Patent Application
20090265972
This invention relates in general to holding and displaying sheet arts, and more specifically, to sheet holders for holding and displaying the sheet arts. Here the sheet arts may include art sheets, printer outputs, advertisement sheets, and any sheet materials that are to be displayed.
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. Most pads used have a letter size of 8.5″×1″ (21.6 cm×27.9 cm) and A4 size of 21.0 cm×29.7 cm (8.27″×11.7″). 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.
In the present invention a novel sheet holder either with or without a board 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.
For a sheet holding board, in addition to displaying the first sheet in the stack, any other sheet in the stack can also be displayed by simply turning over all sheets above this sheet to the backside of the board. A malleable wire hanger with two metal rings can be removably attached to two side holes in the board for vertically hanging the sheet holding board and displaying the first sheet or any sheet in the stack.
The white board is also suitable for writing erasable to-do list or any message either on the entire board or the spare space below the displayed art sheet. Many erasable marking pens of different colors can be used.
The present sheet holding board can be attached with a rotatable easel to become a tabletop easel board. It can be used to hold a sort of individual presentation sheets of different sizes, thicknesses, and materials including computer printed sheets, hand written or just plain sheets. The white board can also be included for writing erasable drawing/text in an interactive session, after turning over all presentation sheets to the back of the white board. The present sheet holding board can also be placed on a conventional easel for floor presentation.
Several sheet holding boards can be taped together for displaying an oversize engineering/architecture sheet, or acting as a bulletin board for holding and displaying two or more sheet stacks independently.
Joining devices including pegs, latches, and barrel bolts can be used to combine several sheet holding boards into a combined sheet holding board. The width of this combined sheet holding board is adjustable by simply adding/removing one or more individual sheet holding boards. A new kind of combined sheet holding board can be used for simultaneously displaying both sides of one sheet, or two back-to-back sheets, ideal for advertisement application.
A different kind of sheet holding board is also disclosed, in which the art sheet to be displayed is held between a rubber block with a groove and a round rod. Pressing force is applied to the rod by turning several screws, which causes some deformation of the rubber block. In the mean time, the friction created between the rubber block and the mounted art sheets is so high as to prevent any slippage of the mounted art sheet during its vertical display.
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 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. One or more different flags can also be hung beneath the US flag, always stretched for displaying its flag content. A spring or weight load 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 one 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, either by itself or placed in a clear vinyl cover, a fixture for supporting this art, two hanging ropes for raising and lowering said art, and two guiding ropes for guiding the raising and lowering of this art. Each of the above four ropes can be attached to an extension spring or loaded with a weight in order to ensure the art be securely held at its uppermost display position without dangling or swinging.
a shows the further details of an inset represented by a dash line circle shown in
a shows further details of an inset represented by a dashed circle in
a shows further details of an inset represented by a dashed circle in
The board 4004 is a thin board made of solid materials such as wood or plastic. One preferred material is a medium-density fibreboard (MDF), which is an engineered wood product at low cost, but with desirable high strength, surface smooth properties. Its top surface can be laminated with a thin layer of smooth paper, paint or vinyl film for its beauty and cling property to be described later.
The structure details of the sheet holder 4002 are described here with the help from
As seen in
Two second angle brackets 4018, one on each end of the second aluminum angle plate 4012, are also provided. Two rivets 4020 are used for fastening each second angle bracket 4018 to the second aluminum angle plate 4012.
Each first angle bracket 4014 and the corresponding second angle bracket 4018 are joined together by a rivet 4022. Each rivet 4022 has a long stem for loosely holding the first angle bracket 4014 and the second angle bracket 4018 together, allowing these two angle brackets free rotation with respect to each other.
As seen in
As seen in
A knob 4032 is shown in
Once the knob 4032 is further rotated just beyond the point marked as 4032′, the force by the extension spring 4024 will take over and cause the second aluminum angle plate 4012 to further rotate until it is stopped by the first aluminum angle plate 4010. Without further hand force, the knob 4032 will rest at this position marked as 4032″ indefinitely.
To rotate the second aluminum plate 4012 back to the initial holding position the use can grab the knob at the 4032″ position and rotate it clockwise against the spring force. Once the second aluminum angle plate 4012 rotates beyond the critical position marked as 4032′, the force exerted by the extension spring 4024 will cause the second aluminum angle plate 4012 to continue its rotation clockwise until it is stopped at the original holding position, firmly holding the poster art 4006 and the transparent sheet 4008 in place.
It is clear from the above discussion that the second aluminum angle plate 4012 can be termed as a holding plate 4012 because it is the plate that actually holds the mounted sheets in its mounted position. This holding plate 4012 can also be called a toggle plate 4012 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 4012 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 knob position 4032 and the knob position 4032′ is termed first zone. The region between the knob position 4032′ and the knob position 4032″ is termed second zone. When the holding plate is manually moved by hand to the first zone and then let go the hand, the holding plate 4012 will be pulled by the extension spring 4024 and rotate clockwise until stopped by the mounted sheets 4006 and 4008. This is the holding or closed position of the holding plate. When the holding plate 4012 is moved by hand to the second zone and then let go the hand, the holding plate 4012 will be pulled by the extension spring 4024 and rotate counterclockwise until stopped by the first aluminum angle plate 4012 or the sheet holding board 4000. This is the open position of the holding plate.
For vertically hanging the sheet holding board 4000 a center hole 4034 is provided. Two additional side hanging holes 4036 can also be provided to assure the sheet holding board 4000 is properly leveled.
Based on the disclosure disclosed so far the number of art sheets that can be vertically held in the mounted position by the holding plate 4012 will be largely dependent on the properties of the art sheets including its size, thickness, weight, surface structure, etc., as well as the tension force exerted by the extension springs 4024. An invention will now be disclosed which may significantly increase the number of art sheets to be securely held by the present holding plate 4012 in their vertical hanging position.
As seen in
As the flexible art sheet 4006 is placed on top of the rubber block 4038 and the holding plate 4012 is lowered toward this art sheet, the portion of the art sheet in contact with the holding plate 4012 will be pressed by the exerted spring force and bent into a shape outlining the groove 4040. The creation of this bent in the art sheet, as well as the surface property of the rubber, coupled with the strong pressing force by the extension spring 4024, will result in a strong friction between the art sheet and the rubber block which will prevent the slippage of the art sheet as it is vertically mounted on the sheet holding board.
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 4012 to the art sheet and the rubber block, a portion of the rubber 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 art sheet, the rubber block 4038 with its groove 4040 of the present invention is also intended to securely hold a stack of more than one art sheet. It is important that the size of the groove 4040, 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 holding board 4000 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 mounted on the sheet holding board 4000.
