The present disclosure relates generally to the fields of electronics, traffic engineering and public safety and more particularly to devices and methods useable for channelizing vehicular traffic, warning drivers of hazards, and enhancing traffic safety.
Pursuant to 37 CFR 1.71(e), this patent document contains material which is subject to copyright protection and the owner of this patent document reserves all copyright rights whatsoever.
Applicants are developing a variety of electronic flares and other systems for traffic guidance and safety, examples of which are described in U.S. Pat. No. 8,564,456 entitled Sequenced vehicular traffic guiding system; U.S. Pat. No. 8,154,424 entitled Sequenced Vehicular Traffic Guiding System; U.S. Pat. No. 9,288,088 entitled Synchronizing the Behavior of Discrete Digital Devices; U.S. Pat. No. 9,847,037 entitled Sequenced Guiding Systems for Vehicles and Pedestrians; U.S. Pat. No. 9,835,319 entitled Sequential and Coordinated Flashing of Electronic Roadside Flares with Active Energy Conservation; U.S. Pat. No. 10,551,014 entitled Portable Electronic Flare Carrying Case and System; U.S. Pat. No. 10,443,828 entitled Sequential and Coordinated Flashing of Electronic Roadside Flares with Active Energy Conservation; U.S. Pat. No. 10,536,519 entitled Synchronizing the Behavior of Discrete Digital Devices and 10,660,183 entitled Devices and Methods for Synchronized Signaling of the Positions of Moving Pedestrians or Vehicles, 11,013,091 entitled Devices and Methods for Synchronized Signaling of the Positions of Moving Pedestrians or Vehicles and United States Patent Application Publication No. 2001/0237777 entitled Devices and Methods for Channelizing Vehicular Traffic and Enhancing Workzone Safety, the entire disclosure of each such patent and published patent application being expressly incorporated herein by reference.
This patent application describes new devices, systems and methods for internal illumination of traffic cones and other traffic channelizing devices. As explained below, certain electronic components and functions of the herein-described illuminating devices may be the same as or adaptations of electronic components and functions described in any of the above-listed patents and published patent application.
Described herein are devices, systems and methods for internal illumination of traffic cones or other traffic channelizing or marking devices such as barrels, tubes, some buoys, some types of signs, etc., having hollow or open interior spaces and wall(s) which is/are fully or partially translucent or allow light to pass therethrough.
In accordance with the present disclosure there is provided an illumination device is attached to or integrated into a the traffic cone or other channelizing/marking device (e.g., a cone, barrel, tube, drum, buoy, etc.) and is equipped with emitters configured to cast light (visible and/or invisible) and/or other energy into an interior space of the cone or other channelizing/marking device such that at least some of the light or other energy will pass through at least partially translucent wall(s) of the thereby making the cone or other channelizing/marking device more visible to, or more detectable by, oncoming vehicles or pedestrians.
Further in accordance with the present disclosure there is provided an illuminating device formed on or configured for attachment at or near a bottom of the traffic cone or other traffic channelizing/marking device that has a hollow inner space and a wall that is fully or partially translucent, said illumination device comprising: a base member; a plurality of emitters positioned on the base so as to cast light and/or other energy onto an inner surface of the fully or partially translucent wall such that at least some of said light or other energy will pass though the fully or partially translucent wall; a rechargeable power source; radiofrequency transmitting and receiving apparatus configured for radiofrequency communication with one or more other devices; and electronic circuitry configured for powering and controlling the emitters.
Further in accordance with the present disclosure there is provided an illuminating device formed on or configured for attachment at or near a bottom of the traffic cone or other traffic channelizing/marking device that has a hollow inner space and a wall that is fully or partially translucent, said illumination device comprising: top and bottom portions which combine to attach the illumination device to the traffic cone or other channelizing/marking device; a plurality of emitters positioned to cast light and/or other energy onto an inner surface of the fully or partially translucent wall such that at least some of said light or other energy will pass though the fully or partially translucent wall; a rechargeable power source; radiofrequency transmitting and receiving apparatus configured for radiofrequency communication with one or more other devices; and electronic circuitry configured for powering and controlling the emitters.
