position, these hanging pulley/weight pairs will be raised and returned to their original positions. For an art sheet to be displayed on a high rise building, this raising and lowering of the art sheet is a long journey. It is important to allow the user with full control in this journey.

The rolling action of the hanging pulleys 5633 is almost effortless during their arising and lowering. The link weights 5638 may not be needed especially if each eyelet bolts 5630 can be replaced by a bolt pulley 5820 shown in Fig.8 and described below, to further reduce the friction retarding the motion of the hanging pulleys 5633. It is clear from the above description that all four ropes 5620, 5622, 5624 and 5626 are needed to securely tie the four corners of the vinyl art sheet 5610 to the fixture 5601. Furthermore, the two top ropes 5620 and 5622 are also needed to support the weight of the sheet holder 5614 and the vinyl art 5610 hung on the fixture 5601. For this reason these two top ropes 5620 and 5622 can also be termed supporting ropes. On the other hand, the two bottom ropes 5624 and 5626 also have a second job, that is for guiding the raising and lowering of the vinyl art sheet 5610. For this reason these two bottom ropes 5624 and 5626 can also be termed guiding ropes 5624 and 5626.

In the present art display system 5600, it is possible to combine the four ropes 5620, 5622, 5624, and 5626 into just two ropes by tying both ends of each such rope to two anchoring points of the sheet holder 5614 and vinyl cover 5612. It is also possible that more than four ropes be used for displaying a larger art.

Fig. 7

Fig. 7 discloses a novel sheet holding board system 4900 of the present invention. This sheet holding board system 4900 comprises a sheet holding board 4902 and a cover 4504 rotatably mounted on the sheet holding board 4902.

The sheet holding board 4902 comprises a sheet holder 4906 and a board 4508. The major components of the sheet holder 4906 may include a base plate 4910 attached to the board 4508, and a holding plate 4512 rotatably mounted on the base plate 4910. Two extension springs 4514 connecting these two plates 4910 and 4512 allow the holding plate 4512 to be toggled between an open and closed positions.

A rubber block 4516 with a groove is shown glued to the base plate 4910. Placed above this rubber block are two art sheets 4518 and 4520. When the holding plate 4512 is rotated to the closed position, the force exerted by the extension spring 4514 will press the holding plate 4512 onto the art sheets 4518 and 4520. It will allow the art sheets 4518 and 4520 to be creased and locked in the groove, and prevent the vertically hung art sheets from slippage.

Also shown in Fig. 7 are two pegs 4522 integrally attached to the base plate 4910. These two pegs are shown inserted into two matching holes of each of the art sheets 4518 and 4520. Once the holding plate 4512 is rotated to the closed position, these two art sheets will be pressed by the holding plate 4512, and firmly retained by the two pegs 4522.

For art sheets with matching mounting holes, both the pegs 4522 and the rubber block 4516 with groove are two different and effective holding means. As a matter of fact, probably any one of them is adequate for holding such art sheets. Of course, for art sheets without mounting holes, the rubber block with groove will be the only one to be needed. But if there are too many sheets, such as fifty (50) or more are to be held, the groove on the board 4508 may not be adequate for securely holding such many sheets. It is recommended that in this case at least some sheets be provided with two mounting holes each, in order for the two pegs 4522 to assume the sheet holding function.

The presently described novel groove-pegs dual feature will allow art sheets either with or without mounting holes to be held on the sheet holding board 4902. It will also extend the number of sheets to be mounted.

Four mounting holes 4524 are provided on the four corners of the board 4508. This will allow the sheet holding board 4902 to be firmly fastened to a vertical wall.

As seen in Fig. 7, the cover 4504 is rotatably mounted on the sheet holding board 4902 with two hinges 4526. Once the holding plate 4512 is rotated to the closed position, the cover can be closed. A hasp 4528 can be used to fasten the cover 4504 in its closed position.

The cover 4504 is essentially a picture frame, which comprises a frame molding 4530, front glass 4532, backing plate 4534, and a plurality of turn buttons 4536. An art sheet can be mounted in this frame and be displayed once the cover 4504 is closed. The main difference between the cover frame 4504 and a conventional picture frame is that the provided frame molding 4530 creates on its backside a hollow space to accommodate the sheet holder 4906 and the stack of art sheets 4518 and 4520 once the cover frame 4504 is closed.

