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(11) | EP 0 628 943 A1 |
| (12) | EUROPEAN PATENT APPLICATION |
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| (54) | Knockdown-elements framework for light signs |
| (57) Knockdown-elements framework for supporting and stretching light signs made from
transparent or semitransparent flexible materials, constituted by a plurality of vertical
bars (1) fixed to a wall, a cantilever roof or the like, by upper (5) and lower (5a)
anchoring flanges inclined at 45°, provided at their ends with an upper stretching
section bar (14) and a lower stretching section bar (14a), by a plurality of upper
(21), intermediate (22) and lower (20) reflective plates, the latter being designed
to horizontally slide within a continuous grooved seat (18a), placed on said lower
anchoring flanges and vertically on a folded strip (23) provided at the base of the
intermediate reflective plates, the lower stretching section bar (14a) being shiftable,
integrally with the lower anchoring flanges (5a), upwards and/or downwards, in order
to allow a perfect stretching of the flexible sheet (24) which constitutes the display. |
[0001] This invention refers to a framework composed by knockdown- elements, a part of which at least are modular elements, for supporting and stretching light signs made from flexible materials, of large size, suitable for long-distance display and installed on fixed structures, such as buildings, fuel distribution stands, and the like.
[0002] As known, the supporting/stretching frameworks for light signs in the form of a sheet made from flexible materials, such as for instance a vinyl sheet or the like, are normally enclosed inside a quadrangular, box-like body with large sizes in length and width, and with a small depth; the signs are then lighted by fluorescent lamps, or another type of lamps, installed inside the box-like body, close to light reflective surfaces or parabolae. In some cases, the sheet of flexible, transparent or semitransparent material is taut on a quadrangular framework which has the configuration of a frame, rotatably anchored onto the upper edge of the framework by means of hinges or other hooking means, in order to enable the interior of the box-like body to be accessed for assembly, periodical cleaning, lamp replacement and maintenance purposes, as described, for instance, in US 4817317 and in EP 0268308.
[0003] In other types of realizations, the supporting/stretching structure for the flexible sheet bearing the display is provided with supporting section bars, which are such as to enable the sheet to be diverted around the edge of the same framework and then stretched inside the latter, by winding on small metal rods capable of being put under tension on the section bars which are contained inside the box-like body; in such way, the sheet-supporting peripheral frame can be omitted.
[0004] In practice, these types of light signs, namely, both those equipped with a peripheral frame, and those in which the flexible sheet is taut flush of the openable framework, suffer from serious drawbacks, among which the poor stiffness of supporting and stretching section bars coupling, the poor tightness to the sepage of water and dust between the framework and the stretching section bars and box-like body, and the difficulty of access to the interior of said box-like body.
[0005] In fact, in the case of frameworks which have the configuration of a frame and which are upwards-openable, the dap-joint hooking system with rotation of the framework requires that in said side a continuous quite long open hollow be provided, to allow the rotation of the sheet-bearing, stretching-means bearing framework; this type of hooking constitutes a water and dust collecting means, with possible seepage of these substances into the box-like body.
[0006] Furthermore, some section bars of the supporting structure are positioned in front of the lamps, so that they unavoidably cause unwished shadows to appear on the display.
[0007] In order to obviate most of these drawbacks, in the copending Italian patent application nr. 22059B89, a supporting/stretching structure for light signs was proposed, of the type constituted by a plurality of metal section bars which constitute a framework, openable in shutter fashion, on a box-like body, with lighted interior; said structure results to be endowed with high stiffness, can be easily and rapidly hooked to the box-like body, while having the disadvantage that the upwards-openable sheet-bearing framework is quite heavy.
