EP0771457A1

EP0771457A1 - Device for individually and selectively displaying a set of posters

Info

Publication number: EP0771457A1
Application number: EP95925886A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Alain Crivelli; Rémy Kerouanton; Yann Kerouanton
Original assignee: MobilAffiche
Current assignee: MobilAffiche
Priority date: 1994-07-20
Filing date: 1995-07-13
Publication date: 1997-05-07
Anticipated expiration: 2015-07-13
Also published as: DE69506257T2; EP0771457B1; DE69506257D1; CA2195478A1; AU2984295A; JPH10507841A; ES2085838T3; CY2172B1; AU705665B2; DK0771457T3; JP3500538B2; FR2722903A1; ATE173855T1; EP0694897A1; FR2722903B1; CA2195478C; WO1996002907A1; HK1012456A1; KR100309821B1; BR9508315A

Abstract

A series of posters or similar panels (4) are attached to individual support sheets (1,2) of flexible material wound at least partly around a drum (5). A control system allows unwinding of the sheets from the drum such that the poster appears in a selected position, e.g. behind a display aperture or window (9). A series of posters may be mounted in slightly varying positions, such that their display positions are in planes (a-e) slightly differently spaced relative to the window. Movement of the support sheets and posters is controlled by traction cords wound around drive pulleys (7), and the posters are secured by transverse bars and lateral fastening strips of the support sheet. <IMAGE>

Description

DEVICE FOR INDIVIDUAL AND SELECTIVE DISPLAY OF A SET OF POSTERS

The present invention relates to a device for individually displaying, in a selective manner, the various posters of a set of posters by positioning them successively behind a display window.

This device finds application in particular in the field of advertising or traffic information.

It can be provided at a fixed station, for display panels with changing messages or other inscriptions).

It also finds application on vehicles, the windows for viewing advertising messages being in this case provided on the side faces and / or on the rear wall of a van type vehicle.

In this type of device, the posters are generally placed end to end on a flexible support in order to constitute a very long strip.

It can be an endless band, as is provided for example in documents FR-A-1 051 852, FR-A-2 579 810 and US-A-1 530 888.

According to other possible embodiments, as described for example in FR-A-2 692 395, FR-A-2 152 012 and WO-92/03813, we are dealing with a strip of limited length, the ends of which are wind on drums.

The long strip scrolls past the display window. There are means for driving and controlling the position of the tape, which allow ^to bring the poster featured behind the viewing window, making it visible to observers, including the public if we are dealing with a advertising device. According to the first four documents cited above, the display device equips an advertising vehicle.

The control of display sequences can be easily controlled by a programmable controller or a microcomputer. Appropriate control means such as opto-electronic detector cells, and / or mechanical detectors, are associated with the device in order to ensure the correct functioning of the assembly.

In the known devices, the posters located at the queue-leu-leu, in a predetermined order, necessarily scroll past the display window in this order.

There is therefore a problem in the case where the display sequence does not correspond to this order.

Thus, if two non-neighboring posters must be displayed successively, it is necessary to scroll empty, behind the display window, the poster (s) intermediate (s). There is therefore a momentary untimely display of moving posters, which is not completely satisfactory for observation. In addition, this empty scrolling results in a loss of time which is deducted from the total exposure time. In this regard, it should be noted that the advertising contract binding the display to its customers may provide that the exposure cycles of the different posters are not the same for all posters. Thus, each poster will have a well-defined frequency and exposure time, which can however be modified over time.

The order in which certain posters may pass may also be imposed, in particular if there is an intellectual relationship between two or more posters, which is particularly the case for so-called progressive advertising campaigns.

These imperatives linked to the sequencing of successive exhibitions are hardly compatible with the fact that all of the posters are connected end-to-end, as provided for in the prior art. The invention therefore aims to solve this difficulty by proposing a display device of the type mentioned above, in which one can have total freedom for the exhibition of the selected poster, as well as regards its frequency as its duration, as well as for the order of their scrolling.