Further in accordance with the present disclosure, there are provided methods for using illuminating devices as disclosed herein comprising: causing the illuminating device to be attached to or incorporated in the traffic cone traffic cone or other traffic channelizing/marking device; and using the illuminating device to cause visible light. Invisible light or other energy to be emitted from the traffic cone traffic cone or other traffic channelizing/marking device.
Further aspects, elements, variations and details of the presently disclosed devices, systems and methods may be appreciated from the accompanying drawings and the details descriptions of certain embodiments or examples set forth below.
The accompanying
The following describes certain aspects of the present disclosure and, where relevant, refers to the non-limiting examples shown in the accompanying drawings.
The accompanying drawings show non-limiting examples of systems 10 and 100 useable for illumination and networking of traffic cones and other traffic channeling/marking devices. The term “illumination,” as used herein, shall be construed to encompass not only illumination by visible light but also, additionally or alternatively, illumination by invisible light (e.g., infrared) or emission of other signals or forms of energy (e.g., GPS, sonic, ultrasonic, electronic, radio, etc.) that can be detected by a suitable sensor or detector device located on or associated with an oncoming vehicle or pedestrian. This includes, but is not limited to, infrared and other types of signals that are detectable and useable by autonomous vehicles. The term “vehicles” as used herein shall not be limited to motor land vehicles, but shall be construed to include aircraft, trains, trams, subways and other rail vehicles, and watercraft or marine vessels.
As illustrated in
In addition, it is to be noted that although the example shown in the drawings utilizes a traffic cone C, the illumination device described herein may be alternatively useable with other types of traffic channelizing and marker devices having translucent walls, such as tubular delineators, plastic drums or barrels, etc.
As seen in
As shown on the bottom view of
As seen in
In the example shown, each of the clamps 14 and 14a is equipped with a stacking electrode contact 30 configured to form electrical engagement with neighboring illumination devices 12 when a plurality of these devices 12 are stacked one atop another. In addition, one of the clamps 14a is also equipped with a charging electrode contact 30a. When a number of traffic cones C with attached illumination devices 12 are stacked one atop another, the stacking electrode contacts 30 will engage one another thereby interconnecting the electrical circuitry of all illumination devices 12 in the stack. A charging cap 32 is connected by cable 33 to a power source such as a 12 volt or 110 volt power outlet and positionable on clamp 14a of one of the stacked illumination devices 12 (e.g., the one on the top of the stack). In this manner, power from the power source is initially delivered to only one of the stacked devices 12 via its charging contact 30a and such charging power then distributes to all of the other devices 12 in the stack via the serially engaged stacking electrodes 30. In this way, a single connection to a power source is useable to charge the batteries 38 located in battery compartments 34 of all devices 12 in the stack.
Furthermore, the electrodes are situated such that rotation of any member of the stack by 90 degrees will allow continued charging of the entire stack. The circuit is designed to automatically reverse and maintain proper polarity during charging using a single electrode. The operator need not line up the cones in a particular stacking arrangement to achieve proper charging polarity. Any stacking order and orientation based upon corner-to-corner alignment will suffice.
When the illumination devices 12 have been charged, the charging cap 32 is removed and the fully charged systems 10 (i.e., traffic cones C with attached illumination devices 12) may be deployed in a row, array or any other desired configuration on a road surface. Alternatively, the system of multiple traffic cones may delineate a temporary landing zone for both rotary and fixed wing aircraft, guide vehicles and pedestrians at special events or mass evacuation, or guide autonomous vehicles that incorporate sensors tuned to the infrared or radio spectrum.
In routine operation, illumination devices 12 as shown in
As described above,
In the alternative embodiment shown in
Pairs of top charging electrodes 110T are present on the top portion 102 and pairs of bottom charging electrodes 110B are present on the bottom portion 104, so that charging current will be supplied to a number of cones C simultaneously when the cones C are stacked one on top of another. Such charging electrodes 110T, 110B may be spring electrodes, as shown, or any other suitable type of contact plates or other electrode configurations.
Referring in particular to
The top platform circuit boards 136 are connected to battery packages 112 having rechargeable batteries 114, and include electronic circuit components which facilitate charging and, in some embodiments remote status checking, of batteries 114. Some components of the top platform circuit boards 132 may be housed in enclosures or housings 138 which are connected to the vertical circuit boards 132 by hard wired, soldered connections 139. One top platform circuit board 136a may additionally include communication components for communication, such as e.g., radio, cellular, satellite, internet or other apparatus, for control, monitoring, networking (e.g., mesh network) and/or other communication between neighboring devices 100 and/or with other locations or devices such as gateway devices, remote controllers or cloud based control/monitoring locations.