When a sheet holding board 4000 of the present invention is equipped with an easel plate a new product termed tabletop easel board 4042 as shown in
As seen in
It is possible that the tabletop easel board 4042 can be made long enough so that it can also be used as a floor easel board for floor presentation. But it is more desirable to simply use the sheet holding board 4000 and rest it on a conventional floor easel for floor presentation.
Most conventional tabletop and floor easels are mainly used to hold a conventional matching easel pad. This pad is simply a stack of white sheets of same size bound together. The user typically uses a mark pen to hand write or draw the presentation materials on each white sheet either prior to or during the presentation. The user must be careful in preparing these sheets in sequence same as the actual presentation sequence. If one sheet is out of the place, it must be torn off the pad and inserted into the right place using glue or adhesive tape. If one sheet is to be designed using a computer software and be printed in a printer, this sheet must also be added into the pad using glue or adhesive materials.
On the other hand, in the present tabletop easel board 4042 and the sheet holding board 4000 applied for floor presentation, respectively, all the sheets to be presented can be independently prepared. Such sheets may include a newspaper front-page sheet, computer printout, company brochure, advertisement, hand written paper, and white sheet. All these sheets can be of different sizes, materials, thickness, as long as they are all flexible and can be turned, if needed, during the presentation. Once prepared and sorted out in right order they can be mounted on the present table top easel board 4042 or the sheet holding board 4000. If any sheet is found out of the right order, it can be easily removed and reinserted into its right place.
As seen in
In
In addition to two top hanging holes 4068 located at two top corners of the board 4064, similar to the two top hanging holes 4036 of the sheet holding board 4000 shown in
The wire hanger 4066 may be a conventional picture hanging wire. It is a braided metal wire consisting of multiple strands of galvanized steel wire. It is strong and flexible. Yet it is also malleable and can be formed and retained in a shape ideally suitable for hanging a picture frame or the present sheet holding boards 4000 and 4060.
As seen in
In
After the placement of the art sheets 4078 and 4080, the sheet holding board 4060 is ready for hanging. Before hanging, one metal ring 4074 will enter one side slot passage 4072 and into one side hanging hole 4070. At this time the wire hanger 4066 should be placed behind the board 4064, and the first art sheet 4078, not in front of the board 4064 as shown in
The other metal ring 4074 on the free end of the wire hanger 4066 is next placed in the other side hanging hole 4068.
To hang the sheet holding board 4060 with the first turned over art sheet 4078 on a nail 4082 nailed on a wall, the user must hold the sheet holding board 4060 with both hands placed over the two side hanging holes 4070. The user's hand fingers must hold the wire hanger 4066 and maintain it behind the board 4064 with its center portion visible as shown in
After hanging, the turned over art sheet 4078 is firmly held between the board 4064 and the wire hanger 4066. This is an ideal way to hang the sheet holding board 4060 of the present invention, regardless whether the first art sheet or any other art sheet in the stack is to be displayed. Only one nail is needed for hanging. Because the wire hanger 4066 can retain its shape, the user most often doesn't need to stand on a chair to reach the nail 4082 higher up on a wall.
The boards 4004 and 4064 of the sheet holding board of the present invention are preferably painted white or with white lamination. The surface of these boards can be made very smooth. This will allow erasable mark to be written on these boards. Many conventional erasable marking pens of various colors can be used for this purpose.
In
Of course, when all art sheets mounted on the sheet holding board 4060 are removed or turned over to the back side of the board, the entire board will be available for writing one or more memos. For example, a rather length To-Do list can be erasably written on this board.
In the above discussion in connection with the tabletop easel board 4042 shown in
Just the same as a sheet holding board, a combined sheet holding board can also removably hold a stack of art sheets of different sizes. To change the display of the existing sheet the user simply open all sheet holders one by one and then remove this stack of art sheets. The user will have ample time to insert a new stack of sheets, carefully position these sheets. Only when every thing is to the user's satisfaction, all the sheet holders can then be closed one after the other.
The above described operation reveals an important fact in the use of a combined sheet holding board with two or more sheet holders of the present invention for mounting or removing a stack of sheets. Because each sheet holder can be opened and stay open, and can be closed and stay closed, two or more sheet holders can be operated in sequence to achieve the job of mounting and removing a stack of sheets. This is simply impossible if two or more conventional clips are to be used in sequence as a one-man operation.
For the sake of discussion, each sheet holders 4102 could be similar to the sheet holders 4002 shown in
The sheet holding board 4100 in
The sheet holding board 4200 comprises a board 4206 and a plurality of sheet holders 4204 lined up as shown in
It is also desirable to mount two soft transparent vinyl sheets 4228 on the sheet holding board 4200. It will serve to cover the front advertisement sheet 4210 and the back advertisement sheet 4212. Since these two vinyl sheets are slightly larger than the two advertisement sheets, the edge portion of the vinyl sheets will cling to each other and seal the advertisement sheets in between. The weight of these two vinyl sheets 4228 will also keep the two advertisement sheets to stay flat vertically, not easily swayed by the indoor circulating air flow.
The two topside edges of the board 4206 can be mounted with two long bolts 4224. The two long bolts 4224 can be hung on two ceiling hooks 4226 for displaying these two advertisement sheets 4210 and 4212.
There is a functional difference between the combined sheet holding board 4090 shown in
The four sheet holding board 4232 are combined together using conventional pegs 4244 and latches 4246. As seen in
The latch 4246 shown in
It is seen in
The width of the combined sheet holding board 4230 is adjustable by simply adding or removing one or more sheet holding boards 4232 in order to match the need of the advertisement. It can be disassembled for shipping in order to meet the size requirements in most commercial shipping companies.
The difference between the combined sheet holding board 4230 shown in
Shown in
In
In the top barrel bolt 4278, the round bolt is moved to the leftmost position as the handle 4288 is stopped at the left end side of the slide opening. At this position, the round bolt 4286 is located underneath the long barrel 4280 only. In this position the handles 4288 and 4290 can also be rotated 90 degree downward and be seated in the cut-off slots 4293 and 4294, respectively, and be locked in the open position.
In order to move the top barrel bolt 4278 to the closed position, the two handles 4288 and 4290 must first be rotated to the position as shown in
In the locked closed position the two barrel bolts 4278 will prevent the two boards 4274 from separated away from each other. Further more, due to the presence of the two round bolts 4286, the two boards 4274 will also be aligned and maintained straight without bending.
Two eyelet pins 4296 can be mounted on the two top edges of the combined sheet holding board 4270. These two eyelet pins 4296 can be hung on two ceiling hooks 4297 for displaying two advertisement sheets 4298 and 4299. The advertisement sheet 4298 is not shown, but can be similar to the front advertisement sheet 4210 shown in
Rest above the rubber block 4310 is a round rod 4314 of same length as that of the rubber block 4310. This rod 4314 has a diameter slightly less than that of the groove 4312. This rod is preferably made of metal for its strength and rigidity.
