Visually symmetric removable low protrusion tensioned sign display system

A specially engineered, low protrusion, visually symmetric small footprint system of mounting advertising displays to vehicles, such as trucks, tractor trailers, and vans, providing upward/downward adjustability, ease of frame removal and remounting, and over-center tensioning by means of specially designed rails which are attached to the surface of the vehicle. The rails are reversibly fastened to the surface of the vehicle, and can be easily and repeatedly removed and refastened in a short time. This is effected by sinking threaded screw seats into the wall on which the sign frame is mounted, providing permanent holes into which can be repeatedly screwed into and unscrewed from, the low protrusion screws which hold the sign frame to the wall. The hardware residue, after removal of the frame, is barely visible, with a very small footprint, being simply the protruding rims of the threaded screw seats. The entire system, when loaded with signage, and tensioned, protrudes very slightly from the surface of the vehicle, capitalizing on the total width tolerances to within which large trucks and tractor trailers are constructed, and designed not to increase such width beyond applicable regulatory maximum when fully operational.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
 This invention relates to a visually symmetric, low protrusion removable
 system or process for mounting flexible, easily replaceable, tensioned
 advertising displays on to the side of a vehicle, such as a truck, tractor
 trailer, or van. This invention also relates to a visually symmetric, low
 protrusion, removable system or process for mounting flexible easily
 replaceable, tensioned advertising displays on fixed billboards of various
 sizes.
 There have been developed a number of methods for displaying advertising
 signage on the side of moving vehicles. Given the increased mobility of
 the public, and the growing unsatisfied demand for fixed roadside signage,
 the mobile billboard, achieved by mounting advertising art to the side of
 a transport vehicle, is becoming ever more common, and ever more
 practical, given advances in the technology of printing such advertising
 art, allowing better color quality, as well as much greater pixel
 resolutions. Taken together, these factors now make mobile, lateral
 surface of transport vehicle, advertising a higher quality and more sought
 after mode of commercial publicity than ever before with the development
 of the science of mobile commercial publicity production, one would expect
 a corresponding development and sophistication in the technology of
 mounting said media to their substrate, the lateral sides of transport
 vehicles. This invention is a new step in said development and
 sophistication.
 There are a number of constraining factors in designing a mobile
 advertising mounting system, some regulatory, others aesthetic, some
 physical. Firstly, there exist federal as well as state transportation
 regulations restricting the width of transport vehicles at an upper limit.
 Secondly, transport advertising is most often procured by leasing the use
 of a carrier's fleet for such purpose. The fleet owner is inclined to
 lease to the advertising broker whose system impacts the least on the
 fleet's vehicles, in terms of time required for initial setup of the
 system, turnaround time for installation/replacement of a particular
 image, and complexity of the permanent hardware attached to the vehicle.
 Finally, in order to maintain the planar aspect of the sign, which is
 critical to readability from afar, the current industry practice is to
 apply tension to the signage. This has been accomplished in a variety of
 ways, such as the systems described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,239,765, and
 5,507,109. The first of these two systems relies on a series of anchors
 placed along the top and bottom of the lateral sides of the vehicle. A
 flat rectangular rod has the edges of the signage wrapped around it on the
 top and bottom edges of the sign, and this wrapping is held by the rows of
 anchors. The series of anchors method presents obvious difficulties as far
 as bringing the individual anchors within the top or bottom row into
 perfect linear alignment, and there are also issues of significant
 protrusion from the side of the vehicle, using this system, which may
 violate state and federal regulatory restrictions. Additionally, this
 system of U.S. Pat. No. 5,239,765 has no mechanism to prevent the signage
 material acting as an airfoil, billowing and tending to pull away from the
 vehicle, or, at the very least, assuming a convex shape, thus distorting
 the image. This system further has no vertical or lateral adjustibility to
 account for variation in manufacture of the signage material.