As shown in
As explained above, a number of cones C having these illumination devices 101 attached can be stacked, one upon another, such that the top charging electrodes 110T connect with bottom charging electrodes 110B of neighboring devices 101 in the stack. When any one of the stacked devices 110 is connected to a source of charging electrical current, such current will distribute to each of the devices 100 in the stack. As shown in
As may be appreciated from
Referring specifically to
Traffic cones and channelizing/marking devices can be subject to rough use and may sometimes be run over by a vehicle or otherwise subjected to crushing forces. As shown in
As used herein, the term “road surface” is to be interpreted broadly as meaning any surface on which the traffic cones C with attached illumination devices 12 are placed, including not only paved or unpaved roadway surfaces but also parking lots, runways, driveways, floors, roofs, floating upon fluid or water surfaces, any other surfaces on which the system 10 may be operatively placed.
Optionally, any illumination device 12, 101 may have an electronics compartment 36 or other location(s) which house electronic components and circuitry for communication and/or control such as, for example, radiofrequency receiving and transmitting apparatus, sensor(s), satellite location determining apparatus (e.g., Global Positioning System (GPS), Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) devices or other geolocation systems), modems, energy emitters and other apparatus as described in any of the above incorporated United States Patents and Published United States Patent Applications.
In some embodiments of illumination devices 12, 101 may include components and circuitry configured to enable a plurality of these illuminating devices 12, 101 to operate as nodes of a mesh network so that their light emitters 28 operate in synchronized or coordinated fashion as described in any of the above incorporated United States Patents and published United States Patent Application and, specifically for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 10,443,828 entitled Sequential and Coordinated Flashing of Electronic Roadside Flares with Active Energy Conservation; U.S. Pat. No. 10,536,519 entitled Synchronizing the Behavior of Discrete Digital Devices. In other embodiments coordinated flashing of the devices12 or 101 may be accomplished using other radio networks, including constant listening to neighbors while one device acts as a “coordinator” (previously referred to as Master/Slave network), external command timing with pre-numbered devices, light (including infrared light) transmission from one unit to the next unit in sequence for triggering purposes, and high precision real-time clocks with individual timing of sequential units based upon a stable clock. An alternative to mesh networks in which all devices are “equal”, could be a network dependent upon an external timing signal derived from GPS receivers (highly accurate clock signals) or World Standard timing broadcasts (W W V in Ft. Collins, Colorado, for example). There are other sources of public domain timing signals broadcast worldwide that would aid in the coordinated flashing of multiple devices. If radio communication is used, low energy Bluetooth, Zigbee, Wi-Fi, or other proprietary networks are available and chosen based upon energy consumption, range, bandwidth requirements, etc.
In some embodiments, the components and circuitry may include location determining (e.g., geolocation) apparatus for determining the current location of the device using a satellite system, Global Positioning System (GPS) a Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) or other geolocation system.
In some embodiments, components and circuitry may include sensor(s) for sensing status of the illuminating device 12, 101 and/or other events such as; a change in the operational status or operational mode of the illumination device, movement or tipping over of the illumination device, impact on the illumination device, failure of the illumination device, or movement of a vehicle over top of or past the illumination device. Such sensors may provide the necessary components to form a “cone array” surrounding working personnel and to alert them should a vehicle encroach the work area and strike or pass one or more of the cones. Further details regarding such systems and functionality are described in copending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 18/090,088 entitled Vehicular Incursion Alert Systems and Methods, the entire disclosure of which is expressly incorporated herein by reference.