Attached beneath the board 4302 at each end of the rubber block 4312 is a metal block 4316 with two screw holes 4318. Rest above each end of the round rod 4314 is a rectangular shaped metal plate 4320 with two feed through holes 4322. The center portion of this metal plate 4320 is contoured to conform to the circular shape of the outline of the round rod 4314. Two feed through holes 4324 are also provided on the board 4302 right above the screw holes 4318 of the metal block 4316. Finally, two screws 4326 with wing nut screw heads are provided at each end of the rubber block 4310.
For mounting the Mona Lisa art sheet 4306 and the transparent sheet 4308 on the sheet holding board 4300, the user can place these two sheets on the board 4302 with the top portion of these two sheets resting right above the rubber block 4310 as shown in
The two metal plates 4320 are next placed above the round rod 4314 at its ends. Each of the four wing nut screws is inserted through the metal plate feed through holes 4322, board feed through holes 4324, and into the screw holes 4318. All four screws 4326 are gradually tightened while maintaining the metal plate 4320 well balanced.
As all four screws are further tightened, downward force will be applied to the rubber block 4310 and cause some deformation of the rubber block 4310. At the same time, the friction created between the rubber block 4310 and the art sheet under such pressure is so high as to prevent any slippage of the art sheet during its vertical display.
In the present disclosure, a large friction is created between a circular groove of a rubber block and the mounted art sheet due to the presence of a large pressing force transmitted through a round rod. The creation of such large friction makes the present sheet holding board an excellent sheet holding device. But it should be pointed out that as long as a large friction can be created between a rubber groove and an art sheet due to the presence of a large pressing force transmitted through a rod in contact with the groove, it doesn't matter whether the groove is of circular shape and the rod is a round rod. For example, a “V” shaped rubber groove and a triangular rod can also transmit a large pressing force and create a large friction between the rubber groove and the art sheet.
As seen in
A side hanging hole 4336, with a passage 4338, is provided on each side of the board 4302, about one quarter of the length of the board 4302 way down from the top of the board 4302. This wire hanger 4330 can be removably mounted in the two side hanging hole for hanging the sheet holding board 4300 on a wall.
A threaded hole 4319 is also shown on the side of the metal block 4316. This threaded hole 4319 can be used for mounting a long bolt, similar to the long bolt 4224 of
The sheet holding board 4400 is shown comprising a sheet holder assembly 4408 and a board 4410. The sheet holder assembly 4408 is similar to the sheet holder assembly 4304 shown in
It is seen in
A long bolt 4412, similar to the long bolt 4224 of
The sheet holding board 4502 is very similar to the sheet holding board 4000 shown in
The major components of the sheet holder 4506 may include a first aluminum angle plate 4510 attached to the board 4508, and a second aluminum angle or holder plate 4512 rotatably mounted on the first aluminum angle plate 4510. Two extension springs 4514 connecting these two plates 4510 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 board 4508. 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
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 only 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 is also applicable for the sheet holding boards 4000, 4042, 4060, 4100, and 4200 shown in
It is also clear based on the present disclosure that if all art sheets to be displayed have two mounting holes at a given distance apart on each sheet, the sheet holding boards 4000, 4042, 4060, 4100 and 4200 can be modified by replacing the groove on each board by a pair of pegs similar to the two pegs 4522 shown in
Four mounting holes 4524 are provided on the four corners of the board 4508. This will allow the sheet holding board 4502 to be firmly fastened to a vertical wall.
As seen in
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 4506 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 4500 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 the 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 4502.
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 4502 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 4502.
Similar to the two pegs 4522 shown in
As shown in
When an art sheet such as the poster 4611 is to be carried by a person during a parade or large crowd gathering an additional extension pole 4615 can also be used in addition to the pole 4612. It will increase the visibility of this poster 4611. When this extension pole 4615 is rested on the shoulder of the person at an inclined position, the sheet holding board 4600 will also be similarly tilted. But the poster 4611, due to its flexibility, will still be vertically positioned.
Also shown in
Also shown in
To start the installation, the combined sheet holding board 4684 is placed face up on a table. All four holding plates of the four individual sheet holding boards 4600 are turned to the open position exposing all eight pegs 4608. The advertisement sheet 4682 is then placed on the opened combined sheet holding board 4684. Once all pegs 4608 are inserted in the eight punched holes, the four holding plates can now be closed, which completes the present sheet installation procedure.
This combined sheet holding board 4684 with the installed advertisement sheet 4682 can be hung to the ceiling of the retail store by running a wire through each of the two exposed mounting holes at the end of the combined sheet holding board 4684.
In
In the following section several improvements and additions are disclosed which may enable the sheet holding board 4600 of the present invention to be more useful. One new area of application will be the outdoor use of this sheet holding board 4600.
As seen in
The portion of the vinyl cover 4700 above the two mounting holes 4707 is essentially a sleeve 4708. A metal rod 4710 is shown inserted in this sleeve 4708. Once the vinyl cover 4700 is mounted on the sheet holding board 4600, the metal rod 4710 is also rest on the two pegs 4608 for supporting the vinyl cover 4700.
An art sheet 4712 with both sides printed with one Bible Scripture is placed between the front cover 4702 and the back cover 4704 of the clear vinyl cover 4700. To avoid shifting of this sheet 4712, it can be taped with a transparent tape onto the clear vinyl cover 4700.
As seen in
Also shown in
As implied by the name “back hook”, the upper section of the back hook 4714 is bent back to form a hook. As seen in
An extension pole 4732 with a top hole 4734 can also be provided. As seen in
Once the sheet holding board 4600 and the art sheet 4712 are properly mounted, additional measures are needed to protect them against harsh outdoor environments including heavy wind and rainstorm. As seen in
A plastic rod 4744 is attached to the front clear vinyl cover 4702. It can be achieved by applying a wide clear tape adhered to the rod 4744 and the front cover 4702 around the rod 4744. This plastic rod 4744 is preferable a PVC rod which will keep the front cover straight and make the printed message spread flat and clearly visible.
One small center slit 4748 and two side slits 4749 can be made by punching the front clear cover 4702 immediately above and below the rod 4744. A rope 4746 can run through these two center slits 4748 and the metal ring 4738. The two free ends of the rope 4746 will then be tied together into a knot.
The rope 4746 will loosely tie the clear vinyl cover 4700 to the pole 4720. It will still allow the cover 4700 to swing back and forth lightly in the wind to make it lively, but will prevent it from violent shaking or even turn over during heavy wind.