[0008] Another type of framework for light-signs is the one described in patent application EP 0519161, on behalf of the same Applicant, which is endowed with a high stiffness and allows the internal structural elements to be accessed easily and quickly for cleaning and maintenance operations, ensuring also a uniform illumination of the whole sign, without formation of shadows. However, this type of structure requires the utilization of structural elements that have a rather complicated shape and that are realizable, on the industrial plane, only by means of extruded sections from light alloys, i.e. valuable and rather expensive materials.
[0009] A purpose of this invention is the realization of a framework for supporting and stretching light signs from flexible materials, whose structure is such as to obviate the drawbacks and disadvantages shown by the known structures, and such as to be endowed with a high stiffness, and to allow the internal structural elements to be easily and quickly accessed, so as to ensure a uniform luminosity on the whole display, without formation of unwished shadows, and such as to be constituted by structural elements of very simple shape and therefore easily and economically realizable, either from light alloys by extrusion, or by means of common sections of normal steel.
[0010] Another purpose of this invention is the realization of a supporting/stretching framework for light signs, designed in such a way as to be at least partly modular, to require a reduced number of profiles and to be easily and quickly assemblable, and such as to ensure, in any case, a perfect tightness to the atmospheric agents.
[0011] These and still further purposes and relevant advantages, which will be cleared from the following disclosure, are achieved by a knockdown-elements framework for supporting and stretching light signs from flexible, transparent or semitransparent materials, which framework comprises, according to this invention:
- a plurality of hollow section bars with quadrangular section having a height substantially equal to the height of the sign, vertically arranged parallel to each other, at a prefixed distance and aligned in vertical planes, suitable to be fixed by means of a flat fixing surface to a flat support surface, such as a cantilever roof, a wall or the like, and provided with a continuous longitudinal slot along an anchoring flat surface opposite to said fixing surface,
- a first pair of "L"-shaped section bars, horizontally arranged parallel to each other at the opposite ends of said vertical section bars, so as to result to be in mutual opposite, mirror-reversed relation, with each of said section bars having a length equal to the length of the longitudinal sides of the structure,
- an upper anchoring flange and a lower anchoring flange with quadrangular cross-section for each of said section bars, arranged in such a way as to result mutually opposite, in mirror-like reverse relation, said flanges being provided, at one end, with a plate suitable to be supported by and fixed to said flat anchoring surface by engaging a counterplate or the like placed inside said vertical bar by means of bolts or the like passing through said slot, and at the opposite end of a quadrangular head with flat and parallel faces, provided with a through-hole, said flanges being positionable at a variable heigth along said vertical bars through the sliding of said counterplate along said longitudinal slot,
- a sheet-blocking flange for each of said anchoring flanges, comprising a flat end provided with a "U"-shaped longitudinal opening, positionable in correspondence of said through-hole provided on said quadrangular head, the opposite end being "C"-bent, so as to form a cradle-like groove,
- a small blocking bracket for each of said anchoring flanges, provided on the horizontal wing inclined at 90° relatively to the vertical wing, with a hole corresponding to said through-hole provided on said quadrangular head,
- upper and a lower reverse "L"-shaped section bars, having each a length equal to the length of the longitudinal sides of the structure, arranged horizontally against the ends of said quadrangular heads, and kept in place by means of their shorter wing by the vertical wing of said small blocking brackets,
- an upper stretching section bar and a lower stretching section bar for supporting respectively the upper and lower edges of the sheet which constitutes the display, said section bars having a length equal to the length of the longitudinal sides of the structure and being housed and kept parallel to one another in the space surrounded by said cradle-shaped grooves by the vertical wing of said small blocking brackets and by the longer wing of said reverse "L"-shaped section bars,
