Patent Publication Number: US-6209245-B1

Title: Sign display attachment system

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     The present application is a continuation-in-part of application Ser. No. 09/305,861 filed May 5, 1999, now pending, which is a continuation-in-part of prior U.S. application Ser. No. 08/868,624 filed Jun. 4, 1997, now abandoned, priority from the filing date of which is hereby claimed under 35 U.S.C. §120 and is a continuation-in-part of prior PCT application serial number PCT/US9811447 filed Jun. 1, 1998. 
    
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     This invention relates to an attachment system or process for mounting flexible, easily replaceable advertising displays on to the side of a vehicle, such as a truck, tractor trailer, or van or fixed billboards or signs of various sizes. 
     There have been developed a number of methods for displaying advertising signage on the side of moving vehicles. Given the increased mobility of the public, and the growing unsatisfied demand for fixed roadside signage, the mobile billboard, achieved by mounting advertising art to the side of a transport vehicle, is becoming ever more common, and ever more practical, given advances in the technology of printing such advertising art, allowing better color quality, as well as much greater pixel resolutions. Taken together, these factors now make mobile, lateral surface of transport vehicle, advertising a higher quality and more sought after mode of commercial publicity than ever before. With the development of the science of mobile commercial publicity production, one would expect a corresponding development and sophistication in the technology of mounting said media to their substrate, the lateral sides of transport vehicles. This invention is a new step in said development and sophistication. 
     There are a number of constraining factors in designing a mobile advertising mounting system, some regulatory, others aesthetic, some physical. First, there exist federal as well as state transportation regulations restricting the width of transport vehicles to an upper limit of 102 inches. Secondly, transport advertising is most often procured by leasing the use of a carrier&#39;s fleet for such purpose. The fleet owner is inclined to lease to the advertising broker whose system impacts the lest on the fleet&#39;s vehicles, in terms of time required for initial setup of the system, turnaround time for installation/replacement of a particular image, and complexity of the permanent hardware attached to the vehicle. Further, in order to maintain the planar aspect of the sign, which is critical to readability from afar, the current industry practice is to apply tension to the signage. Finally, such signs need to present a minimal profile to avoid damage from abrasion or to enhance he safety of the design. 
     This has been accomplished in a vareity of ways, such as the systems described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,239,765 and 5,507,109. The first of these two systems relies on a series of anchors placed along the top and bottom of the lateral sides of the vehicle. A flat rectangular rod has the edges of the signage wrapped around it on the top and bottom edges of the sign, and this wrapping is held by the rows of anchors. The series of anchors method presents obvious difficulties as far as bringing the individual anchors within the top or bottom row into perfect linear alignment, and there are also issues of significant protrusion from the side of the vehicle, using this system, which may violate state and federal regulatory restrictions. 
     Additionally, this system of U.S. Pat. No. 5,239,765 has no mechanism to prevent the signage material acting as an airfoil, billowing and tending to pull away from the vehicle, or, at the very least, assuming a convex shape, thus distorting the image. This system further has no vertical or lateral adjustability to account for variation in manufacture of the signage material or system installation. 
     U.S. Pat. No. 5,507,109 solves some of the problems with the system described in the earlier patent, yet it discloses a system that is visually asymmetric as well as possessing a mech larger footprint. This implementation also requires attaching a structural element to the signage using a rod in a pocket of the sign on the leading and top edges. Holes are ringed by grommets on reinforced flaps which must be sewn to the trailing and bottom edges of the sign thus decreasing the available area of the sign that can be used for displaying the image. Shock cords are attached to the grommets and the shock cords are attached to the truck wall by means of S hooks connected to either flanges which run along the bottom and top edges of the sides of most trailers or by holes drilled in the sides of the trailer. 
