AUTOMATICALLY-DEPLOYED ADVERTISING SUPPORT FOR AN ADVERTISING TOTEM STAND

Abstract

 An advertising support which consists of a stamped and cut sheet of cardboard, which, when duly folded, assembled and glued on an advertising sheet, permits the automatic deployment of the totem or advertising unit by means of a slight deformation, thanks to the disposition of elastic means with which the advertising support is provided. Once unfolded, the support deforms the advertising unit, adopting an oblong form, and in conjunction with the actual support, which deploys props, they act as a support for the totem obtained. The sheet which is used to form the support is symmetrical and has side members (3), with a central area which, when folded, forms a ridge (4), provided with bases (5) which have supports or props (6) at their ends that form legs or supports for the advertising unit due to the action of elastic means (13).

Description

OBJECT OF THE INVENTION

[0001] The object of the present invention is an automatically unfolding advertising support for totem or an advertising unit.

[0002] The support that is the object of the invention is made of a sheet of stamped and cut cardboard, duly attached to an advertising sheet bearing the information to be shown.

[0003] The support is characterised by its dual purpose: on the one hand it acts as a support for the advertising unit, also known as a totem, and on the other it has the special feature of its automatic deployment through the action of a deforming force exerted on the unit made up of the sheet and the support that is the object of the invention - a deformation that is aided by the action of elastic means with which the advertising support in question is provided.

[0004] The present invention therefore lies in the area of unfolding advertising supports which are provided with elastic means to assist their deployment.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0005] To date there are large numbers of unfolding advertising supports provided with elastic means to assist their deployment, such as the support which is shown in patent WO 2002095719.

[0006] This advertising support presents some drawbacks which are set out to be remedied: on the one hand, the advertising support information is only shown on one side of the unit, i.e. it is not possible for the advertising support to be able to contain advertising on both sides without its installation becoming extraordinarily complicated.

[0007] On the other hand, all the segments into which the support is divided have elastic means in order to assist the unfolding and subsequent deformation of the support in order to assure that the final form adopted allows the support to be stood upright with a certain degree of stability.

[0008] It also happens that the supports obtained in this way cannot exceed certain dimensions for reasons of handlability, deformability and stability.

[0009] Other advertising supports as those in patents WO 200178040 or patent US 6347772 are mere folding structures that take on stable prismatic forms but under no circumstance are they unfolded automatically on account of their being provided with elastic means.

[0010] Other inventions, like that described in patent FR2210317, consist of a folding advertising support which has a deformable structure containing information on one of its sides, although it is necessary to make use of a wedge-shaped element whose bottom base is aligned with the bottom base of the advertising support, which endows the assembly with greater stability.

[0011] It is therefore an aim of the present invention to overcome the foregoing disadvantages and thereby be able to obtain an unfolding unit with information on both sides, which should be simple to assemble, where the number of elastic means used is reduced as far as possible, and where no additional part at all is needed to achieve proper stability.

DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0012] The present automatically unfolding advertising support invention for a totem consists of a sheet of stamped and cut cardboard, which, when duly folded, assembled and stuck on an advertising sheet, permits the automatic deployment of the totem or advertising unit by means of a slight deformation, thanks to the fact that the advertising support is provided with elastic means.

[0013] When unfolded, said advertising support formed from a sheet of cardboard is capable of acting as a support for the advertising unit in conjunction with the form adopted by the actual unit.

[0014] Given the support function it has to perform, said advertising support is placed on the base of the unit, nothing else being required apart from the use of a single sheet. In those cases in which the size of the totem makes it possible to use two similar unfolding supports, one on the base and the other at the top, endowing the final assembly achieved with greater strength and stability.

[0015] The stamped and cut cardboard sheet which acts as the base for executing the support that is the object of the invention is provided with folds defining side members which are glued to the sheet, with bases, folding supports actuated by elastic means, as well as a central fold.

[0016] The sheet that acts as the base is symmetrical in relation to a horizontal axis is started by folding and sticking the central areas so as to form a central ridge. There are perforations executed in this central ridge connected in the direction of the outer edge by a cut. The elastic means that assist the unfolding of the unit are housed in these perforations.

[0017] After folding the two halves making up the advertising sheet and leaving an overlap marked at one of its ends for the closing of one half of the sheet on the other, one of the side members of the stamped cardboard sheet is then glued.

[0018] The interior is opened again to fit the elastics in the slots and perforations with which the sheet is specifically provided, and the cardboard sheet is then folded again along its axis so as to stick the other side member to the other half of the sheet.

[0019] Lastly, we stick the overlap that we had originally left at one of the sides of the sheet containing the advertising.

[0020] To deploy the advertising support or totem, we proceed to place it horizontal by applying a deformation force on one of its sides, which makes the sheet adopt an ellipsoidal or oblong shape and which, by effect of the elastic means, causes some supports or legs that are formed with part of the stamped cardboard sheet to be unfolded.

[0021] Together with the actual oblong shape adopted by the final assembly, these supports ensure that the whole unit or totem has sufficient stability.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0022] To supplement the description that will be given below and to make it easier to appreciate its features, the present descriptive report is accompanied by a set of drawings in whose figures the most significant details of the invention are represented for informative but never restrictive purposes.

