Abstract:
The current invention discloses an easy to use poster hanger system. According to the invention a support rail is attached to the ceiling. A sign support element is attached to the support rail via sign support strings. By releasing sign support strings from string cassettes locating in the support rail, the sign support element can be pulled down for attachment of the upper end of a poster along its full length to the sign support element. The lower end of the poster is optionally attached along its full length to a bottom support element. The sign can be pushed up to a desired height by pushing the sign support element up while the sign support string is rolled back onto the string cassettes.

Description:
CLAIM OF PRIORITY 
       [0001]    This application claims priority of U.S. provisional application No. 61/641,625 filed on May 2, 2012, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 29/419,892 filed on May 2, 2012, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 29/433,016 filed on Sep. 25, 2012, the contents of which are incorporated by reference herein in their entirety. 
     
    
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
       [0002]    The current invention relates to a poster hanger system. In particular, the current invention relates to an easy to control poster hanger system for hanging posters or signs at an elevated level, while enabling a user to change/remove the poster or sign at ground level. 
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
       [0003]    For commercial establishments such as retail businesses, it is common practice to display signs or posters of various sizes for advertising purposes. To make a better exhibit, the sign or poster is preferably hung high above the ground. In many cases, the lower end of the poster or sign is more than two meters above ground, while the higher end is positioned more than 2.5 meters above ground, making it virtually impossible for anyone to change the sign or poster without the aid of special tools and ladders. 
         [0004]    However, in most cases it is desirable to frequently replace the poster on exhibition—i.e. to reflect the seasonal inventory of the store, making the replacement of the posters or signs more arduous and dangerous. In some cases, the manager of the business establishment is forced to use portable ladders to assist the efforts to the change the poster. Such practices, however, are difficult and sometimes even dangerous, which may be made worse by increment weather and excessive height. Therefore, it is desirable to eliminate the risks associated with changing the posters by providing a device that allows ground level accessibility. 
         [0005]    The current invention addresses the issues raised above. In essence, the current invention provides a poster hanger system that allows ground level access of the posters that are hung regularly high above the ground. 
         [0006]    Descriptions of related arts: 
         [0007]    U.S. Pat. No. 7,121,029 discloses sign system having a hoisting mechanism for moving a sign between an access or servicing position near ground level and an elevated display position. The sign system includes a first set of guide members and a second set of guide members and a drive system. Each guide member is generally tubular. The guide members of each set are connected together for telescopic movement. Each set of guide members includes an outermost guide member and an innermost guide member, one of which serves as an anchor guide member and the other of which serves as a sign supporting guide member. The sign supporting guide member includes at least one connector for connecting the sign thereto. The anchor guide members of the first and second sets of guide members are fixedly connectable in a generally vertical orientation to a wall or other vertical support means in horizontally spaced relation to each other such that the first and second sets of guide members are extendible downwards to move the sign to the access position and retractable upwards to move the sign to the display position. The drive system is operatively connected to the first and second sets of guide members for selectively moving the first and second sets of guide members between the extended position and the retracted position. 
         [0008]    U.S. Pat. No. 7,437,843 discloses an apparatus for mounting a banner from a support member at a display height above ground level including upper and lower banner mounting arms that are capable of receiving and mounting a banner with the assistance of an operator located at ground level, where the banner mounting arms are connected to a hoisting mechanism. 
         [0009]    U.S. Pat. No. 7,743,541 discloses an overhead support for supporting a sign from an overhead member, where the support hanger may comprise an elongated rod with a sign receiving clip on the lower end thereof. 
         [0010]    U.S. Pat. No. 7,610,706 discloses a sign hanging device wherein a spool is arranged to retract sign support line and the sign is attached to the line with clips. 
         [0011]    U.S. Pat. No. 7,971,842 discloses a swivelable support assembly, where a sign may be attached by support lines extending from the swivel wings. 
