Claims
- 1. A guardrail terminal comprising:
an impact head; and a cutting section; said impact head and cutting section being mounted for movement together; and said cutting section including means for cutting a guardrail when the guardrail terminal and the guardrail are moved with respect to each other.
- 2. A guardrail terminal in accordance with claim 1 in which the cutting section partly slit the guardrail, whereby more energy is utilized in bending the guardrail as a unit than would be the case if it were completely severed.
- 3. A guardrail terminal in accordance with claim 1 in which the cutting section sever the guardrail to cause longitudinal separation between portions of the guardrail.
- 4. A guardrail terminal comprising:
an impact head; and a cutting section; said impact head and cutting section being mounted for movement together; and said cutting section including means for cutting a guardrail when the guardrail terminal and guardrail are moved with respect to each other.
- 5. A guardrail terminal according to claim 4 in which the cutting section includes a wedge shaped cutter and at least one deflection plate positioned near the wedged shaped cutter to fragment sections of the guardrail.
- 6. A guardrail terminal according to claim 4 in which the cutting section includes at least one deflection plate means positioned to deflect sections of the guardrail after the guardrail is cut.
- 7. A guardrail terminal according to claim 4 in which the cutting section includes a plurality of cutters adjacent to each other;
each of said cutters being shaped to deflect a cut section of guardrail in the opposite direction as an adjacent cut section of guardrail.
- 8. A guardrail terminal according to claim 7 further including at least one deflection plate.
- 9. A method of manufacturing a guardrail terminal comprising the steps of:
selecting a predetermined number of cutters; and positioning the cutters in a cutting section adapted to receive a guardrail; said step of selecting a predetermined number of cutters including the step of shaping a cutter in accordance with the amount of energy absorbed when the cutter cuts a predetermined rail.
- 10. A method of avoiding bodily damage to an occupant of a vehicle colliding with a guardrail system, comprising the steps of:
causing a guardrail terminal to move with respect to a guardrail and to cut the guardrail when impacted by a vehicle; causing the guardrail to release a cable holder when impacted by a vehicle; and causing a vehicle hitting the guardrail to be redirected to a safer direction.
- 11. A method in accordance with claim 10 further including the steps of:
cutting a fiber reinforced guardrail to form guardrail sections; and fragmenting the fiber reinforced guardrail sections against a deflecting surface, wherein the sections are sufficiently small to form points of fracture near the deflecting surface.
REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
[0001] This application is a divisional application of U.S. application Ser. No. 08/335,153, filed Nov. 7, 1994, for APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR SUPERCRITICAL FLUID EXTRACTION OR SUPERCRITICAL FLUID CHROMATOGRAPHY.
Divisions (1)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
08335153 |
Nov 1994 |
US |
Child |
09410635 |
Oct 1999 |
US |