Suspension device for a sheet-shaped information medium

Abstract: A suspension device for a sheet-shaped information medium (4), such as a poster or the like, for attachment to a wall or another surface, comprising an upper and a lower bar (1, 2) to which the information medium can be fastened, whereby the upper bar (1) is connected to a cord system having pulleys (5, 7, 13, 16, 17, 18) for raising and lowering relatively to wall elements (8, 9, 10, 11, 15) attached to the wall or the like, said cord system comprising a single cord (6) which is fastened to an upper wall element (8) attached to the wall and which runs below two pulleys (5, 18) journalled in the upper bar (1) in the vicinity of the ends thereof and runs above a third pulley (7) journalled in an upper wall element (9) attached to the wall, and depends from this third pulley (7) in order to be manipulated for raising and lowering. In order to prevent flexing of the upper bar (1) at least one additional wall element (15) is situated between the first and the second wall element (8, 9) and comprises a pulley (16) above which the cord (6) runs, and the upper bar (1) comprises two additional pulleys (13, 17) for each additional wall element (15) in the region or regions below the at least one additional wall element (15).

Description: The present invention relates to a suspension device for a sheet-shaped information medium, such as a poster or the like, for attachment to a wall or another surface, comprising an upper and a lower bar to which the information medium can be fastened, whereby the upper bar is connected to a cord system having pulleys, for raising and lowering relatively to elements attached to the wall or the like. Such suspension devices can be used for all types of sheet-shaped information media, such as posters, and are in particular used for advertizing posters. The devices permit a simple putting up and replacement of the posters, as an alternative to pasting on walls and the like. In order to be put up, a poster can be fastened to the upper bar while this has been brought to a lowered position by use of the cord system, whereupon the poster and the bars are raised by use of the cord system. The lower bar will, due to its own weight, keep the poster stretched during raising, and, at the end of the raising, the lower bar can be hooked into lower elements attached to the wall, whereby the poster is kept stretched vertically in a suspended condition. The elements attached to the wall are presupposed to be able to hold the bars in such a mutual vertical distance that when the upper bar is fully raised and abuts the upper elements, the lower bar abuts the lower elements, whereby the poster is mainly kept stretched in the vertical direction. It is possible to mount springs, in or on the elements or in or on the bars, in order to compensate for a possible difference between the length of the actual poster being used and the length which the poster was intended to have, whereby the poster is stretched despite of this difference in length. A cord system for such a suspension device is disclosed in International Patent Specification No. WO-A- 99/48077, which discloses a suspension device according to the preamble of claim 1, and comprises a single cord which is fastened to an upper element attached to the wall and which runs below two pulleys journalled in the upper bar in the vicinity of the ends thereof, and runs above a third pulley journalled in an upper element attached to the wall, and depends from this third pulley in order to be manipulated for raising and lowering. Thus, the manipulation takes place by means of the single cord only. During raising the poster may take a slanting position, which is of no importance, because the upper bar will finally abut the two upper wall elements and take a horizontal position. What may occur during raising is that one end of the upper bar abuts one of the upper wall elements before the other end abuts the other wall element, i.e. that the bar is hanging obliquely, but continued pulling of the cord will pull the bar up until it has entered both of the upper wall elements and thus is horizontal. Upon raising of the poster the cord is fastened in a suitable manner. When such a suspension device is to be used for posters having a large horizontal dimension, for instance several meters, a problem occurs in that the upper bar must have a large bending stiffness and consequently has a large cross section, whereby it is heavy, in order not to flex. The result is that raising of the bar will require a large force, and the cord and the wall elements will have to withstand a large load. Flexing may cause the poster to buckle. US 6055754 discloses a suspension device for posters, comprising an upper, stationary bar fastened to a wall or similar and an upper, movable bar to which a poster may be fastened. Two or more cords are fastened to the upper, movable bar and run above a respective pulley journalled in the stationary bar. Because there are no pulleys on the upper, movable bar, a separate cord must be used for each pulley. This implies that, in order to raise the poster reasonably evenly, the cords must be pulled simultaneously and with the same rate, in order to avoid that the upper, movable bar takes an inclined position while being raised. The reference states that any number of cords and pulleys can be used. However, increasing the number of cords and pulleys means that all the cords must be pulled simultaneously and with the same rate in order to achieve that all the cords shall contribute to the raising of the poster. Such pulling of several cords is practically impossible. All the cords will only contribute to keep the poster hanging after it has been completely pulled up, provided that all the cords are tightened. It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved suspension device. According to an aspect of the invention there is provided a suspension device as specified in claim 1. The device comprises at least one additional wall element having a pulley for the cord, and the upper bar comprises at least two additional pulleys, whereby the cord runs via the additional wall element or elements. More than one additional wall element can be provided, and a corresponding number of pulleys can be provided in the wall elements and the upper bar. Thereby, the upper bar is suspended by the cord at least in three regions, and the bar will not flex even when it is of a large length. The invention will be understood in greater detail from the following description of a preferred embodiment thereof given by way of example only and with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: - Fig. 1 shows a front view of an embodiment of a suspension device according to the invention, whereby a poster is about to be raised or lowered by use of the device; and Fig. 2 shows a vertical section through the device and through a segment of a wall to which the device has been attached. Referring now to the drawings and in particular to Figure 1, there is shown a poster 4 fastened to an upper bar 1 and a lower bar 2. The fastening can, for instance,be accomplished in that the poster 4 has a thickening 12 along its upper and lower edge, as shown in Fig. 2, whereby the thickenings are inserted in undercut grooves 14 in the bars 1 and 2, as shown in Fig. 2. Any other suitable means for fastening can be used within the scope of the invention. Three upper wall elements 8, 9, 15 are attached, for instance by means of bolts 19, to a wall, along which the poster 4 is to be suspended. A cord 6 is, for instance by means of a knot 3, fastened to one wall element 8, as shown to the left in Fig. 1. The cord 6 runs below a first pulley 5 journalled in the upper bar 1, shown to the left in Fig. 1, whereupon the cord 6 runs horizontally along the bar 1 to a second pulley 13 journalled in the upper bar 1, shown approximately at the middle of the bar 1 in Fig. 1. Thereupon the cord 6 runs below the pulley 13 and upwardly to the second wall element 15, which in the embodiment shown is situated at the midpoint between the wall elements 8 and 9. The cord 6 runs above a pulley 16 in the wall element 15, as shown in Fig. 1. From the pulley 16 the cord 6 runs downwardly to a fourth pulley 17 journalled in the upper bar 1, and continues along the bar 1 to a fifth pulley 18 in the upper bar 1 and further to a sixth pulley 7 in the wall element 9. Therefrom the cord 6 depends, in order to be gripped for raising and lowering of the poster 4 and for being fastened in a suitable manner when the poster has been raised. It will be appreciated that the invention is not restricted to the use of a single wall element in the middle and one pair of pulleys 13, 17 at the middle as shown, but that any number of wall elements between the wall elements 8 and 9 and a corresponding number of pairs of pulleys in the upper bar 1 in the principle can be provided. Thus, the upper bar 1 can be raised by being pulled up by the cord 6 in a plurality of points, at the pulleys 5, 13, 17, 18, and the bar 1 will not flex even when it is of a large horizontal length. Lower wall elements 10 and 11 may, as shown in Fig. 1, be attached to the wall, in order to keep the poster stretched in the vertical direction to a reasonable degree. These elements can be attached to the wall by bolts, correspondingly as for the wall elements 8, 9 and 15. The lower wall elements 10 and 11 constitute abutments for the lower bar 2, and provided that the length of the poster 4 in the vertical direction is adapted to the vertical distance between the wall elements 8, 9 and 10, 11, the upper end of the poster will be raised to such a degree that when the upper bar 1 has been inserted in the wall elements 8, 9 and 15 by pulling of the cord 6, the lower bar 2 has been inserted in the wall elements 10, 11. Springs (not shown) in or on the wall elements or in or on the bars may be used in order to compensate for a possible difference in vertical length for the poster 4 relatively to its intended length, when the poster is shorter than its intended length, whereby the poster 4, despite such a difference, will be kept stretched in the vertical direction to a reasonable degree. As shown in Fig. 2, the wall elements 8, 9, 15 and 10, 11 may be have a shape which facilitates entering of the bars from below. It will be appreciated that the two wall elements 8, 10 to the left in Fig. 1 can be combined into a vertical girder along one side of the poster and that the two wall elements 9, 11 to the right can be correspondingly combined into a vertical girder along the opposite side of the poster. Alternatively, a vertical decorative moulding may be fastened along each side, in order that the wall elements together with the bars shall have the appearance of a complete frame. The wall elements 8, 9, 15 and 10, 11 as well as the bars 1 and 2 can be manufactured in any convenient manner, for instance from metal or plastics. In the embodiment shown the bars 1 and 2 can conveniently be made from extruded profiles, which are drilled for making the holes necessary for the cord 6 and the journalling of the pulleys 5, 13, 17, 18. Also the wall elements 8, 9, 15 and 10, 11 can be made from extruded profiles, and the upper wall elements are drilled for making holes for the cord 6 and the bolts 19, and moreover the upper wall elements 9 and 15 can be drilled for making holes for journalling of the pulleys 7 and 16. The invention is not limited by or to specific embodiment described which can undergo considerable variation without departing from the scope of the invention.

