Abstract:
A vehicle with a trunk where the trunk lid pivots upwardly to provide access to the trunk and a latch for holding for the trunk lid closed is provided with a removable display device in the rear of the vehicle. The display device comprises a sheet of flexible material having a display on an outer surface thereof, an upper pocket or the upper edge of the sheet with a first rod therein for holding the display device in the trunk when the trunk is closed, and optionally a lower pocket with another rod therein for maintaining the displayed device displayed while the vehicle moves. Optionally there is a cutout in an upper portion of the sheet for receiving the latch.

Description:
BACKGROUND 
       [0001]    Vehicle owners frequently desire to place a message on their vehicles such as a warning sign, an advertisement, a slogan, or a declaration of allegiance to a favorite sports team. Many techniques have been developed for attaching such messages to vehicles, such as bumper stickers, magnetic mounting systems, license plate frames, devices mountable on antennas, and the like. See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,255,464 for a tailgate sign; and U.S. Pat. No. 3,949,503 for an emergency warning device. 
         [0002]    Problems with many such devices are they can be difficult to secure in place and/or difficult to remove. 
         [0003]    Thus there is a need for a display device for use on vehicles that is easily secured to a vehicle and easily removable. 
       SUMMARY 
       [0004]    The present invention is directed to such a device. In particular, it is designed for placement on the rear of a vehicle that has a rear door that pivots for opening to provide access to a rear compartment, where the rear door is closed by a latch. The rear door can be a trunk lid or a swinging door of the type used with vans and SUVs. The device comprises a sheet of flexible material, first and second opposed surfaces, an upper portion, a lower portion, an upper edge, and a lower edge. There is a display such as “Go Team” on the first surface so it serves as a display surface. There are retaining means proximate to the upper edge for removably retaining the sheet in the rear compartment of the vehicle when the rear door is closed, but not when the rear door is open. Optionally the device also includes weight down means at the lower edge of the sheet for maintaining the display surface visible while the vehicle moves. The retaining means can comprise a pocket at the upper edge of the sheet with one or more rods located therein. There is no support for the sheet that prevents the sheet from bending so that the upper portion can be placed in the rear compartment with the lower portion of the sheet draping downwardly so that the display is visible. 
         [0005]    Optionally and preferably there is an opening in the upper portion of the sheet for receiving a latch, such as a latch typically present in the trunk of a vehicle for holding the trunk lid closed. The opening is sized so that the latch can pass through the opening, where the latch is captured in the opening. 
         [0006]    Preferably the weight down means comprises one or more rods proximate to the lower edge of the sheet. 
         [0007]    Padding can optionally be provided to prevent the rods from marring the vehicle surfaces. 
         [0008]    Because the display device is held in place by a very simple retaining means that is effective when the rear door is closed but not when the rear door is open, and optionally with the opening for a latch, the display device is easily and quickly attachable to a vehicle, and is equally easily removable from the vehicle. 
     
    
     
       DRAWINGS 
         [0009]    These and other features, aspects, and advantages of the present invention will be better understood with reference to the following description, appended claims, and accompanying drawings where: 
           [0010]      FIG. 1  shows a display device according to the present invention mounted in the trunk of a vehicle with the trunk lid open; 
           [0011]      FIG. 2  is a front perspective view of the device of  FIG. 1 ; and 
           [0012]      FIG. 3  is a vertical sectional view of the device of  FIG. 1  taken on line  3 - 3  in  FIG. 2 . 
       
    
    
