DEALER LICENCE PLATE AND ADVERTISING STRIP HOLDER

PORTE-PLAQUE D'IMMATRICULATION ET BANDE PUBLICITAIRE A L'USAGE DE VENDEURS D'AUTOMOBILES

English Abstract

Automobile dealers and auto body shops, frequently move
dealer licence plates between vehicles in their inventory or
between vehicles temporarily in their care. They like to advertise
their company name on the vehicles sold or leased. The invention
discloses a highly effective means of advertising with a portable
licence plate holder, wherein the advertising strip and licence
plate are in vertical alignment comprising a back side portion
having a width sufficiently wider than the licence plate to permit
fastening thereto adjacent to both opposite lateral sides of the
licence plate, and a height sufficiently higher than the combined
height of the advertising strip and the licence plate to permit
fastening thereto both above, below, and horizontally between the
advertising strip and licence plate; a front side portion mated to
cover the back side portion and fastened thereto along a top,
bottom, and side portion thereof, as well as horizontally along a
central portion thereof whereby two horizontal pockets are formed
for the lateral insertion of the licence plate and the advertising
strip; a strip having opposite ends, each end carrying an opposite
lateral side portion of the back side portion; and, means to
releasably close the back side portion to the front side portion
along the unfastened side portions thereof. The licence is encased
between the front and back side portions, which are preferably made
of vinyl. The licence plate holder is made of material that will
not damage the finish on vehicles.

French Abstract

Les concessionnaires d'automobiles et les ateliers de débosselage font fréquemment passer les plaques d'immatriculation du concessionnaire d'un véhicule à l'autre dans leur inventaire ou entre les véhicules dont ils s'occupent temporairement. Ils aiment bien publiciser le nom de leur entreprise sur les véhicules vendus ou loués. L'invention divulgue un moyen de publicité très efficace : un étui portatif pour plaque d'immatriculation, sur lequel la bande publicitaire et la plaque d'immatriculation sont alignées à la verticale, comportant une partie arrière, dont la largeur est suffisamment plus grande que la plaque d'immatriculation afin de permettre de fermer l'étui, adjacente aux deux côtés latéraux opposés de la plaque d'immatriculation et une taille suffisamment plus haute que la taille combinée de la bande publicitaire et de la plaque d'immatriculation pour permettre de fermer l'étui au-dessus, en dessous et horizontalement entre la bande publicitaire et la plaque d'immatriculation. L'étui comprend également une partie avant conçue pour couvrir la partie arrière et attachée à l'étui le long de parties supérieure, inférieure et latérale ainsi qu'horizontalement sur une partie centrale où deux poches horizontales sont formées pour insérer latéralement la plaque d'immatriculation et la bande publicitaire; une bande comportant deux extrémités opposées, chaque extrémité soutenant une partie latérale opposée de la partie arrière; et un moyen de fixer de façon non permanente la partie arrière à la partie avant le long des parties non fermées. La plaque est placée entre les parties avant et arrière, qui sont faites, de préférence, en vinyle. L'étui pour plaque d'immatriculation est fabriqué avec un matériau qui n'endommagera pas la peinture des véhicules.

Claims

I CLAIM:

1. A portable license plate holder for displaying an upper advertising strip,
a license plate and a lower advertising strip in vertical alignment, wherein
the
portable license plate holder comprises:

(A) a back side portion made of flexible sheet material;
(B) a front side portion made of a transparent flexible sheet material; sheet
fastened to the back side portion along a top, bottom, and side portion,
as well as horizontally along a central portion, thereby defining a
plurality of pockets, said plurality of pockets having different sizes,
including an upper advertising strip pocket, a license plate pocket and
a lower advertising strip pocket, the pockets sized for lateral insertion
of the upper advertising strip, the license plate and the lower
advertising strip;
(C) vertically oriented elongate hook and loop fastening means, carried
between the back side portion and the front side portion and adjacent
to the upper advertising strip pocket, the license plate pocket and the
lower advertising strip pocket for releasably fastening the back side
portion to the front side portion along an unfastened side portion,
whereby the upper advertising strip, the license plate and the lower
advertising strip may be removably confined within respective pockets;
and
(D) an elongate strap made of a flexible strip of material having first and
second opposed ends connected by a middle portion, a major part of
the middle portion being spaced from the back side portion and the




front side portion, the first end sewn between the back side portion and
the vertically oriented elongate hook and loop fastening means and a
length of the second end of the strap sewn between the front side
portion and the back side portion, thereby bounding the license plate
pocket and the upper and lower advertising strip pockets on a first side
by the fastening means and on a second side by the length of the
second end of the strap, and whereby the portable license plate holder
may be supported by closing a vehicle's trunk lid on the middle portion
of the elongate strap and whereby the middle portion is adapted to
support the portable license plate holder from a hook.