In some embodiments, the components and circuitry may also including transmitter(s) for transmitting information from the illumination device 12 or any incorporated components such as location determining apparatus and/or sensor(s) to a receiving device (in a vehicle in proximity, for example) or service via cellular, telephonic, internet, fiber-optic or other wired or wireless communication. Such transmission of information may be direct (e.g., radiofrequency, cellular or internet-based transmission from the illumination device 12 directly to the receiving device or service) or indirect (e.g., initial transmission of information from the illuminating device 12 to a gateway or intermediary device which then relays all or part of the information to the intended receiving device or service. Examples of receiving devices and services to which such information may be transmitted include but are not necessarily limited to: receivers or map displays in vehicles; receivers or map displays in a data center or other location, a receiving computer or smart phone (may require installation of suitable software application); a cloud based server; a data center; a control center; an in-vehicle information service (e.g., General Motors OnSTar™ System or HERE Technologies System) and/or a traffic and/or road condition monitoring service (e.g., WAZE or Smartway). Further details regarding direct or indirect data transmission of information from the illumination device 12 to receiving device(s) and/or service(s) are described in United States Patent Application Publication No. 2001/0237777 entitled Devices and Methods for Channelizing Vehicular Traffic and Enhancing Workzone Safety, which is expressly incorporated herein by reference, and actually incorporated herein by attachment hereto as Appendix A.
In some embodiments, the traffic cone or other traffic channelizing/marking device may comprise a typical traffic barrel, or channelizer drum such as, for example, an orange or brightly colored barrel having a hollow interior, a vertical or slightly tapered or stepped side wall (at least a portion of which is translucent) and a flange or other projection extending outwardly at the bottom end of the barrel. Commercially available examples of such traffic barrels or channelizer drums include but are not limited to the Commander™ Traffic Drum (Plasticade, Des Plaines, Illinois), The Director™ Traffic Safety Drum (Lakeside Plastics, Oshkosh, Wisconsin) and TrafFix Channelizer Drum™ (Trafix Devices, San Clemente, California). The illuminating devices described herein may be modified in size and configuration as needed for attachment to a traffic barrel, and the brightness, location, and number of LEDs or other emitters and the associated support structures on which they are positioned may be modified to internally illuminate the barrel of drum so that light (visible and/or infrared) or other energy is emitted through the wall of the barrel or drum and is visible to or detectable by oncoming pedestrians or vehicles. In barrels or drums that have near-vertical walls, light transmitted across to the contralateral side may be utilized. In some embodiments, the illuminating device as disclosed herein may be combined with or integrated in a typically rubber or plastic circular ring that rests on a flange or projection at the bottom of the barrel to weigh the barrel down and prevent movement from truck/car wake or wind would be used to mount a circuit board and batteries and LEDs. The electronics and radio transceiver could be separate and mounted inside the barrel for weather protection. Barrels equipped with internal illumination may also incorporate other sensors and components as disclosed herein and in the documents incorporated by reference to provide, for example, location (GNSS/GPS), accelerometers or other vibration sensors to register and report movement, impact, or roll-over, ambient light sensors, radio communication for direct channelizer-to-vehicle, channelizer-to-cloud, channelizer-to-external-modem to cloud, communication. Communication could follow the smart work zone protocol (WZDx—Work Zone Data Exchange).
Although the description set forth hereabove refers to certain non-limiting examples or embodiments of the, various additions, deletions, alterations and modifications may be made to those described examples and embodiments without departing from the intended spirit and scope of the invention. For example, any elements, steps, members, components, compositions, reactants, parts or portions of one embodiment or example may be incorporated into or used with another embodiment or example, unless otherwise specified or unless doing so would render that embodiment or example unsuitable for its intended use. So, for example, any component, circuitry or functionality of the first embodiment 14 may be included in the second embodiment 101 where feasible, and vice versa. Also, where the steps of a method or process have been described or listed in a particular order, the order of such steps may be changed unless otherwise specified or unless doing so would render the method or process unsuitable for its intended purpose. Additionally, the elements, steps, members, components, compositions, reactants, parts or portions of any invention or example described herein may optionally exist or be utilized in the absence or substantial absence of any other element, step, member, component, composition, reactant, part or portion, unless otherwise noted. All reasonable additions, deletions, modifications and alterations are to be considered equivalents of the described examples and embodiments and are to be included within the scope of the following claims.
This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 63/309,426 entitled Networkable Devices for Internal Illumination of Traffic Cones and Other Traffic Channelizing Devices filed Feb. 11, 2022, the entire disclosure of which is expressly incorporated herein by reference.
Number | Date | Country | |
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63309426 | Feb 2022 | US |