     What is desired is a visually symmetric, simple, durable sign comprised of a small number of parts, and specially engineered to impact the truck or trailer at a minimum in terms of fasteners per foot required to the truck or trailer siding, as well as insulating the truck or trailer interior from moisture, system of attaching signage to a transport vehicle. Such a system should keep the signage material as planar as possible, and not introduce a vacuum or partial vacuum underneath it, or cause air pockets to form underneath it either, at any point along the sign. Such a system would have its framing removable, and insure protrusion from the lateral surface of the vehicle low enough to comply with all regulatory maximum vehicle width specifications. Once the framing is removed, the visible resident should be at an absolute minimum, and the framing should be capable of replacement and removal at will, and in a short, less than half-hour, time frame. The system would also allow for insertion of the line by which the edges of the sign are anchored to the substrate to be flexible, allowing for pre-insertion at the time of manufacture, and easy transportation. The system would further include a positive locking mechanism which does not release even if the sign is torn. The locking mechanism should present a smooth exterior surface with no exposed fastening device to be more resistant to scraping. The attachment bead should be protected behind the exterior surface. The exterior sign should project no more than ¼ inch to avoid any problems with excess width. 
     The present invention meets these needs. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     The foregoing aspects and many of the attendant advantages of this invention will become more readily appreciated as the same become better understood by reference to the following detailed description, when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein: 
     FIG. 1 provides a head-on view of the signage system fully installed and tensioned on the side of a truck; 
     FIG. 2 is a head-on view of the signage system fully installed and tensioned on a fixed billboard; 
     FIG. 3 shows a front view of a sign mounted on the side of a truck; 
     FIG. 4 is a cross sectional view taken along the section line  4 — 4  of FIG. 3; 
     FIGS. 5A and 5B provide a cross sectional side view taken along line  5 — 5  of FIG. 2; 
     FIGS. 6A-6D provide a cross sectional side view showing one method of adjusting tension used in the present invention; 
     FIGS. 7A-7C provide a cross sectional side view showing another method of adjusting tension used in the present invention; 
     FIGS. 8A-8F are exploded side views of the components of the present invention; and 
     FIG. 9 shows an alternate method for attaching a sign using the present invention. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     Referring to FIG. 1, a typical embodiment of the signage display system of the present invention is shown. A flexible sign  10  is held in place on the side of a transport vehicle  12  by a frame  14 . The system is shown in FIG. 2 in another embodiment as installed on a fixed billboard type sign. In this implementation, frame  14  is manufactured of high strength aluminum, in other implementations they can be made of materials with similar functional properties. 
     FIGS. 3-8 show corresponding detailed views of the present improved display attachment system to attach the edges of the sign. As best seen in FIG. 8, the device comprises a channel insert  18 , a mounting channel  20 , an optional backing plate  22 , an insertion bead  24  and an insertion strip  26 . For some dimensional reference, the width of mounting channel extending from the truck  12  is preferably less than ¼ inch thereby minimizing wind drag and width issues. 
     Insertion bead  24  has two elongated legs  28  which extend from a base  30 . Elongated legs  28  define a narrow, elongated u-shaped channel  32  therebetween. An edge of sign  10  is captured within said channel  32  as best seen in FIGS. 5-7. 
     Extending laterally from base  30  perpendicular to legs  28  are an upper prong  34   a  and a lower prong  34   b  having a slot  36  therebetween. Extending upwardly and rearwardly from upper prong  34   a  is a hook  38 . 
     Channel insert  18  is provided with a plurality of generally rectangular cross sectioned recesses  40  on one side thereof. Recesses  40  are partially occluded by a retainer  42  extending downwardly from the opening of each recess  40 . Each recess  40  corresponds in size generally to prongs  34   a  and  34   b  in combination when prongs  34  are fully inserted into any one of the recesses  40 , the associated retainer  42  engages hook  38  to retain prongs  34  therein. 
