This application claims priority of Taiwanese Application No. 097202230, filed on Feb. 1, 2008.
1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a road cone, more particularly to a road cone including a light emitting unit for warning purposes.
2. Description of the Related Art
Road cones are usually used for warning of a construction site or a road under construction as well as for guiding vehicles or participants in sport activities. A conventional road cone is usually coated or attached with a reflective material for better vision of the road cone. The reflective material requires the presence of light so as to be visible in a dark environment. However, visibility of the reflective material is still relatively poor when viewed from a distance while driving at night.
Therefore, an object of the present invention is to provide a road cone that can overcome the aforesaid drawback associated with the prior art.
Accordingly, a road cone of this invention comprises: a hollow truncated conical body of a light transmissive material having a top open end defining a top opening; a power supplying unit mounted detachably in the truncated conical body and accessible through the top opening; a cap mounted on the top open end of the truncated conical body and covering the top opening of the truncated conical body; and a light emitting unit mounted in the truncated conical body and connected electrically to the power supplying unit so as to be powered by the power supplying unit to generate light inside the truncated conical body.
Other features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent in the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments with reference to the accompanying drawings, of which:
Referring to
The truncated conical body 4 further has a bottom wall 42. The power supplying unit 5 includes a circuit board 52 and a battery container 51 having a bottom end 515 and adapted to receive at least one battery (not shown) therein. The circuit board 52 is mounted on the bottom end 515 of the battery container 51. The light emitting unit 6 includes a pair of conductive sticks 61 supported on the bottom wall 42 of the truncated conical body 4, extending between the bottom wall 42 of the truncated conical body 4 and the bottom end 515 of the battery container 51, and connected electrically to the circuit board 52. The light emitting unit 6 further includes a plurality of light emitting members 62 disposed along and connected electrically to the conductive sticks 61 in a parallel connection manner. The bottom wall 42 of the truncated conical body 4 is formed with two insert holes 420. The conductive sticks 61 extend fittingly into the insert holes 420, respectively. In this embodiment, each of the light emitting members 62 is a light emitting diode.
The truncated conical body 4 further has an outer surrounding wall 41 that defines the top open end 45 of the truncated conical body 4 and that confines an inner space 410 therein, and an inner supporting wall 46 that is disposed in the inner space 410, that extends downwardly from the top open end 45 of the outer surrounding wall 41, and that defines an accommodating space 460 therein. A bottom flange 411 extends outwardly and laterally from a bottom of the outer surrounding wall 41. The battery container 51 extends into the accommodating space 460 and is supported on the inner supporting wall 46.
The inner supporting wall 46 of the truncated conical body 4 is formed with a plurality of retaining grooves 414. The battery container 51 is formed with a plurality of retaining protrusions 513 engaging the retaining grooves 414, respectively. The battery container 51 has an upper threaded end 511 extending outwardly of the truncated conical body 4. The cap 53 has a lower threaded end 531 engaging threadedly the upper threaded end 511 of the battery container 51.
The road cone 3 further includes a switch 54 connected electrically to the circuit board 52 for turning on and off the light emitting unit 6. The switch 54 includes a pressible button 541 disposed on an exterior of the truncated conical body 4 and extending into the truncated conical body 4.
In use, the battery is installed into the battery container 51, and the pressible button 541 is pressed to actuate the light emitting members 62 so as to generate light inside the road cone.
With the inclusion of the light emitting unit 6 in the road cone of this invention, the aforesaid drawback associated with the prior art can be alleviated.
While the present invention has been described in connection with what is considered the most practical and preferred embodiment, it is understood that this invention is not limited to the disclosed embodiment but is intended to cover various arrangements included within the spirit and scope of the broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modifications and equivalent arrangements.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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97202230 U | Feb 2008 | TW | national |
Number | Name | Date | Kind |
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2949531 | Lemelson | Aug 1960 | A |
4292627 | Knight | Sep 1981 | A |
5294924 | Dydzyk | Mar 1994 | A |
5453729 | Chu | Sep 1995 | A |
5577824 | Wright | Nov 1996 | A |
6499858 | Hart | Dec 2002 | B2 |
6556147 | Fisher et al. | Apr 2003 | B1 |
Number | Date | Country | |
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20090195412 A1 | Aug 2009 | US |