FLOATING ADVERTISEMENT DEVICE

Abstract

A floating advertisement device includes: an electric unmanned flying object connected to one end of a power supply line that supplies power; a control unit controlling an operation of the electric unmanned flying object; an advertisement medium hung from the electric unmanned flying object, and having, at a lower end surface thereof, a landing guide part that performs positioning at a time of descending; an advertisement display unit capable of displaying advertisement contents in a changeable manner as an outer peripheral surface of the advertisement medium, and formed in a bendable manner; a power source disposed on the ground and connected to the other end of the power supply line; and a support member capable of supporting the advertisement medium by being fitted with the landing guide part when the advertisement medium descends.

Claims

1. A floating advertisement device, comprising: an electric unmanned flying object connected to one end of a power supply line that supplies power; a control unit controlling an operation of the electric unmanned flying object; an advertisement medium hung from the electric unmanned flying object, and having, at a lower end surface thereof, a landing guide part that performs positioning at a time of descending; an advertisement display unit capable of displaying advertisement contents in a changeable manner as an outer peripheral surface of the advertisement medium, and formed in a bendable manner; a power source disposed on the ground and connected to the other end of the power supply line; and a support member capable of supporting the advertisement medium by being fitted with the landing guide part when the advertisement medium descends.

2. The floating advertisement device according to claim 1, wherein the landing guide part of the advertisement medium is formed in a tapered recessed shape in which an upper side is narrowed, and the support member is formed in a tapered projecting shape in which an upper side is narrowed.

3. The floating advertisement device according to claim 1, wherein the landing guide part of the advertisement medium is formed in a tapered projecting shape in which a lower side is narrowed, and the support member is formed in a tapered recessed shape in which a lower side is narrowed.

4. The floating advertisement device according to claim 1, wherein the electric unmanned flying object is a drone.

5. The floating advertisement device according to claim 1, wherein a receiver capable of receiving, by radio, video signals or a broadcast from the outside is provided inside the advertisement medium, and the receiver is connected to the advertisement display unit.

6. A floating advertisement device, comprising: an electric unmanned flying object connected to one end of a power supply line that supplies power; a control unit controlling an operation of the electric unmanned flying object; an advertisement medium hung from the electric unmanned flying object, having, at a lower end surface thereof, a landing guide part that performs positioning at a time of descending, and formed to have a truncated quadrangular pyramid shape in which a lower surface side is narrowed; an advertisement display unit arranged on each trapezoidal surface being an outer peripheral surface of the advertisement medium having the truncated quadrangular pyramid shape, capable of displaying advertisement contents in a changeable manner, and formed in a bendable manner; a power source disposed on the ground and connected to the other end of the power supply line; and a support member capable of supporting the advertisement medium by being fitted with the landing guide part when the advertisement medium descends.

7. The floating advertisement device according to claim 6, wherein the landing guide part of the advertisement medium is formed in a tapered recessed shape in which an upper side is narrowed, and the support member is formed in a tapered projecting shape in which an upper side is narrowed.

8. The floating advertisement device according to claim 6, wherein the landing guide part of the advertisement medium is formed in a tapered projecting shape in which a lower side is narrowed, and the support member is fanned in a tapered recessed shape in which a lower side is narrowed.

9. The floating advertisement device according to claim 6, wherein the electric unmanned flying object is a drone.

10. The floating advertisement device according to claim 6, wherein a receiver capable of receiving, by radio, video signals or a broadcast from the outside is provided inside the advertisement medium, and the receiver is connected to the advertisement display unit.

11. A floating advertisement device, comprising: an electric unmanned flying object connected to one end of a power supply line that supplies power; a control unit controlling an operation of the electric unmanned flying object; an advertisement medium hung from the electric unmanned flying object, and having, at a lower end surface thereof a landing guide part that performs positioning at a time of descending; an advertisement display unit being a thin and bendable organic EL display capable of displaying advertisement contents in a changeable manner as an outer peripheral surface of the advertisement medium, and to which power is supplied by being connected to the power supply line; a power source disposed on the ground and connected to the other end of the power supply line; and a support member capable of supporting the advertisement medium by being fitted with the landing guide part when the advertisement medium descends.

12. The floating advertisement device according to claim 11, wherein the landing guide part of the advertisement medium is formed in a tapered recessed shape in which an upper side is narrowed, and the support member is formed in a tapered projecting shape in which an upper side is narrowed.

