Objects of the Invention
An object of the present invention is to provide an air placard that appears and disappears periodically by injecting compressed air into a tubular placard to form an air blown placard and discharging the compressed air from the tubular placard to disappear the placard by rolling the placard in one direction.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an air placard with good advertisement effect in sight or appearance.
A further object of the present invention is to provide an air placard which can be easily installed at a place where the placard is needed.
A further object of the present invention is to provide an air placard which can be installed indoor or outdoor of buildings, or vertically or horizontally.
A further object of the present invention is to provide an air placard set with at least two air placards that are arranged in parallel and operated by a software program.
Further objects and advantages of the invention can be more fully understood from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
Summary of the Invention
The air placard according to the present invention comprises a lower housing 1 equipped with a blower (not shown) and a timer set 13 and a tubular placard 2 assembled with the lower housing, said tubular placard comprising a bottom connecting part 21 for connecting the tubular placard to the lower housing, a tubular cloth 22 forming an air placard, a plurality of plate-springs 23 inserted and fixed in the direction of the length of the tubular cloth, and a bar 24 for fixing the upper part of the tubular placard and the plate-springs, thereby rolling up the plate-springs thereon. The blower injects compressed air into the tubular placard to fonn an air
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blown placard and the compressed air is discharged from the tubular placard to roll up the placard in one direction.
When the blower is ON, the blower blows compressed air into the tubular placard to form a blown air placard, and when the blower is OFF with the timer set, the compressed air is discharged from the tubular placard and the tubular placard is rolled up with the plate-springs. The blower is periodically operated according to the setting time of the timer set.
It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description of the present invention are exemplary and explanatory and are intended to provide further explanation of the invention as claimed.
Brief Description of the Drawings
Fig. 1 is a schematic perspective view of an air placard according to the present invention;
Fig. 2 is an exploded view of the air placard of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a schematic perspective view of a rolled up tubular cloth 22 with the plate-springs 23 on the bar 24; Fig. 3 is a schematic perspective view of a rolled up tubular cloth 22 with the plate-springs 23 on the bar 24;
Fig. 4 is a schematic view of the tubular placard blown by injecting compressed air;
Fig. 5 is a drawing of one circuit for operating the blower; and Fig. 6 is a schematic perspective view of an air placard set with five air placards in parallel, which is operated with a software program in one control system.
Detailed Description of the Preferred Embodiments
Fig. 1 is a schematic perspective view of an air placard according to the present invention and Fig. 2 is an exploded view of the air placard of Fig. 1. The tubular placard 2 is assembled with the lower housing 1. The tubular placard forms an air placard by injecting compressed air therein and the lower housing is equipped with a control box including a blower and a timer set 13.
Compressed air is injected into the tubular placard 2 through an air passage 11, and discharged from the tubular placard through the air passage. The lower housing is further equipped with a switch 15 and a plug (not shown) for supplying electricity. When the switch is ON, the blower starts to blow compressed air into the tubular placard. The tubular placard comprises a bottom connecting part 21 for connecting the tubular placard to the lower housing, a tubular cloth 22 forming an air placard, a plurality of plate-springs 23 inserted and fixed in the direction of the length of the tubular cloth, and a bar 24 for fixing the upper part of the tubular placard and the plate-springs.
The tubular placard is assembled and disassembled with the lower housing. The bottom connecting part 21 is formed with plural protrusions 202 for assembling with the lower housing, and the lower housing is formed with plural connecting holes 14 to receive the protrusions. The means for assembling the tubular placard with the lower housing will be easily carried out by an ordinarily skilled person in the art. Of course, the tubular placard is formed with the lower housing in one body. However, the detachable placard is more preferable, because a user can replace the tubular placard with new one having different contents for advertisement. Although the timer set is installed on the upper part of the lower housing, it can be installed at the side wall of the lower housing so that it can be controlled outside without detaching the tubular placard from the lower housing.
The bottom connecting part 21 is made of plastic and supports the tubular cloth 22 as a frame. The bottom connecting part has a height of about 20 to 30 cm and is made of round type, rectangular type, triangular type etc. The tubular cloth should be enough strong to the air pressure and should not
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permeate the compressed air. Therefore the tubular cloth is preferable to be coated, in case the tubular cloth is made of fabric. The tubular cloth may be prepared with plastic.