 U.S. Pat. No. 5,507,109 solves some of the problems with the system
 described in the earlier patent, yet it discloses a system that is
 visually asymmetric as well as possessing a much larger footprint. This
 implementation also requires a nonuniform as to the various edges method
 of attaching a structural element to the signage, namely using a rod in a
 pocket of the sign on the leading and top edges, and holes ringed by
 grommets on reinforced flaps which must be sewn to the trailing and bottom
 edges of the sign, thus decreasing the available area of the sign that can
 be used for displaying the image; bungee cords, referred to therein as
 "shock cords", are attached to the grommets, or eyelets, as therein
 referred to, and the shock cords are attached to the truck wall by means
 of S hooks connected to either flanges which the patent claims "run along
 the bottom and top edges of the sides of most trailers", or if they are
 not present, then it is suggested that other structures, such as holes
 drilled in the sides of the trailer, may suffice. However, many truck and
 trailer owners would vehemently object to holes large enough to
 accommodate said S hooks being drilled in their vehicle sides. This system
 anchors the leading and top edges of the sign by what appears to be a
 standard awning anchor, and tensions the bottom and trailing edge of the
 signage by said bungee cords and S hook fastening process. The tension
 along the vertical axis of the sign is thus not uniform along said
 vertical axis, and may tend to create wavelike ripples in the signage;
 additionally, being non-rigid, the S hooks will tend to have a time
 varying tension component perpendicular to the sign, ultimately being a
 complex function of the terrain along which the vehicle travels, the
 natural frequencies and other vibratory properties of the vehicle siding
 and other internal vehicular components, and the ambient air, thus
 creating localized hills and valleys in the surface of the sign,
 distorting the image, and diminishing readability. It is not discussed in
 U.S. Pat. No. 5,507,109 exactly how the leading edge and top edge tracks
 are in fact affixed to the trailer siding, nor is it disclosed whether the
 affixing mechanism is a permanent fixture of the trailer, or how much it
 impacts the trailer siding in terms of creating moisture pathways or how
 many fasteners per unit length are required to adequately affix the said
 tracks. Additionally, the system disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,507,109
 requires attaching additional reinforced strips of sign material to the
 signage, where such additional reinforced strips contain the eyelets
 through which the trailing edge shock cord is threaded. The requirement of
 the eyelets as the means for attaching the sign to the substrate thus
 reduces the area of the signage available for the printed display or
 artwork. Finally, the system of U.S. Pat. No. 5,507,109 requires a fixed
 rod to hold the signage; the rod is inserted in a pocket in the signage
 material. This requires additional insertion time at the installation
 site, which can be substantial, or if pre inserted, it precludes rolling
 up the signage for storage and transport, inasmuch as a vertical and a
 horizontal fixed rod force the signage into a plane.
 A further problem with the shock cord method is functional, the rubber from
 which shock cords are made changes over time with exposure to the
 elements, especially heat and UV radiation from sunlight, which is
 increasing yearly. The UV exposure causes cracking, loss of elasticity,
 and ultimately breakage, of the rubber shock cords. This reduces the
 tensions that they can be put under, thus decreasing their efficacy for
 the modem low stretch vinyl signage, which needs to be placed under
 tension so as to maintain a planar quality on a moving vehicle.
 What is desired is a visually symmetric, simpler, durable, comprised of a
 small number of parts, and specially engineered to impact the truck or
 trailer at a minimum in terms of fasteners per foot required to the truck
 or trailer siding, as well as insulating the truck or trailer interior
 form moisture, system of attaching signage to a transport vehicle. Such a
 system should keep the signage material as planar as possible, and not
 introduce a vacuum or partial vacuum underneath it, or cause air pockets
 to form underneath it either, at any point along the sign. Such a system
 would have its framing removable, and insure protrusion from the lateral
 surface of the vehicle low enough to comply with all regulatory maximum
 vehicle width specifications. Once the framing is removed the visible
 residue should be at an absolute minimum, and the framing should be
 capable of replacement and removal at will, and in a short, less than
 half-hour, time frame. The system would also allow for insertion of the
 line by which the edges of the sign are anchored to the substrate to be
 flexible, allowing for pre-insertion at the time of manufacture, and easy
 transportation.
 BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
 This invention is directed toward providing an improved method of
 displaying flexible signage. The signage display mechanism of the present
 invention provides a display frame with a top edge and leading edge, as
 well as a bottom edge and a trailing edge. Inside the frame is mounted a
 PVC, or similar material, which can also be reinforced, sign or display,
 carrying advertising or other printed matter for public display. The sign
 material has a small diameter bolt rope inserted into a pocket around its
 perimeter, and this bolt rope is thermally welded in place. Metallic or
 other similar material rails provide the anchoring top and leading edge
 frame into the approximately cylindrical groove of which the edge of the
 sign pocket, where the bolt rope is inside, is inserted. The bottom and
 trailing edges of the frame are composed of two parts; the first is the
 identical rail used on the top and leading edge serving as an anchor, with
 an additional over-center tensioning latch rail into the approximately
 cylindrical groove of which the bottom and trailing edge pockets of the
 sign, where the bolt rope is are inserted. The over-center latch rail is
 then pushed downward, so as to lie in the same vertical pane as the top
 and leading edge rails, causing the sign to be tensioned tautly in a
 vertical plane slightly in a plane in front of the plane formed by the
 rails and the latch rails. The signage, when inserted, and when the
 over-center latch rail dosed, appears symmetric about axes both vertical
 and horizontal, crossing at the center of the signage material, and is
 very nearly planar, providing an undistorted view of the artwork printed
 thereon. To accommodate differences in manufacture of various signs or
 display images, the rail used for the top and leading edges of the frame,
 and also as the anchor rail for the bottom and trailing edges of the
 frame, has two horizontal rows of fastening holes, placed vertically one
 above the other, and spaced a fixed distance one from the other, through
 which the row of fastening screws can be fed, allowing upward/downward as
 well as lateral adjustibility to accommodate for manufacturing variation
 of the signage or display material.
