Abstract:
An advertising display for use above the roof of a vehicle comprises a rigid elongated and enclosed advertising member, which is of substantially triangular cross section and which can be reversibly mounted on a metallic roof with the use of magnets affixed within receptacles in the base of the display. Apparatus is provided for storing a plurality of the advertising members in a space-conserving fashion.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention relates to advertising signs and message boards which may be removably mounted upon a motor vehicle, and systems and methods for storing such signs. 
     A variety of businesses, particularly in the fast food industry, employ part-time delivery vehicles. Typically, the business will provide the part-time delivery person with a sign that may be easily mounted upon the delivery person&#39;s vehicle, but removed at the end of the delivery person&#39;s shift and used during the next shift. Examples of vehicle-mounted removable advertising signs are disclosed in my earlier U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,667,428, 4,839,975, 5,084,994, and D.290,620. Previous vehicle-mounted signs employing magnetic means of attachment have been disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,440,748, issued to J. C. Hackley, and U.S. Pat. No. 2,960,786, issued to S. Wagner. A product of this type has also been sold commercially by Mr. Bill&#39;s Sign Co. of Leesburg, Fla. under the trademark “Drive-N-Ad”. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention concerns an apparatus and related method for displaying removable advertising sign on a vehicle. Magnetic means are provided for removably attaching the advertising sign to the vehicle, and includes illumination means for night-time visibility of the advertising message. Means are also provided for storing a plurality of the advertising members. 
     The advertising sign preferably comprises an enclosed, elongated hollow unitary member of molded translucent plastic, substantially triangular in cross section lateral to the elongated dimension, having opposing side surfaces which are bowed slightly outwardly to improve aerodynamics and with at least one side surface suitable for attaching advertisement thereto. The molded member includes a bottom having plural molded recesses each for receiving an individual magnet. 
     The magnetic means of attachment comprise plural magnets affixed to the base of the advertising member such that the advertising means will withstand forces occurring during the vehicle&#39;s motion without being dislodged. A special coating is disposed on each magnet to prevent scratching of the vehicle to which the magnets are attached. 
     The illumination means comprise at least one light positioned inside the advertising member, and with means for electrically coupling with an electrical source in the vehicle. The enclosed unitary construction of the molded advertising member prevents exposure of the illumination means to moisture during use. 
     Two forms of storage means are disclosed. In a first form, the storage means comprises a hollow member with means to support a plurality of the advertising members situated on end, and spacing means sufficiently thin so that an advertising member can fit between two contiguous spacing means. Both the spacing and support means are attached to the inner side of the hollow member at a position removed from the hollow member&#39;s edge. The shape of the hollow member is designed to surround a plurality of advertising members positioned on end in a space-efficient manner. The storage means are constructed in such a way that one holder may be completely or partially filled with advertising members and further stacked with another holder atop the stored advertising members. The additional holder can then be partially or completely filled with additional advertising members and these steps repeated, creating a space-efficient means for storing as many layers of holders and advertising members as can fit within the storage area. 
     In the second embodiment of the storage means, there is provided an elongated ferrous metal bar of sufficient length to accept a plurality of the advertising members, so that the magnetic means may be attached to the bar. 
    
    
     
       THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a perspective view of the advertising member. 
         FIG. 1A  represents a cross-sectional view of a portion of the advertising member and the magnetic means of attachment of the advertising member to a vehicle&#39;s roof, taken along the lines  1 A- 1 A in  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 2  illustrates the bottom surface (base) of the advertising member of  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 3  indicates a placement of the advertising member of  FIG. 1  atop a vehicle. 
         FIG. 4  is a perspective view of a first embodiment of storage means for a plurality of the signs of  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 5  is a perspective view of the holding apparatus with three advertising members placed therein. 
         FIG. 6  is a perspective view of two of the holding apparatus of  FIG. 5 , the bottom one filled and with the top partially filled. 
         FIG. 7  is a front view of the second embodiment of storage apparatus. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     The preferred embodiment of the present invention will now be described with reference to  FIGS. 1-7 , where the removable advertising sign of the present invention is referred to generally by the reference numeral  10 . 
       FIGS. 1 and 2  show two views of advertising sign  10 , comprising a hollow, rigid and translucent unitary molded plastic advertising member  102  of substantially triangular cross section lateral to the elongated direction. This unitary construction significantly reduces the intrusion of water, which is detrimental to the illumination system. Advertising member  102  possesses two triangular end faces  108 , a base  107  in the form of a generally rectangular sheet of plastic material, and two elongated, substantially rectangular side surfaces  106  which are somewhat curved to improve aerodynamic characteristics, and to which side and end surfaces advertising messages may be affixed. The molded advertising member  102  also contains four integrally molded feet  110  each of which extends below the plane of the remaining central portion of the base 107, each molded foot 110 at a corresponding corner of the base  107 . All edges of the molded advertising member are closed and rounded to improve aerodynamic and moisture resistance properties. 
       FIG. 1A  illustrates a coated magnet assembly  126  removably affixed within a similarly-shaped, indented recess or receptacle  112  in each foot  110  via screw  128 , which possesses a beveled head  132  and is threaded into metal sleeve  114 . The sleeve  114  is set into a molded extension  113  through the base  107  and into the internal cavity of the advertising member  102 . A flexible sleeve  130  is interposed between each magnet assembly  126  and recess or receptacle  112 ; beveled head  132  and flexible sleeve  130  permit a nonrigid attachment of magnet assembly  126  in the corresponding recess  112 , thus permitting the magnet assembly  126  to pivot slightly as needed to adjust for curvature in the vehicle&#39;s roof. Each magnet assembly  126  is coated with a scratch-resisting plastic material which is chosen to prevent both scratching of the vehicle&#39;s metallic surface and exposure of the metallic stand-off housing  134  (described below). A suitable scratch-resistant coating material is Plascoat PPA  571  manufactured by Plastronics, Inc. A screw hole  127  in the coated magnet assembly  126  is recessed so that the head of screw  128  will not contact the roof of the vehicle. 