- a small stop-plate for each of said anchoring flanges, provided with a hole and suitable to keep said reverse "L"-shaped section bars against said quadrangular heads,
- a bolt or tie-rod for each of said anchoring flanges passing in succession through the hole provided in said small stop plates, the hole provided in said quadrangular heads, the hole provided in said small blocking brackets, and the "U"-shaped longitudinal opening provided in said blocking flanges, said bolt being suitable to keep dap-jointed among one another and/or against the head of the anchoring flange, said stretching section bar inserted in an edge of the sheet which constitutes the display, said small blocking bracket, said reverse "L"-shaped section bar and said stop plate, in such a way that the sheet constituting the display results to be flush with and stretched along the edge constituted by the end of the longer wing of said "L"-shaped section,
- a quadrangular "U"-shaped section bar, suitable to constitute a continuous grooved seat for slidingly supporting the reflective plates, provided in the lower part with a continuous supporting wing co-planar with a side of same section bar, having a length equal to the length of the longitudinal sides of the structure, resting on said lower anchoring flanges and kept in place by means of the blocking of said supporting wing between said stop plates and the surface of said anchoring flanges,
- a plurality of fixed light-reflective upper plates, inclined and resting between said upper reverse "L"-shaped section bars and said vertical section bars, arranged side by side so as to form a continuous reflective surface bent downwards,
- a plurality of light-reflective intermediate plates, vertically mounted against said vertical section bars, arranged side by side so as to form a continuous vertical reflective surface, said intermediate plates being provided in their lower part with a folded strip suitable to form a support and guide seat,
- a plurality of lower mobile reflective plates, inclined and placed side by side, so as to form a continuous reflective surface inclined upwards, said lower reflective plates being housed in the lower part inside said continuous grooved seat constituted by said quadrangular "U"-shaped section bar, and resting in the upper part on said folded strip provided at the base of said intermediate plates and being therefore suitable to slide horizontally until they superpose, and to slide vertically on said folded strip, and being besides easily removable by simply lifting and shifting upwards,
- a pair of covering elements installed both above and under the sign-bearing structure,
each of which is constituted by lengths of metal sheet co-planary associated with
one another and amovably mounted by means of dap-joints, screws or the like on said
first pair of "L"-shaped section bars provided at the ends of said vertical bars,
with fastening means constituted by dap-joints, screws, and the like provided for stably connecting said section bars to supporting walls, said covering elements to said sheet-blocking flanges, etc.
[0012] More particularly, said flanges for the upper and lower anchoring are arranged in mutual opposite, mirror-reversed relation and inclined at 45° relatively to said vertical bars. As said, they are fixed at the wished distance from the upper and lower ends of the vertical bar respectively, by causing the sliding of the support plate associated to the interior counterplates along the anchoring flat surface of the vertical bar, utilizing the slot for causing the sliding of the bolts or tie-rods which connect the supporting plate to the internal counterplate. Having reached the position wished, the flange is fastened by tightening the connecting bolts. One can in this way obtain a perfect stretching of the sheet that constitutes the display. In fact, such sheet is fastened by means of its longitudinal upper and lower edges respectively to the upper stretching section bar, and to the lower stretching bar by winding for one or more turns the sheet around said section bar, or by inserting the section bar into a continuous longitudinal eyelet provided at the end of the sheet, or utilizing any other suitable means; the stretching section bars are fixed, in their turn, to the quadrangular heads of the anchoring flanges. As a consequence, by causing the upper anchoring flanges to slide upwards and the lower anchoring flange to slide downwards, one can stretch the sheet until the wished stretching is reached, and adjust the stretching in such a way as to prevent the formation of folds, waves and the like. For instance, to mount the sheet, one can fix, as a first step, the upper anchoring flanges in the wished position, and, at the free end or quadrangular head of said flanges, the upper stretching section bar, fixed, in its turn, to the longitudinal upper edge of the sheet, as will be illustrated later on.