Claims: A suspension device for a sheet-shaped information medium (4), such as a poster or the like, for attachment to a wall or another surface, comprising an upper and a lower bar (1, 2) to which the information medium can be fastened, whereby the upper bar (1) is connected to a cord system having pulleys (5, 7, 13, 16, 17, 18), for raising and lowering relative to wall elements (8, 9, 10, 11, 15) attached to the wall or the like, said cord system comprising a single cord (6) which is fastened to an upper wall element (8) attached to the wall and which runs below two pulleys (5, 18) journalled in the upper bar (1) in the vicinity of the ends thereof and runs above a third pulley (7)joumalled in an upper wall element (9) attached to the wall, and depends from the third pulley (7) in order to be manipulated for raising and lowering; characterised in that the device further comprises at least one additional wall element (15) situated between the first (8) and the second (9) wall element, the at least one additional wall element having a pulley (16) above which the cord (6) runs, and the upper bar (1) comprises two additional pulleys (13, 17) for each additional wall element (15) in the region or regions below the at least one additional wall element.

Inventors: ELLINGSEN JOHN PETTER, ELLINGSEN, JOHN PETTER
Applicants: DYRNES RALPH PETTER, ELLINGSEN BIRGITTE HJELDE, DYRNES, RALPH PETTER, ELLINGSEN, BIRGITTE HJELDE
Application year: 2001
Main classification: G09F7
IPC codes: G09F7, G09F15