Description

2l 73661
- This invention relates to licence plate holders and more
particularly to such licence plate holders which facilitate easy
transfer of the licence plate between different vehicles.
Dealer licence plates are used by businesses, such as new
and used automobile dealers or auto body shops, on vehicles in
their inventory and vehicles which they are temporarily responsible
for that are not equipped with their own registered plates.
Portable dealer licence plate holders are a fast and convenient way
of temporarily installing licence plates on these vehicles so that
they may be driven. For example, new and used auto dealers
purchase licence plates and insurance on a per unit basis. These
licence plates may be transferred between the vehicles in their
inventory as required when such vehicles are being test driven or
otherwise moved. While begin driven, portable dealer licence
plates must be clearly visible.
Automobile dealers generally carry an inventory of motor
vehicles. The motor vehicle licenses and insurance they obtain may
be used on any vehicle in their inventory. Because they pay for
the licenses and insurance on a per unit basis, and also because
their inventory is rolling over on a regular basis, it is necessary
to frequently transfer their licences between those vehicles in
their inventory.
It is an object of this invention to disclose a dealer
licence plate holder which will incorporate a protected advertising
strip on a dealer licence plate holder which may be transferred
from vehicle to vehicle with the licence plate. It is an object of
this invention to disclose an economic, convenient, and effective
means of displaying advertising on these portable dealer licence


21 73661

-~late holders when and only when they are being driven. It is a
final object of this invention to disclose a portable dealer
licence plate holder which will allow easy installation and removal
of the dealer licence plate holder.
One aspect of this invention provides for a portable
licence plate holder for displaying an advertising strip and
licence plate in vertical alignment comprising: a back side
portion having a width sufficiently wider than the licence plate to
permit fastening thereto adjacent to both opposite lateral sides of
the licence plate, and a height sufficiently higher than the
combined height of the advertising strip and the licence plate to
permit fastening thereto both above, below, and front side portion
mated to cover the back side portion and fastened thereto along a
top, bottom, and side portion thereof, as well as horizontally
along a central portion thereof whereby two horizontal pockets are
formed for the lateral insertion of the licence plate and the
advertising strip; a strip having opposite ends, each end carrying
an opposite lateral side portion of the back side portion; and,
means to releasably close the back side portion to the front side
portion along the unfastened side portions thereof.
A preferred aspect of this invention provides for a
licence plate holder as above wherein the back side portion and the
strap comprise colored vinyl, and the front side portion comprises
clear vinyl, and said vinyl is stitched together.
Various other objects, advantages and features of novelty
which characterize this invention, are pointed out with
particularity in the claims annexed to, and forming part of this
disclosure. For a better understanding of the invention, its

21 13661

~operating advantages, and the specific objects attained by its
users, reference should be made to the accompanying drawings and
description, in which preferred-embodiments of the invention are
illustrated.
The invention will be better understood and objects other
than those set forth will become apparent to those skilled in the
art when consideration is given to the following detailed
description thereof. Such description made reference to the
annexed drawings wherein:
Figure 1 is a front view of a Dealer Licence Plate Holder
having an advertising strip above the licence plate.
Figure 2 is a rear view of a Dealer Licence Plate Holder
having an advertising strip below the licence plate.
Figure 3 is a front view of a Dealer Licence Plate Holder
having an advertising strip both above and below the licence plate.
The following is a discussion and description of the
preferred specific embodiments of this invention, such being made
with reference to the drawings, wherein the same reference numerals
are used to indicate the same or similar parts and/or structure.
It should be noted that such discussion and description is not
meant to unduly limit the scope of the invention.
Turning now the drawings and more particularly to figure
1 we have a front view of a Dealer Licence Plate Holder 20 having
an advertising strip 22 above the licence plate 24. Figure 2 is a
rear view of a Dealer Licence Plate Holder 20, similar to that
shown in figure 1, but for the placement of the advertising strip
22 which is placed below the licence plate 24. The portable dealer
licence plate holder 20, for displaying an advertisement strip 22

21 73661
-and licence plate 24 in vertical alignment, comprises: 1) a back
side portion 26 having a width sufficiently wider than the licence
plate to permit fastening thereto adjacent to both opposite lateral
sides of the licence plate 24, and a height sufficiently higher
than the combined height of the advertising strip and the licence
plate to permit fastening thereto both above, below, and
horizontally between the advertising strip and licence plate 24;
2) a front side portion mated to cover the back side portion 26 and
fastened thereto along a top, bottom, and side portion thereof, as
well as horizontally along a central portion thereof, whereby two
horizontal pockets are formed for the lateral insertion of the
licence plate 24 and the advertising strip 22; 3) a strap 30
having opposite ends, each end carrying an opposite lateral side
portion of the back side portion; and , 4) means to releasably
close the back side portion to the front side portion along the
unfastened side portions thereof, said means preferably being a
VELCRO TM strip 34.
Most preferably the back side portion 26, and the strap
30 comprise colored vinyl, and the front side portion comprises
clear vinyl. Most preferably stitches are used to fasten the back
side portion 26 to the front side portion 24 and the opposite ends
of the strap 30. A front frame side portion 32 also made of
colored vinyl may be stitched on the front side portion around the
licence plate and the advertising strip to improve the appearance
of the Licence Plate Holder 20. The advertising strip 22 may be
positioned above the licence plate 28 as is shown in figure 1,
below the licence plate as is shown in figure 2, or both above and
below the licence plate as is shown in figure 3. In this later


21 73661
-case, where an advertising strip is positioned both above and below
the licence plate 24, the fabrication is similar, but for the fact
that the back side portion and the mating front portion have a
height sufficiently higher than the combined height of the two
advertising strips 22 and the licence plate 24 to permit fastening
there together both above, below, ad horizontally between the
advertising strips and licence plate.
While the invention has been described with preferred
specific embodiments thereof, it will be understood that this
description is intended to illustrate and not to limit the scope of
the invention. The optimal dimensional relationships for all parts
of the invention are to include all variations in size, materials,
shape form, function, assembly, and operation, which are deemed
readily apparent and obvious to one skilled in the art. All
equivalent relationships to those illustrated in the drawings, and
described in the specification, are intended to be encompassed in
this invention. What is desired to be protected is defined by the
following claims.

Representative Drawing