[0013] Afterwards, one fixes the lower stretching section bar, fixed, in its turn, to the lower longitudinal edge of the sheet, at the free end or quadrangular head of the lower anchoring flanges, which flanges, however, have not yet been fixed to the vertical bar, but are provisionally arranged in a slightly higher position, along the vertical bar, relatively to the final position, for instance of 30 cm; in this way, the sheet is slack and the fastening of the stretching section bar is very easy and the sheet does not run the risk of being damaged. Once the stretching section bar has been fixed to the lower anchoring flanges, said section bar connected to the flanges is caused to move downwards, by shifting donwards said flanges until the wished position and stretching of the sheet has been reached. Vice-versa, if one wishes to slack the sheet, for instance to replace it, one slacks the bolts that connect the lower flanges to the vertical bars and causes the flanges to translate upwards together with the lower stretching section bar.
[0014] During the upwards and downwards translation movement of the structure composed by the stretching section bar and the lower anchoring flanges, the lower mobile reflective plates slide respectively upwards or downwards, translating with their upper edge onto the folded strip of the fixed intermediate plates, the latter being simply resting against said strip, as said. Besides, the lower reflective plates are housed and supported in the lower part inside the continuous grooved "U"-shaped seat, and can therefore translate horizontally until they superpose to one another, so as to allow the access to the inside of the structure for the length and in the point wished, or they can be completely removed by simply shifting them upwards. In this way it is possibly to carry out easily and quickly the necessary maintenance and replacement operations on the reflective plates and the lamps, the latter being normally fixed in correspondence of the intermediate vertical fixed plates or of the upper fixed plates, or anyhow inside the structure.
[0015] To gain access to the inside of the structure and to carry out the necessary operations on the flanges or the other elements which constitute the structure, it is obviously necessary to preliminarily remove the lower or upper covering elements, according to the individual case, which covering elements are constituted, as said, by small sheets dap-jointed or connected by means of screws or the like.
[0016] All the knockdown-elements which constitute the framework according to this invention have a simple shape and therefore they can be made either of light alloy, such as aluminium alloy, when the structure has to be particularly light, utilizing in particular, in most cases, extruded sections, or of normal galvanized steel, prevarnished or the like.
[0017] The reflective plates are constituted by rectangular or square metal plates, varnished with reflective varnishes, or made from bright anodized aluminium alloy.
[0018] The stretching ?section bars may have a round or a polygonal cross-section, and their outer surface may be either smooth or provided with longitudinal grooves or protrusions to improve the adherence and the tightness of the sheet on said section bar.
[0019] Further characteristics and advantages of this invention will be clearer from the following disclosure in detail of a preferred form of practical embodiment thereof, made by referring to the accompanying drawings, supplied for merely indicative, non-limitative purposes, wherein:
Figure 1 shows a cross-sectional view of a framework for flexible light signs, realized according to this invention;
Figure 2 shows a cross-sectional view of the framework of Fig. 1 during the assembly or disassembly stage, with the sheet slacken and the lower anchoring flanges provisionally arranged in a higher position relatively to the final position of Fig. 1;
Fig. 3 shows a perspective view of the framework according to this invention, with some vertical sections;
Fig. 4 shows a front view and a side view of an anchoring flange;
Fig. 5 shows a small stop plate;
Fig. 6 shows a small blocking bracket;
Fig. 7 shows a length of a vertical bar;
Fig. 8 shows a top and cross-section view of an anchoring flange;
Fig. 9 shows a perspective view of an "U"-shaped quadrangular section bar suitable to constitute the grooved seat for slidingly supporting the lower mobile reflective plates;
Fig. 10 shows in detail and on an enlarged scale a partly sectional and partly side view of the end of the anchoring flange carrying the stretching section bar mounted on same.
