DISPLAY WRAP

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to information displays and more particularly to display wraps for visual communication of advertising information

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Display units are generally known for the use of advertising information at the point of sale of a product or service These units usually contain at least one surface on which advertising information is displayed and some means for independently stabilizing that surface in a displayed fashion These units range in size from about one foot in height up to life-sized units standing six feet tall, or more The larger sizes are desired, since they permit more information to be conveyed at eye- level However, it is difficult and costly to ship units of such large size As a result, it is desirable for the units to be able to be folded down to a smaller size to permit easy shipping

An example of such a unit is described by L'Hotel (U S Pat Nos 6,347,772 and 7,159,350) These consist of at least one presentation face on which the desired advertising information is printed, the reverse side of which is connected at each edge to a connection element, which connection elements are then joined by rubber bands thereby squeezing the ends towards each other to curve the presentation face The presentation face and the connection elements have horizontal fold lines at which the sections of the presentation face and the connection elements can be folded to reduce the size of the unit The folding of the unit is first achieved by straightening out the presentation face by pulling the edges of the presentation face away from each other, thereby stressing the rubber bands When the unit is allowed to open, the rubber bands force the unit to unfold, bend the presentation face and stand up without the requirement of complex interaction by the user

By employing connecting members, the L'Hotel units require a large amount of material that is not used for displaying advertising, thereby increasing the cost and weight of the unit Also, by employing rubber bands, these methods are costly and difficult to initially manufacture Additionally, rubber bands fail to maintain their elasticity in all temperatures and rapidly wear out, thereby limiting the useful life of the unit Additionally, the combination of rubber bands and connecting members limits the stress that can be applied to the presentation face, thereby limiting the strength of the unit

A solution to these problems was taught by Patton (PCT/CA2007/001765) This unit includes flexible members affixed to the inside surface of the presentation faces which cause the operation of the unit to open and close, together with a foot or a base to stabilize the unit This eliminated the need for the connection elements and additional support material of the prior art and avoided the problems associated with the use of rubber bands

The main limitation of the prior art is that they all require the unit to be self supporting In L'Hotel, this required the use of an extensive amount of additional material to create a self supporting independent unit In Patton, this required the use of flexible members, strong material and a foot or a base In these cases, the advertising material is printed on the presentation faces, which presentation faces are incorporated into the self supporting unit itself As a result, when different advertising information is desired, a new entire unit is required to be produced This requires a large amount of material for each new unit and is relatively labour intensive to produce Also, a full unit is costly to ship and bulky to transport

As a result, it has been proposed to provide a display wrap that has a presentation face on which advertising information is displayed that is not produced with additional material used to independently support it, that is made from lightweight material that is cost effective to manufacture, portable and can be shipped and transported cheaply and easily

An example of an attempt to address some of the problems presented by the prior art is described by Bergland, et al (WO/2007/040432) This describes a display unit comprising a post and a sleeve which is threaded over top of the post The sleeve displays advertising information When new advertising information is desired, only a new sleeve is required

Unfortunately, the unit described by Bergland exhibits limitations, in that it requires the specific post provided with the unit onto which the sleeve is threaded Additionally, the sleeve is one conical piece of material and must be threaded onto the post from the top, thereby requiring top access and limiting the areas in which this unit may be used to those with sufficient ceiling height to accommodate the threading of the sleeve onto the post, thereby making its use limited and its assembly cumbersome

As a result, it has been further proposed to provide a display wrap that permits a presentation face displaying advertising information to be wrapped around a variety of existing support structures without the need for a specific support structure and that such wrapping occur from the side of the support structure, not the top, thereby permitting a wide range of support structure options and permitting simple assembly

OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a display wrap which solves the problems presented by the prior art More particularly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a display wrap that does not possess the drawbacks of the prior art

More particularly, it is an object of the present invention is to provide a display wrap that is not produced with material used to independently support it

It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a display wrap that is made from lightweight material that is cost effective to produce, portable and can be shipped and transported cheaply and easily

It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a display wrap that permits a presentation face displaying advertising information to be wrapped around a multitude of support structures without the need for a specific support structure

It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a display wrap that is wrapped around a support structure from the side, not the top, of the support structure

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides a display wrap for visual communication of advertising information The wrap has a presentation face which may be folded onto itself and removeably fixed to itself at its side edges by flaps to create a generally conical structure that can be wrapped around a variety of existing support structures to display advertising information printed on the presentation face

The present invention does not require the use of additional material attached to the presentation faces or to be constructed of heavyweight material in order to support the display wrap Rather, the present invention permits the manufacture of the display wrap using a limited amount of lightweight material

Additionally, the present invention has fold lines horizontally located on the presentation faces permitting the display wrap to be folded down to a small size, thereby permitting the display wrap to be easily and cheaply shipped and transported

The present invention provides a display wrap that can be wrapped around a variety of support structures from the side of the support structure BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Figure 1 is a perspective view of one embodiment of the present invention in a semi-wrapped position.