Once the cover 4504 is closed, the whole sheet holding board system 4900 appears just the same as a conventional picture frame showing an art sheet. The elegant design in the frame molding makes it a nice decoration piece anywhere in a home or office. But once the cover is opened, the user will be able to view instantly many more art sheets by flipping the art sheets stack mounted on the sheet holding board 4902.

Due to the nature or value of the art sheets stack, the user may want to keep these art sheets as a secret. This can be easily achieved by placing a padlock on the hasp 4528, so the user is the only person to have access to these art sheets.

Unlike a conventional picture frame, which can be easily lifted away from the wall, the sheet holding board 4902 is mounted on a wall using its four mounting holes 4524. Once the cover 4504 is closed and locked up, this sheet holding board system 4500 cannot be easily removed from the wall. It will provide an additional protection to the mounted art sheets as well as any precious belongings that are stored in the compartment between the cover 4504 and the sheet holding board 4902.

Figs. 8, 9, 10

Fig. 8 discloses a novel bolt pulley 5820 designed for the present art sheet display application. Here, the term "bolt pulley" is defined as a pulley 5822 integrally joined to a bolt 5824. This bolt pulley 5820 can be used for replacing all eyelet bolts 5630 in the art sheet display systems shown in Fig. 6. The rolling action in the bolt pulley 5820 may significantly reduce the effort in raising and lowering the art sheet. It also may enable the free falling of the hanging pulleys 5633 more effortless.

Shown in Fig. 9 is a novel rod clamp 5830, which is specially designed to replace all hose clamps 5628, in the art sheet display systems shown in Fig. 6. The top section of this rod clamp 5830 has an eyelet hole 5832 intended to be tied to a rope. Its mid section is in the form of an open cylinder 5834 for wrapping around the bottom rods 5618 in Fig. 6. Its bottom section is an open passage having a wing nut 5836 with a round end on one side of the open passage. The other side of the open passage has a hole 5839 with its diameter smaller than that of the wing nut 5836. This rod clamp is preferably made of some plastics by injection molding.

This rod clamp 5830 can be easily mounted on the vinyl cover 5612 by simply sliding this rod clamp through either end of the rod. Once the clamp is slid to the desired location on the vinyl cover, the wing nut 5836 can be turned to press the sheet portion of the vinyl cover. The wing nut 5836 is too big to enter the hole 5839. But the round end of the tip of the wing nut 5836 will press on the vinyl sheet in forming a dent on the portion of the vinyl sheet lodged in the hole 5839. In this way, the vinyl cover will be securely held in the rod clamp 5830 but without forming a pierced hole on the vinyl cover.

The clear vinyl covers 5612 shown in Fig. 6 will unavoidably have some punched slits or openings in order to install each hose clamp 5628. Water from rain or dew may get in through these slits or openings and cause various degree of damages to the enclosed art sheets. But once these hose clamps are replaced by the rod clamps 5830, there is no more punched slits or openings on the vinyl cover and no more water damage to the mounted art sheet.

Instead of tying the rope directly to the rod clamp 5830, a conventional snap hook or spring link can be neatly tied to the rope first using a conventional rope clamp. This snap hook or spring link can then be snap or spring connected to the present rod clamp 5830 for easy connection and separation.

Fig. 10 discloses an art display system 5800, which comprises a fixture 5801. This fixture 5801 includes a long vertical bar 5802, a short vertical bar 5804, and two horizontal bars 5806. Just like the fixture 5601 shown in Fig. 6, this fixture 5801 can also be mounted on the side wall of a building or the top ceiling floor of the building.

Two back-to-back advertisement sheets 5808 are enclosed in a clear vinyl cover 5810, which is held in the fixture 5801, and on display on the building. If the fixture is mounted on the side wall of the building, these advertisement sheets 5808 will be positioned at right angle with respect to the side wall of this building.

A top rod 5812 and a bottom rod 5814 are embedded within this vinyl cover 5810. No punched mounting holes are needed since this vinyl cover 5810 will not be mounted on a sheet holder such as the sheet holder 5614 shown in Fig. 6.

