WO2014047696A1

WO2014047696A1 - Method for applying a visible sign on a ground surface.

Info

Publication number: WO2014047696A1
Application number: PCT/BE2013/000048
Authority: WO
Inventors: Jan Oeyen
Original assignee: OSMANA met Beperkte B V
Current assignee: OSMANA met Beperkte B V
Priority date: 2012-09-27
Filing date: 2013-09-26
Publication date: 2014-04-03
Anticipated expiration: 2015-03-27
Also published as: BE1021553B1

Description

Method for applying a visible sign on a ground surface.

The present invention relates to a method for making a visible sign on a ground surface.

It is often necessary or useful, to apply identifying marks on a ground surface. This is the case for example on sports fields, for example grass, where lines applied with chalk or paint show boundaries or relevant positions of a playing field.

With sports fields it can also be desirable to show commercial messages or logos, for example of sponsors of the sports club that uses the field, both to spectators who attend a sporting event, and people who see the sporting event via a video link.

The application of such an indication with paint or other surface coating is of course an option, but it is not always possible by any means, because the health of the grass must of course be guaranteed, and because such indications must not interfere with indications that are made on the field for sporting reasons.

Moreover such an indication is very temporary, both due to the use of the field and due to the growing and mowing of the grass. It is also known to electronically modify a video signal to give the impression of a sign made on the surface when playing the video signal, although in reality it does not exist on the field.

This onl gives an artificial effect and unfortunately is not seen by the people attending the sporting event, but only by those who see a playback of the video signal.

The purpose of the present invention is to provide a solution to at least one of the aforementioned and other disadvantages by providing a method to make at least one visible sign on a ground surface, whereby the ground surface is provided with a grass covering, whereby at the desired position of the sign the grass covering is implemented with living grass of a first variety or first mixture of varieties and the remaining part of the ground surface is provided with living grass of a second variety or second mixture of varieties, whereby the grass of the first variety or first mixture of varieties differs from the grass of the second variety or second mixture of varieties with regard to at least one visible characteristic.

In this way a visible sign is made in the ground surface, that is permanent, or in any case is at least preserved for a very long time, and this without using additives that cost money and can be environmentally unfriendly.

Such a sign does not interfere, or interferes less than a painted sign, with the sporting use. Such a sign can be used as a guide mark for applying identifying marks on fields by means of chalk, but can also be a commercial message for example that is made for commercial reasons and can consist of text, logos and/or figures for example.

In a preferred variant the at least one visible characteristic comprises the colour or hue. As is known there are many different grass varieties with different colours or hues. For example there are dark green and light green grass varieties; grass varieties that have a rather blue-green colour; and grass varieties that easily discolour to yellow-brown without the individual grass plants dying, so that this discolouring is reversible.

These different colours can be used to make the visible sign. In a further preferred variant the at least one visible characteristic comprises the "structure of a turf formed by a grass variety or mixture of varieties.

The structure of a turf, i.e. the number of individual grass plants per unit area and the form, the prevailing growth direction, the extent of. branching, etc., of the leaves or blades of grass, also differs between the different grass varieties. In a further preferred variant, the conditions in which the grass of the first variety or the first mixture of varieties and the grass of the second variety or second mixture of varieties live, can be adjusted to increase the visible difference between turfs formed by both varieties or mixtures of varieties.

This can be done for example by varying the incidence of light, the quantity of water available to the grass, the acidity of the soil and the ..quantity of nutrients or toxic substances, whereby the consequences of a change for one variety or a mixture of varieties is greater than for another variety or mixture of varieties.

Grass varieties that are sensitive to dryness can for example yellow somewhat when they are given little water, while grass varieties that are not sensitive or less sensitive to this remain green under the same conditions, such that the colour differences are increased, and thus also the visibility of the sign. Although it is not easy to make such adjustments in an open field, they can be done more easily in a stadium and certainly in a covered stadium.

