EP0383374A1

EP0383374A1 - Publicity cover

Info

Publication number: EP0383374A1
Application number: EP90200262A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Egbertus Sybolt Raatjes
Original assignee: OCRA BV
Current assignee: OCRA BV
Priority date: 1989-02-16
Filing date: 1990-02-06
Publication date: 1990-08-22
Also published as: NL8900378A

Abstract

A publicity cover (1), which is supported in a frame and can be locked and unlocked therein, and is provided with an insert plate (3), which plate shows a sign and is connected to the cover from below, does better meet its purpose by applying at least one chamber (11) in its cover, which chamber (11) is located underneath a hole (5) that can be covered by a protective lid (7) for the insert plate, said chamber (11) being provided with a ring flange (12) having at least one bay (13') for the passage of a lifting rib (23) of a socket spanner (22) in order to tighten up and loosen the locking.

Description

The invention relates to a publicity cover, which is supported in a frame and can be locked and unlocked therein, and is provided with an insert plate at the top, which plate shows at least one sign at its top, said insert plate being connected to the cover from below.
Such a publicity cover is known from Dutch patent application 86 02137. It is essential for the known cover that a message, such as a commercial can be included in the insert plate in an efficient and attractive manner. The known cover, however, detracts from this possibility by the large number of holes that is necessary for the locking and lifting of the cover. Moreover, with this known manner, the room for publicity is restricted unnecessarily.
The invention aims to improve the foregoing. According to the invention, this has been achieved in that the insert plate extends as far as an outer circumferential rib of the cover, and in that the cover has been provided with a chamber, which is positioned underneath a hole of the insert plate, which chamber is defined at the top by a ring flange having at least one bay for the passage of a lifting rib, which is provided on the outer circumference of a socket spanner in order to loosen and tighten up a bolt on which a socket, comprising an internal screw thread and carrying a swivelling tongue, has been applied, and which socket spanner can also be used for the lifting of the cover. Therefore, only one hole in the cover plus the accompanying insert plate is necessary for the locking and lifting of the cover. It is very useful, of course, to provide the ring flange with two diametrically opposite bays, and to provide the socket spanner with two lifting ribs.
The hole of the insert plate is preferably provided with a seat for accommodating a flange of a protective lid, which flange, at the most, is as thick as the insert plate. The seat is provided with at least one bay for the passage of a lifting rib. On the one hand, this feature prevents the accessibility of the bolt head and the chamber from being obstructed by the entrance of dirt, while on the other hand, one can hardly discern the way in which the cover could eventually be removed by unauthorized persons in order to subsequently remove the insert plate, which preferably is composed of brass or another brass alloy.
The protective lid is preferably made of synthetic material. One could consider positioning the protective lid in the hole in one position only, and providing its flange with a notch, which coincides with a bay of the ring flange located underneath.
As the occasion arises, two coinciding holes and chambers could be mounted in the insert plate and the cover, of course.
A preferred feature of a protective lid, which can be used with a publicity cover according to the invention, is that it can be arranged to engage with the square head of the bolt. This also contributes to loosing as little room as possible, which is available for publicity or other designations.
The invention will be further elucidated below on the basis of the drawing, in which, an embodiment of a cover according to the invention has been illustrated, by means of an example. In the drawing the following is illustrated.

Figure 1 is a view from above of a cover with an insert plate,
figure 2 is a section according to the line II-II of figure 1, and
figure 3 is a part of a socket spanner for a cover according to figures 1 and 2.