It should be pointed out that the bottom of the clear vinyl cover 4700 is still open and not taped together. This is desirable because the vinyl cover 4700 is intended for repeat use and frequent change of the displayed art sheets. This opening will allow for air circulation and escaping of moisture from inside of the clear cover 4700.
The use of the rope 4742 will also maintain the clear cover 4700 pointing downward. No rainwater will flow into the cover 4700. This rope 4742 will also prevent or minimize the damage of the cover 4700 from heavy wind or rain.
In spite of the above-described protection measure, it is still not enough protection facing a thunderstorm or freezing rain. It is suggested that the display be taken down prior to such events.
It should be pointed that the sheet holding board 4600 of the present invention can hold vinyl cover of width much larger than the width of the sheet holding board, provided that the metal rod 4710 of adequate length and diameter is used. But for displaying art sheet larger than twice the width of the sheet holding board 4600. It is recommended the two or more sheet holding boards be combined together for such purpose.
It is recommended that the clear vinyl sheet containing ingredient providing protection against UV radiation be used for making the clear vinyl cover 4700 of the present invention. Most consumer grade paper and/or ink used in color printers are not UV protected. Both such paper and ink will decay under extended outdoor sun exposure. Proper UV protection can thus be achieved if such print can be displayed behind the clear vinyl cover of the present invention.
In addition to UV protection, the clear vinyl cover 4700 of the present invention may also provide one other advantage when used for displaying art sheet printed by average household printers. Such printers are generally not able to print art sheet as large as the size of a poster art. More than one printed sheet must be taped together using clear adhesive tape. This clear adhesive tape mark will be less visible if the final art sheet is displayed under the present clear vinyl cover 4700.
The present novel flag 4750 has a top sleeve 4752, and a bottom sleeve 4754, on its top and bottom sides, respectively. A metal rod 4756 is inserted in the top sleeve 4752, for maintaining the flag's weight. A metal or plastic rod 4758 is inserted in the bottom sleeve 4754, to hold down the flag once it is vertically hung.
After the insertion of the rods 4756 and 4758, all ends of the sleeves 4752 and 4754 are sealed off as shown by the sewing lines 4759 in
Similar to the clear vinyl cover 4700 shown in
As seen in
Most conventional flags are side mounted, which is not adequate for evenly supporting the weight of the flag. As a result, most of the time this flag is collapsed. The viewer will not know what this flag is unless it is a famous flag and familiar to the viewer. The only exception is when the flag is hung outdoor and there is heavy wind blowing. But this is rare except for some coast windy areas.
As a compromise, sometimes this flag is hung sideway because most conventional flags have two mounting holes on its side. This is OK if the flag only contains graphic design. If it also contains words, the viewers may find it difficult to read the text sideway.
On the other hand, in the present concept all flags must be hung in its nature orientation, upper side up and bottom side down. The anchor point must be on its topside. A strong rod is provided as part of the flag. Once it is hung, its weight will be evenly supported by this rod. All flag sign will be clearly displayed and viewed, as it should be.
The second novel feature in the flag 4750 of the present invention is the provision to maintain this clear display and view of the flag details even in the presence of heavy wind. The present flag 4750 also comes with a bottom rod 4758 inserted into the bottom sleeve 4754 of the flag. This rod 4758, coupled with the top rod 4756, will maintain the flag flatly stretched with clear view when it is vertically positioned.
But these two rods are still not enough in the presence of heavy wind, which may blow the flag up, flip over or upside down. This problem is solved by providing a center button hole 4762 and two side button holes 4763 on the flag fabric just above the bottom rod 4758. A rope 4764 can run through the center button hole 4762 and tie the bottom rod 4758 to some solid anchor point nearby. In this way, the flag may swing in the wind, but it will not flip over unless the flag is ripped apart or the rope is broken.
In the present case, the anchor point could be the eyelet pin 4740 driven into the nearby wall 4713 as shown in
The combined sheet holding board 4770 can be made by tapping two sheet holding boards 4600 as similarly described previously and shown in
In
A metal rod 4776 can be installed in an aisle higher up in a retail store. This combined sheet holding board 4770 along with its displayed advertisement sheets 4772 can be hung on this rod 4776 using the two attached back hooks 4714. These two back-to-back advertisement sheets can be viewed by shoppers walking down the aisle from either end. The advertisement example shown here is a copyrighted DVD promotion by RCA.
A clear vinyl sheet 4778 can be optionally employed for covering each of the two advertisement sheets 4772. These two vinyl sheets 4778 will stay flat and hold the advertisement sheets in place and prevent it from blowing apart in the presence of indoor circulating air.
In order to lift the combined sheet holding board 4770 up for hanging it on the horizontal rod 4776, and taking it down from the hanging position, two long extension poles 4780 can be provided. On top of the extension pole 4780 is a blind hole 4782 for removably receiving the pole 4774 for lifting and lowering the combined sheet holding board 4770. Once the combined sheet holding board 4770 is properly hung on the rod 4776 as shown in
Shown in
A US flag 4750, just like the one shown in
Except for the flag graphic design, The California State flag 4806 may have the same size, fabric material, fabric sleeves, top and bottom rods as that of the US flag 4750. This flag 4806 may also have two grommets 4808, a center button hole 4810, and two side button holes 4812 located in the same locations as their counterparts in the US flag 4750.
The US flag 4750 and the California State flag 4806 are connected by two hanging ropes 4814, each of which is tied between a grommet 4808 of the California flag 4806 and a side button hole 4763 of the US flag 4750. These two tied ropes must be of equal final length in order to evenly hang the California State flag 4806 spaced apart below the US flag 4750.
In addition to the above-stated hanging ropes 4814, a third rope 4816 is used to enter the two grommets 4808 and form a loop with the two ends tied together behind the flag pole 4800. This loop rope 4816 will limit the swing of both the US flag 4750 and the California State flag 4806 away from the flag pole 4800 to within a distance defined by this loop rope 4816.
A USC (University of Southern California) flag 4820 is shown hung below the California State flag 4806. This USC flag 4820, in spite of its different graphic design and size from that of the US flag 4750 and California State flag 4806, is still equipped with fabric sleeves, top and bottom rods, two grommets, a center button hole, and two side button holes with same functions, if not sizes, as that of the US flag 4750 and California State flag 4806.
Just the same as the two hanging ropes 4814, two hanging ropes 4822 are created between the California State flag 4806 and the USC flag 4820 for evenly hanging the USC flag 4820 spaced apart from the California State flag 4806. A loop rope 4824, similar to the loop rope 4816, is created for connecting the two grommets of the USC flag 4820, looped behind the flag pole for limiting the swing of the California State flag 4806 and USC flag 4820.
