AU1836701A - Advertising apparatus - Google Patents

Description

ADVERTISING APPARATUS Field of the Invention The present invention is concerned with a street advertising display apparatus.

Background of the Invention It is well known to advertise to motorists and pedestrians by means of outdoor advertising media such as billboards. However, billboards typically provide large-scale advertising which is expensive. Moreover, the erection of billboards is also expensive and may be difficult depending on the site selected. Furthermore, the billboard site must be leased from the owner of the building or land on which the billboard is erected which adds to the expense. A further problem with outdoor advertising of this type is that billboards are only visible over a relatively limited range of angles.

Other types of outdoor advertising include affixing advertisements to buses and taxis however such advertising spaces are also relatively limited and so expensive.

In light of the above problems it is an object of the present invention to S 20 provide an outdoor advertising apparatus which is convenient to install, highly visible and may be readily installed at a large number of locations.

Summary of the Invention According to a first aspect of the invention there is provided a street advertising display for attachment to a pole such as the pole of a parking meter, the advertising display including: a body designed for upright installation about a vertical pole and having one or more sides and operatively providing one or more display surfaces about said pole; and securing means for securing the body about a pole.

Preferably the advertising display further includes advertisement retaining means for releasably holding an advertisement to said body.

Alternatively the display surfaces may be suitable for receiving an adhesive so that advertisements may be adhered to the surfaces.

Preferably the apparatus is arranged so that when installed the display surfaces are visible when viewed from points ranging over 360 degrees about the pole.

According to one embodiment the body may be formed in two portions connected by a hinge to facilitate opening of the body for placement about the pole.

Preferably the body includes at least a two-part top yoke, each part of the yoke having a cut-out for locating about the pole. In this embodiment it is advantageous if the apparatus further include a bracket for attachment to the pole in order to prevent slipping and/or rotation of the apparatus relative to the pole.

In another embodiment the body further includes a pair of internal shells or supports with corresponding longitudinal grooves shaped to accept the pole.

It is advantageous if the grooves are adapted to grip the pole.

According to one embodiment they may be so adapted by coating them with a rubber or similar compound.

Another alternative method of securing the apparatus to the pole is to further include a clamping assembly which extends from the interior of the 20 body of the apparatus and is adapted for fastening to the pole.

Advantageously the point of connection between the assembly and the interior of the body may be by means of a hinge in order to provide a degree of freedom during mounting of the clamp to the pole.

The advertising display apparatus may take any one of many shapes.

For example it may be cylindrical, oval or elliptical in cross section, a triangular prism, a polygonal prism, or box shaped. Furthermore the sides of the apparatus may be convex or concave.

While it is most convenient that the body be provided as two halves hingedly connected, the two halves may also be connected by means other than a hinge. For example they may be screwed, clamped, bolted or welded together.

In a preferred embodiment the advertising retaining means includes a number of opposed lips or flanges between which an advertising medium, such as a flexible board bearing an advertisement, may be inserted.

Alternatively the advertising medium could be secured to the display surface by other means, such as by screwing or bolting the medium to the body.

In one embodiment the advertising medium may be conveniently sandwiched between the display surface and a flexible perspex panel releasably secured to the apparatus.

Brief Description of Figures In order that the invention may be more readily understood and put into to practical effect, reference will now be made to a typical example which illustrates the present invention and wherein:- Figure 1 is an illustration of an advertising display apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Figure 1A is an illustration of an advertising display apparatus according to a further embodiment of the present invention.

Figure 2 depicts an advertising display apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention in use mounted to a parking meter pole.

Figure 2A is a close up of the top portion of the display apparatus shown in Figure 2.

Figure 2B is a plan view of a further embodiment of a display apparatus having concave sides.

Figure 2C is a plan view of a further embodiment of a display apparatus having convex sides.

oooeo Figure 3 illustrates an embodiment of the invention similar to that shown in Figure 1 but further incorporating an internal clamping assembly.

Detailed Description of Preferred Embodiment With reference to Figure 1, there is depicted a first embodiment of a street advertising apparatus 1 according to the present invention.

Advertising apparatus 1 consists of a body 4 comprised of two semicylindrical halves 2A, 2B joined by a hinge 3. At the top and bottom ends of the advertising apparatus are yokes 5A, 5B and 7A, 7B each including semicircular cut-away portions 8A, 8B, 9A, 9B respectively for snugly accommodating a pole such as the pole of a parking meter. Down the inside edge of body half 2B there is a folded back strip 11 including a number of threaded holes 13. A similar number of holes 15 at corresponding positions are formed into the opposing edge of half 2A.

Paired lips 10A, 10B, 12A, 12B extend towards each other from the peripheries of the upper and lower edges of the body halves 2A and 2B. The lips allow a flexible advertising sheet to be inserted between them and held against the outer surfaces of the apparatus.

In use the apparatus is placed about a parking meter pole and the two halves of the body pivoted together about hinge 3 so that the pole comes to be located between the cut-aways. Screws are then inserted through holes and tightened into tapped holes 13 in order to secure the two halves of the apparatus.

In order to prevent the display apparatus slipping down the pole then a protrusion such as a screw or bolt or pop-rivet or clamp may be fixed to the pole beneath either of yokes 8, 9. Alternatively a bracket 17 may extend from the apparatus for connection to the pole. Such a connection also aids in preventing rotation of the apparatus about the pole should that be desired in the particular situation.

i With reference to Figure 1A, a variation of the apparatus shown in Figure 1 is depicted. The apparatus of Figure 1A is similar to that of Figure 1 except that shells 20 and 22 are located in the interior of the apparatus and extend the cut-out section of the yokes throughout the length of the apparatus. The cut-out portions 24 and 26 of the shells may be coated with a layer of rubber or other similar material which is capable of gripping a metal pole. Consequently when the apparatus is tightened around the pole it will grip to the pole resisting the tendency to slide down the pole or to rotate about it.

