Corrugated yard sign

A yard sign is formed from a plastic corrugated board and supported in the ground by two separate L-shaped rods. The rods have a long leg section. The leg section of at least two rods are inserted through separate corrugations on either side of the sign and forced into the ground by pressing against the bent portion. The rods have a diameter which is adapted to snuggly fit within the channels applying slight pressure against the channel to support the sign above the ground merely by the compression fit between the rod and the corrugation.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
 Yard signs are used for a wide variety of different applications including
 political posters, yard sale signs, house for sale signs, and the like.
 These can take many different forms. A simple yard sign is a sheet of
 printed cardboard stapled to a wooden stake. Another popular yard sign is
 a printed plastic sheet in the form of a bag which could be supported by a
 number of different supports, the primary of which is a U-shaped wicket.
 The wicket had two wire legs connected by a cross-member. This both
 supports the sign and maintains the bag taunt so that the indicia can be
 easily read.
 In use, these are very practical since the plastic bags take up much less
 space than the cardboard signs and the wire wickets take up less space
 than the wood stakes. The wickets are also easier to insert into the
 ground. However, the wickets themselves still take up a large amount of
 space. These wickets need to be as large as the sign in order to maintain
 it taunt and to keep it from blowing away.
 Another type of yard sign is made from corrugated board and preferably
 corrugated plastic board. One such sign is disclosed in Kennedy U.S. Pat.
 No. 5,042,183. This includes a H-shaped wire frame which has arms which
 project up into the corrugated board. Similar signs are disclosed in Davis
 U.S. Pat. No. 4,894,937 and Farmer U.S. Pat. No. 5,307,580.
 The problem with each of these signs is the intricacy of the support. Both
 the Kennedy and Davis references disclose H-shaped frames which are
 relatively expensive to manufacture requiring welds and the like. Also
 they must be manufactured so that the members that run up the corrugations
 are aligned properly so that they can be easily inserted into the
 corrugations. The support disclosed in the Farmer reference is not as
 complex and certainly would not take up as much space. Unfortunately due
 to its construction, it is suitable only for relatively small signs.
 Otherwise due to this construction, with the legs so close together, the
 sign can be easily blown down. This also requires an intermediate support
 member which holds the legs together beneath the sign. Further with this
 sign it still requires that the support be manufactured carefully so that
 the individual legs will properly align with the corrugations so that it
 can be easily inserted into the sign. Basically the embodiment disclosed
 in Farmer is useless for any type of large yard sign.
 SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
 The present invention is premised on the realization that a yard sign can
 be fabricated wherein the supports are very simple to manufacture and take
 up relatively little space.
 More particularly the present invention is premised on the realization that
 a yard sign formed from a corrugated board and supported by two separate
 L-shaped rods will remain upright even in higher winds and when
 disassembled takes up very little space.
 These signs can be easily assembled and do not require any precise
 tolerances for the support members. Further the corrugated sign itself is
 supported upright on these two supports by the pressure or friction
 between the metal rods and the corrugation. Thus the present invention
 provides not only a reduced cost for such corrugated signs but further
 simplifies installation and reduces storage space requirements.
 The objects and advantages of the present invention will be further
 appreciated in light of the following detailed description and drawings in
 which:

DETAILED DESCRIPTION
 As shown in FIG. 1, the present invention is a yard sign 12 which includes
 a corrugated sign board 14 supported by first and second supports 16 and
 17.
 The sign board 14 has a front side face 20 with printed indicia as well as
 a rear sign face 22 generally with printed indicia (not shown). Between
 the front and rear faces is corrugation 24 which provides a plurality of
 channels 26 that run from the top edge 25 to the bottom edge 27 of the
 sign board 14.
 First and second supports 16 and 17 are identical to each other and each
 include an elongated linear leg 28 which is adapted to run the entire
 length of the sign board and further to provide necessary clearance
 between the ground 34 and the bottom edge 27 of the sign board 14 and
 further provide sufficient portion of the leg inserted into the ground 34
 to support the sign. The top of supports 16 and 17 is a small bent portion
 30. This bent portion is bent at a 90.degree. angle or greater and
 provides an upper surface to press the supports 16 and 17 into the ground
 without damaging a person's hand.
 As shown more particularly in FIG. 1, the signs are very simply and easily
 installed. The metal rods 16 and 17 are simply inserted into selected
 channels 26 on either side of the sign board 14. These are pushed all the
 way through the channels 26 and extended until the bend 30 contacts the
 upper edge 25 of the sign board 14. These supports 16 and 17 are then
 pushed into the ground forcing a sufficient portion of the elongated
 linear leg 28 into the ground to support the sign. Generally 6 to 8 inches
 is sufficient. In this embodiment two supports are shown. However for
 larger signs three or four supports or more could be employed.
 The diameter of the elongated linear leg portion 28 is slightly greater
 than the diameter of the channels 26 so that the leg will engage the walls
 of the corrugation 24 and the mere friction or pressure between the two
 will maintain the corrugated sign board 14 above the ground 34. For
 example, the corrugation may be 4 Mil corrugated board and the leg 28 will
 be about 9 gauge metal.
 The corrugated yard sign 14 itself is preferably made from polypropylene
 plastic. This can be purchased from Coroplast Inc. Although less
 preferred, the sign can be formed from corrugated paperboard.
 FIG. 2 shows an alternate embodiment of the metal rods 16 and 17. In this
 embodiment, the support 36 includes a leg portion 38 which is merely a
 straight metal rod which has the diameter adapted to engage the
 corrugation 24 as with the diameter of leg 28. But instead of having the
 bend 30 of support 16 and 17, it utilizes a plastic cap 34 which simply
 rests on top 37 of the leg portion 38 enabling one to push it through the
 corrugation into the sign without cutting one's hands. One cap can be used
 repeatedly if desired.
 As shown in FIG. 3, a support 42 can include bend 40 formed in the lower
 portion of support 42 to facilitate insertion into the ground leaving the
 upper portion 44 straight. Support 42 is inserted in the ground by
 stepping on bend 40 with one's foot. In this embodiment, the metal rod
 would be inserted rough the bottom edge 27 of the sign 14 as opposed to
 the top edge 25 of the sign. However, this is somewhat less preferred as
 it takes up more space and requires more manufacturing to form the
 180.degree. adequate bend in the leg portion.
 The present invention thus provides an effective support for a corrugated
 yard sign. It is very simple reducing manufacturing requirements and
 costs. Further because it utilizes a simple L-shaped support, it does not
 take up a large amount of storage space as would a metal wicket or an
 H-shaped frame. Further since the two supports are separate, they can be
 used to support basically any reasonable width of yard sign up to about
 two to three feet wide without requiring any extra connecting member or
 the like. Further additional supports can be used if necessary. Thus the
 present invention is not only inexpensive, it is simple to use and
 requires very little storage space and is significantly more versatile
 than prior signs. This has been a description of the present invention
 along with the preferred method of practicing the present invention.
 However, the invention itself should only be defined by the appended
 claims: