GB2381930A

GB2381930A - Floor-mounted advertising display container

Info

Publication number: GB2381930A
Application number: GB0126875A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Mark Edward Manley
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2001-11-08
Filing date: 2001-11-08
Publication date: 2003-05-14
Also published as: GB0126875D0

Abstract

An advertising display container 1 includes a translucent region 4 and is designed to be positioned in a pedestrian walking surface, such as a pavement, sidewalk, etc.. Translucent region 4 is on the upper surface of container 1 and is substantially flush with the walking surface. There is a space (9, Fig 2) in the display container for advertising medium which is viewed through the translucent region 4. The upper surface of the container should be relatively non-slip, and preferably the translucent region 4 should be shatter-proof and have a scratch and wear resistant upper surface. The container may comprise two coupled parts, preferably coupled by hinges 6, 7, being upper 2 and lower 3 when in position, the upper part having the translucent region 4. A securing mechanism is preferably provided to stop unauthorised access. The advertising medium may be formed from a plurality of selectively switched lights. A number of adverts may be displayed at different times, perhaps using a conveyor and roller arrangement or a rotating prims-type arrangement. An illumination source is preferably provided behind the advertising medium, and there may be a recessed cavity on the upper surface of the container.

Description

Advertising Display Container The present invention relates to an advertising display container.

In our highly consumer conscious society it is well known for advertisers to utilise a variety of media to promote their product. The average consumer is exposed to numerous different forms of advertising in their everyday life, from television, newspapers and magazines to giant bill boards and bus stop adverts. With more and more products being launched on the market place it is important that advertisers are able to target their consumers effectively.

This has led to advertising cropping up in an increasing variety of situations. For example it is almost unthinkable to watch any major sporting event without being exposed to numerous advertising messages. Football teams wear shirts with sponsors logos prominently displayed and footballers and celebrities are used to give personal endorsements to products.

All over the country buses and taxis travel the streets emblazoned with logos and slogans.

In order to gain maximum effect from the spaces available for advertising it has become common practice to utilise one space for the advertising of more than one product.

This is done on bill boards with replaceable posters and at bus stops by having the adverts mounted on rollers so that it is possible to change the advert on view every few seconds. The same technique is also used in some advertising boards which surround the pitch in football stadiums.

It is therefore advantageous to have a medium for advertising which will receive the maximum exposure necessary.

The present invention sets out to achieve such results by producing an advertising container which has the possibility of being used in a variety of locations particularly, but not exclusively, in streets and shopping centres where the target consumer will be most likely to come across the container.

According to the present invention, there is provided an advertising display container including a translucent region and being adapted for positioning in a pedestrian walking surface, such that the translucent region is on its upper surface substantially flush with the walking surface, and having a space in the display container for advertising medium, which can be seen or viewed through the translucent region.

Preferably, for safety, the translucent region and any remaining portion of said upper surface of the container are provided with a non-slip surface of the kind necessary to avoid a slippery surface forming a danger to a walker.

The advertising container may be made of a variety of materials such as metal, plastics, safety glass or a combination thereof. The translucent region of the container is, preferably made of a shatter resistant and translucent durable material such as toughened glass or Perspex of suitable thickness and with a scratch and wear resistant surface.

The container may comprise two recessed parts, forming upper and lower parts when positioned in the ground, with the upper part of the advertising container being attached to the lower part by any of a variety of securing means, such as a hinge or hinges; cooperating interlinked grooved sections which permit the upper part to slidably connect with the lower part; clips to hold the upper and lower parts together; etc.. Additionally, it is preferred that tamper resistant securing means would be provided to restrict unauthorised access to the space within the advertising container.

Advantageously, the space in the advertising container may be made sufficiently large to accommodate a device capable of displaying a number of different adverts on a rotating display as is common in other forms of advertising. More preferably, the space is large enough to accommodate the aforementioned in addition to an illumination source situated behind the advertising medium. The advertising medium itself may comprise illumination sources in the form of different coloured lights used to define a logo or the like. Alternatively the lights sources may be switchable, for example switched light emitting diodes (LEDs) which could be utilised to spell out and display still or changing messages, or display logos, etc..

Preferably sealing means and/or drainage means are provided between the upper and lower portions of the advertising container for preventing ingress of water from damaging the advertising medium.

The advertising container may be provided in a variety of sizes such that it may be used in place of a variety of normal walking surface contained objects, such as man-hole covers, concrete paving blocks, bricks or kerb stones.

If the container is to be used as a replacement man-hole cover it should be provided with fixing means such that it provides at least the same resistance to unauthorised removal or opening as conventional man-hole covers. Also, the inner space in the container containing the advertising medium needs to be secured so as to be similarly inaccessible to unauthorised users. However, in order to facilitate easy replacement of the material housed within, the space will be readily accessible to authorised persons. This may be facilitated by a simple locking mechanism or other such securing means known in the art.

The advertising container may be provided with a number of notches, holes or recessed attachments designed to facilitate easy lifting and or opening of the container.

For a better understanding of the present invention, reference will now be made to the accompanying drawings showing, solely by way of example, two embodiments of the invention and in which: Fig. 1 is an illustration of a perspective view of one embodiment of an advertising container according to the invention; Fig. 2 shows a sectional view along the line A--A of the advertising container of Fig. 1 ; and Fig. 3 shows a second embodiment of an advertising container according to the invention.

In the different embodiments like or equivalent parts are referenced with the same reference numbers.

Fig. 1 shows an advertising container (1), formed by two generally rectangular shaped recessed parts or portions (2,3) which are joined along adjacent edges (5) by two hinges (6,7) to form a hollow container to accommodate advertising medium. The upper part (2) has a translucent region (4) provided centrally in its top panel to enable the advertising medium housed within the container to be seen or viewed. Sealing means (not shown) are provided along the area of contact (8) between the two parts.

Fig. 2 shows a sectional view of the advertising container (1) taken along the line AA of Fig. 1. The top part (2) of the advertising container (1) sits on top of the bottom part (3) such that a space (9) in the advertising container, into which advertising medium may be placed, is defined. The translucent region (4) through which the advertising medium may be seen or viewed is an integral portion of the top part (2) of the advertising container (1).

In the embodiment shown in Fig. 3 the advertising container (1) is shown having a top part (2) with a circular perimeter. In this case the top part (2) is attached to the bottom portion (3) by some securing means (not shown) other than a hinge or hinges, for example screws or clips.

The advertising container of the invention is intended to be positioned in a pavement or other walking area with the upper surface of the container flush or substantially flush with the walking surface. An advertising display in the container may then be seen or viewed by passers by walking along the walkway. It is intended that the container can be shaped to replace some normal feature of the walkway, such as a manhole cover or paving slab.

Alternatively, it may be designed to simply inserted into a suitably provided hole in the walkway.

Although two different embodiments of the advertising container are shown, it will be obvious that many different embodiments are possible. The shape of the advertising container may be determined by the article which it is intended to contain or the location into which it is to be fitted. For example, in Fig. 3 the container is shown with a circular shape such that it

may be used to replace a conventional circular man-hole cover. It is equally possible that the container could be made having a triangular face in order to replace those man-hole covers which are triangular. Similarly, since the advertising container is also intended to be used as a replacement for concrete paving stones, the container could be made to an appropriate size in order to provide the required fit.

Fig. 2 shows the inner space (9) which is defined when the top part (2) comes into contact with the bottom part (3), forming the advertising container (1) of Fig 1. It is intended that in addition to housing advertising media such as a poster, the inner space (9) may also contain a display rotation unit (not shown). This unit would be of the form used in other areas of advertising and would comprise a roller mechanism onto which are looped a number of advertisements such that the advertisements may be periodically changed thus maximising use of the advertising space.

It is also envisaged that the inner space (9) may be used to house an illuminated advertising display (not shown). This display may consist of a lighting device placed behind the advertising medium in order that the advertisement may be visible in darkness or low visibility. Alternatively, the illumination source may actually be utilised as the advertising means. This could be achieved by having differently coloured lights which could define a logo or by using a series of light sources, such as LEDs, it would be possible to spell out words or messages. By using LEDs as the illumination means it would be possible to have switching means incorporated programmed such that many different messages may be displayed sequentially over a period of time.

When the advertising container has one or both the roller mechanism and the illumination source it may be necessary for the advertising container to have access points through which electrical connections may be made since long life battery sources would possibly be impractical and require more maintenance.

With an advertising display formed using lights, the translucent region (4) may be frosted or not fully transparent since it solely needs to allow the light sources to be seen.

However, in other embodiments of the invention the translucent region (4) through which the

advertising medium is viewed may need to be constructed of a transparent material. When this is the case the advertising material housed in the advertising container can be printed and still be clearly read. This would be preferable when the advertising material contained information which was considered to be an important factor in the advert e. g. a telephone number or address.

Obviously the advertising container may be used to house a wide variety of forms of advertising medium and, being positioned in a walkway, may not only advertise a local feature or shop, for example, it may also indicate in which direction a walker needs to travel to reach the advertised feature or shop.

The surface of the container that is to be located flush with the surface should be made as non-slip as is practical whilst still being able to carry out its advertising function.

Also, the translucent portion will need to be made of strong toughened glass, plastics or the like to resist breakage but would also need to be able to avoid wear that would render the advertising medium less visible. In this respect the use of point lighting sources may have an advantage since they may still produce visible advertising displays even though the surface is roughened and scratched.

Claims

1. An advertising display container including a translucent region and being designed for positioning in a pedestrian walking surface, such that the translucent region is on its upper surface substantially flush with the walking surface, and having a space in the display container for advertising medium, which can be seen or viewed through the translucent region.

2. An advertising container according to claim 1, wherein the translucent region and any remaining portion of said upper surface of the container are provided with a relatively non-slip surface.

3. An advertising container according to claim I or 2, wherein the container comprises two coupled parts, forming upper and lower parts when positioned in the ground, with the upper part of the advertising container having the translucent portion and the container having securing means to restrict unauthorised access to the space within the advertising container.

4. An advertising container according to any preceding claim wherein the translucent region of the container is made of a shatter resistant material.

5. An advertising container according to any preceding claim wherein the translucent region of the container has a scratch and wear resistant upper surface.

6. An advertising container according to any preceding claim wherein the container includes an advertising medium in the form of a plurality of lights which may be selectively switched to create an advertisement.

7. An advertising container according to any of claims I to 5 wherein the container has an advertising medium formed of a plurality of adverts each of which can substantially fully occupy the display area of the translucent region with means being provided to enable the adverts to be displayed separately at different times.

8. An advertising container according to claim 7 wherein the plurality of adverts are provided looped around a roller mechanism.

9. An advertising container according to claim 7 wherein the plurality of adverts are provided on the faces of a plurality of equilateral prisms.

10. An advertising container according to any preceding claim wherein an illumination source is provided behind the advertising means.

11. An advertising container according to any preceding claim wherein the container is provided with at least one recessed cavity on its upper surface.