         [0012]    These structures, however, are generally complex in design and they often require a stand-up frame for supporting the banner or poster. Alternatively, these structures require clips or hooks to hang the banner, these structures may also require holes on the signs for hanging, or the support member is limited by its use as it requires attachment to metal ceiling rails. When a poster hanger requires holes on the poster it limits the poster material to cardboard or other stiff and rigid material. The current invention is significantly simplified to allow easy control and use, avoiding bulky stand-up frames that occupy valuable space. The current invention also allows easy hanging without clips or hooks or holes in the signs and allows hanging thin paper posters firmly at a desired position at a chosen elevated height. 
         [0013]    Thus, various apparatus are known in the art, but their structures are distinctively different from the current invention. Moreover, the previously known apparatus fail to address all of the problems solved by the invention described herein. One embodiment of this invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings and will be described in more detail herein below. 
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
       [0014]    As indicated above, the existing approaches for hanging posters at elevated heights have various problems. The current invention introduces a poster hanger system that allows a user to change the poster at ground level and hang the poster or sign in a fixed position at an elevated height. 
         [0015]    It is an object of the current invention to provide a poster hanger that allows ground level access to changing and positioning poster. 
         [0016]    It is another object of the current invention to provide a poster hanger that does not require a set of vertical anchoring and positioning systems. 
         [0017]    Yet another object of the current invention is to provide a poster hanger that does not require the poster to have holes for hanging. 
         [0018]    A still another object of the current invention is to provide a poster hanger that does not require clips or hooks for attaching the poster. 
         [0019]    It is another object of the current invention is to provide a poster hanger that allows a poster to be hung at fixed positions. 
         [0020]    Another object of the current invention is to provide a poster hanger system that allows hanging large posters at fixed positions. 
         [0021]    Yet another object of the current invention is to provide a poster hanger where the poster material can be thin paper or other flexible material. 
         [0022]    It is an object of the present invention to provide a poster hanger system that is light-weight and easy to use. 
         [0023]    It is another object of the present invention to provide a poster hanger system that is easy to install. 
         [0024]    Still another object of the present invention is to provide a poster hanger that is esthetically appealing. 
         [0025]    It is another object of the present invention to provide a poster hanger system that is inexpensive. 
         [0026]    It is an object of the present to provide a poster hanging system, comprising: a support rail attached to a ceiling or a wall and having an elongated housing, said elongated housing comprising two side walls, one bottom wall and two distal ends, said bottom wall having two holes locating at outermost quadrants of the length of the housing; two string cassettes being attached to the bottom wall of the housing at a distance from the distal ends being a fourth or less of the length of the housing; a rotating rod extending through the string cassettes and at least two friction springs; a sign support element being substantially of same length as the support rail and being attached to the support rail with two sign support strings, said strings having a first end and a second end; the first ends being attached to the string cassettes and the second ends being attached to the sign support element at an outermost quadrants of the length of the sign support element; said support strings being released from the string cassettes through the holes on the bottom walls; said sign support element being a hollow rod having a longitudinal slit, and a plastic strip being inserted into the slit leaving a tight channel to snugly receive a full length of an upper end of a poster or a sign; said sign support element being capable of being pulled down while the sign support strings are released from the string cassettes through the holes and pushed up while the sign support strings roll back on the string cassettes, and said sign support element being capable of holding the sign or poster at any selected height while the frictions springs prevent the string cassettes to release further string or roll backward; and optionally a bottom support element being a hollow rod having a longitudinal slit, a plastic strip being inserted into the slit leaving a tight channel to snugly receive a full length of a bottom end of a poster or a sign. 
     