Referring now to Figure 2 a further embodiment of the invention fitted to a parking meter is shown. In this second embodiment advertising apparatus 21 is configured in a triangular form rather than a cylindrical one.

With reference to Figure 2A, which is a close up of the top of the apparatus, it will be noted that a hinge 23 connects sides 25 and 27 of the display. Side 29 is rigidly connected to 27. Yoke portion 31 is connected to side 27 and 29 whereas yoke portion 32 is connected to side 25 only. Accordingly the apparatus may be opened about hinge 23 and fixed to pole 35 as shown in Figure 2. Similar to the embodiment of Figure 1 the two sides of the apparatus may be retained in place by means of screwing or otherwise fixing the free edges together.

While the advertising surfaces shown in Figure 2 are flat they may also be concave as shown in the plan view of Figure 2B or convex as shown in Figure 2C.

Referring now to Figure 3 there is shown the advertising apparatus of Figure 1 further incorporating hinge assemblies 51 and 53 mounted onto the inner wall of body half 2A. Connected to each hinge is one half of a clamp 57 respectively for connection to a pole.

In use the advertising apparatus is opened up as shown in Figure 3 and located about the pole for mounting thereto. Clamp halves 55 and 57 are then placed against the pole and opposing brackets 59 and 61 are attached to the clamp halves by means of butterfly screws and nuts and tightened so that the pole is firmly gripped. Body half 2B of the advertising apparatus is then swung about hinge 3 in order to close the apparatus about the pole and the two halves of the body are secured together by inserting screws through holes 15 into threaded holes 13 as previously described.

20 Although the apparatus has been described with reference to only a limited number of embodiments obviously a great many variations are Spossible. For example, the two halves of the body of the advertising apparatus do not have to be attached by a hinge. While the hinge is a convenience the two halves could simply be screwed together or otherwise connected, for example riveted, clamped or welded about the pole.

Furthermore while cylindrical and triangular prism shaped advertising apparatuses have been described many other shapes are also possible. For example the body of the apparatus could be box shaped or even have the 0 0* shape of an extruded polygon. In any event the apparatus allows o o 30 advertisements to be visible to both pedestrians on the pavement and motorists driving by or in the process of parking.

Although it is preferred that the advertising media be held in place between overhanging peripheral lips of the apparatus as previously described, other means for releasably securing the advertising media to the display 6 surfaces of the advertising apparatus are also possible. For example the advertising media could simply be held beneath a perspex panel screwed or otherwise releasably secured to the apparatus.

It will of course be understood that the above limited number of embodiments have been given in order to illustrate the present invention and that all such modifications and variations thereto as would be apparent to persons skilled in the art are deemed to fall within the broad scope and ambit of the invention as is set forth in the following claims.

Claims (16)

1. A street advertising display for attachment to a substantially vertical pole, the advertising display including: a body designed for upright installation about said pole and having one or more sides and operatively providing one or more display surfaces about said pole; and securing means for securing the body about a pole.

2. A street advertising display as claimed in claim 1 further including advertisement retaining means arranged to releasably hold an advertisement to the body.

3. A street advertising display as claimed in claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the one or more display surfaces are suitable for receiving an adhesive so that advertisements may be adhered to the surfaces.

4. A street advertising display according to any one of the preceding claims arranged so that when installed the display surfaces are visible when viewed from points ranging over 360 degrees about a long axis of the pole. A street advertising display according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the body is formed in two portions connected by a hinge to facilitate opening of the body for placement about the pole.

6. A street advertising display according to any one of the preceding claims further including a two-part top yoke, each part of the yoke having a cut-out for locating about the pole.

7. A street advertising display according to claim 6, further including a bracket for attachment to the pole in order to prevent slipping and/or rotation of the apparatus relative to the pole. 8

8. A street advertising display according to any one of the preceding claims, further including a pair of internal shells or supports with corresponding longitudinal grooves shaped to accept the pole.

9. A street advertising display according to claim 8, wherein the longitudinal grooves are adapted to grip the pole. A street advertising display according to claim 9, wherein the longitudinal groves are adapted to grip the pole by coating them with a rubber or similar compound.

11. A street advertising display according to any one of claims 1 to 7, further including clamping assembly extending from the interior of the body of the apparatus and adapted for fastening to the pole.

12. A street advertising display according to claim 11, wherein the assembly is connected to the interior of the body may be by means of a hinge in order to provide a degree of freedom during mounting of the clamp to the pole.

13. A street advertising display according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the advertising display apparatus is configured to have any one of the following cross-sectional shapes: circular, oval, elliptical, triangular, rectangular, polygonal.

14. A street advertising display according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the sides of the body may be convex or concave. 0 A street advertising display apparatus according to any one of claims 2 to 14 wherein the retaining means includes a number of opposed lips or flanges between which an advertising medium, such as a flexible board bearing an advertisement, may be inserted. 9

16. A street advertising display apparatus according to any one of the preceding claims further including an advertising medium sandwiched between a display surface of the body and a flexible perspex panel releasably secured to the apparatus.

17. A street advertising display substantially as described herein with reference to Figure 1.

18. A street advertising display substantially as described herein with reference to Figure 1A.

19. A street advertising display substantially as described herein with reference to any one of Figures 2, 2A, 2B and 2C. A street advertising display substantially as described herein with reference to Figure 3. DATED THIS 8th DAY OF FEBRUARY 2001 BILL SARIS BY PIZZEYS PATENT TRADE MARK ATTORNEYS