WO2012146939A1

WO2012146939A1 - Vehicle display device

Info

Publication number: WO2012146939A1
Application number: PCT/GB2012/050946
Authority: WO
Inventors: Luke Roberts; Philip Roberts
Original assignee: Windowgz Limited
Priority date: 2011-04-28
Filing date: 2012-04-27
Publication date: 2012-11-01
Also published as: GB201107177D0; GB2490357A

Abstract

A vehicle display device (10) comprises a three-dimensional primary human-, animal-, or creature - appearance part (12) including a pliantly flexible outer casing (24) defining an outward appearance of a human part, animal part or creature part, a cavity defined by the outer casing (24), a resiliently flexible filling within the cavity, and an secondary human-, animal-, or creature - appearance part (16) which projects from the outer casing (24) of the primary human-, animal-, or creature - appearance part (12). The secondary human-, animal-, or creature - appearance part (16) has an indicium display portion (42) dimensioned to be prominently visible, and has an indicium (48) on the indicium display portion (42). A vehicle connector is also included for releasably connecting the primary human-, animal-, or creature - appearance part to a vehicle part so as to project therefrom, whereby the indicium display portion (42) is proud of edges of the surrounding vehicle part. A vehicle having such a display device (10) is also provided.

Description

Vehicle Display Device

The present invention relates to a vehicle display device, and to a vehicle having such a display device.

Flags are well known and used extensively during international sports matches and tournaments by fans to support and show allegiance to a particular country and their team. Many countries have an animal which represents a character of that particular country. However, the two, being the country's flag and animal, are rarely combined.

Furthermore, it would be convenient to be able to display the combined flag and animal in a mobile manner without the trouble of the owner expending energy physically holding the apparatus.

It is known, for example in US6280804B1 (Akridge), to provide an ornament for attaching to a vehicle, where an elongate member similar to a mast or flagpole is provided for positioning the ornament above a roofline of the vehicle. Having the ornament above the roofline may be dangerous and may obstruct the vehicle, for example, from passing through a low bridge or low entrance to a car park. Furthermore, this arrangement provides no or very limited display area.The present invention seeks to provide a solution to these problems.

According to a first aspect of the invention, there is provided a vehicle display device comprising a three-dimensional primary human-, animal-, or creature-appearance part including an outer casing defining an outward appearance of a human part, animal part or creature part, a cavity defined by the outer casing, and an secondary human-, animal-, or creature-appearance part which projects from the outer casing of the primary human-, animal-, or creature-appearance part, an indicium display portion on at least one of the primary human-, animal-, or creature-appearance part and the secondary human-, animal-, or creature-appearance part, the indicium display portion dimensioned to be prominently visible, an indicium on the indicium display portion, and a vehicle connector at a back of the primary human-, animal-, or creature-appearance part for releasably connecting the primary human-, animal-, or creature-appearance part to a vehicle part so as to project therefrom whereby the indicium display portion is proud of edges of the surrounding vehicle part.

The term 'human' is intended to also include human-like, human-form and/or humanoid so as to include alien and/or robots which may generally reasonable a human in appearance.

Advantageously, the vehicle display device is designed so that the primary human-, animal-, or creature-appearance part projects laterally from the vehicle connector. The vehicle display device does not extend above a roofline of the vehicle and no part of the device has a general shape of a mast or a flagpole. Preferable and/or optional features of the first aspect of the invention are set forth in claims 2 to 22, inclusive.

According to a second aspect of the invention, there is provided a vehicle comprising a slidable window and a vehicle display device in accordance with the first aspect of the invention, the vehicle connector connectable to an upper edge of the slidable window and/or within a window sealing area of a window frame of the vehicle, and the three- dimensional primary human-, animal-, or creature-appearance part projecting beyond an exterior surface of the window frame.

Preferably, the three-dimensional primary human, animal, or creature part has a protruding extent which is at least a majority of a protruding extent of a wing mirror unit of the vehicle.

