Note : Les descriptions sont présentées dans la langue officielle dans laquelle elles ont été soumises.
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ROTATABLE HOOD ORNAIlENT FOR _DVERTISING PURPOSES
The invent;on relates to a hood ornament comprising an advertising
unit and fastening means for this advertising unit onto the body
of a vehicle.
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Hood ornaments of that type have been known For a long time,
in particular for passenger càrs, and serve the special purpose
of exposing an emblenl or a sculpture, indicating thereby a
particular make of a car. An example for this would be the Mercedes~
Star.
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lQ All these known ornaments, which by the various car manufacturers
are constructed differently, have one thing in common, nar,i~ely that they
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are mounted ln such a manner that they under normal circumstances are rigid.
The fastening means are constructed in such a manner that in the
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~ ~ ~ event of an impact the;ornal11ent can turn or cAn without damage be
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~ ~ tilted, but no1~nally a rigid mounting of the emblem bearer or sculpture
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~ is intended.
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It is th~ purpose of this invention to provide a frame for a hood
ornament that permits an extraordinary representation or visibility
from all sides of the subject to be advertised, regardless from
which angle in relation to the axis of the vehicle it is seen.
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This goal can be achieved by means of a hood ornament as described
above which is furthermore characterized in that the advertising
ornament cons;sts of a frame which is connected to the ornament,
and of an advertising unit which is rotatably arranged within
the frame, whereby the frame and the axis of rotation of the
advertis;ng disc are arranged-;n such a manner that they run
parallel to the longitudinal axis of the veh;cle. The advert;sing
disc could $hereby comprise spindles which are resting in ball
bear;ngs which are arranged and centered on the frame.
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;~ The hood ornament can be connected tens;onally to $he body of
the vehicle by means of a spr;ng ;n order to be flexible in the
event of an impact.
If the hood ornament has to be mounted onto a slanted part of
;the vehicle, asymmetrical compensation discs can be used in order
to achieve a vertical mnunting of the hood ornament.
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The invention is further explained in the drawings as follows:
Fig.l is a sketch of a hood ornament in accordance with the
invention,
Figs. la and lb are side elevations of the compensating device
in the event of slanted mounting surfaces,
Fig.2 is a side elevation, and
Fig.3 is a top view onto the hood ornament in accordance with Fig.l,
Fig.3a shows the arrangement of a hood ornament on ~he hood of
a car,
Fig.4 is a diagonal view onto the hood ornament in accordance
with Fig.l, and
Fig.5 is, with respect to rotation, a symmetrical sketch of the
fasteni ng dev ~ cc, coniprl si ng a n l ntegrated tens ;on spri ng .
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Fig.l shows a hood ornament in accordance with the invention.
Inside of a frame (3) there is provided an advertising unit (6)
in form of a regular octagonal disc made of plexiglass or
light metal, which is held in position by means of two steel
spindles (5) and (5a) which are rotatably located in the
axis of rotation of the disc. The steel spindles (5) and (5a)
are resting in ball bearings located in the center of the
top section and the bottom section of the frame (3). The upper
steel spindle (5a) is rotatably fixed onto the frame by means
of a srew (7). The frame (3) is mounted onto a socket which,
ln the manner of a ball-and-socket joint, consists of a head (3a)
;~ and a cup (2). The socket is mounted onto a metal part of the
vehicle (not shown) whereby a rubber disc (1) is inserted.
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Figs. la and lb show the rubber disc in its capacity as a compen-
sator in cases where the ornament has to be mounted onto a slanted
surface, whereby, depending on the degree of slant of the surface,
" the differences of height between the two opposite sides of the
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rubber disc have to be compensated for.
F;gs. 2, 3 and 4 show the hood ornament in accordance with Fig.l
but seen from different angles, and where -the same parts have
received the salne reference nulilbers.
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The arrows (~) ln Figs. 3 and 4 indicate that the disc(6) is
rotatable.
Fig.3a shows the correct arrangernent of the hood ornament in
accordance with the invention on the hood of a car. It can
be seen that the frame of the ornament and the spindle (not shown)
of the advertising disc, in this drawing aligned with the frame,
are coplanar, which plane in turn runs parallel to the longitudinal
axis of the car.Only when thus aligned, w~,ll the adver~ising di~c
rotate when the car is in motion, since the air resistance created
by the spindle and by the disc will be broken by the frame.
Fig.5 shows a fastening device comprising a tension spring (12)
which cocks the head (3) against the cup (2). The cup (2) rests
on the rubber (l) which in turn rests directly on the car which
~n the drawings is indicated by the metal (9) of the hood. On the
underside of the hood (9) therearearranged a rubber disc and a
lock nut (ll~ which ln turn is screwed onto a mounting base (2a)
wlth outside screw thread.
In this manner, parts 2, 2a, 10 and 11 as well as the holding pin
(13) for the ~eilsion spring (12) are connected to the metal (9),
~ ~ ~ while the he~d (3j is melely cocked against the cup by means of
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the tension spning (12). In the event of an impact against the
ornamenti the llead can slip nut of the cup and can be pulled back
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~ without the danger that any rig;d part is b~ing broken.