Beside the fixture 5801, art sheets 5808, and the clear vinyl cover 5810, the art sheet display system 5800 of the present invention also employs many members for raising, lowering, and locking the art sheets 5808 at a desired location for display. These members include four ropes 5620, 5622, 5624, and 5626, numerous pulleys 5632, hanging pulleys 5633, and the control box 5634. All these members have been shown in Fig. 6 and described above.

But all hose clamps 5628 used in Fig. 6 have now been replaced by four rod clamps 5830 in Fig. 10. As stated above, the use of these rod clamps 5830 will not involve piercing holes in the vinyl cover, which would let in rain water, and possibly cause some damage in the enclosed art sheets.

One other improvement is the replacement of four eyelet bolts 5630 used in Fig. 6 by four bolt pulleys 5820 in Fig. 10. Such replacement will reduce the friction retarding the movement of the two ropes 5620 and 5622 during the raising of the art sheets 5808. Such reduction of friction may also eliminate the need of an open loop weight 5638 added to each hanging pulley 5633.

For purpose of illustration, the hanging pulley 5633 on the rope 5626 is snuggly sandwiched between the rod clamp 5830 and the bolt pulley 5820. This is the final assembled position of this hanging pulley 5633, when the rope 5626 is fully stretched with the weight 5636 placed on the rope 5626. In the case of the hanging pulley 5633 on the rope 5624, some slack is purposely allowed, while the weight 5636 is placed in idle. This slack is taken up by the hanging pulley 5633, resulting in the falling of this hanging pulley 5633.

Since the two back-to-back art sheets 5808 are to be viewed by people coming down from either side of the street on which the building is located, it is important that the position of the ropes and pulleys should be placed in such a way not to block the view of these two advertisement sheets 5808.

Just as in the case of the advertisement sheet 5610 shown in Fig. 6 and described above, the advertisement sheets 5808 can also be two back-to-back vinyl sheets 5808 printed with advertisement material on its front and back sides. Alternatively, one canvas banner sheet 5808 with cutout vinyl signs glued on can also be used. This canvas banner or vinyl sheets 5808 can have a top sleeve and a bottom sleeve for housing the top rod 5812 and the bottom rod 5814, respectively. Punched holes with its matching grommets can also be provided on the canvas banner or vinyl sheets 5808 for attaching to the ropes. Such design will no longer require a clear vinyl cover 5810. At a later time when the advertisement banner 5808 is to be replaced by a new advertisement sheet, the existing rods 5812 and 5814 can simply be removed from the old sheets 5808 and reused for the new sheet.

Fig. 11

Fig.l 1 discloses one innovation in the use of a conventional flagpole. In such a flagpole, the rope used for holding a flag over a period of time tends to stretch to various degrees. As a result, the flag held in this flagpole will be displayed at a distance below its normal uppermost position, an unsightly scene to the grace of the flag on display.

In Fig.l 1, a US flag 5900 is shown hung on a flagpole 5902. This flag is attached to a rope 5904 by two conventional flag snaps 5908. The back end of the rope 5904 will go through a flag pulley 5906 and is tied to an extension spring 5912. The other end of the extension spring 5912 is tied to a second rope 5905.

To properly position the flag 5900 on the flagpole 5900, the user will pull the rope 5905 downward until the upper flag snap 5908 is firmly pressed against the pulley 5906 or its casing. This is the uppermost position the flag 5900 should be ideally hung on the flagpole 5902.

But at this point the user can still continue pulling the rope 5905. The position of the flag 5900 cannot go up any further. Instead, the extension spring 5912 will be stretched with this pulling. The user can continue pulling the rope 5905 until the extension spring is extended to a length slightly less than the maximum length allowable without damaging this spring 5912. The user can then wrap the excessive portion of the rope 5905 around a cleat 5914 and tie it up.

Now the user will slightly pull down the front portion of the rope 5904 and wrap it around another cleat 5916. But don't pull it too hard because it may further stretch the spring 5912 and cause some damage.