 Two enhancements to the invention are also available, and their
 implementation will generally depend on cost/benefit considerations. In
 some circumstances, it may be desirable to affix a flexible yet strong
 groove insertion device to the perimeter of the sign, and dispense with
 the bolt rope in the sign pocket configuration. Additionally, where more
 upward/downward and lateral adjustability, as to the spacing between pairs
 of anchor rails, and thus, the sign edges is desired, to accommodate
 variations in sign sizes or to vary the tension in a given sign over its
 useful life, the two rows of fastening holes in the anchor rails can be
 replaced with (rectangular) slots, and identical sized slots are cut into
 the crossover rails, thus allowing more continuous upward/downward (in the
 case of the top and bottom frame rails) as well as lateral (in the case of
 the front and trailing frame rails) adjustability within the range of the
 slot dimension. In this latter configuration, the screws are screwed in
 over special cam washers, which are used to hold certain positions in the
 distance range, in the case of the anchor rails, and simple washers, to
 space as well as hold the screw in place (over the wider slot) in the case
 of the crossover rail.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
 Referring to FIG. 1, a typical embodiment of the signage display system of
 the present invention is shown. A flexible sign 20 is held in place on the
 side of a transport vehicle 30 by being inserted into cylindrical grooves
 which run along the four edges of the frame, which is composed of an
 anchor rail 42 for the top and leading edges, and an anchor rail 42
 holding a cross-over latch rail 48 for the bottom and trailing edges.
 Since the frame rails do not form a complete rectangle, but rather a
 rectangle with four cut off corners, to allow the insertion of the sign,
 plastic end caps 62 cover the corners for visual symmetry and preclusion
 of flapping in the wind of the sign corners. The system is shown in FIG. 2
 in another embodiment as installed on a fixed billboard type sign. In
 order to prevent wind from entering behind the sign at the leading edge
 and pressurizing the sign, billowing it in a convex shape away from the
 vehicle, tape putty is placed between the back side of the forward rail
 and the vehicle body wall. The thickness of the putty varies with the
 texture of the vehicle wall. In this implementation the frame rails, both
 the anchor rail and the crossover latch rail are manufactured of high
 strength aluminum, in other implementations they can be made of materials
 with similar functional properties.
 FIG. 3A shows the sign 20 and its four edges where the sign material has
 been folded over to create a pocket 64, wherein is set a nylon bolt rope.
 The seam creating the pocket, as well as the bolt rope itself in the
 pocket, are all RF, or thermally welded together and in place for a tight
 and secure hold. FIG. 3B is a sectional view of an edge of the sign,
 showing the proportions of the pocket seam 68 in relation to the pocket 64
 and the bolt rope 65.
 Unlike prior art, the bolt rope in this embodiment is flexible, made of a
 nylon line of small diameter. The nylon line does not need to be inserted
 into an already formed sign pocket; rather, the line insertion and the
 pocket formation are done simultaneously. The line is simply laid down in
 place, the signage or display material folded over it, forming the pocket
 64, and all pieces are RF (radio frequency) or thermally welded into
 place. This embodiment is thus flexible, allowing for attachment of the
 bolt rope at the manufacture site, rolling up of the signage for
 transport, and unrolling of said signage at the installation site, for
 quick and easy field installation.
 FIGS. 4A and 4B indicate in detail how the sign is held on the top and
 leading edges by the top or leading edge of the anchor rail 42, with its
 cylindrical groove 40 on the top end, where the sign is inserted and held
 via the bolt rope 65 (FIG. 48), and the pivot slot 56 on the bottom end,
 into which the pivot edge of the crossover rail fits when the bottom or
 trailing edge of the sign is tensioned. This implementation is specially
 engineered to use the same anchor rail for two functions. The anchor rail
 secures or anchors the top and leading edges of the sign or display, and
 also anchors the cross-over rail latch and provides it a pivot slot over
 which it pivots as it tensions the sign on the bottom and trailing edges.