The last item in the flag pole display chain is an art sheet 4830 listing the USC Rose Bowl record. This art sheet 4830 is placed inside a clear vinyl cover 4832, which is similar to the clear vinyl cover 4700 shown in
Just the same as the two hanging ropes 4814, two hanging ropes 4840 are created between the clear vinyl cover 4832 and the USC flag 4820 for evenly hanging the clear vinyl cover 4832 spaced apart from the USC flag 4820. A loop rope 4842, similar to the loop rope 4816, is created for connecting the two grommets of the clear vinyl cover 4832, and limiting the swing of the clear vinyl cover 4832 and the USC flag 4820.
Just the same as the clear vinyl cover 4700, the clear vinyl cover 4832 also has a center slit 4844 both immediately above and below a rod attached to the bottom section of the front cover of the clear vinyl cover 4832. As seen in
There is one difference in the design of a clear vinyl cover. In the clear vinyl cover design shown in
In
A chain of four flags/art sheet is shown in the present example. Depending on the height of the flag pole, even more items can be allowed. With the present novel design and structure, each flag or art sheet is fully stretched for displaying its graphic details. Both the swing and movement of all items are restricted in favor of the clear display.
For a flag pole of given height and wind condition, the allowable size of a flag is limited, depending on the strength of the flag pole. In the present design, although the total area of the display is large, its impact on the flag pole is not as severe as the case in which all total area were represented by a large single flag at the top of the flag pole. In the present design, the display is evenly distributed over a large height distance. The torque on the flag pole by a flag at lower height is much lower than the torque by the same flag at the top of the flag pole.
Due to the present unique way of display, in which all flags and art sheets are lined up in one straight line, they will rotate to align itself with the wind direction, the impact of the wind will be reduced. Because all displayed flags are fully stretched, which will reduce the amount of flag waving, the impact of the wind will be further minimized.
The sheet holding board system 4900 comprises a sheet holding board 4902 and the cover 4504, which has been previously shown in
The first aluminum angle plate 4910 is a part of the sheet holder 4906, and has a length much longer than that of the first aluminum angle plate 4510. This increased length will allow the pegs 4522 and rubber block 4516 to be installed directly on the first aluminum angle plate 4910 instead of the board 4508. The pegs 4522 and the rubber block will be more securely installed on the sheet holding board 4902 resulted from this modification.
In spite of the above modification, the sheet holding board system 4900 can be used just like the sheet holding board system 4500 shown in
Shown in
In
As seen in
The major components of the sheet holder 5100 may include a first aluminum angle plate or base plate 5103 and a second aluminum angle plate or holding plate 5105. The holding plate 5105 is rotatably mounted on the base plate 5103. Two tension or extension springs 5107 connecting these two plates 5103 and 5105 allow the holding plate 5105 to be toggled between an open and a closed positions.
A rubber block with groove 5109 is shown glued to the base plate 5103. Two pegs 5111 are inserted and glued or attached to two holes in the base plate 5103. Two hanging holes 5113 are drilled on the base plate 5103 for hanging the sheet holder 5100 and attached art sheets on two wall nails.
For an art sheet to be properly hung by the two pegs 5111 on the sheet holder 5100, obviously, there should be two hanging holes provided on this art sheet. If the diameter of these two pegs is 3/16″ (0.48 cm), then the size or diameter of the two hanging holes could be ¼″ (0.63 cm), which happen to be the most popular size of paper punchers available commercially.
In this template 5200 there are two large holes 5204 serving as a guide to the punching of two hanging holes on the art sheet to be held by the two pegs 5111 of the sheet holder 5100. To begin the punching process, the user simply lay the template 5200 on the art sheet with the top edge of the template 5200 lined up with the top edge of the art sheet. A hand held paper puncher is then brought in with the punch head lined up with one of the holes 5204. This punch head is then pushed through the hole 5204 and punching out one hole on the art sheet. The process is next repeated with the second hole punched out.
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.
As described previously, the effectiveness of the rubber block 5109 in holding an art sheet in the sheet holder 5100 is due to the formation of a crease as the art sheet is pressed between the holding plate 5105 and the rubber block 5109. This crease increases the contact area between the art sheet and the rubber block 5109 and thus increases the friction against the slippage of the art sheet while hanging vertically.
When more art sheets are to be held in the sheet holder 5100, it is preferable that each art sheet be individually creased as it is added to the existing stack of art sheets. It is also suggested that additional hand pressing force be applied to the holding plate 5105 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 that can be safely held by the rubber block 5109.
If still more art sheets need to be added to the stack, these additional art sheets can be held by the two pegs 5111. Obviously, each of these added art sheets have two matching holes before mounting.
As more and more art sheets are added, a point will finally be reached as the stack gets so tall that any more art sheets added can no longer be held in the pegs 5111. This is the maximum number of art sheets that can be held by the rubber block 5109 and the pegs 5111.
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 5200 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.
Also shown in the sheet holder 5100 is a group of twelve screw-nut pairs 5115 mounted on twelve matching holes in the base plate 5103. Out of these twelve pairs, four center screws-nut pairs 5115C can be used for attaching the sheet holder 5100 to a pole or rope in a manner similar to what is shown in
The first item to be described is the US flag 5300. It is mounted on the sheet holder 5100 as seen in both
It is seen in
There are many similarities between the US flag 5300 shown in
As expected, there are also several differences between the US flag 5300 and the US flag 4750. The first difference is that the US flag 5300 also has a right sleeve 5302 and a left sleeve 5304, each having an opening at its top side.
For the sake of discussion, it is assumed that a person grabs the rope 4804 and lifts the US flag 5300 along with the sheet holder 5100 as seen in
The amount of this weight can be calculated by calculating the difference in the moment or obtained experimentally by gradually adding weight to the left sleeve 5304 until the sheet holder 5100 or the flag 5300 is leveled. This balancing weight can be replaced by a piece plastic rod 5306 cut to certain length in order to yield the same weight balance. This rod 5306 can then be inserted into the left sleeve 5304 through its top opening. The US flag 5300 shown in
Just the same as shown in
It is to be noted that all center button holes in the US flag, California flag and USC flag shown in
As seen in
Since the US flag 5300 is supported off-center on the flag pole 4800 by its rope 4804, in the presence of steady wind, this flag 5300 will be forced by the wind to rotate itself until it becomes in alignment with the direction of the wind. Once it attains this orientation, it will retain this orientation as long as the wind continues in the same direction. In this orientation, the impact of the wind on this flag, as well as the flag pole will be minimized. Consequently, the damage to the flag and the flag pole by wind will also be minimized.
In a given geographic location, if the prevalent seasonal wind direction is northwest, then the flag pole can be installed with its poll-pulley line at right angle with respect to the north-west line. The flag rope can then be tied to the sheet holder 5100 in such a way so that the flag will be naturally pointed at a direction in parallel with the northwest line. This means that the flag will be stationary regardless whether there is a northwest wind or windless.
