WO2003088197A1

WO2003088197A1 - Aerial advertising device

Info

Publication number: WO2003088197A1
Application number: PCT/HU2002/000168
Authority: WO
Inventors: Gergö HALMI
Original assignee: Halmi Gergoe
Priority date: 2002-04-12
Filing date: 2002-12-27
Publication date: 2003-10-23
Also published as: AU2002356350A1; HU2399U; HU0200107V0

Abstract

The subject of the invention relates to an aerial advertising device which contains an information-carrying body (10) with a hollow internal space (11) suitable for receiving a gaseous charge and a fixing unit (50) connected to the information-carrying body (10), the information-carrying body (10) has a filling duct (12) opening out into the internal space (11), and on the information-carrying body (10) there is a group of markings (16) consisting of one or more characters and/or designs. The characteristic feature of the invention is that there is a supporting frame (20) positioned in the internal space (11) of the information-carrying body (10), there is an imaging unit (30) supplied with at least one lighting unit (31) fitted to the supporting frame (20), the imaging unit (30) is connected to a power supply (32), and at least a part of the group of markings (16) displayed on the information-carrying body (10) is formed by the virtual picture projected onto the internal surface (18) of the information-carrying body (10) with the help of the imaging unit (30).

Description

Aerial advertising device

The subject of the invention relates to an aerial advertising device that has an information-carrying body with a hollow internal space suitable for receiving a gaseous charge and a fixing unit connected to the information-carrying body, the information- carrying body has a filling duct opening out into the internal space, and on the information- carrying body there is a group of markings consisting of one or more characters and/or designs.

Various advertisements, publications to encourage purchasing have been used for a long time in order to promote the sale of products made by different manufacturers and offered services. A group of these consist of the recently widespread aerial advertisements, the essence of which is the advertisement is not published on the usual advertising boards or in newspapers, but is presented to the public attached to some sort of aircraft.

Patent description registration number HU 213.491, for example, presents a solution where a uniquely formed giant poster containing the advertisement is towed by an aeroplane. An advertisement carrier designed to be towed by an aircraft is also the subject of the utility model protection document number HU U 293 presenting a towed advertisement consisting of several structural elements.

Publication document number HU T/73.573 relates to a balloon that can be attached to a building or other facility with the help of a fixing cable. Advertisements may be placed on the balloon.

The deficiency of the known solutions, however, is that their use may only be effective during good visibility conditions, during the day, as during the night these aerial advertisements are not visible.

With the solution according to the invention out aim was to overcome these deficiencies of the known devices for aerial advertising and to create a version that creates the possibility of using aerial advertising independent of the time of day and visibility conditions, so the possibility of night-time aerial advertising and the cost-effective and fast replacement of the published advertisements as well.

The basis of the idea of the invention was formed by that if a normal balloon is formed in such a way different to the known methods so that if at least a part of the advertising text or design placed on the surface of the balloon is produced by a suitably selected imaging unit controlled by a controlling unit installed in the internal space of the balloon in a unique way, which images, illuminating through the balloon, with sufficient light intensity show the advertising text fixed to the balloon, then even in bad visibility conditions an attention-grabbing and spectacular advertising device can be formed with which the task can be solved.

In accordance with the set aim the aerial advertising device according to the invention, which contains an information-carrying body with a hollow internal space suitable for receiving a gaseous charge and a fixing unit connected to the information-carrying body, the information-carrying body has a filling duct opening out into the internal space, and on the information-carrying body there is a group of markings consisting of one or more characters and/or designs, is set up in such a way so that there is a supporting frame positioned in the internal space of the information-carrying body, there is an imaging unit supplied with at least one lighting unit fitted to the supporting frame, the imaging unit is connected to a power supply, and at least a part of the group of markings displayed on the information-carrying body is formed by the virtual picture projected onto the internal surface of the information-carrying body with the help of the imaging unit.

A further criterion of the aerial advertising device according to the invention may be that the imaging unit has a projector.

It may be favourable from the point of view of the invention if the imaging unit is connected to a remote control unit.

In a possible version of the aerial advertising device there is a regulator valve positioned in the filling duct of the information-carrying body, and so the internal space of the information-carrying body is separated so that it is gas-tight. The regulator valve of the information-carrying body is connected to a charge tank via a charge pipe. The charge tank is physically separate to the information-carrying body and is fixed so that it may not move.

In a further embodiment of the invention the power unit and/or the remote control unit is positioned physically separate to the information-carrying body and are fixed so that it may not move.

From the point of view of the aerial advertising device it may be favourable if the remote control unit is also connected to the regulator valve.

In a further construction form of the invention the supporting frame is at least partly put together from form-creating grid elements positioned in the vicinity of the filling duct, furthermore, the information-carrying body is a gas-tight envelope made of shell elements, and at least some of the shell elements are fixed to the supporting frame.