 Using the anchor rail for two functions thus reduces the part count and
 the costs associated with manufacture, quality control, and inventory.
 Fewer parts are thus needed to be understood for the proper installation
 and maintenance of the system. Screws 46 can be placed in either row of
 screw holes 44, as needed, to accommodate variations in actual sign
 height, without having to remount fasteners to the vehicular wall, thus
 allowing vertical adjustibility. The screws 46 have a 360-degree sealing
 and locking pad about the middle of the thread length to seal out moisture
 and prevent loosening due to vibration. Screws are fed through the screw
 holes 44 into the threaded screw seats, which remain in the vehicle or
 billboard wall. The screws have a low protrusion from the plane of the
 substrate, thus allowing the entire design to fit within the tolerances to
 which transport vehicles are manufactured vis-a-vis the regulatory maximum
 transport vehicle width, thus insuring compliance with said regulations by
 the fleet owner.
 FIGS. 5A and 5B shows a corresponding detailed perspective view of the
 crossover latch rail, used, in conjunction with the anchor rail, to attach
 the bottom and trailing edges of the sign. The pivot slot of the anchor
 rail (FIGS. 4) receives the pivot edge 50 of the crossover rail 48. When
 fully tensioned, the crossover rail lies in a vertical plane, parallel to
 the plane of the vehicle or billboard wall. Thus the sign 20 is also
 insured to be planar, which is the optimal three-dimensional orientation
 of the sign for maximum readability and minimum distortion. The groove 40
 of the crossover rail, which holds the sign, which is held therein by the
 bolt rope 65, sitting in the pocket of the sign and RF or thermally welded
 therein. The entire crossover latch rail 48 is attached to the substrate
 via the slotted holes 56, through which are fed screws 46, and screwed
 into the threaded screw seats. The screws 46 have a 360 degree sealing and
 locking pad about the middle of the thread length to seal out moisture and
 prevent loosening due to vibration The slotted holes allow the screw to be
 fastened at a variety of points of orientation of the crossover latch
 rail, allowing for tension adjustibility.
 FIG. 6A and 6B show the sign 20 in the nontensioned and tensioned states,
 as well as the minimal and low footprint hardware residue after the
 removable frame has been taken down, which is simply the threaded screw
 seats 60 (FIG. 6C) sitting in three parallel rows along the length of the
 vehicle or billboard, one on top for the anchor rail 42, and two along the
 bottom for the anchor rail 42 and cross-over rail 48 combination, and then
 one row of fixed fasteners along the leading edge and two rows along the
 trailing edge. FIG. 6D is identical to FIG. 6C except that the shown
 substrate is a wood panel, for wood paneled transport vehicle
 implementations or fixed billboard implementations.
 FIG. 6A affords a view as well of the entire framing system operating as a
 whole. The signage or display is held on the top and leading edges by the
 anchor rail 42, and on the bottom and trailing edges by the bottom and
 trailing edges of the crossover latch rail 48. The pivot edge 50 of the
 cross-over rail is set into the pivot slot 56 found on the bottom or
 trailing edge of the anchor rail 42, and the groove 40 of the cross-over
 latch rail 48 is where the sign is inserted, and said cross-over latch
 rail is attached to the substrate, either metal or wood vehicle wall, or
 wood billboard, by feeding the screws through the slotted holes 58. The
 screw go into the threaded screw seats 60, or the wood threaded screw
 seats 66, depending upon the implementation.
 Finally, FIG. 7 shows a length-view close-up of the anchoring and
 tensioning mechanisms, respectively, used along the top and leading, as
 well as trailing and bottom, edges of the signage frame, respectively.
 Note that the slotted holes 58 on the bottom and trailing edges are spaced
 much farther apart than are the holes within the two rows of screw holes
 44 which facilitate the fastening of the anchor rails 42, in an attempt to
 minimize the impact on the transport vehicle. The screw holes chosen will
 depend on the exact size of the sign being inserted in the frame, which
 will depend on manufacturing variations in the sign material itself. The
 bottom and trailing edges of the sign are held by the cross-over rails 48,
 which are held in place on one edge by the identical anchor rails 42 as
 are used for the top and leading edges of the frame, and on the other edge
 by slotted holes 58, which allow for varying the positions where the
 cross-over rail is attached to the wall of the vehicle or billboard,
 allowing for tension adjustability.