     Magnet assembly  126  preferably comprises a coated metal housing  134  with lip  136 , which extends slightly beyond a corresponding magnet  138  to permit easier removal of advertising member  102  from the vehicle roof; that is, to define a space between the coated face of the magnet  138  and the roof, so that the force of the magnet may more easily be decoupled from the metal of the roof. As noted by the dotted lines in  FIG. 1A , the magnet assembly  126  extends slightly below the bottom level of the foot  110 . 
     Base  107 , shown in  FIG. 2 , contains holes  115  for three fasteners  116  for supporting the illuminating lamp assembly  140  shown by dotted lines in  FIG. 1  and which is accessible through removable plate  118  ( FIG. 2 ). This removable plate  118  is affixed into a recessed well  119  in base  107  by four fasteners  120 , and also contains a notch  122  through which the electrical cord  124  for the lamp assembly  140  is extended. 
     Again noting  FIG. 1 , the illuminating lamp assembly  140  comprise a plurality of light bulbs  142  removably affixed in braces  144 , which are attached to base  107  via fasteners  116 . Electrical continuity is attained via electrical cord  124  coupled via plug  146 , which is removably engaged into a conventional automobile lighter. 
     The advertising sign  10  is removably affixed to a metallic vehicle roof  180  in such a way that the advertising sign may be read from all directions, as shown in  FIG. 3 . This is accomplished by placing the long axis of advertising sign  10  on the roof  180  parallel to the windshield of the vehicle. In this configuration, the slight curvature of the forward-facing side  106  substantially reduces wind resistance, and thus, the likelihood that the sign  10  will be blown from the automobile at elevated speeds. Each receptacle 112 is formed by the extension of the adjacent side 106 and the adjacent end 108 below the remaining central portion of the base 107 so as to surround the corresponding magnet assembly 126. The dimension of the feet  110  insures that the curvature of the roof does not prevent the magnets from engaging the roof  180 . Alternately, the sign  10  may be placed longitudinally along the roof  180 . 
     Apparatus for holding the advertising signs  110  in accordance with the present invention is shown in  FIGS. 4-6  and is referred to generally by the reference numeral  20 . This first embodiment of a storage apparatus comprises a rigid cylinder  202 , the diameter of which is slightly greater than the length of two sides  106  of sign  10 . The cylinder  202  has three substantially coplanar flat support members  204  sufficiently wide to support in a stable manner an advertising sign extending diagonally across the cylinder  202 , and three substantially coplanar spacing members  206  sufficiently thin to fit between two contiguously placed advertising signs extending across the cylinder  202  and spaced from the support members  204 . The support and spacing members  204 ,  206  are substantially equally spaced radially and pass through the axis  208  of the cylinder  202  in a radially offset fashion so that an advertising sign  10  placed between two spacing members  206  rests on one support member  204 . In this embodiment six advertising signs  10  with their bases  107  pointing outward will fit into one holding apparatus  20  (see  FIG. 5 ). 
     A plurality of combinations of cylinders and signs  10  as described in the preceding paragraph may be stacked as shown in  FIG. 6 , whereby a first cylinder  202  is filled with advertising signs  10  and then another cylinder  302  is placed atop the advertising members  10  in the first cylinder  202 . This second cylinder  302  may then also be filled with advertising members  10 . 
     A second embodiment of storage apparatus in accordance with the present invention is shown in  FIG. 7 . In this arrangement, an elongated bar  70  of a ferrous metal is supported by fasteners  702  to a wall or similar vertical structure. The advertising members  10  are then stored along the bar by attaching one pair of magnet assemblies  126  to the bar  70 . While a single advertising member  10  is shown attached to the bar  70  in  FIG. 7 , it will be appreciated that the bar  70  is dimensioned to accept a plurality of the advertising members  10  and that additional ferrous metal bars  70  may be also affixed to the same vertical support for storing additional advertising members. 
     It will be understood by those skilled in the art that the advertising member  10  of the present invention and its associated storing arrangements provide numerous advantages and improvement with respect to the prior art. For example, the unitary, enclosed construction of the sign member  10  and the curvature of the elongated signs  106  provide a large message area, while significantly reducing wind resistance relative to prior art sign structures of a similar configuration. The integral, enclosed nature of the base  107  also contributes to the reduction of wind drag, while protecting the illuminating lamp assembly of  140  from moisture. The corner feet  110  further contribute to a reduction in wind drag, being integrally molded with the remainder of the body, while insuring that the advertising member  10  is capable of-being of being supported upon the roof of vehicles having a wide range of curvature across the roof. The particular construction of the magnet assembly  126 , and the particular manner in which it is supported in the corresponding one of the feet  110  permits the advertising member  10  to be easily attached to and removed from a roof of a vehicle, again while insuring that the member  10  remains firmly attached to the roof of the vehicle during use. The particular selection section of scratch-resistant coating  134  137 on the magnet assembly  126  protects both the magnet assembly and the vehicle roof during use. 
     This concludes the description of the preferred embodiments. A reading by those skilled in the art will bring to mind various changes without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. It is intended, however, that the invention only be limited by the following appended claims.