13. The floating advertisement device according to claim 11, wherein the landing guide part of the advertisement medium is formed in a tapered projecting shape in which a lower side is narrowed, and the support member is formed in a tapered recessed shape in which a lower side is narrowed.

14. The floating advertisement device according to claim 11, wherein the electric unmanned flying object is a drone.

15. The floating advertisement device according to claim 11, wherein a receiver capable of receiving, by radio, video signals or a broadcast from the outside is provided inside the advertisement medium, and the receiver is connected to the advertisement display unit.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0027] FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a floating advertisement device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0028] FIG. 2 is a perspective view illustrating an advertisement medium in a state where advertisements of the floating advertisement device according to the embodiment of the present invention are displayed (note that a power supply line is omitted).

[0029] FIG. 3 is a perspective view illustrating a descending state of the advertisement medium in the floating advertisement device according to the embodiment of the present invention (note that the power supply line is omitted).

[0030] FIG. 4 is a perspective view illustrating a state where the advertisement medium of the floating advertisement device according to the embodiment of the present invention is landed while being supported by a support member (note that the power supply line is omitted).

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0031] A first embodiment of a floating advertisement device according to the present invention will be hereinafter described in detail while referring to the drawings.

[0032] As illustrated in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, in the floating advertisement device of the present embodiment, a drone 12 having, for example, not-illustrated four motors which rotate four propellers 12A, respectively, and whose flight is controlled by a controller 16, is positioned at an uppermost part, and to a lower end side of the drone 12, one end of a power supply line 14 for supplying power is connected.

[0033] On a lower side of the drone 12 being an electric unmanned flying object, an advertisement medium 18 for propagating advertisement information to the outside is positioned by being hung from the drone 12. A main body part 18A of the advertisement medium 18 is formed in a truncated quadrangular pyramid shape in which a lower surface side is narrowed, and each trapezoidal surface of the truncated quadrangular pyramid shape is provided with an advertisement display unit 19. Specifically, since the advertisement medium 18 has the advertisement display units 19 of four surfaces, the advertisement display units 19 can display advertisements as an outer peripheral surface of the advertisement medium 18. Further, each advertisement display unit 19 is made by an organic EL display which is thin and formed in a bendable manner, and the power supply line 14 is connected to be able to supply power also to these organic EL displays.

[0034] Further, as illustrated in FIG. 2, a coupling member 18B formed of a lightweight material such as an aluminum alloy or carbon in a quadrangular ring shape is provided at an upper part of the main body part 18A, and when the coupling member 18B at the upper part is coupled to the drone 12 by four wires 20, the advertisement medium 18 is bung from the drone 12.

[0035] A receiver 26 capable of receiving, by radio, video signals or a broadcast from the outside for displaying advertisements, is provided inside the advertisement medium 18, as illustrated in FIG. 2, and although not illustrated, the receiver 26 is connected to each of the organic EL displays configuring each of the advertisement display units 19. This makes it possible for each of the advertisement display units 19 to display advertisement contents or broadcast contents received from the controller 16 illustrated in FIG. 1, by video or the like, while capable of changing the advertisement contents.

[0036] On one hand, the advertisement medium 18 has, at a lower end surface thereof, a landing guide part 22 for performing positioning of the advertisement medium 18 when it descends, and formed of a metal material such as an aluminum alloy, and a center portion of the landing guide part 22 is made to be a recessed portion 22A formed in a tapered recessed shape in which an upper side is narrowed. In correspondence with this, a support member 24 formed of a metal material such as iron and capable of supporting the advertisement medium 18 by being fitted with the landing guide part 22 when the advertisement medium 18 descends, is disposed on the ground, and a center portion of the support member 24 is made to be a projecting portion 24A formed in a tapered projecting shape in which an upper side is narrowed.

[0037] Concretely, as illustrated in FIG. 3, although these recessed portion 22A and projecting portion 24A are made to have a recessed shape and a projecting shape, respectively, linearly formed to have substantially the same length, they have edge lines such that a tip side becomes narrow and a root side becomes wide, and have sizes so that the recessed portion 22A and the projecting portion 24A are fitted with each other.

[0038] On the other hand, as illustrated in FIG. 1, the power supply line 14 connected to the drone 12 passes through the inside the advertisement medium 18 to extend downward to the ground, and the other end of the power supply line 14 is connected to a power source 32 disposed on the ground. For this reason, it is possible to constantly supply power to the drone 12 and each of the advertisement display units 19 from the power source 32 via the power supply line 14.