It is of course not the intention here to make the conditions such that the grass dies.

In another preferred embodiment the ground surface is a ground surface that comprises a sports field, whereby the at least one visible sign is a line or lines that indicate the sports field or a part of it on the ground surface. With the intention of better- showing the characteristics of the invention, a preferred variant of the method according to the invention is described hereinafter by way of an example, without any limiting nature, with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Figure 1 shows a top view of a ground surface that is the result of a method according to the invention; and figure 2 shows a cross-section of the ground surface according to line II-II.

The ground surface 1 shown in figure 1 comprises a football pitch 2, viewed from above. This football pitch 2 is defined by lines 3.

Names are affixed on the football pitch 2, i.e. a name 4 of a sponsor and the name 5 of the club that uses the football pitch.

Both the lines 3 and the names 4,5 of the sponsor and the club can be considered as signs.

As is clear from figure 2 that the names 4,5 of the sponsor and the club and the lines 3 are made by means of different grass varieties.

The bulk of the ground surtace 1 is provided with a first grass variety 6. This first grass variety 6 has slightly branched blades of grass, that essentially grow vertically, and which are light green. The lines 3 are defined by a second grass variety 7, that is also light green, but which has a very different structure, because it is much lower and essentially grows horizontally.

As a result the difference between both grass varieties 6, 7 is especially visible from close by, and the lines 3 that are made with the grass of the second variety 7 can act as a visual aid for applying chalk lines for making the boundaries of the football pitch 2 clearly visible on the ground surface 1.

The names 4,5 of the sponsor and the club are applied to the ground surface 1 by placing grass of a third variety 8 at the place concerned. This _"third grass variety 8 has thin unbranched blades of grass, of a darker shade of green. This third variety 8 grows in a high density, i.e. there are many individual plants that are close to one another.

The effect of this is that the /tames 4, 5 of the sponsor and the club clearly stand out as darker letters against a lighter background formed by grass of the first variety 6. This is especially visible from a higher point located next to the football pitch 2, which is generally the location of cameras with which a video signal of a football match is recorded, so that both names 4,5 are nicely visible when the video signal is played back or for people who are in a stand around the football pitch 2. The different grass varieties 6,7,8 can easily be selected on the basis of their properties that are known to grass specialists. The present invention is by no means limited to the embodiment described as an example and shown in the drawings, but a such a method can be realised in all kinds of variants, without departing from the scope of the invention.

Claims

Claims .

1. - Method to make at least one visible sign (3,4,5) on a ground surface (1), whereby the ground surface (1) is provided with a grass covering, whereby at the desired position of the sign the grass covering is implemented with grass of a first variety_^ 6,8) or first mixture of varieties and the remaining part of the ground surface (1) is provided with grass of a second variety (7) or second mixture of varieties, whereby the grass of the first variety (6,8) or first mixture of varieties differs from the grass of the second variety (7) or second mixture of varieties with regard to at least one visible characteristic.

2. - Method according to claim 1, characterised in that the at least one visible characteristic comprises the colour or hue.

3. - Method according to claim 1 or 2, characterised in that the at least one visible characteristic comprises the structure of a turf formed by a grass variety (6,7,8) or a mixture of grass varieties.

4. - Method according to any one of the previous claims, characterised in that the conditions in which the grass of the first variety (6,8) or the first mixture of varieties and the grass of the second variety (7) or the second mixture of varieties live are adjusted to increase the visible difference between the turfs formed by both varieties (6,7,8) or mixtures of varieties.

5. - Method according to any one of the previous claims, characterised in that the at least one visible sign is a commercial message, that can comprise figures, logos and/or text (4) .

6. - Method according to any one of the previous claims, characterised in that it is a ground surface (1) that comprises a sports field (2)

7. - Method according to claim 6, characterised in that the at least one visible sign is a line or lines (3) that indicate the sports field (2) or a part of it on the ground surface (1) .