The cover 1 as illustrated in the drawing, comprises a recess 2 at its top, in which an insert plate 3 of bronze, brass, aluminium, synthetic material or similar material that can be readily machined, is located. The recess is defined by an outer circumferential rib 4 of the cover 1 so that the surface of the insert plate, which can be used as a room for publicity, is as large as possible. The room for publicity is only interrupted by two holes 5 and 6, in which the left-hand hole 5 in figure 1 is shown without a protective lid 7 (vide figure 2) and the right-hand hole 6 with a protective lid. In principle, the right-hand hole 6 could be left out, certainly with covers that are not too big and heavy.
In the bottom of the insert plate 3, a number of blind holes, provided with screw thread, has been provided in mutually equal angular distances for the insertion of bolts 8 which have been screwed through corresponding holes of the cover 1. Due to this, the insert plates 3 are both exchangeable and secured against theft. The insert plate can be secured in another position in the recess 2 also, yet this requires the presence of hole 6 at any rate.
The insert plate 3 comprises a raised outer rib 9 and a raised inner rib 1. The centre line of the just mentioned bolts 8 cuts the diameter of the inner rib 10 so that the blind holes for the bolts 8 can be made deep enough in order to attain a good attach ment of the insert plate 3.
The top surface of the insert plate, which is defined by the inner rib 10, lends itself excellently to the bearing of a logo or another emblem, while a text or a different sign (not illustrated) could be mounted in the marginal area defined by the two ribs 9 and 10.
The marginal area is only interrupted by the holes 5 and 6 which are as small as possible and can be locked by protective lids 7, as is further elucidated below.
The hole 5 of the insert plate 3 is located above a chamber 11 of the cover 1. This chamber 11 is defined by a ring flange 12 at its top, which ring flange comprises two bays 13. The chamber 11 is defined by a bottom 14 at the under side, having a hole for the passage of a bolt 15. A socket 16, comprising an internal screw thread, has been screwed on this bolt 15, said socket carrying a swivelling tongue 17. Upon tightening up the bolt, the tongue 17 swivels into a locking chamber (not illustrated) of the frame and, finally, the tongue ensures the locking. Upon loosening, at some stage, the tongue 17 will contact a stop 18, which is constructed under the bottom 14. A nut 19 stops the tongue 17 from falling from the bolt 15.
The bolt 15 comprises a square head 20, since this makes the need of space for the locking as small as possible. Besides, a square head is less usual than a standard hexagonal head so that the risk of theft is smaller. However, this does not imply that e.g. hexagonal bolts and triangular bolts should fall outside the scope of protection. The diameter of the hole 5 is sufficient for the passage of a cap 21 (figure 3) of a socket spanner 22 which fits on the head 20. Two lifting ribs 23, which can pass through the bays 13 of the ring flange 12 that bounds the top side of the chamber 11, have been mounted diametrically on the lid 20.
The holes 5 and 6 can be kept as small as possible by providing them with bays 13′, as illustrated by dotted lines in figure 2, for the passage of the lifting ribs 23.
If the tongue 17 with the socket spanner 22 has been loosened and is placed in a position in which the lifting ribs 23 do not coincide with the bays 13 and 13′, the socket spanner 22 can be used for the lifting of the cover 1.
The protective lid 7 has a sleeve-shaped lower part which jams in the hole 5, and a sealing which is provided with a flange. The flange lies in a seat (unnumbered) which is provided in the insert plate 3 round the hole 5. The thickness of the flange and the height of the seat correspond to one another in such a way that the outer surfaces of the insert plate and the protective lid connect to each other. If the protective lid has been made of relatively yielding material, such as synthetic material, employees can easily remove the protective lid by putting a screw driver or a similar tool on the correct place (the place of a bay 13′) between the material that connect the ribs 9 and 10 and the flange of the protective lid. If desired, the protective lid can be provided in its flange with a nick that tallies with a bay 13, yet this requires either an accurate installation in the correct position of the protective lid or the taking of measures in the shape of a centralizing, as is common practice with covers, for instance as illustrated in point 24 of figure 1.
Embodiments, different from the one as illustrated in the drawing, fall within the scope of the claims as well.

Claims

1. Publicity cover, which is supported in a frame and can be locked and unlocked therein, and is provided with an insert plate at the top, which plate shows at least one sign at its top, said insert plate being connected to the cover from below, characterized in that the insert plate (3) extends as far as an outer circumferential rib (4) of the cover (1), and in that the cover is provided with a chamber (11), which is positioned underneath a hole (5) of the insert plate (3), said chamber being defined at its top by a ring flange (12) having at least one bay (13) for the passage of a lifting rib (23), which rib is mounted on the outer circumference of a socket spanner (22) in order to loosen and tighten up a bolt (15) on which a socket (16), comprising an internal screw thread, has been applied, which socket carries a swiveling tongue (17).

2. Cover according to claim 1, characterized in that the ring flange (12) comprises two diametrically opposite bays (13), and in that two lifting ribs (23) have been mounted on the socket spanner.

3. Cover according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the hole (5) of the insert plate (3) comprises a seat for accommodating a flange of a protective lid (7), which flange, at the most, is equally thick as the insert plate.

4. Cover according to claim 3, characterized in that the seat comprises at least one bay (13′) for the passage of the lifting rib (23).

5. Cover according to claim 3 or 4, characterized in that the protective lid (7) is made of synthetic material.

6. Cover according to one of claims 3-5, characterized in that the protective lid (7) can be arranged in the hole in one position only, and in that it comprises a notch in its flange, which coincides with a bay (13) of the ring flange (12), that is located underneath.

7. Cover according to any of the preceding claims, characterized in that two coinciding holes (5, 6) and chambers (11) have been mounted in the insert plate and the cover.

8. Socket spanner which can be used with a cover according to any of the preceding claims, characterized in that said socket spanner can be adapted to engage with a square head (20) of the bolt (15), and in that it can be used for the lifting of the cover.

9. Cover as illustrated in the drawing and/or discussed on the basis thereof.