[0039] Next, an operation when activating the floating advertisement device of the present embodiment will be described.

[0040] As illustrated in FIG. 4, not only the drone 12 but also the advertisement medium 18 is positioned on the support member 24 on the ground, and when the drone 12 is activated to rotate the motors by operating the controller 16 being a control unit which controls the drone 12 by radio or wire, it is possible to make the drone 12 take off to ascend. In accordance with this, the advertisement medium 18 hung from the drone 12 also ascends, and since the advertisement display units 19 are formed in a bendable bellows shape or of a flexible material, the advertisement medium 18 including the advertisement display units 19 spreads along a longitudinal direction from the bent state, to be in a state illustrated in FIG. 1.

[0041] At this time, by previously setting, with the use of the controller 16, a latitudinal and longitudinal point on GPS, for example, in accordance with a position of the support member 24 disposed on the ground, it becomes possible to perform control so that the drone 12 stays still to be held constantly up in the sky at the previously-determined certain position. Subsequently, in such a state, power of the advertisement display units 19 is turned on, to thereby start the display of advertisement information.

[0042] Next, functions of the floating advertisement device according to the present embodiment will be described hereinbelow.

[0043] According to the floating advertisement device of the present embodiment, the advertisement medium 18 having the truncated quadrangular pyramid shape in which the lower surface side is narrowed, is hung from the drone 12 whose flight operation is controlled by the controller 16, and the lower end surface of the advertisement medium 18 is made to be the landing guide part 22 for performing positioning when the advertisement medium 18 descends. On the respective trapezoidal surfaces being the outer peripheral surface of the advertisement medium 18 having the truncated quadrangular pyramid shape, the advertisement display units 19 each being the thin and bendable organic EL display capable of displaying advertisements are arranged.

[0044] As advertisement contents on the organic EL displays, a front advertisement display unit 19 displays iced coffee poured in a cup, or the like, and a right-side advertisement display unit 19 displays characters of “ADRONE”, as illustrated in FIG. 2, for example. Note that also on the advertisement display units 19 at two surfaces on a rear surface side, the same or different displays are performed as a matter of course.

[0045] Further, since the advertisement medium 18 has the truncated quadrangular pyramid shape in which the lower surface side is narrowed as described above, even when the advertisement medium 18 ascends high, visibility of the organic EL displays never deteriorates. Furthermore, in accordance with the takeoff of the drone 12, from the support member 24 previously disposed on the ground, through the control of the operation by the controller 16, the upper side of the advertisement medium 18 is pulled up, resulting in that the respective advertisement display units 19 finned to have the bendable bellows structure of the advertisement medium 18 naturally spread in the longitudinal direction. Specifically, the advertisement medium 18 is hung from the drone 12 and the respective advertisement display units 19 ascend while being turned into flat surfaces even if there exists no gas such as a helium gas therein, which makes it possible fir the advertisement medium 18 to propagate advertisement information to the outside.

[0046] Further, since the other end of the power supply line 14 whose one end is connected to the drone 12, is connected to the power source 32 disposed on the ground, the power from the power source 32 is supplied to the drone 12, and thus the drone 12 can fly for a long time without being limited by power consumption. At this time, by controlling, with the use of the controller 16, the drone 12 to be constantly held at the previously-determined position in the space, even when wind blows, the drone 12 can fly so as to stay at a certain position against the wind force, and can autonomously maintain the position. In accordance with this, the advertisement medium 18 can stably perform advertisement without being needlessly moved or inclined.

[0047] Besides, in accordance with the connection of the power supply line 14 also to the organic EL displays being the advertisement display units 19, the power source 32 supplies power also to the organic EL displays via the power supply line 14, resulting in that the power is supplied to the organic EL displays and stable advertisements with high visibility can be supplied for a long time in a stable manner.

[0048] Meanwhile, when the advertisement is terminated and the advertisement medium 18 is descended, the power of the advertisement display units 19 is cut to terminate the advertisement display, and as the advertisement medium 18 is gradually descended by reducing, while controlling, the number of rotations of the motors of the drone 12, the advertisement medium 18 is further descended in a state of being led onto the support member 24, as illustrated in FIG. 3.