These objectives are achieved, in accordance with the invention, thanks to the fact that each of the posters is secured to a flexible support capable of being wound, at least partially, on a rotary receiving drum, control means making it possible to selectively bring said said displays either in a retracted position in which it does not appear behind the viewing window, or in a deployed position, in which it is opposite said window, the deployed positions of the various posters being inscribed in separate parallel planes which are slightly apart from each other.

Of course, the arrangement of the device is such that when a poster is in the retracted position, neither the constituent elements of its support, nor itself hinders the viewing of the other posters, when these are deployed. Furthermore, according to a certain number of advantageous, non-limiting additional characteristics of the invention:

- The flexible support includes a flexible band winding on the receiving drum and extending at the viewing window, by a pair of side straps; - the two straps are connected by a transverse bar used to fix the poster; - The poster is removably attached on the one hand to this bar, and on the other hand to the transverse edge of the flexible strip;

- The device comprises means for tensioning the flexible strip; - the bar is attached to a pair of tensioning cables wound on self-winding return pulleys;

- at the outlet of the receiving drum, the flexible strip passes over a deflection roller;

- This deflection roller has a biconical wall, of slightly larger diameter at its center, which favors the centering of the strip;

- the viewing window is arranged vertically, while the drums and, where appropriate, the deflection rollers, have horizontal axes parallel to the general plane of the window, and are placed in a box located at the top of this window ; in this case, the return pulleys advantageously have a horizontal axis and are placed in a box disposed at the base of the window.

The invention also relates to an advertising vehicle which is equipped with at least one device as defined above.

Other characteristics and advantages of the invention will appear from the description and the appended drawings which represent a preferred embodiment. In the drawings:

- Figure 1 is a schematic perspective view of the flexible support receiving a poster (shown partially cut away), as well as guide and drive means, the poster being in the deployed position opposite the viewing window ( not shown); - Figure 2 is a detail of the cross bar for fixing the poster, this bar being shown cut transversely;

- Figure 3 is a view similar to Figure 1, corresponding to the retracted position, poster assumed removed;

- Figure 4 is a top view of a receiving drum and the guide roller associated therewith;

- Figure 5 shows, schematically, the device as a whole, cut by a transverse vertical plane, perpendicular to the posters and the viewing window;

- Figure 6 is a view similar to Figure 5, on a larger scale, and showing only two neighboring poster supports, one of which is in the retracted position and the other in the deployed position; - Figure 7 is a side view of a set of return pulleys ensuring the traction of the tensioning cables, located on one of the sides of the device;

- Figure 8 is a side view, on a smaller scale, of the lower part of Figure 6; - Figure 9 shows, very schematically, an advertising vehicle equipped with several devices according to the invention;

FIG. 10 is a view similar to FIG. 1, showing two neighboring poster supports, the two posters of which are lowered, the previous poster carrying a window; - Figure 11 is a view similar to Figure 10, in which the posterior poster is partially raised.

In the embodiment presented below, with reference to the drawings, the display window has a vertical arrangement, and the device comprises a set of five posters which can be positioned in turn, selectively, behind this window.

It goes without saying that the number of five is only one possible embodiment, this number can be arbitrary.

Figure 1 shows the flexible support receiving one of the posters. This support is formed by a flexible strip 1, such as a thin oilcloth, a pair of side straps 2 and a pair of side cables 3.

The strip 1, which forms the upper part of the support, is wound on a rotary cylindrical drum 5, with a horizontal axis 50. The latter is parallel to the general vertical plane, containing the viewing window, not shown.

Driving means, which will be described later, make it possible to rotate the drum 5 in one direction or the other, as is symbolized by the double arrow F in FIG. 1.

The strip 1 passes over a deflection roller 6, with a horizontal axis parallel to that of the drum 5. The deflection takes place at approximately 45 °, the part of the strip connecting the roller 6 to the drum therefore being approximately horizontal. The roller 6 has a biconical wall, of small conicity, the largest diameter of which is in its central part, as can be seen more precisely in FIG. 4.