     DESCRIPTION 
       [0013]    A display device  10  having features of the present invention is designed for mounting in a rear compartment, such as a trunk  12 , of a vehicle  14 . As is typical, the trunk  12  has a trunk lid  16  pivotable between an open position and a closed position. The closed position is also referred to as the latched position. The trunk lid  16  is shown in the open position in  FIG. 1 . 
         [0014]    The display device is formed from a sheet  18  of flexible durable material. Flexible materials such as cloth, leather, cotton, canvas, plastic, paper or durable plastic/fiber substitute such as that manufactured by DuPont under the TYVEK mark can be used. The plastic can be any durable, flexible plastic, such as polyvinylchloride or polyethylene. The sheet  18  can include a coating to provide UV resistance and durability. Optionally the sheet  18  is washable. 
         [0015]    The sheet  18  has an upper edge  20 , a lower edge  22 , opposed side edges  24 A and  24 B, an upper portion  26 , a lower portion  27 , and opposed first  28 A and second  28 B surfaces. The surface facing outwardly is referred to herein as a display surface, which is the first surface  28 A in the figures. The first surface  28 A has a display  29  thereon, typically only on the lower portion  27 , since the upper portion  26  of the display surface is not easily visible when the device is in use. Optionally both surfaces  28 A and  28 B of the sheet  18  can be used for display purposes, where the surfaces have the same or different displays. Different displays provide for versatility and different messages. Thus which of the surfaces  28 A and  28 B serves as the display surface depends on how the device is oriented relative to the vehicle. The “display” surface is the surface facing outwards. 
         [0016]    By using a flexible sheet  18  of material, it is possible to easily roll up the display device for compact storage in the trunk or elsewhere when it is not being used for display purposes. 
         [0017]    There is no support for the sheet that prevents the sheet from bending so that the upper portion can be placed in the trunk with the lower portion of the sheet draping downwardly so that the display surface is visible. 
         [0018]    The sheet  18  can be a single piece of material, or multiple segments attached together. For example, the upper portion  26  can be formed of a first material and the lower portion  27  of a second material, stitched, glued or welded together. The first and second materials can differ only in color or surface treatment. For example, the upper portion  26  can be dark colored, such as black, and the lower portion  27  can be a light color so that the display  29  is easily visible. Preferably the sheet  18  is rectangular in configuration, having a width of from about 30 to about 36 inches and a height of from about 24 to about 30 inches. Shapes, such as square, oval, round, hexagonal, triangular, and pentagonal, are also possible. 
         [0019]    Preferably the upper portion  26  of the sheet  18  has a cut out  30 , also referred to as an opening, centrally located with respect to the side edges  24 A and  24 B for receiving a latch mechanism  32  of the vehicle  14  so that the latch mechanism  32  can capture the device  10 . The latch mechanism  32  is used to hold the trunk lid  16  in its closed position. The latch mechanism has an upper portion  32 A that engages a lower portion  32 B. This cut out  30  prevents damage to sheet  18  when the trunk lid  16  is closed, as well as helping to secure the display device  10  in the trunk  12  when the trunk lid  16  is closed. Optionally a removable patch can be provided to cover the cut out  30  for applications where the cut out  30  is not needed. The cut out patch can be held in place by a fastener, such as Velcro brand hook and loop fastener. 
         [0020]    The display  29  on the display surface  28 A can be any indicia desired, including letters, numbers and graphical designs. The display  29  typically is one that shows support for a sports team, such as “Go Lakers,” “Go Nationals,” “Go Orioles,” “Go Bears,” “Go Angels,” and the like. The display  29  may include a team logo. The display  29  can also be a warning sign of the type found on bumper stickers such as “Baby on Board,” an advertisement (such as “Call XYX for patent work”), can be a warning display, a display requesting assistance, such as “Flat Tire,” or “Call AAA,” or an announcement such as “Just Married.” 
         [0021]    The side edges  24 A and  24 B can be hemmed or otherwise strengthened. 
         [0022]    To retain the sheet  18  in the trunk  12  when the trunk lid  16  is closed, retaining means, such as an upper retaining rod such as a bar or dowel or multiple retaining rods, separated or attached, can be placed proximate to the upper edge  20  of the sheet  18 . The retaining means is sized to be too large to pass through the gap between the vehicle body and a door, such as the trunk lid  16 , closing the compartment, such as the trunk, in which the retaining means is located. Preferably a single upper rod  36 , which can be made of wood, metal, or rigid plastic can be used. The upper rod  36  can be placed in a hemmed upper sleeve  38  at the upper edge  20 . The sleeve  38  can be formed by stitching or otherwise attaching one doubled over portion of the sheet  18  to the opposed portion. The upper rod  36  can be shorter than, equal to or longer in width than the width of the sleeve  38 . In one version of the invention, the upper rod  36  extends slightly out of the sleeve  38  and is provided with caps  40  being of larger diameter than the diameter of the sleeve  38  so that the upper rod  36  cannot slide out of the sleeve  38 . The diameter of the upper rod  36  is slightly smaller than the inside diameter of the sleeve  38  to ensure a tight fit. 
         [0023]    To keep the sheet  18  vertically oriented and avoid flapping when the vehicle  14  is moving, optionally weight down means are provided proximate to the lower edge  22  of the sheet. The weight down means can be any weighting device of sufficient weight so that the sheet  18  resists flapping. The weight down means can be sewn in metallic weights or the like. Preferably the weight down means is one or more heavy rods  42  at the bottom. There can be a bottom sleeve  44  formed by hemming at the lower edge  22  of the sheet  18 , with the bottom rod  42  therein. The bottom rod  42  can be made of wood, metal, or rigid plastic. The bottom sleeve  44  can be formed by stitching or otherwise attaching one doubled over portion of the sheet  18  to the opposed portion. The bottom rod  42  can be shorter than, equal to or longer in width than the width of the bottom sleeve  44 . In one version of the invention, the bottom rod  42  extends slightly out of the bottom sleeve bottom and is provided with caps  46  being of larger diameter than the diameter of the bottom sleeve  44  so that the bottom rod  42  cannot slide out of the bottom sleeve  4 . The diameter of the bottom rod  42  is slightly smaller than the inside diameter of the bottom sleeve  44  to ensure a tight fit. 
         [0024]    The rods  36  and  42  can be any shape in cross section, such as circular, polygon, and oval. They can be solid or hollow. 
         [0025]    To prevent marring the vehicle  14 , the upper rod  56  and the lower rod  42  can be partially or completely surrounded by padding  52 . The padding  52  can be attached to the respective rod. The padding  52  can be formed of any protective material, such as foam. 
         [0026]    Optionally the rods  42  and  56  can be sized to be removable from the sheet so that the sheet can be easily cleaned or folded. 
         [0027]    A method according to the present invention for placing the display device  10  on the rear of the vehicle comprises opening the rear door such as the trunk lid  16  of the vehicle  14 , placing the retaining means and a portion of the sheet  18  inside a trunk with the remainder of the sheet  18  draping over the rear of the vehicle, without physically securing the display device  10  to the vehicle  14 , and closing the trunk lid  16 . When the vehicle has a latch for the trunk lid and the upper portion of the sheet has the opening sized to receive the latch, the opening is placed over the latch so that the latch extends through the opening and helps to retain the display device in place when the trunk lid is closed 
         [0028]    Although the present invention is described in considerable detail with reference to certain preferred versions thereof, other versions are possible. For example, the invention can be used not only with a conventional trunk lid, but with any vehicle having a rear compartment with a pivotable door. For example it can be used with an SUV having a door that pivots upwardly or sidewardly. Also, depending on the size of the upper retaining means, the trunk lid need not be completely closed for the display device  10  to be held in place. Thus the present claims should not be limited to the description of the preferred versions contained herein.