[0049] At a time of this descending, the landing guide part 22 for performing positioning when the advertisement medium 18 descends is provided to the lower end surface of the advertisement medium 18, and the recessed portion 22A made to have the tapered recessed shape in which the upper side is narrowed is formed at the center portion of the landing guide part 22. Further, the support member 24 is disposed on the ground, and the projecting portion 24A made to have the tapered projecting shape in which the upper side is narrowed is formed at the center portion of the support member 24.

[0050] Since the landing guide part 22 and the support member 2.4 are formed as above, when the advertisement medium 18 descends, the landing guide part 22 and the support member 24 are fitted with each other, which makes it easy to perform positioning at a predetermined position, and in accordance with this, the support member 24 can securely support the advertisement medium 18. Further, since the advertisement display units 19 being the outer peripheral surface of the advertisement medium 18 are formed in the bendable manner, when the support member 24 supports the advertisement medium 18, the advertisement display units 19 can land in a compact state by being bent and folded as illustrated in FIG. 4, resulting in that the advertisement medium 18 can be easily collected.

[0051] According to the above, since the floating advertisement device of the present embodiment uses, instead of the helium gas, the drone 12 to which the power from the power source 32 on the ground can be supplied, the flight can be performed for a long time at low costs, and further, since the drone 12 flies while being controlled by the controller 16, it is unlikely to be affected by wind, resulting in that the advertisement can be performed by the advertisement medium 18 for a long time in a stable manner. In addition to this, it also becomes possible to display different advertisements according to places and time by the advertisement display units 19.

[0052] Note that in the above-described embodiment, the receiver 26 is employed for reception from the controller 16, but it is also possible to design such that the receiver 26 receives advertisement contents transmitted by wire or radio from a transmitter being a terminal of a communication line such as an external Internet line. Further, it is also possible to employ, instead of the receiver 26, a computer or the like which mounts a battery, a memory, and the like with required capacities, and previously stores advertisement contents.

[0053] Further, in the above-described embodiment, the main body part 18A of the advertisement medium 18 is formed in the shape of truncated quadrangular pyramid being a truncated square pyramid, but not limited to the truncated square pyramid, and a truncated triangular pyramid shape or a truncated pentagonal pyramid shape other than the truncated quadrangular pyramid, and a shape with two surfaces or a hemispherical shape may also be employed. Further, as the advertisement display unit 19, not only the organic EL display but also a well-known display may also be employed.

[0054] Note that as the organic EL display, it is possible to employ a thin and light flexible organic EL display which has been developed in recent years by NHK Science & Technology Research Laboratories of Japan Broadcasting Corporation. This flexible organic EL display is a 30-inch and 4K display, but has a thickness of 0.5 mm and a weight of 100 grams, and can be stored in a bent or rolled state.

[0055] On one hand, in the above-described embodiment, the recessed portion 22A formed in the tapered recessed shape is provided to the landing guide part 22, and the projecting portion 24A formed in the tapered projecting shape is provided to the support member 24, but the recessed portion and the projection portion may also be arranged oppositely. Aside form this, when one end of a rope is attached to the advertisement medium 18, and an anchor is disposed on the ground and the other end of the rope is attached to this anchor, even in a case where control failure of the drone 12 occurs, the advertisement medium 18 can be collected with no problems. Besides, if the drone 12 and the advertisement medium 18 are structured in a detachable manner by removal of the wires 20 from the drone 12, and the like, when the floating advertisement device is not operated, convenience in carriage of the advertisement medium 18 having the bendable bellows structure and folded is increased, and it becomes easy to protect a frame of the advertisement medium 18.

[0056] On the other hand, the power source 32 itself may also be a large-sized battery, and it may also be one that receives supply of power from an external electric wire, or generates power by driving a power generator using an engine or the like. Further, in the above-described embodiment, the controller is used as the control unit, but a computer or the like may also be used as the control unit, and as a control method, one in which a program and data are previously input may be employed, and one in which the drone 12 is directly operated by radio or wire may also be employed.

[0057] In the foregoing, the embodiments according to the present invention have been described, but the present invention is not limited to the above-described embodiments, and can be carried out while being modified. in various ways within a range that does not depart from the spirit of the present invention.

[0058] The present invention can be used not only as an advertisement medium as an ad balloon indoors or outdoors but also as a substitute for a landmark at night by light emission of organic EL displays, and in addition to that, it can also be applied to various industrial fields.