 An alternative embodiment which is contemplated, and fully within the scope
 of the invention, is the affixation of the sign to a groove insertion
 strip, along the sign perimeter by means of thermal or RF welding, and
 thus inserting the sign into the frame grooves by this mechanism.
 FIG. 8C shows a keyhole-shaped PVC groove insertion strip 80, in isolation,
 and FIG. 8B shows it as attached to the sign 20, in cross section. The
 cross section is taken from FIG. 8A, showing the view from behind the
 sign, indicating where the groove insertion strip attaches to the signage
 20. The embodiment of the invention may be preferable, depending on the
 relative manufacturing costs and tolerances, to the bolt rope in the sign
 pocket method. As in the bolt rope method, RF welding is used to affix the
 strip portion of the insertion strip to the back of the sign.
 In one optional embodiment of insertion strip 80, the strip may include a
 thin, flexible longitudinal strip portion designed to lay flat against a
 marginal portion of the sign 20, shown in FIG. 8B. An enlarged bead
 extends along the outer edge of the strip portion. As shown in FIG. 8B,
 the bead is spaced slightly away from the adjacent edge of the sign 20.
 The bead may be in circular, oval, or similar shape, with the
 diameter/width of the bead closely corresponding to the diameter (slightly
 smaller) of groove 40 formed in anchor rail 42 and latch rail 48. As such,
 the bead may be slideably engageable within groove 40, but once positioned
 within the groove the bead is held captive within the groove, because the
 width of the opening to the groove is narrower than the diameter/width of
 the bead.
 The insertion strip 80 can be formed as a singular member from PVC or
 similar material. As such, it is possible to form the strip 80
 economically by use of a continuous extrusion die. Also, if need be, the
 bead can be reinforced, for instance by cable or rope (composed of braided
 wire, graphite or other high-strength material) extending through the
 center of the bead. However, applicant anticipates that in most situations
 such reinforcement will not be required.
 As noted above, the strip portion of the insertion strip is securely
 attached in overlapping fashion to the adjacent edge portion of the sign
 20. One preferred way of accomplishing this attachment is through RF
 welding Of course, other well-known attachment methods may be used, for
 instance by gluing, stitching, riveting, etc.
 Additionally, the invention contemplates variable spacing of the top and
 bottom, as well as the front and trailing frame rails, within certain
 tolerances, by allowing the anchor rails to be affixed to the substrate at
 various positions within a certain rectangular envelope, all using the
 same embedded screw seats in the substrate, so as to support variations in
 sign size, and to additionally support the adjustment of the tension on
 the signage material.
 The invention can be enhanced as concerns the adjustability of the distance
 between the top and bottom or front and trailing, frame rails, if desired,
 by replacing the two rows of screw holes, which facilitate the fastening
 of the anchor rails (screw holes: 44 in FIG. 7) with a rectangular slot.
 FIG. 9B shows the anchor rail 42, with the rectangular slots 82 cut into
 it. Additionally, the slotted holes (58 in FIG. 7) have been replaced with
 the identical rectangular slots 82 as have been cut into the anchor rails.
 This configuration thus allows distance adjustability within the range of
 2W, where W is the height of the rectangular slot. One way to constrain
 the adjustability within the .+-.2W range is shown in FIG. 10A and 10B.
 FIG. 10B shows the head on view of the slots in the anchor and crossover
 rails, and in the top drawing of FIG. 10B a cam washer 84 is shown fitted
 over the rectangular slot 82. This cam washer, by means of which way it is
 oriented rotationally over the rectangular slot 82, is capable of spacing
 the anchor rail at various discrete positions relative to the fixed
 embedded screw seat in the substrate, within the .+-.W is distance
 envelope. In this embodiment (also depicted in FIG. 9A) the anchor rail is
 recessed slightly where the cam washer 84 sits in it, as shown in the
 cross sectional side view shown in FIG. 10A.
 FIG. 10A shows the two extreme positions of the screw 46 within the range
 of adjustability, on the bottom, or trailing, anchor rail and cross-over
 rail combination. The position of the frame is obviously set by the
 orientation of the cam washer 84 in the anchor rail at the top. The
 positioning of the screw 46 affixing the cross-over rail to the substrate
 is then determined, and it is screwed in over a simple flat washer 86. The
 simple flat washer 86 is used due to the potentially greater width of the
 rectangular slot 82 relative to the width of the head of the screw 46.
 A veritable infinite set of modifications and adaptations to the
 above-described embodiment will be apparent to anyone skilled in the art
 as falling within the scope of the invention. Thus, the scope of the
 invention is not to be considered as limited by the above-described
 embodiments but, rather, determined by reference to the claims that
 follow.