There are many similarities between the California flag 5311 shown in
A hose clamp 5320 is inserted through one middle button hole 5312 in vertical alignment with the pole 4800 and is wrapped around the bottom rod of the California flag 5311. A second hose clamp 5322 is held by the hose clamp 5320 and is loosely wrapped around the pole to restrain the flag 5311 from drifting away from the pole 4800.
There are many similarities between the USC flag 5323 shown in
A hose clamp 5324 is inserted through one middle button hole 5314 in vertical alignment with the pole 4800 and is wrapped around the bottom rod of the USC flag 5323. A second hose clamp 5326 is held by the hose clamp 5324 and is loosely wrapped around the pole to restrain the USC flag 5323 from drifting away from the pole 4800.
There are many similarities between the clear vinyl cover 5331 in
The lower portion of the clear vinyl cover 5331 has been modified, which is detailed as shown in
To assemble this clear vinyl cover 5331 the double-side printed art sheet or two back-to-back art sheets 4830 are placed between the front cover sheet 5336 and the back side sheet 5338. Make sure the top rod 5332 is properly inserted into the space between the top edge of the vinyl cover 5331 and the two grommets 5334. The bottom rod 5340 is next placed between the four male Velcro squares 5342 and the four female Velcro squares 5344, which is followed by folding the lower section of the front cover sheet 5336 back along a dash line 5346. This will bring the four male Velcro squares 5342 to meet the four female Velcro squares 5344 to form a seal. Finally, the right side and the left side of the front cover sheet are folded back along a two inch mark as seen in
As seen in
One more measure is provided for further securing the flag chain and the vinyl cover 5331 in the flag pole 4800. A hose clamp 4846 is clamped onto the pole 4800 for securing a metal ring 4848. A rope 4850 is fed through the metal ring 4848 and one middle slip 5350 and tied to itself to form a knot. This will hold down the vinyl cover 5331 and prevent it from flying up the pole 4800 in a heavy wind.
It is seen in
Shown in
A double side ad sheet or two back-to-back advertisement sheets 5405 as shown in
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 5422 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
The art sheet 5405 shown in
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
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
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.
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.
All three clear vinyl covers 5508, 5510 and 5512 are identical in design and are similar to the clear vinyl cover 5331 shown in
The fixture 5514, as well as the fixture 5516, comprises a long vertical bar 5520, a short vertical bar 5522, a top horizontal bar 5524, and a bottom horizontal bar 5526. The long vertical bar 5520 is longer because its lower portion is mounted on the ceiling floor of the building 5500 and not visible behind the building's top side wall. Such mounting is similar to the mounting of a flag pole on a ground, typically involving drilling a hole on the top floor followed by adding some cement. It can also be mounted by using several angle steel brackets with holes inserted with heavy concrete screws drilled into the top floor of the building 5500.
All four bars 5520, 5522, 5524, and 5526 are typically strong bars joined together by angle brackets into a rectangular shaped fixture. One commercially available bar may be an “U” shaped steel bar from Unistrut, at Wayne, Mich. Three pulleys 5528, 5530, and 5532 are mounted on the top horizontal bar 5524. The pulleys 5528 and 5530 are single channel pulleys, while the pulley 5532 is a double channel pulley capable of receiving two ropes in these two channels. Two eyelet bolts 5534, 5536, of equal or slightly different lengths are mounted on the short vertical bar 5522.
All three clear vinyl covers 5508, 5510, and 5512 are each mounted on a sheet holder 5100. A soft washer 4614 is held by four center screw-nut pairs 5115C for holding a rope 5540 in way similar to what shown in
As shown in
At the ground level, each of the two ropes 5540 and 5550 is connected to an extension spring 5552. After the spring 5552, these two ropes will enter a control box 5554.
Inside the control box 5554, everything is the same as what is shown in the control box 5412 of
In the control box 5554, as the ropes 5540 and 5550 are pulled away from the serrated roller 5424, this roller 5424 will fall to the stop bar 5430 and disengaged from the ropes 5540 and 5550. The user can pull the ropes up or down if needed. When he is ready to raise the sheet holder for displaying the art sheet he can continue to pull down the ropes 5540 and 5550 until the sheet holder 5100 and the vinyl cover 5508 are stopped at the eyelet bolts 5534 and 5536, respectively. At this point, the user can still continue pulling down the ropes 5540 and 5550. This will not change the position of the sheet holder 5100 and the vinyl cover 5508, but will stretch out the extension springs 5552 as far as possible but still within the range of extension allowable according to the spring specification. While still holding the ropes at this position by one hand, the other hand can lift the serrated roller 5424 up along the rack 5428 until the roller 5424 is in contact and engaging the ropes 5540 and 5550. Now the hand pulling the ropes can be removed, which is followed by removing the hand pushing the roller 5424. This completes the rope locking process.
After the above stated locking process, the sheet holder 5100 will stay locked at its secured position as shown in
The hanging of the clear vinyl cover 5510 is somewhat different from the hanging of the clear vinyl cover 5508. First, there is no spring along the ropes hanging the cover 5510. Second, the control box 5556 is also somewhat different from the control box 5554. Two new items are added to the box 5556. The first one is a hanger 5558. The second one is a weight 5560 with a long hanging loop 5562. At the beginning, this weight is manually lifted so its hanging loop 5562 is hung on the hanger 5558. At this position the weight 5560 does not touch the ropes, which allow the control box 5556 to operate just like the control box 5412 shown in
After locking the ropes 5540 and 5550, the user can remove the weight 5560 away from the hanger 5558 and let it rest on the ropes 5540 and 5550 at the mid point between the pulley 5420 and the stationary roller 5422. This weight 5560 will always pull down the ropes 5540 and 5550 to secure the sheet holder 5100 on the fixture 5516 even the length of the ropes 5540 and 5550 have stretched longer after some extended usage.
One advantage in the use of weight 5560 is that the line between the pulley 5532 and the control box does not have to be a straight line without obstruction. The ropes 5540 and 5550 can route through many pulleys to avoid such obstruction.
It should be noted that the use of the weight can also be applied to a flag pole. A control box comprises a weight will need to be installed next to the flag pole.
The fixture 5518 is not much different from the other two fixtures 5514 and 5516. Because this fixture is to be mounted on the outside wall of the building 5500, the top horizontal bar 5524 and the bottom horizontal bar 5526 can be slightly shorter.
The hanging and control system for this fixture 5518 is basically same as that for the fixture 5516. It can be very useful because the fixture can be mounted anywhere on the outside wall of the building as long as it is big enough to display the advertisement sheet. The hanging ropes can be routed through any available space.