At its ends, which correspond to the small diameters of the conical wall, there are provided flanges 60 forming stops for the lateral edges of the strip. These flanges 60 also have a conical wall, which converges inwards, so as to prevent the lateral escape of the strip. The slightly biconical shape of the roller 6 ensures automatic alignment and good centering of the strip 1, both when it is unwound and when it is wound. The end of the strip 1 extends from the side not wound on the drums 5 by the side straps 2, which are made ^of years a tension resistant fabric. The straps 2 are fixed to the band 1 by any suitable means, for example by gluing or using rivets. The free ends of the straps 2 are connected one ^one to another by a crossbar 20.

As seen in Figure 2, the bar 24 consists of a set of two plates 21, 22 of small thickness and with rounded edges, which sandwich the two straps 2, the fixing being made by rivets 23 which through the elements 21, 22 and the strap 2. at the cross-member 20 are attached to cables 3, directed downwards, and ^s' each winding over a pulley 7. This sheave two discoidal side plates, defining a groove receiving the cable (see figure 7).

The pulleys 7 are automatic return pulleys, of known type, containing an internal spiral spring which constantly tends to rotate in the direction of 1 winding of the cable in the groove, thus permanently exerting a tensile force on the cable, like this is symbolized by the arrows T in Figure 1.

This support carries a poster 4 which is fixed therein in an easily removable manner.

In the illustrated embodiment, the attachment is by a gripping system with hook-and-loop fabrics, loops and hooks, of the type widely distributed under the trade name "VELCRO" (arch).

To this end, the transverse edge end of the flexible band 1, referenced 10 and the crossbar 20, are, on the side facing the display window, ^one of the two elements of the tissue gripping, eg hooks . The back of the posters 4 is lined, in the corresponding location zones, with the other element of the fabric - in this case the loops -.

Thus, the placement of the poster on the support is very easy, by simple pressure. After fixing, the poster occupies the space corresponding to the rectangle formed by the two straps 2, the edge 10 and the bar 20. The inscriptions 40 carried by the poster are centered on it so as to appear correctly through the viewing window (not shown in Figure 1), the dimensions of which are slightly smaller than those of the poster.

A simple comparison of Figures 1 and 3, it is understood that by rotating the drum 5 in the direction of unwinding of the strip, the poster will deploy and place in a vertical plane; this deployment takes place under tension, as a result of the traction of the cables 3 urged by the return pulleys 7. If the drum 5 is rotated in the opposite direction, the strip 1 is wound almost completely on the drum, while the bar 20 comes to occupy a high position, above the level of the viewing window. The poster is therefore in a retracted position, folded over the deflection roller 6. It will be noted that in the high position, the straps 2 are retained laterally by the flanges 60 of the roller 6.

Figure 5 shows how are installed in the device a set of five poster supports such as that just described.

In this figure, the reference window 9 has been designated, which includes a frame 91 and a transparent panel 90, for example a window pane. The device comprises a frame 8, essentially consisting of a front wall 82, in which the window 9 is mounted, a high box 80 and a low box 81.

In the top box 80 are mounted all of the drums 5 and guide rollers 6. In the bottom box 81 are installed all of the return pulleys 7.

The positioning of these different elements is such that each of the five flexible poster supports has a deployed position which is part of a vertical plane a, b, c, d, e, parallel to the window 90. These different planes are spaced regularly, separated by a small space j. Similarly, the plane a of the first poster (the poster closest to the window) is located a short distance k from the window 90.

The locations of the various deflection rollers 6a, 6b, 6c, 6d and 6e, and of the various drums la, lb, le, ld and le, inside the box 80, are determined so as to present the bulk as low as possible, without any risk of contact between the poster supports or posters. Similarly, the different pulleys 7a, 7b, 7c, 7d and 7e provided in the bottom box 81 have offset positions, avoiding interference from the different cables, with maximum compactness.

In the embodiment shown, as seen more particularly in Figures 5 and 7, the five pulleys provided on each side of the device are divided into two groups.