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SUPPLEMENTARY DISCLOSURE
Since the filing of this application, the applicant has developed
a signlficant variation and new embodlment, which will be
described below.
Accordingly, in another broad aspect, the present invention
relates to a hood ornament comprising a thermometer unit and
fastening means for fastening it onto the body of a vehicle. In
this embodlment, there is provided a hood ornament consisting of
an ornament and fastening means to mount this ornament onto a body
of a car, characterized in that the ornament consists of a
fastenlng means which is connected to a frame and an advertising
disc which is able to rotate within the frame, wherein said
advertising disc is provided with a thermometer indicating the
outside air temperature to the driver of an automobile, comprising
a case provided with a means for measuring and a dial for showing
the temperature.
The bottom face of the base of the hood ornament/thermometer
preferably has an adhesive film and a hole designed to accomodate
a mount1ng~screw passing through the body of the car. In one
preferred embodiment the case is mounted upon a support, and this
support is attached to the base by a snugly fitting ball and
socket joint. For example, the support may have a generally
spherical shape pro~ection extendlng downwardly therefrom, and the
base may comprise a synthetic elastic material provided with a
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houslng openlng towards the top in whlch the generally spherical
projectlon of the support can be fitted.
Preferably, the support comprises a metallic frame surrounding the
case. The case may be thermally insulated from the support, for
example, by providlng a space between the case and the support
which allows the passage of air, the case being supported by two
shafts which pass through the case. The case can be mounted in
such a manner that it pivots within the support. To avoid the
influence of solar radiation, the case can be provided with a
reflective coating.
The addltlonal embodiment of this invention is illustrated in the
accompanying drawings added by way of supplementary disclosure.
In these drawings:
Figure 6 is a perspective schematic view showing the positioning
of the thermometer unit on the body of the automobile.
Flgure 7 is a front elevation of the thermometer unit.
Figure 6 shows the basic idea consistlng in placing on the hood 14
of an automobile 15, a thermometer 16 indicatlng the outside air
temperature to the occupants of the automobile, most notably the
driver 17. In this placement, the thermometer is found in the
normal fleld of vision of the driver without constituting a
hazard. The drlver can read the outside air temperature without
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hls eyes ever leavlng the road. Moreover the thermometer can be
comblned with other functlonal elements or decorated, for example,
wlth the emblem of the manufacturer of the automobile.
Figure 7 shows in more detail one embodiment of the thermometer 16
which comprises essentially a case 18, a support 19 and a base 20.
In the present case, the case 18 has a flat octagonal shape and is
made of a transparent synthetic material at least for the front
face, as shown in Figure 7. The other sides are provided with a
reflective covering. The case 18 encloses the mechanism for
measuring and showing the temperature which methods are known,
being a bimetallic spiral element 21 associated wlth a needle 22
and a circular dial 23 provided with a gradation 24. To
facilitate the readlng of the temperature at a distance the
gradation consists of large numbers and coloured fields 25 which
correspond to different air temperatures.
The support 19 lS here a metallic element, for example, an
injected aluminum alloy. It is comprised of an octagonal frame 26
surrounding the case 18 in such a manner as to protect the case
from being bumped, but a space 27 is maintained between the frame
and the case to allow for the circulation of air and to impede the
transmlbsion of heat between the two elements. To hold the case
18, the frame 26 is provided with a projecting shaft 28 on its
lower side and on the opposite slde a screw 29, the extremities of
these two elements being engaged in corresponding holes in the
case. As a result of this means of mounting, it is possible to
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pivot the case 18 wlth respect to the support, for example, to
permit the temperature belng read while ln front of the
automobl le .
The support 19 is mounted on the base 20 through the means of a
ball and socket joint formed by a spherical projection 30 of the
support 19 and a correspondlng housing 31 contained in the base
20. The base is a molded plece of a rigid and elastic synthetic
material such as PVC. The spherical housing 31 opens towards the
top providing a circular orifice 32 of which the diameter is
smaller than the diameter of the housing and of the spherical
pro~ection 30. Thus the spherical projection 30 of the support
can be snapped into the housing 31 through the orifice 32 as a
result of the elasticlty of the material. Afterwards the support
is maintained in position by the friction of the spherical
projection 30 held snugly in its housing 31. As a result of this
ball and socket joint, it is possible to place the support 19 in a
position where the dial 23 is standing up-right, thus quite
readable. Moreover, the ball and socket ~oint permits the support -
and the case to be folded back in case of being knocked which will
allow damage to be avoided.
In order to be applied upon the hood 14 of the automobile, the
base 20 has a bottom surface 33, which is slightly inclined and
which is covered with an adhesive film, for example, a double
sided adhesive tape. As well, the base is provided with a hole 34
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mounting screw passing through a hole made in the hood. Thus the
head of the screw lS found underneath the hood which prevents the
theft of t~e thermometer. It is also understood that the
thermometer can be placed on another element of the body of the
automobile, for example, on a fender.
It is to be understood that the methods and apparatus described
above are not meant to limit the scope of the present invention.
I-t i5 expected that numerous variants will be obvious to the
person skilled in the automotive accessories art, without any
departure from the spirit of the present invention. The appended
claims, properly construed, form the only limitation upon the
scope of the present invention.
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