In
In
The first member of the art sheet display system 5600 shown in
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 regular sheet holder 5100 shown in
The clear vinyl cover 5612, except for its size, essentially has the same design as the clear vinyl cover 5331, shown in
In the present art sheet display system, four ropes 5620, 5622, 5624, and 5626 are employed for raising, lowering, and locking the art sheet 5610 for its display on the building. As seen in the figure, the front end of each of the two ropes 5620 and 5622 is attached to the sheet holder 5614 with the use of a soft washer 4614 and four screw-nut sets in the manner as shown in
As shown in the figure, two hose clamps 5628 are clamped on the bottom rod 5618. The front end of each of the two ropes 5624 and 5626 is tied to this clamp 5628.
As seen in
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.
It is noted that as shown in
If the user frees up the ends of the 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 ropes 5620 and 5622 around the two matching cleats and tie it up. After this, he can pick up the 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 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 locking of the art sheet and its vinyl cover on the fixture 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 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
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.
As seen in
The two holes punched on the vinyl cover 5612 for mounting it on the sheet holder 5614 is no longer needed here either. This is because the vinyl cover 5702 is no longer needed to be mounted on the sheet holder 5614. The removal of the vinyl cover 5702 from the fixture 5701 is achieved by simply removing the ropes 5620, 5622, 5624, and 5626 from the four hose clamps 5628 and 5704 once these hose clamps are loosen.
It is noted that the bottom horizontal bars 5606 is slightly shorter than the top horizontal bars 5604. This is desirable so that these bottom horizontal bars 5606 will not interfere with the raising and lowering of the clear vinyl cover 5702 and its associated top rod 5616. Furthermore, the lower eyelet bolts 5630 should also be placed slightly closer to the vertical bars 5602 than the upper eyelet bolts 5630. This is required due to the presence of the hanging pulleys 5633 if the clear vinyl cover 5702 is to maintain straight in its mounted position.
Shown in
This rod clamp 5830 can be easily mounted on the vinyl cover 5612 or 5702 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 and 5702 shown in
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.
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.
Except for the difference in size, the vinyl cover 5810 is basically the same as the vinyl cover 5702 shown in
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
But all hose clamps 5628 and 5704 used in
One other improvement is the replacement of four eyelet bolts 5630 used in
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.
In
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 5014 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.
The US flag 5932 has a design similar to the one shown in
Both the top center and the bottom center of the flag 5932 are each mounted with a rod clamp 5830 as shown in
The clear vinyl cover 5934, except for its size, essentially has the same design as the clear vinyl cover 5331 shown in
As seen in
The lower rod clamp 5830 mounted on the vinyl cover 5934 is also connected to a quick link 5943. This quick link 5943 is also connected to a hose clamp 5946 or a ring slidable along the flagpole 5930. The hose clamp 5946 can also be tightened around the flagpole if needed.
The eyelet hole 5832 of the upper rod clamp 5830 mounted on the US flag 5932 is tied to a rope 5948 preferable by a conventional rope clamp for its neat appearance. After entering a flag pulley 5950 this rope 5948 will fall all the way down into a control box 5952 attached to the flagpole 5930. In this control box 5952, the rope will pass through two pulleys 5954 as seen in the figure.
To properly hang the US flag 5932 and the art sheet 5936 on the flagpole 5930, the user can pull the free end of the rope 5948 downward until the upper rod clamp 5830 on the US flag 5932 is firmly pressed against the flag pulley 5950 or its casing. This is the uppermost position the flag 5932 should be ideally hung on the flagpole 5930.
After done pulling, the rope 5948 is wrapped around a cleat 5956 in the control box. At this point, the rope 5948 is appearing horizontally between the two pulleys 5954 in the control box 5952. The user can now place a weight 5958 on this rope between the two pulleys 5954. The weight 5958 will bend the rope 5948 down to some degrees. Apparently, the rope 5948 is stretched somewhat, but the flag 5932 still remains at the same location unchanged. Now the US flag 5932 and the vinyl cover 5934 are hanging freely next to the flagpole 5930. The user can next tighten the hose clamp 5946 around the flagpole 5930 to prevent the vinyl cover 5934 from flying upward along the flagpole in a windy day. If a ring is used instead of the hose clamp 5946, or if the hose clamp 5946 is located too high up to be reachable by hand, a second rope can be tied to the quick link 5943 and wrapped around the cleat 5956 in the control box.
With time, this rope 5948 may become stretched and increase its length. But this slack will be taken by the weight 5958 by lowering itself in the control box 5952. As a result, the flag 5932 will always maintain at its uppermost position for a long time. Of course, eventually, the weight 5958 may fall to the bottom of the control box 5952 and can no longer take up the slack of the rope 5948. The user needs to go back to take out the weight 5958 from the rope 5948, and then rewrap the rope around the cleat 5956. Again he places the weight 5958 back on the rope to start another cycle.
The display system 5960 shown in
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
Two ropes 5972 and 5974 are used for hanging these art sheets 5968 on the horizontal bar 5962. One end of each rope is ties to the sheet holder 5966 in a way similar to the manner shown in
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. Just 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.
After the above description of the present art display system 5960, two points need to be made. First, before the extension spring runs out of its spring force, the art sheets 5968 will always display at its uppermost display position. Second, the art sheets are always evenly displayed with no leveling problem. These points, coupled with the present novel sheet holder, and the ability of easy art sheet raising, lowering and replacement, will certainly make the present system one desirable indoor art sheet display choice.
The art sheet display system 5982 disclosed in
In
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
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.
Shown in
This plastic model 6001 may have an outer appearance and even size just like a real Tesla Roadster electric car. Two center eyelets 6004 and two side eyelets 6006 are provided for hanging this model on the fixture 5701.
The eyelet holes of the two center eyelets 6004 are of equal height. The two ropes 5620 and 5622, after passing through the two eyelet bolts 5630 or the replaced bolt pulleys 5820, will be tied to these two center eyelets 6004.
The eyelet holes of the two side eyelets 6006 are also of the same height, but lower than that of the other two eyelet holds of the center eyelets 6004. The ropes 5624 and 5626, after passing through the eyelet bolts 5630 or the bolt pulleys 5820 and the two hanging pulleys 5633, are tied to these two eyelet holes of the side eyelets 6006.
After all four ropes 5620, 5622, 5624, and 5626 are tied to the four eyelets 6004 and 6006, the plastic model 6001 is ready to be raised and mounted on the fixture 5701 for display. While two persons are pulling the ropes 5620 and 5622, two other persons can hold the ropes 5624 and 5626 to guide the raising of the plastic model 6001.