Figure 2 is a plan view of the inside surface of the presentation face of the present invention in an unwrapped position.

Figure 3 is a perspective view of one embodiment of the present invention in a fully wrapped position.

Figure 4 is a perspective view of the present invention in a semi-folded position.

Figure 5 is a perspective view of the present invention in a folded position.

Figure 6 is a perspective view of the present invention in a semi-wrapped position in the course of being wrapped around an existing unit as a support structure.

Figure 7 is a perspective view of the present invention in a fully wrapped position wrapped around a pillar as a support structure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Referring to the figures, the display wrap 1 is shown in Figure 1 in the semi- wrapped position. As can be seen, the display wrap 1 is generally in the form of a cylinder, but may take other forms depending on the desired application. The display wrap 1 has as least one presentation face 10 on which advertising may be displayed. The presentation face 10 has fold lines 15, defining sections of the wrap 1 which may be folded over themselves. There may be additional such fold lines if it is desired to permit the wrap to be folded multiple times.

Presentation face 10 may be made out of cardboard, paper, plastic, aluminum, metal, laminates, wood, combinations thereof, or other such materials, provided that the material is lightweight and can be folded and can accept a die line crease or fold while still maintaining its relative structural integrity.

As seen in Figure 2, the presentation face 10 has a flap 40 along one of its side edges. The flap 40 may cover the complete length of the side edge, as shown in Figure 2, or may cover only a portion of the side edge. A vertical crease line 60 bisects the wrap. The presentation face 10 is folded at the crease line 60 and its side edges are joined by fixing the flap 40 with the edge of presentation face 10 not containing the flap by fixation means. Any fixation means may be used, such as glue, staples, or other fixation means, however the use of removable fixation means permits the display wrap 1 to be unwrapped and re-used at different times and with different supports structures. Such removable fixation means may be pins, tape, hook-and-loop connectors, such as Velcro®, or magnets, or other such removable fixation means, or a combination thereof. Figure 2 shows a preferred embodiment of the present invention whereby such removable fixation means are a combination of cooperating magnets 25 and 25' and cooperating Velcro® patches 26 and 26' and 27 and 27'.

As can be seen in Figure 3, when the presentation face 10 is folded along crease line 60 and the side edges are fixed at the flap 40, as described herein, the display wrap 1 is in a fully wrapped position.

As can be seen in Figures 4 and 5, the display wrap 1 can be folded along fold line 15 in order to place the wrap in a folded, non-wrapped position. This may be done for the purposes of shipping, transportation or storage.

In Figure 6, the display wrap 1 is shown in a semi-wrapped position in the process of wrapping around a display unit 50 of the prior art. In this figure, the display unit 50 has base 55. The presentation face 10 is in the process of being wrapped around the display unit 50 from the side. As can be appreciated, the display wrap 1 can be produced in a variety of shapes and sizes to permit the wrapping around of a variety of support structures. Additionally, existing support structures may be re-used when a change in the advertising information is desired by simply producing only the display wrap 1 with the new advertising information printed thereon.

A further benefit of the present invention is shown in Figure 7. This shows the display wrap 1 wrapped around a pillar 70 extending up above the height of the display wrap 1 and attached to the floor 80. In such circumstances, the displays of the prior art could not be used with the pillar support structures since it could not be threaded over top of the pillar. However, as can be seen in this figure, the display wrap 1 of the present invention may be wrapped around the side of the pillar 70 and placed in a fully wrapped position, thereby utilizing the existing support structure without the need for an additional support structure. It can be appreciated that there is a variety of support structures that could be used with the present invention in this way including pillars commonly found in trade-show convention halls, lamp posts, sign posts, trees, and other such structures.

While the subject invention has been described and illustrated with reference to certain particular embodiments thereof, those skilled in the art will appreciate that various adaptations, changes, modifications, substitutions, deletions or additions of procedures and protocols may be made without departing from the scope of the invention.