Patent Application
20100257767
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to apparatus and method for advertising products and services on a banner and, more specifically to a frame for holding a banner containing an advertisement to a panel of a truck or the wall of a building.
2. Description of Related Art
There are several types of frames or holders for mounting banners containing advertisements on support structures, such as trucks and building wall which are known in the art. More specifically, by way of example U.S. PreGrant Publication No. 2008/0024892 to Macsenti relates to an elongated housing containing a gripper roller which is used to grip and retain the edge of a banner in the housing. The housing includes tapered front and rear walls which define a chamber for the roller and which is open at its lower end. When an edge of the banner is inserted into the chamber via the lower opening, the gripper roller presses the banner edge against the rear surface of the front wall to suspend the banner from the device.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,406,788 to Uccello relates to fixed and floating rails adapted hold elongated locks having sign edges wrapped around non-rotating inserts, and tensioning means for tensioning signs locked in the rails, which tensioning means may be a series of short levering mechanisms spaced along and connectable to the floating rails.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,206,908 to Devaney relates to an upper frame mounted on a support structure, such as a truck, building, or billboard with, three adjustable frame assemblies and sheet material having an upper sheet tab inserted into the upper frame, and lower, right, and left sheet tabs inserted into the adjustable frame assemblies. The frame assemblies can be adjusted to vary the tension in the sheet material between the upper frame and the adjustable frame assemblies. The method includes the steps of inserting the upper sheet tab into the upper frame, inserting the right, left, and lower sheet tabs into the adjustable frame assemblies, and adjusting the adjustable frame assemblies so that the sheet material is pulled taut between the upper frame and the adjustable frame assemblies.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,178,281 to Johansson, et al. relates to a fabric sign having a pair of parallel support elements for attachment to a base and a fabric having two parallel edge portions for assembly on the support elements. One of the support elements has an inner wall section, an outer, flange-like wall section with a free supporting end to form a pivot, and an end wall section that connects the inner and outer wall sections. The wall sections form a clamping pocket for clamping the fabric to the frame.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,276,082 to Richards, et al. relates to frame members which form a rectangle where each frame member includes parallel engagement surfaces on ribs. An elongate retainer includes an elongate flange with an interlocking surface which can selectively interlock with any one of the engagement surfaces on the frame. The frame also has a frame rail having a rail surface. A tool having pinch rollers squeezes the rail surfaces toward one another to place the sheet material held by the retainer in tension while the interlocking surface is engaged with the appropriate engagement surface.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,233,859 to Kilpatrick, et al. relates to a frame element assembly having a base portion and a retaining leaf where the retaining leaf is pivotally mounted with respect to the base portion and is held in a pivotal arrangement by a bow spring. In use the retaining leaf can pivot between an “open” position in which display material can be inserted or removed from the display holder and a “closed” position in which display material is retained within the display holder.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,346,057 to Pynenburg relates to a holder having two longitudinal extruded panels each having a longitudinal C-shaped flange situated along one of the panel edges. One flange is inserted within the other one to form a longitudinal interlocking hinge connection. The panels are movable with respect to each other in a transverse direction about the hinge between an open and a closed position. The flanges are dimensioned in such a way that rotation of the panels with respect to one another in the transverse direction results in one of the flanges being elastically deformed during the first part of the motion, with the resulting stored elastic energy being abruptly released during the second part of the panel motion to snap open or close the holder. In the fully open position the holder forms a well defined receiving mouth for inserting or removing a poster to eliminate the problem of the poster being pinched.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,040,586 to Hillstrom relates to a frame that has a base portion which is attached to a building or surface and a spring loaded rotating cover portion which covers a channel in the base. A plurality of inner slidingly adjustable hook members and a pair of outer clip lock members positioned in the channel hold a banner in place. The banner has a plurality of mating holes or apertures along one edge and hangs from the hook and lock members in the frame device. Once the banner is positioned on the hooks, the cover portion is closed to retain the banner in place.
In an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, there is disclosed a frame for attachment to a truck or a wall for holding and displaying a banner comprising:
In another embodiment of the present invention, there is disclosed a method for attaching a frame to a truck or a wall for holding and displaying a banner comprises:
The more important features of the invention have thus been outlined in order that the more detailed description that follows may be better understood and in order that the present contribution to the art may better be appreciated. Additional features of the invention will be described hereinafter and will form the subject matter of the claims that follow.
Before explaining at least one embodiment of the invention in detail, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its application to the details of construction and the arrangements of the components set forth in the following description or illustrated in the drawings. The invention is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced and carried out in various ways. Also it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology employed herein are for the purpose of description and should not be regarded as limiting.
As such, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the conception, upon which this disclosure is based, may readily be utilized as a basis for the designing of other structures, methods and systems for carrying out the several purposes of the present invention. It is important, therefore, that the claims be regarded as including such equivalent constructions insofar as they do not depart from the spirit and scope of the present invention.