[0020] Referring to said figures, the flexible light sign supporting/stretching framework according to this invention is constituted by the plurality of hollow vertical section bars 1, 1a, 1b, 1c, etc., having a substantially quadrangular section, fixed to a support wall which is not shown in the figures, provided with the continuous longitudinal slot 2. At the opposite ends of the vertical section bars, in mirror-reversed position to one another, the "L"-shaped section bars 3 and 3a are arranged, on which the covering elements 4 and 4a are mounted by means of screws or dap-joints, said covering elements being constituted by suitably shaped metal sheets. On each vertical bar, the upper anchoring flange 5 inclined at 45° relatively to the vertical bar and looking upwards, and the lower anchoring flange 5a, also inclined at 45° but looking downwards, are fixed by means of the supporting plate 6 engaged on a counterplate or the like not shown in the figure, placed inside the vertical bar, and special bolts or tie-rods, also not shown, which pass through slot 2 and can freely translate, when they are not tightened, towards the upper or lower part of the vertical bar, integrally with the plate and the counterplate, easing in this way the positioning of the flange in the point wished. At the opposite end, the flanges are provided with the quandrangular head 7, provided with a through-hole 8, inside which the bolt or tie-rod 9 is inserted. Such bolt 9 fastens and keep in position by a ledge or a dap-joint, through the stop small plate 16, passing through hole 17, the sheet blocking flange 10, the small blocking bracket 11, passing respectively through the "U"-shaped adjustment longitudinal opening 12 provided on flange 10 and hole 13 provided on the horizontal wing of the small bracket 11, the upper stretching section bar 14 or the lower stretching section bar 14a, and the reverse "L"-shaped upper 15 and lower 15a section bars.
[0021] The "U"-shaped section bar which constitutes the continuous grooved 18a seat for supporting and stretching the lower reflective plates 20 is horzontally placed on the lower anchoring flanges 5a; the section bar 18 is blocked and kept in place by bolts 9 through the tightening of wing 19 between the small stop plate 16 and flanges 5a.
[0022] The upper reflective plates 21 are fixed and mounted with a donwards inclination; the intermediate reflective plates 22 are also fixed and vertically mounted on the vertical bars 1.
[0023] The lighting equipment, such as lamps, fluorescent tubes and the like, not shown in the figure, are mounted on the intermediate reflective plates. These intermediate reflective plates 22 are also provided in the lower part with the folded strip 23, which constitutes the upper seat for the lower reflective plates 20, which, as said, are supported in the lower part and can slide in the "U"-shaped grooved seat 18a. The lower reflective plates 20 can therefore translate horizontally until they partly superpose, as shown on Fig. 3, or even until they fully superpose, to allow to have free access to the lamps or other internal equipments of the structure, or even to allow their simple removal by shifting them upwards. Besides, plates 20 can translate upwards by simply sliding along strip 23, when the lower anchoring flanges 5a together with the lower section bar 14a are shifted upwards, as shown on Fig. 2, to allow the mounting and correct stretching of sheet 24, as shown on Fig. 1.
- a plurality of vertical section bars (1, 1a, 1b, 1c) having a height substantially equal to the height of the sign, arranged parallel to each other, at a prefixed distance and aligned in vertical planes, suitable to be fixed by means of a flat fixing surface to a flat supporting surface, such as a cantilever roof, a wall or the like, and provided with means suitable to allow a vertical sliding of engagement means along an anchoring surface,
- a first pair of "L"-shaped section bars (3, 3a), horizontally arranged parallel to each other, at the opposite ends of said vertical section bars (1), so as to result to be in mutual opposite, mirror-reversed relation, with each of said section bars having a length equal to the length of the longitudinal sides of the structure,
- an upper anchoring flange (5) and a lower anchoring flange (5a) with quadrangular cross-section for each of said section bars, arranged in such a way as to result to be mutually opposite, in mirror-like reversed relation and bent relatively to said vertical bar, said flanges being provided, at one end, with a plate (6) suitable to be supported by and fixed to said flat anchoring surface by means of said suitable engagement means, and at the opposite end of a quadrangular head (7) with flat and parallel faces, provided with through-hole (8), said flanges being positionable at a variable heigth along said vertical bars through the sliding of said plate and the associated engagement means,