Several plate-springs 23 are fixed on the inner surface of the tubular cloth. As shown in Fig. 2, the plate-springs are fixed from the bottom to the top along the tubular cloth. At the top, the plate-springs are fixedly connected to a bar 24. The plate-springs should have a certain width of about 1 to 3 cm. When compressed air is discharged from the tubular cloth, the plate-springs are rolled on the bar along with the tubular cloth. If the width of the plate-springs is narrower than 1 cm, the plate-springs are not rolled but twisted. It is preferable to insert and fix about 3 to 5 plate-springs in one placard. If one or two plate-springs are used, the springs can also be twisted. The plate-springs are fixed by being inserted in the slits formed with two sheets of cloth. The slits are formed by seaming two sheets of cloth. The plate-springs can be easily fixed on the inner surface of the tubular cloth by an ordinarily skilled person in the art. As the plate-springs have elasticity to be rolled up, they are rolled on the bar along the tubular cloth, when compressed air is discharged from the tubular cloth. When compressed air enters into the rolled placard, the placard is blown to form an air placard. This operation is periodically repeated with the timer set, resulting in appearing and disappearing air placard periodically.
The bar 24 is assembled with the plate-springs 23 and the tubular cloth 22. Of course, the bar should be assembled not to leak compressed air. Fig. 3 is a schematic perspective view of a rolled up tubular cloth 22 with the plate-springs 23 on the bar 24. Fig. 4 is a schematic view of the tubular placard blown by injecting compressed air. The height of the air placard can be controlled with the blower and the timer set. When the air placard is fully blown by injecting compressed air continuously, the height of the placard will be "H". And when compressed air is discharged from the air placard, the height will be "L". The height can be adjusted at "Ml" or "M2" with the blower and the timer set, which can be easily carried out by
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an ordinarily skilled person in the art. Also the air placard can be adjusted to have a maximum height of "M2" and a minimum height of "Ml".
Fig. 5 is a drawing of one circuit for operating the blower. As shown in Fig. 5, the timer set comprises a pair of timers (Tl and T2) 13A and a relay 13B. The timer Tl is set with the time for operating the blower and the timer T2 is set with the time for stopping the blower. When the switch is ON, the blower is operated for the time set with the timer Tl and compressed air enters into the tubular placard to form an air placard. When the time set with the timer Tl is over, the blower stops and compressed air is discharged from the placard so as to roll up along with the plate-springs. The blower stops for the time set with the timer T2. When the time set with the timer T2 is over, the blower is operated again. Therefore this operation repeats periodically.
The time setting with the timers Tl and T2 can be done with a knob (not shown) in an analogue way or with a PCB in a digital way, which is easily carried out by an ordinarily skilled person in the art. If the minimum height is not changed but fixed at a certain height, only one timer Tl or T2 is required.
The air placard according to the present invention is usually installed with one placard. However, the air placard may be installed with several placards arranged in parallel. Fig. 6 is a schematic perspective view of an air placard set with five air placards in parallel, which is operated with a software program in one control system. Each placard is controlled with a control box 30. The maximum and minimum heights and periods of each placard are set with a software program. The software program can be prepared along with music, which will be carried out by an ordinarily skilled person in the art. Such air placard can be preferably installed on the stages for various events to draw attention from the public.
The air placard of the present invention can be easily installed at a place where the placard is needed, indoor or outdoor of buildings, or vertically or horizontally. In particular, as the heights of the air placard are controlled, it can be properly installed even at a place with small space. The tubular cloth is designed with particular patterns and colors and contents
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for advertisement. The air placard of the present invention can be installed at rice fields or orchards to protect grains or fruits from the birds.
The air placard of the present invention has an effect to provide an air placard that appears and disappears periodically by injecting compressed air into a tubular placard to form an air blown placard and discharging the compressed air from the tubular placard to disappear the placard by rolling the placard in one direction, for good advertisement in sight or appearance, and that can be easily installed at a place where the placard is needed, indoor or outdoor of buildings, or vertically or horizontally. It is to be appreciated that those skilled in the art can change or modify the embodiments without departing from the scope and spirit of the present invention.