It is noted that during the arising, the plastic model 6001 should stay balanced without tilting. But caution is still required to make sure the plastic model will not spin, swing or hit the surrounding building. Finally, the model 6001 will be stopped at its mounted position as both two eyelets 6004 are pressed against the two top eyelet bolts 5630. The persons holding the ropes 5620 and 5622 can now wrap the ropes and tie it to the cleats 5635.
These same two persons will next pick up the two loose ropes 5624 and 5625 in the control box 5634, and start pulling these two ropes. The two hanging pulleys 5633 will roll and rise in response the pulling of these two ropes 5624 and 5626. This arising will finally stop as the hanging pulleys 5633 are sandwiched between the eyelets 6006 and the eyelet bolts 5630. The two ropes 5624 and 5626 can now be wrapped around and tied to the cleats 5635.
At this time all four idled weights 5636 can be placed on the four ropes each between the two spaced apart pulleys 5632 in the control box. This completes the mounting process and the plastic model 6001 is ready for display on the fixture 5701. The stretching of the four ropes 5620, 5622, 5624 and 5626 by the four weights 5636 will assure that the plastic model 6001 always be securely mounted on the fixture 5701, without dangling or swinging while on display.
It is noted that the two bottom horizontal bars 5606 are shorter than the two top horizontal bars 5604. It allows the two lower eyelet bolts 5630 to be positioned closer to the vertical bars than the two upper eyelet bolts 5630. This difference enables the plastic model 6001 to be mounted on the fixture at a balanced position.
The lowering of the plastic model 6001 will be just the reverse of the above stated mounting process. First, the ropes 5624 and 5626 are released to allow the hanging pulleys 5633 to roll down to the ground. The ropes 5620 and 5622 are next loosen to allow the plastic model 6001 to descend slowly while guided by the persons holding the ropes 5624 and 5626.
The mounting of the 3D sign 6010 is simply by tying the ropes 5972 and 5974 to the eyelets 6012. Pay attention to the leveling of the 3D sign in its suspended position. The raising, lowering and locking of the 3D sign are essentially the same as in the case of the art sheet 5968 and shown in
The folded vinyl art sheet 6020 is shown with four punched holes with grommets 6022 on its four corners. These grommets 6022 will also serve to bind its front sheet and back sheet together.
This art sheet 6020 can be readily mounted on the fixture 5701 of the display system 5700 shown in
Unlike the clear vinyl cover 5702, this art sheet 6020 doesn't have an enclosed top rod and bottom rod. It purely relies on the fixture 5701 and the four ropes for stretching itself. Its width cannot be extended much beyond the four grommets 6022.
It is possible to have a folded vinyl art sheet with larger width than that of the art sheet 6020. This is achieved by adding more grommets on its top and bottom sides. It will also call for a wider fixture with more ropes for its display.
Just like the folded vinyl art sheet 6020 shown in
The mounting of the art sheet 6030 on the display system 5700 in
The mounting of the art sheet 6040 on the display system 5700 in
The first member of this display system 6050 is a fixture 6052. This fixture 6052 is very similar to the fixture 5601 and 5701 as shown in
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.
The assembled bolt pulley has two holes through which a rope can enter. But sometimes, the end of a rope is attached to a bulky component, which is too bulky to enter the holes of the bolt pulley. This could be a snap hook or spring link permanently tied to a rope with a rope clamp, or an AC power plug on the end of a cable. The present bolt pulley can be easily disassembled for the entry of such rope or cable into either one or both holes of this disassembled bolt pulley, and followed by reassembling them into one single pulley.
In the present system 6050, there are two mounting 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.
All above-stated ropes and cables, each may go through one or more pulleys 6104 before it finally rests in the control box 6102. But some of these ropes and cables, each may have its end tied to a bulky component, thus preventing it from going through these pulleys 6104. It is thus proposed that each of these pulleys 6104, may also be modified, similar to the bolt pulley shown in
In
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
During the initial construction of the fixture 6052, the worker(s) must be raised to the height of this fixture 6052. In addition to the construction of the fixture 6052, the worker must also complete the installation of all pulleys 6104 and the bolt pulleys 6068, 6070, 6072, 6074, 6076, 6078, and feed all four ropes 6090, 6092, 6094, 6096, and two cables 6098, 6100 all the way from the control box 6102 to the point beyond each corresponding bolt pulley. In the next step, he needs to feed the end of each of the four ropes 6090, 6092, 6094, 6096 through a hanging pulley 6118 and tie the end of this rope to form a knot, just like the knot 6120 illustrated in
At this point, the present display system can be considered entering an initial idle stage. During this stage, the preparation work has been completed. But the display system has not been put to use for displaying an art or the TV or monitor 6106.
It is true that all other display systems, especially the system 5600, 5700, and 5800 shown in
Just prior to the completion of the construction of the fixture of each display system, and the worker(s) is still raised at the height of the fixture, he can pull the loose end of each rope down to the ground level and leave it there during the subsequent short initial idle stage. At the end of this stage, each art sheet, along with the accompanied sheet holder 5614 or the vinyl cover 5702 or 5810, is tied to the four ropes available at the ground level. Now the art sheet can be raised by hand pulling the two upper ropes, while the two lower ropes are hand held to guide the raising of the art sheet. Once the art sheet is pulled to its mounting position, the two lower ropes will then be pulled to secure the art sheet to the fixture. It is seen in
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, 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 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. The two users will next wrap and tighten the ropes 6090 and 6092 around the two cleats 5635, and then place two weights 5636 on these two ropes.
The next step to do is for the users near the control box 6102 to pull the two ropes 6094 and 6096 to raise the two hanging pulleys 6118 until these two pulleys are sandwiched between the TV or monitor and the bolt pulleys 6072 and 6078. The users will then wrap and tighten the ropes 6094 and 6096 around the two cleats 5635, and then place the remaining two weights 5636 on these two ropes. 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 6118 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.
It is interesting to note that the ropes 6090, 6092, 6094, and 6096 are shown as four independent ropes. But it is possible to merge any two of them together as one rope, while merge together the other two as another rope. These merging will happen inside the control box 6102 without reducing the length of the ropes, and without affecting the operation of all ropes for raising and lowering the TV or monitor 6106.
This is a continuation-in-part of patent application Ser. No. 11/375,906, filed Mar. 15, 2006 and patent application Ser. No. 12/156,307, filed May 31, 2008 Provisional Patent Application No. 61008767, filed Dec. 24, 2007 Provisional Patent Application No. 61070973, filed Mar. 26, 2008
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 61008767 | Dec 2007 | US | |
| 61070973 | Mar 2008 | US |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parent | 11375906 | Mar 2006 | US |
| Child | 12221700 | US | |
| Parent | 61007535 | May 2008 | US |
| Child | 11375906 | US |