- a sheet-blocking flange (10) for each of said anchoring flanges (5, 5a), comprising a flat end provided with a "U"-shaped longitudinal opening (12), positionable in correspondence of said through-hole (8) provided on said quadrangular head (7), the opposite end being "C"-bent, so as to form a cradle-like groove,
- a small blocking bracket (11) for each of said anchoring flanges, provided on the horizontal wing inclined at 90° relatively to the vertical wing with a hole (13) corresponding to said through-hole (8) provided on said quadrangular head (7),
- upper (15) and a lower (15a) reverse "L"-shaped section bars, having each a length equal to the length of the longitudinal sides of the structure, placed horizontally against the ends of said quadrangular heads (7), and kept in place by means of their shorter wing by the vertical wing of said small blocking brackets (11),
- an upper stretching section bar (14) and a lower stretching section bar (14a) for supporting respectively the upper and lower edges of the sheet (24) which constitutes the display, said section bars having a length equal to the length of the longitudinal sides of the structure being housed and kept parallel to one another in the space surrounded by said cradle-shaped grooves by the vertical wing of said small blocking brackets and by the longer wing of said reverse "L"-shaped section bars (15, 15a),
- a small stop plate (16) for each of said anchoring flanges, provided with a hole (17) and suitable to keep said reverse "L"-shaped section bars (15, 15a) against said quadrangular heads (7),
- a bolt or tie-rod (9) for each of said anchoring flanges passing in succession through the hole (17) provided in said stop plates (16), the hole (8) provided in said quadrangular heads (7), the hole (13) provided in said small blocking brackets (11), and the "U"-shaped longitudinal opening (12) provided in said blocking flanges (10), said bolt (9) being suitable to keep dap-jointed among one another and/or against the head (7) of the anchoring flange, said blocking flange (10), said stretching section bar (14, 14a) inserted in an edge of the sheet which constitutes the display, said small blocking bracket (11) , said reverse-L"-shaped section bar (15, 15a) and said stop plate (16), in such a way that the sheet constituting the display results to be flush with and stretched along the edge constituted by the end of the longer wing of said "L"-shaped section bar (15, 15a),
- a quadrangular "U"-shaped section bar (18), suitable to constitute a continuous grooved seat (18a) for slidingly supporting the reflective plates, provided in the lower part with a continuous supporting wing (19) co-planar with a side of same section bar, having a length equal to the length of the longitudinal sides of the structure, resting on said lower anchoring flanges (5a) and kept in place by means of the blocking of said supporting wing (19) between said stop plates (16) and the surface of said anchoring flanges,
- a plurality of light-reflective upper plates (21), bent and resting between said upper reverse "L"-shaped section bars (15) and said vertical section bars (1), arranged side by side so as to form a continuous reflective surface bent downwards,
- a plurality of light-reflective intermediate plates (22), vertically mounted against said vertical section bars (1), arranged side by side so as to form a continuous vertical reflective surface, said intermediate plates being provided in their lower part with a folded strip (23) suitable to form a support and guide seat,
- a plurality of lower reflective mobile plates (20), inclined and placed side by side, so as to form a continuous reflective surface bent upwards, said lower reflective plates being housed in the lower part inside said continuous grooved seat (18a) constituted by said quadrangular "U"-shaped section bar (18), and resting in the upper part on said folded strip (23) provided at the base of said intermediate plates (22) and being therefore suitable to slide horizontally until they superpose, and to slide vertically on said folded strip (23), and being besides easily removable by simply lifting and shifting them upwards,
- a pair of covering elements (4, 4a) installed both above and under the sign-bearing
structure, each of which is constituted by lengths of metal sheet coplanary associated
with one another and amovably dap-fastened by means of screws or the like on said
first pair of "L"-shaped section bars (3, 3a) provided at the ends of said vertical
bars,
with fastening means constituted by dap-joints, screws, and the like provided for
stably connecting said section bars to supporting walls, said covering elements to
said sheet-fastening flanges, etc.