Patent Application
20150183263
The present invention relates to systems and methods for making imprints in sand, snow, mud, or other impressionable surfaces. More specifically, the invention relates to systems and methods for making commercial advertising imprints by a vehicle.
It has been noted in the prior art that imprints left in sand, snow, or road surface by vehicle wheels may be used to advertise commercial goods. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 1,571,248 teaches that a wheel may be custom molded to include words or marks in minor image (i.e., negative image) such as “Coca Cola” or other trademarks or forms of communication with a reader (collectively referred to herein as a “mark”). Then, upon mounting the wheel upon a vehicle, movement of the vehicle on sand or snow or other similar impressionable surfaces will leave positive image impressions of the mark on that surface. This action has the useful effect of temporary advertisement or communication with members of the public who may walk along the same road, beach, or ski slope and who will inevitably see the marks before they are eroded by the elements.
It has become increasingly understood in recent years that, to be effective, advertising should be targeted at a select audience of consumers who are most likely to purchase the goods on offer. One example of such advertising may be witnessed at a beach, where light aircraft are used to pull pendants behind the aircraft bearing advertising targeted at the throng below on the beach, for goods and services such as alcohol, local accommodation, restaurants, and the like. Under ordinary circumstances, it would be useful to combine such airborne advertising with imprints in the sand made by vehicle wheels, more especially of the trucks and utility vehicles used by lifeguard and police vehicles which are legally permitted to drive on the beach at the same time as bathers are gathered on the beach. Such combination targeted advertising in these circumstances is considered to be highly effective.
However, drawbacks exist with the present type of system for leaving temporary marks upon a surface, in the manner described above, namely formed by a minor image of the mark molded into a wheel tread. First, if one wishes to change the mark, it is difficult to do so with ease in a short period of time: One is compelled to remove from the vehicle the wheel bearing one mark (in negative), and substitute it with another wheel bearing a different mark (in negative). This may require returning the vehicle to a garage, and cannot easily be done in the field. Second, another disadvantage is that molding a custom designed impression into a wheel is very expensive. A dedicated wheel mold must be constructed, and rubber or polymer must be poured into the mold to produce a wheel with a tread having a desired imprint, in negative, of a mark. Such operations cannot benefit from the economies of scale that mass produced wheels enjoy, resulting in a very expensive product. Having a plurality of different advertising marks would be even more expensive. Third, a wheel with a desired custom imprinted mark may have to be driven a long distance from a storage garage to the beach or other location where trademarks are required to be imprinted onto an impressionable surface. This gives rise to two separate additional problems. First, a custom made wheel with custom designed advertising imprints will not enjoy the same roadworthiness that a commercially produced wheel enjoys in terms of its ability to gain traction on a wet or slippery surface. Indeed, in many states it may be illegal to modify a wheel to include such a modification. Second, the wheel will, as all wheels do, tend to wear down over a lengthy journey, and along with it, the imprint will wear down too. As already discussed above, the cost of replacing a custom made wheel with an imprint is much more expensive than a mass produced wheel, and so the cost of maintaining the imprint will be excessive. These problems with the existing system and method have suppressed targeted advertising on beaches and ski slopes because the cost, complexity, and inconvenience of the system is great.
Accordingly, there exists a need in the art for a system and method for cheaply and rapidly enabling a vehicle with a wheel imprint for advertising and similar purposes. The present invention addresses these and other needs.
In some embodiments, the invention is a system for advertising on a surface capable of receiving impressions made by a wheel. The system comprises a set of chains configured to be removably attached to a wheel. At least one plate is provided, the plate bearing an embossment, on an outer surface thereof, of a mark in negative image. The plate is attached to the chains and positioned to leave a positive image of the mark on the surface when the wheel rotates upon the surface. In some embodiments, the set of chains is a set of standard commercially available snow chains. In some other embodiments, the set of chains may include webbing. In yet other embodiments, the set of chains may include two circumferential chains and a plurality of cross chains configured to extend between the circumferential chains, and wherein at least one circumferential chain is formed from an elastically extensible material, which may be a polymer.
In some embodiments, the at least one plate is formed from two platelets that are attached to each other. In further embodiments, the two platelets are connected to each other by attachment means that allows the platelets to be unattached from each other. In yet further embodiments, the plate defines reservoirs which are connected to an upper surface of the plate via weep holes, the reservoir being filled with a colored fluid.