The advantage of the aerial advertising device according to the invention is that due to the imaging unit and lighting unit installed in a novel way in the internal space of the information-carrying body and operated in a unique way, the aerial advertising device can even be seen well in bad visibility conditions, in the middle of the night, from a large distance; it creates a staggering effect, and so by attracting the attention of people to it, it effectively satisfies the requirements of an advertisement, in other words for as many people as possible to get to know the goods or services offered in the advertisement placed on the information-carrying body.

Another advantage is that the advertising device according to the invention can be produced with traditional procedures and simple equipment, operated with low costs, and its maintenance does not require significant sums or special specialist knowledge.

Another advantage is that the novel set-up, image formation and illumination provides the possibility for the advertising device to be used at any time of the day, so its effectiveness is even more favourable.

Another of its advantages is that by changing the regulation of the imaging unit and lighting unit the changing of the group of markings can be solved quickly and efficiently, and so the advertising device is suitable for solving several different tasks in time, even continuously, which has a favourable effect on cost-efficiency

In the following we present the invention in more detail in connection with construction examples, on the basis of drawings On the drawing

Figure 1 is the side view of a possible construction of the aerial advertising device according to the invention, in partial cross-section

Figure 1 shows an aerial advertising device that is also suitable for night-time advertising purposes It can be observed that the aerial advertising device has a balloon- form information-carrying body 10, which is connected to the facility 60 by the fixing unit 50, which in this case is the roof structure of a building In this construction the fixing unit 50 is a steel wire cable of a determined length, but naturally other solutions are also possible The tasks of the fixing unit 50 are only to not allow the free movement of the information-carrying body 10, and so to prevent it becoming free

Here, actually, the information-carrying body 10 is a spherical envelope put together from shell elements 17 known in themselves using production techniques applied in hot air balloon and airship manufacturing, which information-carrying body 10 has an open internal space 11 The internal space 11 in this construction form is filled with helium This gaseous charge makes it possible for the information-carrying body 10 to rise into the air and float at the height set by the fixing unit 50

On the lower part of the information-carrying body 10 there is a filling duct 12 equipped with a regulator valve 13, which serves to connect the exterior environment and the internal space 11 It is via this regulator valve 13 that the gaseous charge can be put into the internal space 1 1 of the information-carrying body 10 The regulator valve 13 is connected to the charge tank 15 with the assistance of the charge pipe 14, in which charge tank 15 the helium of other gaseous charge medium for the filling and refilling of the internal space 11 of the information-carrying body 10 can be found It is practical if the charge tank 15 is not fixed to the information-carrying body 10, but independent of it, connected firmly to the facility 60 It can also be imagined that the charge tank 15 is not continuously connected to the information-carrying body 10 via its regulator valve 13 In such a case, however, in order to fill up the amount of the charge in the internal space 11 of the information-carrying body 10, the information-carrying body 10 has to be brought down to the proximity of the facility 60.

The internal space 11 of the information-carrying body 10 also contains the supporting frame 20 constructed from grid elements 21, a part of which is the element that seals off the filling duct 12 and that has the regulator valve 13. One of the tasks of the supporting frame 20 is to maintain the form designated by the grid elements 21 and formed by the shell elements 17 of the information-carrying body 10, here a spherical shell. It is obvious that the information-carrying body 10 can be of any form depending on the form of the shell elements 17 and the form of the grid elements 21 of the supporting frame 20. It can also be imagined that the information-carrying body 10 is a regular prism. The other task of the supporting frame 20 is after being positioned in the desired position to carry the imaging unit's 30 lighting unit 31 and projector 33, as well.

The lighting unit 31 is responsible for transilluminating the shell elements 17 of the information-carrying body 10 with the appropriate light intensity and in various colours in a given case, while the projector 33 may project a part of the group of markings 16 that are to be displayed onto the internal surface 18 of the information-carrying body. The picture projected by the projector 33 is, of course, only a virtual picture, which visibly appears on the internal surface 18 of the shell elements 17 of the information-carrying body, acting as a projector screen. However, in accordance with this depending on the construction of the projector 33 the pictures projected by it may be changed, replaced after any desired interval.

In the interest of realising this possibility the projector 33 and lighting unit 31 of the imaging unit 30 are connected to a power unit and remote control unit 40. The power unit 32 and the remote control unit 40 are also connected to the facility 60, and are connected to the projector 33 and lighting unit 31 of the imaging unit 30 via a suitable signal and energy transmission line. In the interest of maintaining the pressure conditions in the internal space 11 of the information-carrying body 10 the remote control unit 40 is also in connection with the regulator valve 13, so with the remote control unit 40 not only may the light intensity of the lighting unit 31 and the picture projected by the projector 33 be regulated and changed, but also the pressure maintained in the internal space 11 of the information-carrying body.