The foregoing has outlined, rather broadly, the preferred feature of the present invention so that those skilled in the art may better understand the detailed description of the invention that follows. Additional features of the invention will be described hereinafter that form the subject of the claims of the invention. Those skilled in the art should appreciate that they can readily use the disclosed conception and specific embodiment as a basis for designing or modifying other structures for carrying out the same purposes of the present invention and that such other structures do not depart from the spirit and scope of the invention in its broadest form.
Other aspects, features, and advantages of the present invention will become more fully apparent from the following detailed description, the appended claim, and the accompanying drawings in which similar elements are given similar reference numerals.
Referring to
Referring to
Each section consists of three components, a base plate 20 of plastic or extruded aluminum which is not anodized, a cap plate 22 which can be plastic or extruded aluminum and which is anodized or, and a yieldable member such as rubber which has a high coefficient of friction securing gaskets 24. The base plate 20 and cap plate 22 are made of extruded aluminum and each section is cut to size. When the frame is a square or a rectangle the ends of the abutting corner ends of the top, bottom, and side sections are mitered on an exact forty five degree angle. The extruded aluminum base plate and cap plate come in eight foot lengths. If a dimension of the frame is greater than eight feet, additional piece(s) needed to provide a frame of the desired size can be added to the frame with a butt joint.
Referring to
Referring to
To attach a banner 60 to the frame, and referring to
Now, lifting the center of the banner with its six pull tabs and aligning the printed center mark on the banner with the pencil mark on the tape plane, the top of the banner is taped along the tape plane ridge.
Note: To obtain an exact custom fit and to compensate for any positioning errors in installation, the banner is only cut across the top side. The other three sides have extra banner material that needs to be cut away a little later in the installation process. The top side is precut to allow the banner to be hung right now and to make it easy to cut the other three sides once the top side is hung.
At this time the pre-cut top part of the banner is lined up against the top sections tape plane ridge with the center pencil mark lined up with the center mark printed on the banner. The tape can go over the base plate and onto the truck body or wall; it will be cut away later. The rest of the top of the banner is now taped to the base plate as the banner is pulled slightly away from center and utilizing pull tabs spaced about 18 inches apart.
After the top of the banner is aligned and duct taped to the base plate of the top section of the frame, the two sides of the banner are then cut/trimmed to size. After the sides of the banner are cut, the bottom of the banner is then cut/trimmed to size. The two sides and bottom are cut before they are taped to the frame
The banner needs to be the exact size of the base plate tape plane ridge but no math is needed, the banner is simply trimmed to the exact size by first cutting the sides of the banner along the cutting groove and then cutting the bottom of the banner with a utility knife, razor or Xact-O blade. By pulling on the banner a little, the crease which is the tape plane ridge can be seen. By inserting the blade through the banner and into the cutting groove, the groove becomes a guide for the knife's blade and the banner can be accurately cut along the groove.
Now, applying a slight downward tension to the banner, a strip of duct tape is placed at the bottom center of the banner and, after aligning the center of the banner with the center of the base plate, it is secured to the base plate of the bottom section 14.
Now, going to the left and right sides of the banner, the same procedure of attaching the center of the banner to the center of the side sections with a single strip of duct tape on each side is performed, making sure that the banner is pulled tight before the duct tape is applied.
At this time the banner is completely taped across the top and is attached to the bottom section, the left section, and right section with strips of duct tape. Now is the time to make any adjustments necessary to make the banner lay as flat and as tight as possible by adjusting the strips of duct tape. After making any adjustments, add additional strips of duct tape as needed. The banner is now as flat and as taut as is possible. Now the excess tape that is on the truck or wall is trimmed. The end of the tape away at the end up against the tape plane where the cap plate is going to hook over the base plate and hook the anodized cap plate on top of the banner and the base plate of each section is cut away. The cap plate, when screwed down onto the base plate, will further tighten the banner by increasing the distance the banner has to travel between each of the two opposing sides (top and bottom, left and right) and also lock the banner to the frame by compressing the rubber gasket under the banner.
The cap plate 22 of each section of the frame is attached to the base plate 20 of each section of the frame by placing the hook end 44 of the cap over the end 32 of the base plate and attaching the lower end of the cap to the base plate with a screw 70, see
With the cap plates attached to the base plates of each section, the banner is compressed between the cap plates and the rubber gaskets on the base plates and is locked in position to the frame, and the banner cannot slip out of the frame.
While there have been shown and described and pointed out the fundamental novel features of the invention as applied to the preferred embodiments, it will be understood that the foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the invention and not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise forms disclosed. Obvious modifications or variations are possible in light of the above teachings. The embodiments discussed were chosen and described to provide the best illustration of the principles of the invention and its practical application to enable one of ordinary skill in the art to utilize the invention in various embodiments and with various modifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated All such modifications and variations are within the scope of the invention as determined by the appended claims when interpreted in accordance with the breadth to which they are entitled.
This patent application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/167,615 filed on Apr. 8, 2009, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein in its entirety by reference.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 61167615 | Apr 2009 | US |