In yet other embodiments, the invention is a method for advertising on a surface capable of receiving impressions made by a wheel. The invention comprises providing a first set of chains configured to be removably attached to a wheel; attaching to the chains at least one first plate bearing an embossment, on an outer surface of the plate, of a first mark in negative image; attaching the set of chains to the wheel; rotating the wheel on a the surface; and leaving a series of positive impressions of the first mark on the surface. In some embodiments, the invention further includes removing the first set of chains from the wheel, and attaching a second set of chains bearing at least one second plate with an embossment of a second mark different from the first mark. In further embodiments the invention further includes removing the first set of chains from the wheel, removing from the first set of chains the at least one first plate, and attaching at least one second plate bearing a second mark different from the first mark. In some embodiments, the step of providing a first set of chains includes providing a set of commercially available snow chains. In some embodiments, providing a first set of chains includes providing a set of chains comprising two circumferential chains and a plurality of cross chains extending between the circumferential chains, wherein at least one circumferential chain is formed from an elastically extensible material and is connected into a full circle before attaching the set of chains to the wheel, and wherein attaching the set of chains to the wheel includes slipping the extensible circumferential chain over the wheel.
In some embodiments, the step of leaving a series of positive impressions of the first mark on the surface includes providing a reservoir in the at least one plate, introducing a colored fluid into the reservoir, and leaving a set of colored impressions on the surface.
These and other advantages will become apparent when read in conjunction with the drawings and the detailed description of the preferred embodiments.
With reference to the drawings, an invention is described that is a system and method for supplying a wheel (preferably for a vehicle) with a negative imprint of an image that will form a mark when seen in positive image. It is contemplated that the invention may be used with any type of wheel, not limited to vehicular wheels, but may also include any type of device such as a regular car, a motorbike, push cart, wheelbarrow, or even a suitably modified shopping cart and the like. The system and method is configured to address problems in the prior art.
In one embodiment, and with reference to
Added to the chain 12 are features which provide the invention with its novel and useful properties. With reference to
As exemplified in
When as many plates 30 as are desired are affixed to the chain, the chain may be fixed to the rear wheel of a vehicle in known manner, such as exemplified in
In yet further embodiments, the platelets, where formed from rubber or flexible polymer, may be configured to include reservoirs 40 (seen in broken line outline in
In yet further embodiments, the chain set may include chain elements formed from a rubber or polymer compound which possesses a reasonable amount of flexibility. In some variants of this embodiment, the rubber chain may be prepared so that at least one of the circumferential chains 14 form continuous circles before being installed on a wheel. In this case, the completed structure 10 may be installed on the wheel from the side of the wheel, rather than by placing the chains in a planar configuration on the ground and driving a wheel over it, thereafter connecting the ends of the chain together. The flexibility of the at least one circumferential chain 14 permits an operator to slip the innermost chain over the wheel, then to move the vehicle forward by one half revolution and slip the balance of the innermost chain over the wheel by stretching the innermost chain. The same process may be carried out in reverse for removing the structure 10. It will be appreciated that for this method to work, only the innermost circumferential chain need have elastically extensive properties. The outermost chain may be rigid in some embodiments. Thus, fabricating at least one of the circumferential chains from an elastically extensible polymer such as rubber allows a much more rapid installation and removal procedure. While it will be appreciated that the resulting structure will be weaker than a chain made completely of steel, such as a commercially available set of snow chains, the specific requirements of the situation are less stringent than a steel snow chain suitable for road travel. In the present embodiment, the structure may be installed for use on a smooth and sandy beach, or gentle snow field. The maximum speed of the vehicle will be severely restricted by the circumstances, and a set of chains that include an elastically extensible compound will be acceptable for the purpose, while at the same time introducing an advantage for rapid installation and removal of a set of chains of the invention. In this case, the outermost circumferential chain and the cross chains 18 need not be formed to possess as much flexibility as the innermost circumferential chain, as they will not need to be stretched during installation.
Thus, the present invention provides a flexible and inexpensive solution to problems found in the art of targeted advertising for beach and snow settings, and the like. Companies or entities who wish to target a beach or skiing population with immediate and direct advertising may approach the beach lifeguards or ski security personnel and arrange for them to place an embodiment of the invention on the wheels of the vehicles they use to patrol up and down the beach or ski slope just before or during the time when the population is present. The advertising company may contract to pay the guards or security officers with a fee based on the number of miles travelled on the relevant surface. This arrangement will provide much needed revenue to life guards and ski security personnel, and yet the advertising is environmentally sensitive, leaving no permanent harmful effect, and not even consuming more gasoline than would otherwise have been used in the course of the duties conducted by the security personnel. This may be compared with the vast amount of gasoline that advertising companies are prepared to spend by procuring light aircraft to fly along a beach dragging a pendant bearing advertising for the benefit of beach goers.
Thus, the various embodiments of the invention provides an advantageous structure for in a flexible and inexpensive manner. The present invention may, of course, be carried out in other specific ways than those herein set forth without departing from the essential characteristics of the invention. The present embodiments are, therefore, to be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive, while the scope of the invention is set forth in the claims that follow.
