Patent Publication Number: US-2005120603-A1

Title: Ad device having a changing board

Description:
CLAIM OF PRIORITY  
      This application makes reference to, incorporates the same herein, and claims all benefits accruing under 35 U.S.C. §1.19 from an application for AD DEVICE HAVING A CHANGING BOARD earlier filed in the Korean Intellectual Property Office on 5 Dec. 2003 and there duly assigned Serial No. 2003-87918.  
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
      1. Field of the Invention  
      The present invention relates to an ad device having a changing board, more precisely to an ad device which can express at least two advertisements to the front and behind faces of a plurality of ad flaps.  
      2. Description of the Prior Art  
      Generally, a billboard that is attached and installed to a wall is composed of a plate, of which only one face is exposed outside. Accordingly, in order to place two advertisements, two billboards are required.  
      In Korea Patent No. 324430 incorporated herein by reference, the applicant had suggested the ad device, of which the sector gear is installed to the hinge axis of the plurality of ad flaps that are hinge-coupled with the frame for rotating the plurality of ad flaps into the front and behind directions and each sector gear is engaged with the flexible rack, whereby the front or behind face of the ad flaps are exposed outside according to the moving direction of the flexible rack. Accordingly, it is possible to alternately express two advertisements by selectively exposing a face of each ad flap to the outside. However, a gap between the ad flaps is generated because each ad flap is cornerwise stood after the rotation has done. Therefore, the content of the advertisement cannot be expressed well because it is stood counterclockwise, and each ad flap and the inside of the wall can easily be polluted because foreign substances enter through the gap.  
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
      It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide an improved ad device.  
      It is another object to provide an improved ad device having a changing board which can express at least two advertisements to front face and behind face of each ad flap.  
      It is further an object to provide an improved ad device which can better communicate the advertisement content that is shown to the front faces and the behind faces of the ad flaps and a billboard attached on the frame of the ad device.  
      An ad device having features of the present invention includes a plurality of flaps, each of the flaps comprising a first face, a second face, and a first support supporting a turn of the flap, wherein the first face, the second face and the first support make an isosceles triangle shape in a plane view, the first support having a first step and a second step to receive edges of neighboring flaps; a plurality of hinge axes, each of the plurality of hinge axes coupled to each of the first supports; a plurality of first pinions, each of the first pinions mounted on each of the hinge axes; a rack engaged with the plurality of first pinions, the plurality of flaps turning on each of the hinge axes according to a movement of the rack so that the first and second faces can be alternately exposed to an outside according to a position of the rack.  
      It is preferred that a surface of the first or second faces when the ad device lies down is flat as a whole. The rack is preferably a mass body in a stick form. The ad device may further include a couple of first magnets mounted on both edges of the rack; and a couple of second magnets fixed to the ad device in a position corresponding to the first magnets, whereby the first magnet and the second magnet are coupled to each other to prevent a movement of the plurality of flaps as soon as the plurality of flaps finish turning. The ad device preferably further includes a second support mounted between the plurality of first pinions and the plurality of flaps, the second support having a plurality of the first bearings, each of the hinge axes passing through each of the first bearings; and a plurality of rolling bearings mounted on a bottom of the rack. The ad device may be installed on a side of a bus, wherein the movement of the rack may be caused by an external force such as an inertia force and an air resistance.  
      In another preferred embodiment, the rack is a chain type transmitting rack connected to a static driving motor through a second pinion of the static driving motor, and a driving force of the static driving motor is transferred to a movement of the first pinions through the second pinion and the rack. With this embodiment, it is possible that the first advertisement of the first face, a third advertisement on a billboard fixed on a frame of the ad device and the second advertisement of the second face are alternately shown. If the ad device further includes a controller, three advertisements maybe automatically and periodically exposed to the public in accordance with the controller signal. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
      A more complete appreciation of the invention, and many of the attendant advantages thereof, will be readily apparent as the same becomes better understood by reference to the following detailed description when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which like reference symbols indicate the same or similar components, wherein:  
       FIG. 1  shows a perspective view of an embodiment according to the present invention;  
       FIG. 2A  shows a front view of an embodiment of the present invention in a state where a first advertisement on a first face of each flap is shown to the public;  
       FIG. 2B  shows a front view of an embodiment of the present invention in a state where a second advertisement on a second face of each flap is shown to the public;  
       FIG. 3A  shows a plane view of an embodiment of the present invention in a state where the first advertisement on the first face of each flap is shown to the public;  
       FIG. 3B  shows a plane view of an embodiment of the present invent in a state where the second advertisement on the second face of each flap is shown to the public;  
       FIG. 4A  illustrates an embodiment of the present invention which is mounted on a side of a bus and which shows a state where the first advertisement on the first face of each flap is shown to the public;  
       FIG. 4B  illustrates an embodiment of the present invention which is mounted on a side of a bus and which shows a state where the second advertisement on the second face of each flap is shown to the public;  
       FIG. 5  shows a perspective view of another embodiment of the present invention;  
       FIG. 6A  shows a front view of another embodiment of the present invention in a state where the first advertisement on the first face of each flap is shown to the public;  
       FIG. 6B  shows a front view of another embodiment of the present invention in a state where an advertisement on a fixed board is shown to the public;  
       FIG. 6C  shows a front view of another embodiment of the present invention in a state where the second advertisement on the second face of each flap is shown to the public;  
       FIG. 7A  shows a plane view of another embodiment of the present invention in a state where the first advertisement on the first face of each flap is shown to the public;  
       FIG. 7B  shows a plane view of another embodiment of the present invention in a state where the advertisement on the fixed board is shown to the public; and  
       FIG. 7C  shows a plane view of another embodiment of the present invention in a state where the second advertisement on the second face of each flap is shown to the public. 