The pulleys 7a, 7b, 7c associated with the first three posters, have axes located in the same horizontal plane, but offset both transversely and from front to rear - to ensure the spacing j mentioned above -.

The other two pulleys 7d and 7e are arranged in the same way, at a higher level than that of the pulleys 7a, 7b and 7c.

Each pulley is mounted idly on a square support 70 fixed to the chassis 8. The offset in the transverse direction of the pulleys is compensated for by the fact that the different cables 3 have different attachment points on the transverse bar 20.

This feature is clear from Figure 8, which shows that the mutual spacing of the cables 3a is greater than that of the cables 3b.

The drive of each drum 5 is carried out by an electric geared motor 51 fixed to the chassis 8, and the output shaft of which coaxially drives the shaft 50 of the drum.

The set of five motors driving the drums 5a to 5d is controlled by a programmable controller or a microcomputer, not shown, into which the various data linked to the desired display cycle have been introduced, in particular the scrolling order and exposure, the frequency and exposure time of each poster.

Certain posters may of course be displayed longer and / or more frequently than others, depending on the program.

In FIG. 6, only the systems associated with the first two posters have been represented, corresponding to the indices a and b.

The first poster 4a is in the retracted position, the strip being wound on its receiving drum 5a, while the poster is in the high position, not visible through the glass 90 by an observer who would be located on the left of the figure.

On the contrary, the poster 4b is in the deployed position, and is located opposite the window 90. It is therefore visible to the observer.

The window 9 is thus dimensioned so that the various organs of the control system, such as the straps, the cables, and the transverse bars of all of the non-deployed systems are not visible through the window.

In FIG. 8, it will be noted that the poster 4, the outline of which has been shown in dashed lines, has dimensions substantially larger than those of the window.

In Figure 6, there is shown schematically detectors 92 and 93 of the proper deployment, and, respectively of the proper retraction of each of the posters.

The detectors 92a, 92b are placed at the bottom of the window, while the detectors 93a, 93b are arranged at its top.

These are detectors known per se, for example of the opto-electronic type, such as photoelectric cells. These detectors allow you to check the deployment status of each poster at any time, and send it to the microprocessor or programmable controller which controls the motor of the signals corresponding to this state, in order to ensure the correct functioning of the display.

As already said, the posters and their supports are constantly kept under tension, thanks to the return pulleys which act on the tensioning cables. In an alternative embodiment, the tension of the posters and their support could simply be achieved under the effect of the weight of the crossbar 20, the latter being able to be ballasted if necessary.

The substitution of one poster for another can be done in an extremely short time, since the retraction of the previous poster and the deployment of the new poster can be done simultaneously, in masked time.

The device lends itself remarkably to progressive advertising campaigns in which a poster carries a message announcing information to be discovered on one or more following poster (s).

The posters used are made of thin and flexible material, resistant to tearing and wrinkling, for example paper or plastic film.

Attachment systems other than gripping fabrics can of course be provided, for example fixing by clips, by snap-fastening of the snap button type, or by adhesive tapes.

To facilitate the change of posters, there will preferably be a viewing window that can be opened, or having an easily removable window 90, which will allow access to the various poster supports.

It goes without saying that the dimensions of the device will be adapted to the dimensions of the posters concerned.

As an indication, the width of the strip 1 will be between 1 m and a few meters, the drums 5 and the deflection rollers 6 having a suitable length.

The drums 5 may be made of aluminum, with a diameter of around 60 mm.

The rollers 6 will preferably be made of surface-treated aluminum, so as not to leave marks on the back of the posters; their diameter will be of the order of 30 to 40 mm. The inter-poster spacing j will be of the order of 15 to 30 mm.

The return pulleys 7 will have a diameter of the order of 80 to 100 mm.

