Improvements in Apparatus for Advertising.
Year: 1894

page_text: Date of Application, 24th Feb., 1894
Complete Specification Left, 26th Nov., 1894-Accepted, 29th Dec., 1894
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Apparatus for Advertising.
We PHILIP MARTIN PLATTS, Advertising Agent and GEORGE HENRY
GLADWELL, Joiner, both of 10 Savoy Buildings Strand London, W.C. do hereby
declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
This invention relates to an improved apparatus for advertising purposes, to be
carried about the streets by men, and has for its object to provide an arrangement
of this description which will afford a larger area for advertising arranged in an
effective manner without being of great weight.
A pair of sandwich boards is employed carried by the man at front and back,
connected together by side and top pieces so as to form a box-like construction in
which the man is placed. This is carried by means of straps fitted to each board
and passing over the shoulders suspending them from the shoulders.
On top of this construction is a frame, carrying boards at right angles to the
sandwich boards.
This frame extends from each side of the head up to a point at some distance
above the sides meeting and forming a wedge shaped frame, so that the boards are
in a sloping position.
This allows the upper boards to be viewed not only from the street but from
house windows, even at a considerable height. The boards are thus visible in
every direction.
*.
The frame is made of wood, the upper part consisting of four light posts
projecting from the top of the box at front and back, to which the upper boards
are fitted.
Dated thi oond doof War 1901
GEO. H. RAYNER,
37, Chancery Lane, London, W.C., Agent for the Applicants.
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Apparatus for Advertising.
We PHILIP MARTIN PLATTS of 10 Savoy Buildings Strand London W.C.
Advertising Contractor and GEORGE HENRY GLADWELL of the same place
Advertising Contractor and Joiner do hereby declare the nature of this invention
and in what manner the same is to be performed, to be particularly described
and ascertained in and by the following statement :-
Our invention relates to an apparatus which is carried on the shoulders of a man
along the streets of towns for the purpose of advertisement, and which consists of
boards or covered frames upon which the posters or placards are affixed, carried
upon a framework of wood or iron, and in particular to that particular class of the
above apparatus where one or more of the said boards or frames are carried over
the man's head.
Hitherto when boards have been carried overhead as above described there has
usually been only a single board carried overhead on each apparatus; and as far as

page_text: we are aware, in all cases such boards have been carried so as to present their flat
sides, or faces and backs, fronting towards the directions in which, or from which,
the man is walking, that is, up and down the street; and the boards have also been
placed in an upright position. This method has various disadvantages. The bills
or posters upon the boards or franes can with difficulty be seen and read by
persons looking out of the upper windows along the streets, or from the tops of
omnibuses, or other vehicles, in consequence of the angle at which such persons
must view the boards. Another disadvantage is that the boards or frames present
a surface upon which the wind, blowing up or down the street, acts with full force;
and as the surface of the board is at a great distance from the feet of the carrier,
the power of the wind often becomes so great that it is a matter of difficulty for
him to control his movements, or even to stand at all; and he thus becomes
dangerous both to himself and to the traffic along the street. Again when the rain
falls upon the board or frame it drips down upon the man's head and neck.
Instead, therefore, of constructing our apparatus as above mentioned, we put two
boards or frames above the man's head, standing with their lower edges some
distance apart, but slanting towards each other, so as that their upper edges meet,
and are fastened together in the form of a wedge, or of the roof of a house, as
appears by the drawings hereto. This roof-like double board we place so that the
edges of the boards stand towards the ends of the street along which the carrier
walks, and the boards have their flat sides or faces turned towards the sides of the
street; one towards one side, one towards the other side. By this arrangement
the placards or posters upon the boards, instead of being held upright, are held at
an angle, being turned somewhat upwards, and are thus able to be conveniently
read by persons from upper windows of the street or otherwise looking from a
raised position, and at the same time they can with equal convenience be read by
those passing on foot. Again, the wind blowing up and down the street only meets
the edges of the boards or frames, and blows between them; or in case of the ends
being covered as hereinafter mentioned in a modification of the above apparatus
the wind meets with a comparatively small surface; while when it comes from one
side or the other, which but rarely happens, it meets the boards at an angle, and
does not exert its full force upon them.
1
Moreover, the construction of the two boards forms a sort of roof over the head
of the carrier, which shelters him from the rain, throwing it off away from his
head and neck upon his shoulders, at a part where they are covered by the yoke as
hereinafter mentioned..
The apparatus carrying the overhead boards or frames may be constructed in
various ways, but that which after trials and experience appears to us the best is
that hereinafter described.
Figure 1 is a front view of the whole apparatus; Figure II is a side view of the
same;
Figure III is a section of the apparatus down the middle of it as shown in
Figure I;
Figure IV shews the apparatus fastened to, and carried by the carrier.
The letters are the same for the corresponding parts in each figure.
I
a, a are the two overhead boards or covered frames; b is a board or covered
frame carried behind the back of the man; c c are curved irons fastened to the
sides of the back board or frame, and holding up the overhead covered frames a a;
dd are irons fastened as, and fulfilling a similar purpose to cc, but at the back
instead of the front; in Figure they are hidden by the front irons cc; e is the
wooden yoke which I employ by which the bearer supports the weight of the
apparatus upon his shoulders. It is of a similar shape to an ordinary yoke used for
carrying buckets of water; f is a rail of wood about 3 inches by inch, fastened to
the back board or frame, and carrying the slotted wooden block g, through which
the band, or belt, hh passes. hh is tied or otherwise fastened round the man's
waist. The boards or frames a a are fastened together at the top in any ordinary
manner. The whole apparatus is constructed as lightly as consistent with due

page_text: strength, and for that reason we prefer to use wooden frames covered with canvas
or strong waterproof paper by preference Willesden waterproof paper, instead of
boards, for a a and b. These frames are of wood about 2 inches wide by inch thick,
while the irons are about inch by inch.
When it is desired to use the above described apparatus in the evening with a
light between the boards a a for the purpose of illuminating the posters, or at any
time when further space is desired for advertisements, and the day is not windy,
the ends of the boards a a are covered with some transparent paper such as tracing
cloth which covers all or so much of the angular space between a a (see Figure I)
as is desired.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of our said inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, we declare that what we
claim is
1. In apparatus carried overhead by men along the streets of towns for the
purpose of displaying advertisements by means of boards or covered frames or
other similar devices the use of two boards or covered frames placed so as to face
sideways instead of up and down the street, and arranged towards each other in a
wedge shaped or roof-like construction in the manner, and for the purposes, herein-
before, and in the accompanying drawings, described and illustrated.
2. In the improved apparatus described in the foregoing claim, the use of a yoke
upon the shoulders of the carrier in combination with the two overhead boards
constructed as and for the purposes hereinbefore and in the accompanying drawings
described and illustrated.
3. The combination of a waist band, h, back board or frame b, and yoke e, with
the double board a a, placed sideways, as and for the purposes hereinbefore, and in
the accompanying drawings described and illustrated.
Dated this 24th day of November 1894.
HERBERT EDWIN WATTS,
Solicitor,
27, Southampton Street, Strand, London, W.C.,
Agent for the Applicants.