[0023] Figure 1 shows in simplified form an advertising totem in which two advertising supports are used, one placed on the base and the other at the top, which will only be used when the dimensions of the end unit so require due to stability and strength.

[0024] Figure 2 shows the stamped sheet of cardboard which is used for forming the automatically unfolding advertising support that is the object of the invention.

[0025] Figure 3 shows the above sheet where the central portion has been glued to obtain the central ridge where the ends of the elastic means are housed.

[0026] Figure 4 shows the sheet housed inside the outer advertising sheet which has taken on the form of a totem. In this figure we observe the support form adopted by the sheet, but the support and totem are represented upside down. They are represented in this way for clearer understanding and viewing of the support formed from the sheet. The sheet adopts this form due to the effect of the deformation exerted on the unit on one of its sides when it was glued and the subsequent automatic unfolding due to the action of the elastic means.

PREFERRED EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION

[0027] In the light of the figures we now go on to describe a mode of preferred embodiment of the invention proposed.

[0028] In figure 1, we observe an unfolded totem or advertising unit which is made up of an advertising sheet (14) which enables advertising to be placed over the whole of its surface area through having the means of deployment inside the space defined by the advertising sheet (14).

[0029] In this figure it may be observed that in the inner space defined by the advertising sheet there is an unfolded support at its base and at the top.

[0030] Each one of the support elements (1) is the object of the invention. The number and arrangement of the unfolding supports (1) depends on the size and strength and stability requirements of the totem or end unit, although at least one is used at the base of the unit or totem.

[0031] Each one of the folding supports (1) shown in figure 1 is made from a stamped and cut sheet of cardboard (2) which is provided with a series of folds.

[0032] On said sheet (2) of cardboard, which is symmetrical in relation to a horizontal axis, as may be observed, the sheet has two side members (3) which are the ones that will be stuck to each of the inner faces of the advertising sheet (14).

[0033] In addition, said sheet (2) of cardboard has a central area (4), which forms a central fold when one is stuck on the other in view of their symmetry. It has an area that defines bases (5) at the sides of which there are areas (6) which will act as supports. In turn, from these supports (6) there emerge other extensions which are reinforcements (7) for the supports (6).

[0034] In figure 3 it may be observed that the central portion is stuck to define a central fold (4) in which a series of perforations (8) - to be specific four - are made, said perforations (8) being connected to the upper edge of the central fold with a cut (9). A noteworthy feature is the folding lines (10) between the areas defining the bases (5) and the future legs or supports (6).

[0035] Furthermore, we observe that the areas defining the bases (5) at their intersection with the side members (3) have a curved folding line (11) provided with a cut (12) in the middle. Said curved folding line is the one that will facilitate an ellipsoidal- or oblong-shaped end configuration of the totem before deploying the legs or supports (6) .

[0036] In figure 4, which, as we have mentioned, the support and advertising sheet unit is represented upside down for clearer viewing of the different parts, we observe the sheet (2) of cardboard with the side members (3) stuck to the advertising sheet (14), after the drawing of the form to be adopted finally, in which it should be kept by the action of the elastic means (13), which are what will force the units that act as props or supports (6) to be folded up (in fact they will appear folded downwards, as we have represented an under view of the support unit and advertising sheet). Said props or supports (6) are folded by action of elastic means (13) along the folding line (10).

[0037] In order to recover the flat form that the advertising unit had prior to being unfolded, we only have to swing the props or supports (6) on the folding lines (10) so that they are perfectly flat and coplanar with the bases (5), proceeding to flatten the faces of the advertising sheet (14) and leave the whole assembly absolutely flat. This flat assembly may be folded. This facilitates its handling and storage, so that it may be deployed later somewhere else.

[0038] The essential nature of this invention is not altered by variations in materials, shape, size and arrangement of the component elements, described for non-restrictive purposes but sufficing for it to be reproduced by an expert.

Claims

1. Automatically unfolding advertising support for a totem from amongst advertising supports that are unfolded by the action of elastic means, characterised in that the advertising support is formed from a stamped and cut sheet of cardboard (2) which is symmetrical in relation to a horizontal axis, is provided with two side members (3) which are what are going to be stuck to each of the inner faces of the advertising sheet (14), besides having a central area (4) ; when stuck on each other, they form a central ridge on account of their symmetry, while also presenting an area that defines bases (5) at the sides of which there are areas (6) which will act as props or supports, and, in turn, other extensions emerge from these supports (6) which are reinforcements (7) for the supports (6).

2. Automatically unfolding advertising support for a totem, according to claim 1, characterised in that in the central fold (4) there are four perforations (8) that are connected to the upper edge of the fold by means of cuts (9) used for housing elastic means (13) which are what causes the props or supports (6) to swivel in respect of the bases (5), pivoting along the folding lines (10) so that they form the seats or supports of the end unit, once pressure has been exerted on a side member of the sheet, and they permit the action of the elastic means (13).

3. Automatically unfolding advertising support for a totem, according to claim 1, characterised in that the intersection between the side members (3) and the bases (5) takes place by means of a curved folding line (11) which assists the end unit in the adoption of an oblong form, said curved folding line (11) presenting a cut (12) in its central portion.

Drawing