With time, this rope 5904 may become stretched and increase its length. But this slack will be taken up by the extension spring 5912 by slowly reducing its length. As a result, the flag 5900 will always maintain at its uppermost position for a long time. Of course, eventually the spring 5912 may restore to its original nature length and can no longer take up more slack of the rope 5904. The user needs to go back to pull down the rope 5905 and stretch the spring 5912 again to start another cycle.

Fig. 12

Fig. 12 discloses another art display system for mounting an outdoor flat screen TV or monitor for displaying advertisement text and graphic art. The flat screen TV and monitor have been developed recently as a super light, super bright, high definition displaying means. It is proposed that such TV or monitor be mounted on a fixture on the roof or outside wall of a commercial building for showing short video files and/or slide shows for outdoor advertisement.

The first member of this display system 6050 is a fixture 6052. This fixture 6052 is very similar to the fixture 5601 as shown in Fig. 6 and described above. The main difference is in the replacement of the eyelet bolt by a novel bolt pulley and adding features for handling the power and signal lines of the TV or monitor.

The present fixture 6052 comprises two long vertical bars 6054, two long horizontal bars 6056, four short horizontal bars 6058, 6060, 6062, 6064, and two side horizontal bars 6066. Mounted on the horizontal bars 6056, 6058, 6060, 6062, 6064 are bolt pulleys 6068, 6070, 6072, 6074, 6076, and 6078, respectively.

It is important that all pulleys including the bolt pulleys, hanging pulleys, and regular pulleys in the present display system must have feed through holes large enough for all ropes and cables to go through and with enough clearance allowing the free rolling operation of all pulleys. If the front ends of these ropes and/or cables are attached to some items, such as snap hooks or spring links attached to ropes, and power plug attached to cables that are too big to go through the pulleys, these items must first be removed initially. They can be reattached only after all ropes and cables have gone through all pulleys needed.

In the present system 6050, there are two supporting ropes 6090, 6092, two guiding ropes 6094, 6096, passing through four bolt pulleys 6070, 6068, 6072, and 6078, respectively. There are also one power cable 6098, and one signal cable 6100, passing through the bolt pulley 6074 and 6076, respectively. All these ropes and cables will finally enter a control box 6102.

In Fig. 12, a TV or monitor 6106 is shown with its backside. Four hooks 6108 are provided to be tied to four ropes 6090, 6092, 6094, and 6096 for supporting this TV or monitor 6106 on the fixture 6052. Some commercially available tilting device may be used to tilt this TV or monitor 6106 downward. In this case some fastening member similar to the hooks 6108 on the tilting device will be needed.

Also shown on the backside of the TV or monitor 6106 are a power receptacle 6110 and a signal receptacle 6112. The power receptacle 6110 is shown connected to the power plug 6114 of the power cable 6098, while the signal receptacle 6112 is shown connected to a signal connector 6116 of the signal cable 6100. It is important that both these connections must be secured by certain restraining features in order to prevent accidental disconnection when the cables 6098 and 6100 are under load.

It is seen in Fig. 12 that there is a hanging pulley 6118 placed on each rope and cable, positioned between the TV or monitor 6106 and the bolt pulleys 6068, 6070, 6072, 6074, 6076, and 6078. Each hanging pulley 6118 will respond to the release of each corresponding rope or cable by rolling itself downward, just like the hanging pulley 5633 in Fig. 10, responding to the releasing of the rope 5624 by rolling itself downward, as described above.

The hanging pulleys 6118 are necessary for the operation of the two guiding ropes 6094 and 6096. The hanging pulleys 6118 for the power cable 6098 and the signal cable 6100 are also necessary. But the hanging pulleys 6118 for the two supporting ropes 6090 and 6092 are not necessary, but are desirable to have. One supporting rope 6090 is shown with its front end tied to itself to form a knot 6120. It is suggested that both these two supporting ropes 6090 and 6092, as well as the ropes 6094 and 6096, and cables 6098 and 6100, be kept in the fixture 6052 for standby when the TV 6100 is removed for service.

