Illuminated marine advertising vessel

A water borne billboard is provided in the form of a marine vessel designed to accommodate a billboard for display along heavily populated coastlines. The billboard is two-sided, both side being visible to observers on the coastline by either rotating the pivotally mounted billboard while the vessel is moving or reversing the direction of the vessel. The vessel is operated by one or more operators and may be designed to conceal the operators from view by the observers. The vessel is propelled by conventional means such as an internal combustion engine or an electric motor.

This invention relates generally to the field of outdoor advertising and 
specifically billboard-type outdoor advertising. More particularly, the 
invention relates to a marine vessel that carries a billboard that can be 
easily viewed from a nearby coastline. In the preferred embodiment, the 
billboard is lighted to facilitate viewing at night. 
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
The concept of billboard-type advertising is well-known. Billboards 
prominently displayed along the nation's highways have been used for 
decades. Billboards have become an increasingly important type of 
advertising for the alcohol and tobacco industries because of restrictions 
on alcohol and tobacco advertising on television and radio. Billboards 
also are an important form of advertising for local events and attractions 
such as fairs, festivals, auctions as well as the opening of local 
businesses such as restaurants and retail establishments. 
Another common type of outdoor advertising is the use of portable 
billboards carried by planes and automobiles. Specifically, it is well 
known to fly airplanes carrying banners that promote local events, 
services or products above crowds gathered at a large stadium for a 
sporting event. Lately, it has become a common practice to employ a truck 
or a van to transport a billboard-type display in crowded cities and towns 
advertising a new product, event or service. 
However, there has been no successful portable, outdoor billboard-type 
advertising scheme employed in marine environments. Specifically, it would 
be highly beneficial to provide a marine vessel capable of providing 
billboard-type advertising along crowded beaches or parks located next to 
a coastline. Local events could be advertised to large numbers of 
vacationing consumers and the marine-based billboards would also be an 
effective means of advertising for alcohol and tobacco products. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
The present invention provides a marine vessel ideally equipped to carry 
billboards for use in advertising events, products and services along a 
coastline. A relatively flat vessel is provided that may have a mono hull 
bottom or include at least two pontoons, i.e., a catamaran-type hull. A 
propulsion system in the form of an internal combustion engine or an 
electric motor is provided to propel the vessel up and down a coastline in 
front of crowds of people. 
In the preferred embodiment, a surface deck is provided upon which 
billboard supports are fixedly mounted. The billboard is suspended between 
two supports and is preferably rotatably mounted to the supports. The 
preferred billboard is two-sided, one side facing outward from the port 
side of the vessel and one side facing outward from the starboard side of 
the vessel. If the billboard is rotatably mounted to the supports, the 
sign can be rotated or reversed thereby exposing both sides of the 
billboard to the coastline without turning the vessel around. 
In the preferred embodiment, lights are provided on both the port and 
starboard sides to illuminate the billboard at night. It is also 
foreseeable that electronic-type billboards could be employed with the 
present invention thereby enabling a variety of displays on each side of 
the billboard without rotating or switching the billboard. 
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a 
marine-based portable billboard system. 
Another object of the present invention is to provide an improved means of 
advertising directed to consumers gathered on beaches and parks disposed 
along a coastline. 
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide an improved means 
of advertising events, products and services to consumers gathered along 
coastlines at night. 
Another related object of the present invention is to provide a marine 
vessel suitable for use in displaying billboards along coastlines. 
Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent upon 
reading the following detailed description and appended claims, and upon 
reference to the accompanying drawings.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
Like reference numerals will be used to refer to like or similar parts from 
Figure to Figure in the following description of the drawings. 
It should be understood that the drawings are not necessarily to scale and 
that the embodiment shown herein is sometimes illustrated by graphic 
systems and diagrammatic representations. In certain instances, details 
which are not necessary for an understanding of the present invention or 
which render other details difficult to perceive may have been omitted. It 
should be understood, of course, that the invention is not necessarily 
limited to the particular embodiment illustrated herein. 
Turning to FIG. 1, one preferred embodiment of the present invention is 
shown. Specifically, the marine vessel 10 includes pontoons 11, 12 as 
primary flotation devices. The surface deck 13 is disposed on top of the 
pontoons 11, 12 and accommodates the support structures 14, 15 to which 
the billboard 16 is mounted. The billboard, or means for displaying 
indicia 16, may be pivotally attached to the supports 14, 15 via bolts, 
like the one shown at 17, and therefore the billboard 16 may be rotatably 
mounted to supports 14, 15 so that both opposing sides or surface 18, 19 
(see FIG. 3) may be displayed to people on a coastline without changing 
the direction of the vessel 10. The light fixture shown at 21 provides a 
means for illuminating the surface area 18 of the billboard 16 to enable 
the vessel 10 to be a useful advertising tool at night. Other features 
shown in FIG. 1 include a fuel tank 22, an operator control station 23 and 
bow 26. 
Turning to FIG. 2, a view of the vessel 10 as seen from the coastline is 
presented. Consumers can easily see the indicia displayed on the surface 
area 18 of the billboard 16. Rotation of the billboard 16 about the bolts 
or fasteners 17, 17a enables the surface area 18 to be pivoted 180.degree. 
for presentation of the surface area 19 outward toward the coastline. It 
will also be noted that the supports 14, 15 and fasteners 17, 17a could be 
positioned at the top 29 and bottom 31 of the billboard 16 thereby 
enabling rotation of the billboard 16 about a vertical axis as opposed to 
the horizontal axis of rotation as provided in the figures. A variety of 
propulsion means 24 may be provided in the form of propellers or jets. 
Also, an outboard motor may be mounted to the stern 25 or other areas of 
the vessel. 
Turning to FIG. 3, a front end view or a view of the bow 26 is shown. A 
view of the propellant or engine is illustrated at 27 as well as the port 
side lighting at 21a. As seen in FIGS. 3 and 4, the operator control 
station 23 may extend below the water line 28 and may even provide 
complete enclosure of the operator and therefore hide the operator from 
view. The operator would stay cool in the control station 23 on hot days 
due to the partial submersion of the operation control station 23 below 
the surface of the water 28. Finally, as seen in FIG. 5, the surface deck 
13 provides ample room for the operator to maneuver the billboard 16 in 
the event that the billboard 16 needs to be rotated about the pivots 17, 
17a. 
Thus, one embodiment of a marine vessel 10 suitable for use as a moving 
billboard display vessel is shown and described. Of course, other 
embodiments will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art. 
Specifically, a variety of vessel designs including but not limited to 
mono hull embodiments or vessels employing a catamaran-type hull could be 
used. It is also foreseeable that electronic billboards could be used 
which would enable a variety of graphic presentations to be displayed on 
the surface areas 18, 19. 
Although only one preferred embodiment of the present invention has been 
illustrated and described, it will at once be apparent to those skilled in 
the art that variations may be made within the spirit and scope of the 
invention. Accordingly, it is intended that the scope of the invention be 
limited solely by the scope of the hereafter appended claims and not by an 
specific wording in the foregoing description.