The invention will now be more particularly described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which :

Figure 1 shows a front-side perspective view of one embodiment of a vehicle display device, in accordance with the first aspect of the invention; Figure 2 shows a side elevational view of the vehicle display device shown in

Figure 1;

Figure 3 shows a rear-side perspective view of the vehicle display device; Figure 4 shows a perspective view of the vehicle display device on a window of a vehicle; and

Figure 5 is an elevational partial cross-sectional side view of the display device on the vehicle window. Referring to the drawings, there is shown a vehicle display device 10 which comprises a three-dimensional primary animal-appearance part 12, in this case being a head 14 of a British bulldog, and an oversized secondary animal-appearance part 16, in this case being an out-of-proportion lolling tongue 18 which depends below a chin 20 and preferably a lowermost surface 22 of the head 14. It will be appreciated that the secondary animal-appearance part 16 may be of a size that is in proportion relative to the three-dimensional primary animal-appearance part 12, if desired.

The primary animal part 12 includes an outer casing 24, at least the majority of which is formed of pliantly flexible fabric to create at least a majority of the animal's exterior visage. The outer casing 24 defines an interior cavity 26 in which is provided a resiliently flexible filling 28, such as fabric- or foam-based stuffing, to maintain the three-dimensional appearance of the outer casing 24. Typically, the interior cavity 26 is accessed via an access opening 30 in the rear of the outer casing 24. However, the access opening may be provided at the front side, for example, at or through a mouth portion 32 of the primary animal part 12, or at a bottom side. Once the interior cavity 26 is sufficiently stuffed, the access opening 30 is preferably permanently closed, for example, by stitching or welding.

Additional features of the primary animal part 12 may also be included, either as fabric or plastics, such as ears 34, eyes 36 and nose 38. These features, and in particular the ears, may also be oversized or out of proportion with the rest of the animal head 14, similarly to the tongue 18, as will be better understood hereinafter.

The tongue 18 is preferably substantially tear-drop shaped, wherein the longitudinal sides 40 generally converge or taper towards the mouth portion 32 of the head 14. The tongue 18 includes a prominent indicium display portion 42 on its front surface 44. The indicium display portion 42 extends across all or substantially all of the front surface 44 of the tongue 18, and preferably from the perimeter edge 46 to the mouth portion 32 of the head 14. An indicium 48 is provided on the indicium display portion 42, and preferably this would be or include a country's flag or other sign and/or word indicating allegiance or nationality. Advantageously, the oversized secondary animal part 16 may be releasably fastened to the primary animal part 12. In this case, the tongue 18 may include part of a releasable fastener 50, such as one or more press-studs, toothed- fastener or zip, and/or hook and loop fastening, such as Velcro RTM. The mouth portion 32 of the head 14 would therefore include the other part of the releasable fastener 50. This would then conveniently allow selection of an appropriate tongue 18 from amongst a plurality of different tongues 18. Furthermore, attachment of more than one tongue 18 at the mouth portion 32 may also be facilitated.

To enable attachment of the three-dimensional primary animal part 12 to a vehicle part 52, in this case being a slidable window 54, a vehicle connector 56 is provided on the rear of the head 14. The vehicle connector 56 includes a female part 58 provided on the outer casing 24, and a male part 60 which is slidably engaged with the female part 58. The female part 58 is preferably moulded plastics, and comprises a mounting plate 62 which is fixed to the rear side of the outer casing 24, and which may conveniently cover or substantially cover the access opening 30. The female part 58 also includes a receiver 64, in this case being a collar, for slidably receiving the male part 60. The receiver 64 is preferably integrally formed as one-piece with the mounting plate 62.

The male part 60 is elongate and includes a hooked end 66, forming a resiliently flexible window clip 68, and a tail end 70 which is engagable with the receiver 64 of the female part 58. Preferably, the tail end 70 and the receiver 64 include indexing means 72 in the form of interengagable teeth 74 to allow sliding positional-adjustment of the male part 60 relative to the female part 58.

The hooked end 66 of the male part 60 is adapted to receive an upper edge 76 of a vehicle's slidable window 54, so that the display device 10 can be hooked thereto. Preferably, the hooked end 66 is sufficiently slim to enable receipt within a gap 78 between the interior and exterior window seals 80 of a window frame 82 of the vehicle 84. This thus allows a user to raise their window 54 to a fully closed position without requiring removal of the display device 10 from the vehicle 84.