Located inside the control box 6102 are four identical winch assemblies 6130. The main component of this winch assembly is a winch 6140, which is a well known mechanic device that is used to pull in (wind up) or let out (wind out) a rope. In the present case, each of the four ropes 6090, 6092, 6094, and 6096 will run through a hanging pulley 6132 of the winch assembly 6130. A spool 6134 with a hand crank 6136 will wind up or wind out the excessive portion of the rope coming out of the hanging pulley 6132. An extension spring 6138 is shown with its one hook attached to the hanging pulley 6132, and its other hook connected to a stationary post. The four extension springs 6138 are identical. Two springs on the left side are in their neutral state when there is no external force applied to these springs. Two springs on the right are fully extended but are still within their safety operation range. Stop means, not shown, are installed to limit the maximum stretched length to this value no matter how much external force is applied to these springs.

Now the TV or monitor 6106 is taken to the site and ready to be mounted on the fixture 6052. The first step to do is to release all four ropes 6090, 6092, 6094, 6096 and two cables 6098, 6100, from their spool 6134 or cleats 5635, to allow all six corresponding hanging pulleys 6118 to roll down to the ground. This will also bring all above four ropes and cables to the ground. The four knots 6120 on the four ropes can now be loosen and tied to the four hooks 6108. The power plug 6114 and the signal connector 6116 are next connected to the power receptacle 6110 and the signal receptacle 6112, respectively.

The users near the control box 6102 can now pull the two ropes 6090 and 6092, by turning their crank 6136, to slowly raise the TV or monitor 6106. At the same time two persons will hold the other two ropes 6094 and 6096 near the TV or monitor 6106 to guide the raising of the TV or monitor 6106, making sure it will rise steadily without spinning or hitting the surrounding building. Finally the TV or monitor will be stopped with the two hanging pulleys 6118 neatly sandwiched between the TV or monitor and the bolt pulleys 6068 and 6070.

At this time, the two users will still continue turning their cranks 6136. But this further cranking will not change the position of the TV, but only stretch the length of the two extension springs 6138. Once the extension springs are stretched to or near their extended length, the users will stop further cranking and applied the break so the spool will not rotate back once the hand is removed. This operation will allow additional force by the extension springs, above and beyond what is needed to lift the TV to its final height, to be applied to the ropes for securely locking the two top corner hooks 6108 of the TV to the fixture 6052. If at some time later, the two supporting ropes 6090 and 6092 become stretched in length, under the constant load, this slack will be taken up by the extension springs 6138, without affecting the locked position of the TV.

The next step to do is for the users near the control box 6102 to pull the two ropes 6094 and 6096 by turning their cranks to raise the two hanging pulleys 6118 until these two pulleys are sandwiched between the TV and the bolt pulleys 6072 and 6078. The users will continue turning the cranks to further tighten the ropes 6094 and 6096 until the corresponding extension springs 6138 reach at their fully extended length. The users will then apply the break to the winch 6140 This completes the mounting of the TV or monitor on the fixture 6052 by securely holding it on the four anchoring points.

There are still more work to do after mounting the TV or monitor, because at this time the two cables 6098 and 6100 as well as the two connected hanging pulleys 6118 are still laying on the ground. It is just a matter of pulling these two cables and raising the two hanging pulleys 6118 up to a recessed position next to the bolt pulleys 6074 and 6076. The excess portion of these two cables can be gently wrapped around the two cleats 5636 nearby. There is no need to force or stretch these two cables because these two cables are not needed for supporting the TV or monitor, and just to be sure the hanging pulleys 6118 will stay close to the two bolt pulleys.

The bottom ends of these two cables are seen plugged into a computer 6122 which will supply the power and programmed video and/or picture signal to the TV or monitor 6106. This computer is seen placed in the control box 6102 only for the sake of illustration. In reality, this computer is more likely placed on an office desktop along with a monitor and associated devices. The TV or monitor 6106 is simply served as a second monitor to this computer.

Compared with a static advertisement picture, this TV or monitor 6106 may display more vivid and dynamic advertisement message. If this TV or monitor is located at a busy city intersection with frequent stopped cars, or in a shopping area with many pedestrian, the owner of this TV or monitor may even consider selling its advertisement time to many business.