This kind of device can be used in a fixed location, for example integrated in the facade of a building, or housed in a panel mounted on a foot or any other support. It can also be mounted on an advertising vehicle, as illustrated in FIG. 9. This figure shows a vehicle 100 of the van type, the cockpit of which is referenced 103. The vehicle has lateral faces 101 and a rear wall 102, provided with viewing windows 9 and 9 'respectively of the posters. The display devices according to the invention, three in number, are installed inside the vehicle and each associated with one of the windows.

In the embodiment illustrated in Figures 10 and 11, the poster 4 has a window 400 which reveals the poster located behind it. It is a simple opening crossing the poster, or a transparent area. Thus, depending on the degree of winding of the strip l 'which carries the poster placed behind the poster 4, these are different zones of this poster which will be visible through said window 400. Consequently, if one affixes on the posterior poster of the drawings, messages or other different inscriptions, able to come selectively opposite the window 400, it is possible to modify in an evolutionary manner the scene displayed, visible on the previous poster.

In the example of Figures 10 and 11, the window is a "bubble" representative of the reflection of an advertising figure.

On the posterior poster (hidden) are provided two messages, in this case "YES" and "NO" placed at levels offset in height, and able to fit one or the other in the bubble when the posterior posterior is lowered (figure 10) or partially raised (arrow H, figure 11). Naturally, one could provide several windows on the previous poster and assign to each of them more than two messages on the poster. In addition, messages can also be affixed to one (or more) poster (s) further away (s) which becomes (are) visible (s) when the (or) poster (s) inserted between them ( s) and the previous poster is (are) completely raised. In another possible embodiment of the device, the poster and its flexible support are a single plastic strip. This includes a primer area blank with inscriptions, winding on the receiving drum. The rest of the tape carries the inscriptions, drawings, or other message to display. These can be affixed to the strip in any suitable manner, in particular be glued to it or directly printed. A ballast bar attached to the free end of the strip ensures that it is tensioned and returned to the deployed position. Advantageously, the ends of the bar are guided in vertical lateral slides.

Claims

1. Device for individually displaying, selectively, the various posters of an assembly by successively positioning them behind a viewing window, characterized in that each of the posters (4) is integral with a flexible support (1, 2, 3 ) capable of being wound, at least partially, on a rotary receiving drum (5), control means (51, 7) making it possible to selectively bring said poster (4) either to a retracted position, in which it does not appear not behind the viewing window (9), either in a deployed position, in which it is opposite said window (9), and that the deployed positions of the various posters (4) are in separate parallel planes (a , b, c, d, e) slightly apart from each other.

2. Device according to Claim 1, characterized in that the said flexible support comprises a flexible strip (1) which is wound on the receiving drum (5) and is extended, at the level of the viewing window (9), by a pair of side straps (2).

3. Device according to claim 2, characterized in that the two straps (9) are connected by a transverse bar (20) used for fixing the poster

(4).

4. Device according to claim 3, characterized in that the poster is removably fixed on the one hand to said bar (20), on the other hand to the transverse edge (10) of said strip (1).

5. Device according to one of claims 2 to 4, characterized in that it comprises means (7) for tensioning the flexible strip (1).

6. Device according to one of claims 3 or 4, taken in combination with claim 5, characterized in that the bar (20) is attached to a pair of tension cables wound on return pulleys (7) wound automatic.

7. Device according to one of claims 2 to 6, characterized in that at the outlet of the receiving drum (5), the flexible strip (1) passes over a deflection roller (6).

8. Device according to claim 7, characterized in that the deflection roller (6) has a biconical wall, of slightly larger diameter at its center, which promotes the centering of the strip.

9. Device according to one of claims 2 to 8, characterized in that the viewing window (9) is arranged vertically, while said drums

(1) and, where appropriate, said deflection rollers (6) have horizontal axes parallel to the general plan of the window (9), and are placed in a box (80) located at the top of this window (9).

10. Device according to claims 6 and 9, taken in combination, characterized in that said return pulleys (7) have a horizontal axis and are placed in a box (81) disposed at the base of the window (9).

1 1. Advertising vehicle (100) equipped with at least one device according to one of the preceding claims.