Figure 1 also shows that in this construction form a part of the group of markings 16 are not formed by the virtual picture elements projected onto the shell elements 17 by the projector 33, but by elements firmly fixed to the internal surface 18 or the external surface 19 of the information-carrying body 10. In this case the task of the grid elements 21 of the supporting frame 20 is also to precisely and immovably position the position the picture projected by the projector 33, as from the point of view of the recognisability of the group of markings 16 this is an essential requirement. Here we have to mention that in the interest of this some of the grid members 21 of the supporting frame also surround the projection area of the information-carrying body 10 and keep it suitably tight.

During the use of the aerial advertising device according to the invention first we place the previously recorded images intended to be projected into the projector 33 of the imaging unit 30, which images contain the group of markings 16, or a part of them, that are to be advertised. Apart from this the elements that are to be permanently displayed belonging to the group of markings 16 are fixed to the internal surface 18 or external surface 19 of the shell elements 17 of the information-carrying body 10.

After arranging the elements forming the group of markings 16 or groups of markings 16, the internal space 11 of the information-carrying device is filled up through the regulator valve with the help of the filling duct 14 with the gaseous medium, e.g. helium, contained in the charge tank 15 and we make it possible for the information-carrying body 10 to rise above the facility 60 in accordance with its degree of lifting pressure. When the information-carrying body 10 reaches the desired height, then the information-carrying body 10 is stabilised with the assistance of the fixing unit 50.

After the positioning of the information-carrying body 10 the lighting unit 31 of the imaging unit 30 can be switched on with the help of the remote control unit 40, which, illuminating outwards from the internal space 11 of the information-carrying body 10, displays the groups of markings 16 fixed to the shell elements 17 of the information- carrying body 10. On reaching the desired level of light intensity the groups of markings 16 placed on the information-carrying body 10 can be seen continuously, even from a large distance.

If the projector 33 of the imaging unit 30 is also brought into operation with the remote control unit 40, then the images placed in the projector 33 also appear on the shell elements

17 of the information-carrying body 10, which are also visible from a larger distance. Using an appropriately constructed remote control unit 40 the pictures projected with this projector 33 may be changed and the light intensity of the lighting unit 31 changed, so for an observer at a distance a unique spectacle develops that attracts the attention of the observing passers-by and so take the message to be advertised to the potential consumers.

The aerial advertising device according to the invention can be used with good effect for the effective display of various advertisements at greater heights in town and city environments, but also in more sparsely populated areas and outside of settlements, for example, in the vicinity of road junctions.

List of references

information-carrying body 11 internal space

12 filling duct

13 regulator valve

14 charge pipe

15 charge tank

16 group of markings

17 shell element

18 internal surface

19 external surface supporting frame 21 grid elements imaging unit 31 lighting unit

32 power unit

33 projector remote control unit fixing unit facility

Claims

1. Aerial advertising device which contains an information-carrying body (10) with a hollow internal space (11) suitable for receiving a gaseous charge and a fixing unit (50) connected to the information-carrying body (10), the information-carrying body (10) has a filling duct (12) opening out into the internal space (11), and on the information-carrying body (10) there is a group of markings (16) consisting of one or more characters and/or designs characterised by that there is a supporting frame (20) positioned in the internal space (11) of the information-carrying body (10), there is an imaging unit (30) supplied with at least one lighting unit (31) fitted to the supporting frame (20), the imaging unit (30) is connected to a power supply (32), and at least a part of the group of markings (16) displayed on the information-carrying body (10) is formed by the virtual picture projected onto the internal surface (18) of the information-carrying body (10) with the help of the imaging unit. (30).

2. The advertising device according to claim 1 characterised by that the imaging unit (30) has a projector (33).

3. The advertising device according to claim 1 or 2 characterised by that the imaging unit (30) is connected to a remote control unit (40).

4. The advertising device according to any of claims 1-3 characterised by that there is a regulator valve (13) positioned in the filling duct (12) of the information-carrying body (10), and so the internal space (11) of the information-carrying body (10) is separated so that it is gas-tight.

5. The advertising device according to claim 4 characterised by that the regulator valve (13) of the information-carrying body (10) is connected to a charge tank (15) via a charge pipe (14).

6. The advertising device according to claim 5 characterised by that the charge tank (15) is physically separate to the information-carrying body (10) and is fixed so that it may not move.

7. The advertising device according to any of claims 1-6 characterised by that the power unit (32) is positioned physically separate to the information-carrying body (10) and is fixed so that it may not move.

8. The advertising device according to any of claims 3-7 characterised by that the remote control unit (40) is positioned physically separate to the information-carrying body (10) and is fixed so that it may not move.

9. The advertising device according to any of claims 3-8 characterised by that the remote control unit (40) is also connected to the regulator valve (13).

10. The advertising device according to any of claims 1-9 characterised by that the supporting frame (20) is at least partly put together from form-creating grid elements (21) positioned in the vicinity of the filling duct (12).

11. The advertising device according to any of claims 1-10 characterised by that the information-carrying body (10) is a gas-tight envelope made of shell elements (17), and at least some of the shell elements (17) are fixed to the supporting frame (20).