This TV or monitor 6106 can be easily lowered for service or replacement by an advertisement sheet. The first step to do is to release the ropes 6094, 6096 and the cables 6098, 6100 to lower the four connected hanging pulleys 61 18 to the ground. The next step is to release the ropes 6090 and 6092 to lower the TV or monitor 6106, while hand holding the ropes 6094 and 6096 for guiding the lowering of the TV or monitor 6106. If the cables 6098 and 6100 are no longer needed, the power plug 6114 and signal connector 6116 can be disconnected and raised and stored at their recessed position.

The present art display system 6050 is mainly designed for displaying outdoor TV advertisement program. But there is no reason why this system can not be applied for indoor advertisement as well.

Claims

The invention having thus been described, the following is claimed: 1. An art sheet display system for displaying an art sheet, comprising:

(A) an art sheet, and

(B) a sheet holder, having (a) an elongated base,

(b) a holding member rotatable with respect to said base, and

(c) two spaced apart extension springs for toggling said holding member between (i) a closed position for holding said art sheet, and

(ii) an open position for mounting or removing said art sheet.

2. The art sheet display system of Claim 1, in which said holding member is an elongated angle plate.

3. The art sheet display system of Claim 1, in which said base is an elongated angle plate.

4. The art sheet display system of Claim 1, in which

(a) said sheet holder includes two pegs attached to said base, and

(b) said art sheet includes two punched holes engageable with said two pegs for holding said art sheet in said sheet holder.

5. The art sheet display system of Claim 1, in which said sheet holder includes an elongated rubber block having an elongated groove engageable with said holding member for holding said art sheet on said sheet holder.

6. The art sheet display system of Claim 1, also comprising

(C) a board for attaching said sheet holder thereon, and

(D) a cover hinged on said board for covering said sheet holder and said mounted art sheet.

7. The art sheet display system of Claim 6, in which said cover includes:

(a) a picture frame molding,

(b) a picture frame glass for displaying a picture through said glass, and

(c) a picture frame backing plate.

8. The art sheet display system of Claim 1, also comprising:

(C) a fixture, and

(D) a rope hanging said sheet holder on said fixture, for

(a) raising said art sheet to a first position for displaying said art sheet, and

(b) lowering said art sheet to a second position for removing said art sheet.

9. The art sheet display system of Claim 8, also comprising a pinion engageable with said rope for maintaining said art sheet at said first position and said second position.

10. An art display system, comprising:

(A) an art,

(B) a fixture,

(C) at least one supporting rope attached to said art for:

(a) raising and lowering said art, and

(b) securely mounting said art on said fixture, and

(D) at least one guiding rope attached to said art for:

(a) hand guiding said art during said raising and lowering of said art, and

(b) securely mounting said art on said fixture.

11. The art display system of Claim 10, also comprising:

(E) a second supporting rope attached to said art for:

(a) raising and lowering said art, and

(b) securely mounting said art on said fixture, and

(F) a second guiding rope attached to said art for:

(a) hand guiding said art during said raising and lowering of said art, and

(b) securely mounting said art on said fixture.

12. The art display system of Claim 10, also comprising:

(E) a first movable weight supported and movable on said guiding rope, and

(F) means for releasing said guiding rope for:

(a) lowering said first movable weight, and

(b) lowering a portion of said guiding rope for hand guiding said art during said raising and lowering of said art.

13. The art display system of Claim 12, in which said first movable weight is a pulley rollable on said guiding rope.

14. The art display system of Claim 10, also comprising:

(E) an extension spring attached to said supporting rope for maintaining said art securely mounted on said fixture.

15. The art display system of Claim 10, also comprising:

(E) an extension spring attached to said guiding rope for maintaining said art securely mounted on said fixture.

16. The art display system of Claim 10, also comprising:

(E) a stretching weight removably placed on said supporting rope for maintaining said art securely mounted on said fixture.

17. The art display system of Claim 10, also comprising:

(E) a stretching weight removably placed on said guiding rope for maintaining said art securely mounted on said fixture.

18. The art display system of Claim 10 in which said art is an art sheet.

19. The art display system of Claim 10 in which said art is a computer monitor.

20. A flag system, comprising:

(A) a flag,

(B) a flagpole,

(C) a supporting rope for raising and lowering said flag in said flagpole, and

(D) an extension spring engageable with said supporting rope for maintaining said flag at a displaying height on said flagpole.