    
     
       SHORT DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0027]      FIG. 1A  is a perspective front view of the poster hanging system at pulled down position. 
           [0028]      FIG. 1B  is a perspective front view of the poster hanging system at a fully pushed up position. 
           [0029]      FIG. 2A  is a top view of the support rail element according to one embodiment. 
           [0030]      FIG. 2B  is a top view of the support rail element according to another embodiment. 
           [0031]      FIG. 2C  is a bottom view of the support rail element. 
           [0032]      FIG. 3  is a front perspective view the poster hanging system. 
           [0033]      FIG. 4  is a bottom view of the sign support element. 
           [0034]      FIG. 5  is an end view of the sign support element. 
       
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
       [0035]    The present invention is now described with reference to the drawings. Referring to  FIGS. 1A  and B, the present invention discloses a poster hanging system comprising: a support rail  10  attached to a ceiling or a wall with hanging wires  20  and hanging hooks  22 ; sign support strings  30  attached to a sign support element  40  having a pull down/push up-hook  62 ; said sign support element attached to an upper end of a sign  52 , and a bottom support element  60  attached to a lower end of the sign  54 . The support rail  10  is of same length or of substantially same length as the sign support element  40  and the bottom support element  60 . According to a preferred embodiment the length of the support rail is 25-60 inches and most preferably approximately 42 inches.  FIG. 1A  shows the poster hanging system at a pulled down position where the sign or poster can be easily attached or detached.  FIG. 1B  shows the system at a fully pushed up position. 
         [0036]    The support rail  10  is preferably attached to the ceiling with hanging wires  20  from the hanging hooks  22  that are directly attached to the ceiling as is shown in  FIG. 1A . Alternatively, the hanging hooks are S-hooks that are attached on ceiling rails as is shown in  FIG. 1B . The hanging wires  20  are attached to the support rail preferably through the hanging holes  18  (shown in  FIGS. 2A and 2B ), but other attaching mechanisms are also possible. In order to prevent the support rail  10  from swiveling when hung on the ceiling, the hanging wires  20  are attached preferably to one fourth of the length of the support rail  10  from the distal ends of the support rail  10 , whereby the distance between the hanging wires is one half of the length of the support rail  10 . The sign  50  is attached to the sign support element  40  throughout the full width of the sign from its upper end  52 . The sign support element  40  is attached to the support rail  10  with sign support strings  30 . In order to prevent the sign support element to swivel when the poster hanging system is in a pulled down position ( FIG. 1A ), the sign support strings  30  are attached to the outermost quadrants of the length of the sign support element  40 . According to one preferred element the sign support element  40  may be attached to the support rail with three support strings  30 . In such case one of the strings  30  would be attached to the mid point of the sign support element  40  and the two other strings  30  to the outermost quadrants of the sign support element  40 . The bottom end of the sign  54  may be supported by sign bottom support element  60 . Attaching the sign throughout its full width from the upper end  52  and optionally from the bottom end  54  enables one to use posters made of paper and other flexible material without a fear of the poster getting torn or beginning to rotate with airflow. The sign support element optionally has a pull down/push up-hook  62  ( FIG. 3  shows another embodiment of the pull down/push up hook  62 ). The user may pull the sign support element  40  down for changing a sign at ground level with a pole attaching to the pull down/push up-hook  62 . Once the sign is attached to the sign support element  40  and the optional bottom support element  60  is attached to the lower end  54  of the sign, the user may push the sign support element  40  up with the pole. The sign support element  40  may be pushed up all the way so that it touches the support rail  10  ( FIG. 1B ), or it may be left at any level below the support rail  10 . According to one preferred embodiment the support rail has one or more metal bolts  19  and the support element has equaling number of magnet  46  coinciding with the location of the bolts. When the poster hanger system is in closed position, i.e. the support rail  40  is in its uppermost position the bolts and magnets provide an additional means to secure the support rail in this position. 
         [0037]    Now referring to  FIGS. 2A , B and C, the support rail  10  preferably comprises an elongated housing  11 , having a bottom wall  13 , two side walls  12  and two distal ends  14 . The bottom wall  13  has two holes  24  at the outermost quadrants of the length of the housing  11 . In  FIG. 2A  the metal bolts  19  are shown on the bottom wall  13 . Inside the housing  11 , at least two string cassettes  17  are attached to the bottom wall  13 . A rotating rod  15  extends through the two or more string cassettes  17 . At least two friction springs  16  are attached to the rod  15 . One end of the sign support string  30  is attached to the string cassette  17  and is released through the hole  24  in the bottom wall  13  and the other end of the support string  30  is attached to the sign support element  40 . When the sign support element  40  is pulled down to a desired height the string cassette  17  releases the string  30  through the hole  24  and the rod  15  is rotating. Once the sign support element  40  is at the desired height the friction springs  16  provide friction onto the rod  15  preventing the rod  15  from rotating further, thereby locking the release system and fixing the sign support element  40  at the desired height. The friction springs  16  also prevent the rod  15  from rotating backward when the sign support element  40  is pulled down thereby preventing the sign support strings  30  from rolling back onto the cassette  17 .  FIG. 2  A also shows the holes  18  through which the hanging wires  20  are attached. 
         [0038]    Referring now to  FIG. 3  the system is shown in closed position. The figure shows the elongated housing  11 , support element  40 , the sidewall  12 , distal end  14 , friction spring  16 , string cassettes  17 , holes  18  and pull down/pus up hook  62 . In this embodiment the hook is slidably attached to the support element. 
         [0039]    Referring now to  FIGS. 4 and 5 , the sign support element  40  is an elongated hollow rod having a longitudinal slit  42 . A plastic strip  44  is inserted into the slit  42  thereby leaving a tight opening  45  into which the sign  50  can be snugly slid. The sign support element  40  may have a pull down/push up-hook  62  for pulling the sign support element  40  down for example with a pole for replacing the sign  50  and pushing the sign support element  40  up to a preferred height to present the sign  50 . The sign bottom support element  60  is similar to the sign support element  40  having a slit and a plastic strip therein to snugly slide the lower end of the sign  54 . 
         [0040]    According to one preferred embodiment the sign support rail  10  and the sign support element  40  as well as the bottom support element  60  are made of aluminum. According to another preferred embodiment these are made of plastic. Any other feasible material may also be used. 
         [0041]    A user disposes a sign on the device of the instant invention by first attaching the rail support  10  onto the ceiling on a desired place. Then the user, standing on the ground level may pull the sign support element  40  down preferably with a pole attaching to the pull down/push up hook  62 , and sliding the top of the sign through the slit  42  on the sign support element  40 . The user may now push the sign support element  40  a little bit higher so that the lower end of the sign can be easily reached. The user may attach a bottom support element  60  on the lower end of the sign by sliding the lower end through the slit on the bottom support element. Optionally the user may choose not to attach the bottom support element. After this the user pushes the sign support element up to a desired height preferably using a pole to push the pull down/push up hook  62 . When the support element is intended to be set at its uppermost position, the bolts  19  and the magnets  46  will provide further security to keep the support element in this position. 
         [0042]    Although this invention has been described with a certain degree of particularity, it is to be understood that the present disclosure has been made only by way of illustration and that numerous changes in the details of construction and arrangement of parts may be resorted to without departing from the spirit and the scope of the invention.