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS  
       FIG. 1  through  FIG. 4B  show a preferred embodiment of the present invention and  FIG. 5  through  FIG. 7C  show another preferred embodiment of the present invention.  
      An ad device of the present invention preferably includes a frame  10 . In the frame  10 , a changing board which contains advertisements is mounted. The changing board is comprised of a plurality of flaps  20 . Each flap  20  has a first face  20   a  and a second face  20   b  which contain the first and second advertisements, respectively. Each flap  20  has a flap support  23  which is coupled to a pinion  22  by a hinge axis  21 . The first face  20   a,  the second face  20   b,  and the flap support  23  make preferably a trigonal prism shape whose plane view is an isosceles triangle shape. A supporting step  24  is installed on the front and the behind of the flap support  23  to receive a portion of the neighboring flaps. Accordingly, where the flaps  20  lie down in either direction, the exposed surface of the changing board is flat as shown in  FIGS. 3A and 3B .  
      The pinion  22  is engaged with a rack  30 . A movement of the rack  30  is transmitted to the pinion  22  so that each flap  20  is rotated according as the pinion  22  is rotated. Thus, both faces of each flap  20  may be alternately exposed to the outside according to the moving direction of the rack  30 . Alternatively, instead of moving the rack  30 , it is possible to move only pinions engaged with a fixed rack.  
      The embodiment of the present invention as shown in  FIG. 1  through FIG,  4 B may automatically change the advertising face by inertia even without power supply. The rack  30  is preferably made of a heavy weight stick. It is preferred that transmitting magnets  31  are mounted on both edges of the rack  30 , and fixed magnets  11  corresponding to the transmitting magnets  31  are installed to both sides of the frame  10  for preventing the flaps  20  from moving when the flaps  20  completely lie down.  
      Preferably, a support bar  40  is mounted between the pinions  22  and the flaps  20 . The support bar  40  has a plurality of thrust bearings  50  through which the hinge axis  21  passes to the support  40 . A plurality of driving (or rolling) bearings  60  is mounted on the bottom of the rack  30 .  
      As shown in  FIGS. 4A and 4B , if this device is fixated to the side of a bus, the rack  30  is positioned as shown in  FIG. 2A  and a first advertisement on the first face  20   a  is exposed when the bus is running. When the bus stops, the rack  30  moves to the position as shown in  FIG. 2B  by the inertia force and the air resistance that is generated when the bus stops, and each flap  20  is rotated clockwise by 180 degree. Accordingly, as shown in  FIGS. 2B, 3B  and  4 B, a second advertisement on the second face  20   b  is shown. When the bus starts, the rack positioned as shown in  FIG. 2B  moves back to the position as shown in  FIG. 2A  by the inertia force and the air resistance, and each ad flap ( 20 ) is rotated counterclockwise by 180 degrees. Accordingly, as shown in  FIGS. 2A, 3A  and  4 A, the first advertisement is shown.  
       FIGS. 5 through 7 C show another embodiment of the present invention. In this embodiment, the device may be installed to the wall of the building or the other fixed wall. The rack  30  is preferably made as a chain type using a flexible material such as rubber. A driving pinion  82  of a static driving motor  80  is connected to the whole face of an inner portion of the rack  30 . The driving of the static driving motor  80  may be controlled by a controller  85 .  
      Preferably, a fixed billboard  90  is installed on the whole face of an inner portion of the frame  10 .  
      When each flap  20  is positioned as shown in  FIGS. 6A and 7A , the first advertisement on the first face  20   a  is exposed to the outside. When each flap  20  moves clockwise from the position as shown in  FIGS. 6A and 7A  and is vertical stands as shown in  FIGS. 6B and 7B , it is possible to show a third advertisement on the fixed billboard  90 . From the position as shown in  FIGS. 6B and 7B , each flap  20  further moves clockwise and is horizontally positioned as shown in  FIGS. 6C  and  7 C, the second advertisement on the second face  20   b  of the flap  20  is exposed to the outside.  
      Accordingly, as shown in  FIGS. 6A and 7A ,  FIGS. 6B and 7B ,  FIGS. 6C and 7C , it is possible that the first advertisement of the first face  20   a,  the third advertisement of the fixed billboard  90  and the second advertisement of the second face  20   b  are alternately shown in accordance with the controller signal.  
      As stated above, since the plane figure of each ad flap  20  is an isosceles triangle and the supporting step  24  is formed on the front and the behind of the flap support  23  to the front and the behind of the flap support  23 , the edge on the first or second face of each ad flap  20  is upheld by the neighboring supporting step  24 . Therefore, dust or foreign substance is prevented from entering into the inner of the frame  10  because there is no gap between flaps  20 . Therefore, it is possible to make its appearance beautiful and to largely enhance the durability and the merchantability of the ad device.  
      Although the preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that the present invention should not be limited to the described preferred embodiment, but various changes and modifications can be made within the spirit and scope of the present invention as defined by the appended claims.