Additionally, a hanger 86 in the form of a loop 88 may additionally be provided, and conveniently this may be included as part of the vehicle connector 56 or in between the female part 58 and the outer casing 24. The hanging loop 88 may be fabric or flexible plastics. The hanging loop 88 is preferably dimensioned to allowing hanging on a coat hook within a cabin of the vehicle 84, usually on or forming part of a grab attached to the cabin ceiling or interior upper edge. Preferably, the loop 88 is positioned such that the device can be mounted on a wall hook and thereby cover the wall hook. The vehicle connector 56, although intended to mount on and thus move with the sliding window 54, may be adapted to engage within the gap 78 between the interior and exterior seals 80 of the window frame 82, whereby the window 54 is slidable independently of the display device 10. In this case, the hooked end 66 of the male part 60 receives the upper edge 76 of the window 54 as it is slid home to a closed condition. The vehicle connector 56 may alternatively be a single one-piece hook or clip which is fastened directly to the rear of the head 14.

With the three-dimensional primary part 12 mounted to the vehicle 84 via the vehicle connector 56, the three-dimensional primary part projects substantially perpendicularly beyond an exterior surface 90 of the surrounding window frame 82 and substantially laterally of the vehicle chassis. The oversized secondary part 16 is thus positioned at or substantially at a distal end or distal end portion of the primary part 12, thereby facilitating its prominent position.

Furthermore, the primary part 12 preferably has a longitudinal or protruding extent which is at least a majority of a protruding extent of a wing mirror unit of the vehicle 84. Again, this facilitates prominent positioning of the oversized secondary part and thus the indicium 48 thereon.

The three-dimensional primary animal-appearance part is intended to mimic the affection that an animal, and primarily a dog, often has for travelling in a vehicle with their head out of its window. However, any kind of animal head can be provided and preferably the animal head will reflect a mascot or symbol of a country or team.

However, any three-dimensional primary human-, animal-, or creature-appearance part can be utilised. For example, a human-appearance head could be used instead of an animal-appearance head, and the visage of the human head may be a well known person, such as a prime-minister, celebrity or sports personality. A creature may be an alien or monster, for example. The human, animal, or creature part may be restricted to being a life form, which may be organic and/or which may or may not be mythical. However, it may also cover non-organic objects, such as robots or machines which may have a general human appearance, such as head, eyes, ears and mouth, for example.

Other body parts may also be considered as the primary human- or animal-appearance part. For example, the hindquarters of an animal may be utilised. In this case, the oversized secondary animal-appearance part may be the animal's tail. Alternatively, the oversized secondary part may be one or more ears. Similar arrangements may be considered for human body parts.

Although the outer casing of the primary part is preferably fabric and thus pliantly flexible, it may be plastics, for example, moulded. As such, no interior filling or stuffing may be required.

If the outer casing is fabric, then preferably the fabric would be at least water-resistant to prevent or limit water absorption during inclement weather.

The oversized secondary part may be a single or multi-layer flap of material, which may be woven or non-woven fabric or pliantly flexible plastics. Furthermore, the oversized secondary part may also include an outer casing defining a cavity therein, whereby a stuffing or filling within the cavity imparts a three-dimensional appearance to the secondary part.

It is thus possible to provide a vehicle display device which includes a three- dimensional primary human-, animal-, or creature-appearance part and an oversized secondary human-, animal-, or creature-appearance part which is supported by the primary part. The oversized secondary part is out of proportion relative to the primary part, thereby providing a much greater display area for a flag, sign, word, slogan or other indicium typically indicative of nationality and/or association. Furthermore, by providing the primary part as a three-dimensional part, protrusion of the oversized secondary part a reasonable distance from the mounting surface of the vehicle is assured, thereby raising the awareness of the indicium to passersby and other road users.

The embodiments described above are provided by way of examples only, and further modifications will be apparent to persons skilled in the field without departing from the scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.