     Prongs  34  are snap fit or slid into a recess  40  by simple pressure. When such pressure is applied, slot  36  narrows as prongs  34   a  and  34   b  resiliently approach one another thereby allowing prongs  34  to clear retainer  42 . Once hook  38  clears retainer  42 , slot  36  resiliently returns to its former width whereby hook  38  engages retainer  42  to retain prongs  34  within recess  40 . Those skilled in the art will recognize that other snap fitting means are certainly possible for retaining a portion of base  30  to channel insert  18 . 
     On the opposite side of channel insert  18  from recesses  40  are a plurality of generally right triangular slots  44  preferably positioned at the upper end of channel insert  18 . Right triangular slots  44  mate with a corresponding right triangular post  46  provided on mounting channel  20 . Again, those skilled in the art will recognize that additional means for retaining channel insert  18  within mounting channel  20  are possible. 
     As best seen in FIG. 5, mounting channel  20  is L-shaped having a mounting leg  48 , and a base  50 . Backing plate  22  is preferably the same length as mounting channel  20 . Backing plate  22  is mounted directly to truck  12 . Alternatively, as shown in FIG. 5B, backing plate  22  can be omitted whereby mounting channel  20  is mounted directly onto truck  12  as shown in FIG.  5 A. The lower portion of backing plate  22  provides a hole  52  which corresponds to a second hole  56  in base  50 . A rivet  54  for attaching backing plate  22  and mounting channel  20  to the side of a truck extends through holes  52  and  56 . Rivet  54  engages a rivet head  58  which, preferably, is mounted in a cavity  60  on mounting channel  20 . Preferably, a dovetail guide post  62  mates with a corresponding dovetail cavity  64  to position backing plate  22  and mounting channel  20  properly. 
     Triangular post  46  is mounted proximate to the top of mounting leg  48 . As best seen in FIGS. 4-7, the interior separation of mounting leg  48  and backing plate  22  corresponds to the width of channel insert  18  in combination with base  30  when prongs  34  are inserted into one of the recesses  40 . 
     To use, as previously discussed, prongs  34  of base  30  are snap fitted into recesses  40  of channel insert  18 . The size of channel insert  18  and base  30  combination is thereafter inserted between mounting channel  20  and backing plate  22  (or truck  12  if backing plate  22  is not utilized) until triangular post  46  engages one of triangular recesses  44  thereby retaining channel insert  18  therebetween. As shown, when the channel insert  18  and base  30  combination is so inserted, backing plate  22  (or truck  120  prevent prongs  34  from being withdrawn laterally from recesses  40 . Thus, even if sign  10  is torn, the channel insert  18  and base  30  cannot be disengaged. Further, insertion bead  24  is completely covered thereby providing further protection to same. 
     As best seen in FIGS. 6A-6D and  7 A- 7 C, the user can employ both the selection of one of the recesses  40  to insert prongs  34  and the selection of one of the triangular slots  44  to engage triangular post  46  to adjust the tension of sign  10 . The tension adjustment can be made utilizing such tools as a pair of pliers. There are roller tools available which engage to top of insert  18  and the bottom of channel  20  simultaneously. 
     An alternate method of attaching sign  10  is illustrated in FIG.  9 . This method avoids the need to capture sign  10  between legs  28  of insertion bead  24 . Instead, an edge of sign  10  is threaded downwardly between a wide channel insert  18   a  and backing plate  22  (or the side of truck  12 ) laterally between insert  18   a  and to the top of base  50 , and finally upwardly between insert  18   a  and mounting leg  48 . On the side of channel insert  18   a  facing mounting leg  48 , an insertion cavity  60  is provided which receives insertion strip  26  therein. Sign  20  is threaded about the periphery of insertion cavity  60  and retained therein by insertion strip  26 . Strip  26  is preferably a flexible PVC material allowing it to snap or slide into cavity  60 . 
     Both embodiments present a generally smooth exterior with no exposed fasteners. The smooth profile makes the device resistant to scraping. 
     Although only certain embodiments have been illustrated and described, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications can be made therein without departing from the spirit of the invention or from the scope of the appended claims.