Claims

A vehicle display device (10) comprising a three-dimensional primary human-, animal-, or creature-appearance part including an outer casing (24) defining an outward appearance of a human part, animal part or creature part, a cavity (26) defined by the outer casing (24), and a secondary human-, animal-, or creature- appearance part which projects from the outer casing (24) of the primary human-, animal-, or creature-appearance part, an indicium display portion (42) on at least one of the primary human-, animal-, or creature-appearance part and the secondary human-, animal-, or creature-appearance part, the indicium display portion (42) dimensioned to be prominently visible, an indicium (48) on the indicium display portion (42), and a vehicle connector (56) at a back of the primary human-, animal-, or creature-appearance part for releasably connecting the primary human-, animal-, or creature-appearance part to a vehicle part 52 so as to project therefrom whereby the indicium display portion (42) is proud of edges of the surrounding vehicle part (52).

A vehicle display device (10) as claimed in claim 1, wherein the secondary human-, animal-, or creature-appearance part is oversized relative to the primary human-, animal-, or creature-appearance part.

A vehicle display device (10) as claimed in claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the secondary human-, animal-, or creature-appearance part is releasably fastenable to the primary human-, animal-, or creature-appearance part.

A vehicle display device (10) as claimed in claim 3, wherein the secondary human-, animal-, or creature-appearance part is selectable from a plurality of secondary human-, animal-, or creature-appearance parts having different indicium (48) on the indicium display portion (42).

A vehicle display device (10) as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the indicium display portion (42) extends across at least a majority of a front surface (44) of the primary and/or secondary human-, animal-, or creature-appearance part.

6. A vehicle display device (10) as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the secondary human-, animal-, or creature-appearance part depends below a lowermost surface (22) of the primary human-, animal-, or creature-appearance part.

7. A vehicle display device (10) as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the secondary human-, animal-, or creature-appearance part is pliantly flexible.

8. A vehicle display device (10) as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein the secondary human-, animal-, or creature-appearance part has sides which taper towards each other in the direction of the primary human-, animal-, or creature- appearance part, thereby increasing an area of the indicium display portion (42).

9. A vehicle display device (10) as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein the primary human-, animal-, or creature-appearance part is a human or animal head (14).

10. A vehicle display device (10) as claimed in claim 9, wherein the human or animal head (14) is a head (14) of a dog.

11. A vehicle display device (10) as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 10, wherein the secondary human-, animal-, or creature-appearance part is a tongue (18).

12. A vehicle display device (10) as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 11, wherein the vehicle connector (56) is a window clip (68) for clipping the primary human-, animal-, or creature-appearance part to an upper edge (76) of a vehicle window (54).

13. A vehicle display device (10) as claimed in claim 12, wherein the window clip (68) has an upper edge (76) which is adapted to be receivable between sealing strips of a vehicle window (54) frame.

14. A vehicle display device (10) as claimed in claim 12 or claim 13, wherein the window clip (68) includes a female mounting part and an adjustable male part (60) engagable with the female part (58).

15. A vehicle display device (10) as claimed in claim 14, wherein male part (60) is slidable on the female part (58) to adjust a projecting length, whereby a position of the primary human-, animal-, or creature-appearance part relative to the vehicle part (52) can be adjusted.

16. A vehicle display device (10) as claimed in claim 14 or claim 15, wherein the female mounting part includes a mounting plate on which the outer casing (24) of the primary human-, animal-, or creature-appearance part is mounted.

17. A vehicle display device (10) as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 16, further comprising a hanger (86) for hanging the primary human-, animal-, or creature- appearance part from a hook.

18. A vehicle display device (10) as claimed in claim 17, wherein the hanger (86) is a loop (88) which is connected at or adjacent to the vehicle connector (56).

19. A vehicle display device (10) as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein the outer casing (24) is pliantly flexible.

20. A vehicle display device (10) as claimed in claim 19, further comprising a resiliently flexible filling within the cavity (26) of the outer casing (24).

21. A vehicle comprising a slidable window (54) and a vehicle display device (10) as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, the vehicle connector (56) connectable to an upper edge (76) of the slidable window (54) and/or within a window (54) sealing area of a window (54) frame of the vehicle, and the three- dimensional primary human-, animal-, or creature-appearance part projecting beyond an exterior surface of the window (54) frame.

22. A vehicle as claimed in claim 21, wherein the three-dimensional primary human-, animal-, or creature-appearance part has a protruding extent which is at least a majority of a protruding extent of a wing mirror unit of the vehicle.