The present invention relates to a device and a method of use for improving roadway safety. More particularly, the present invention relates to a device and method for reducing accidents involving road signs.
Road signs are used for a variety of purposes along a road. Some provide location information, while others provide safety information such as speed limits, warnings of hazards, and other information needed for safety.
Many roads also include a barrier. Some barriers are permanent and are often referred to as poured in place walls. Other walls are formed by cast concrete segments that can brought in and moved if desired. The barriers are designed to keep traffic from passing over into oncoming lanes, to provide a barrier keeping automobiles off of sidewalks and the like, or otherwise to direct traffic back into the travel lanes if someone loses control of their automobile. Some concrete barriers have a first, lower portion disposed at one angle and a second, upper portion disposed at a higher angle. These are commonly referred to as jersey barriers or type F barriers. Other barriers are formed to has a continuous slope from top to bottom. For brevity, poured in place walls, jersey barriers and similar dividers will be referred herein as barriers. As such the broad term barriers shall include poured in place, jersey barriers and the like.
A concrete barrier are typically at least 32 inches (81.28 cm) tall, and are commonly 36 to 48 inches (91.44 to 121.92 cm) tall. Because of their location along the side of the road, it is common for road signs to be positioned on top of the concrete barrier. These may include speed limit signs, signs regarding high occupancy vehicle (HOV) lanes, as well as signs regarding exists, and potential road hazards.
As shown in
Such a configuration has been commonly used on freeways and highways across the United States. It has been found, however that the bracket 12 and bolt 16 can be hazardous in certain accidents. When a car impacts a concrete barrier at the location of the bracket 12, the bracket and bolt 16 can engage the front quarter panel and/or the hood of the vehicle. This can result in large pieces of metal being driven into the passenger compartment of a vehicle.
In an attempt to alleviate such harms, a new form of bracket was created. As shown in
Regardless of whether the arm 20 and sign 24 give way because of an accident or high winds, the device which was viewed as providing additional safety can actually be more of a threat to safety than its predecessors. For example,
While the attachment configuration shown in
While police officers will typically report downed signs so that road crews may get them fixed as quickly as possible, there can be hundreds of downed signs after a violent windstorm or hurricane. Thus, it can take days or weeks to reorient the arms and place a new sheer bolt 34 in place. To address this problem, some localities have selected bolts having a higher sheer rating so that the sheer bolts are less likely to break in a windstorm. However, this also results in a sign which is less likely to give way if hit by a semi-truck or a vehicle during an accident. Thus, there is a need for an improved safety device use which reduces the risk of a person being injured by a safety sign.
The following summary of the present invention is not intended to describe each illustrated embodiment or every possible implementation of the invention, but rather to give illustrative examples of application of principles of the invention.
In accordance with one aspect of the present disclosure, a spacer is mounted in a housing bracket. The spacer is designed to prevent the sign from lying vertical if the shear bolts have been sheared.
In accordance with another aspect of the present disclosure, the spacer formed from a resilient or semi-resilient material is such that the spacer helps to absorb some of the impact of the sign falling.
In accordance with yet another aspect of the present disclosure, the spacer is of sufficient height that the sign is positioned at least 20 degrees above horizontal so as to increase visibility of the sign. In a more preferred embodiment, the fallen sign is positioned at least 30 degrees above horizontal so as to further increase visibility of the sign and to lift the sign to a height where it is less likely to impact an automobile. In a most preferred embodiment, the spacer holds the arm and/or the sign at an angle between 35 and 50 degrees above horizontal.
In accordance with another aspect of the present disclosure, the spacer may be configured to hold the sign at an elevation in which the bottom of the sign is higher than the average automobile.
Various embodiments of the present disclosure are shown and described in reference to the numbered drawings wherein:
It will be appreciated that the drawings are illustrative and not limiting of the scope of the invention which is defined by the appended claims. The embodiments shown accomplish various aspects and objects of the invention. It will be appreciated that it is not possible to clearly show each element and aspect of the present disclosure in a single figure, and as such, multiple figures are presented to separately illustrate the various details of different aspects of the invention in greater clarity. Similarly, not all configurations or embodiments described herein or covered by the appended claims will include all of the aspects of the present disclosure as discussed above.
Various aspects of the invention and accompanying drawings will now be discussed in reference to the numerals provided therein so as to enable one skilled in the art to practice the present invention. The skilled artisan will understand, however, that the methods described below can be practiced without employing these specific details, or that they can be used for purposes other than those described herein. Indeed, they can be modified and can be used in conjunction with products and techniques known to those of skill in the art in light of the present disclosure. The drawings and the descriptions thereof are intended to be exemplary of various aspects of the invention and are not intended to narrow the scope of the appended claims. Furthermore, it will be appreciated that the drawings may show aspects of the invention in isolation and the elements in one figure may be used in conjunction with elements shown in other figures.
Reference in the specification to “one embodiment,” “one configuration,” “an embodiment,” or “a configuration” means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment may be included in at least one embodiment, etc. The appearances of the phrase “in one embodiment” in various places may not necessarily limit the inclusion of a particular element of the invention to a single embodiment, rather the element may be included in other, or all embodiments discussed herein.
Furthermore, the described features, structures, or characteristics of embodiments of the present disclosure may be combined in any suitable manner in one or more embodiments. In the following description, numerous specific details may be provided, such as examples of products or manufacturing techniques that may be used, to provide a thorough understanding of embodiments of the invention. One skilled in the relevant art will recognize, however, that embodiments discussed in the disclosure may be practiced without one or more of the specific details, or with other methods, components, materials, and so forth. In other instances, well-known structures, materials, or operations may not be shown or described in detail to avoid obscuring aspects of the invention.
Before the present invention is disclosed and described in detail, it should be understood that the present invention is not limited to any particular structures, process steps, or materials discussed or disclosed herein, but is extended to include equivalents thereof as would be recognized by those of ordinarily skill in the relevant art. More specifically, the invention is defined by the terms set forth in the claims. It should also be understood that terminology contained herein is used for the purpose of describing particular aspects of the invention only and is not intended to limit the invention to the aspects or embodiments shown unless expressly indicated as such. Likewise, the discussion of any particular aspect of the invention is not to be understood as a requirement that such aspect is required to be present apart from an express inclusion of that aspect in the claims.
It should also be noted that, as used in this specification and the appended claims, singular forms such as “a,” “an,” and “the” may include the plural unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. Thus, for example, reference to “a bracket” may include an embodiment having one or more of such brackets, and reference to “the target plate” may include reference to one or more of such target plates.
As used herein, the term “substantially” refers to the complete or nearly complete extent or degree of an action, characteristic, property, state, structure, item, or result to function as indicated. For example, an object that is “substantially” enclosed would mean that the object is either completely enclosed or nearly completely enclosed. The exact allowable degree of deviation from absolute completeness may in some cases depend on the specific context, such that enclosing the nearly all of the length of a lumen would be substantially enclosed, even if the distal end of the structure enclosing the lumen had a slit or channel formed along a portion thereof. The use of “substantially” is equally applicable when used in a negative connotation to refer to the complete or near complete lack of an action, characteristic, property, state, structure, item, or result. For example, structure which is “substantially free of” a bottom would either completely lack a bottom or so nearly completely lack a bottom that the effect would be effectively the same as if it completely lacked a bottom.
As used herein, the term “generally” refers to something that has characteristics of a quality without necessarily being exactly that quality. For example, a structure said to be generally vertical would be at least as vertical as horizontal, i.e., would extend 45 degrees or greater from horizontal. Likewise, something said to be generally circular may be rounded like an oval but need not have a consistent diameter in every direction.
As used herein, the term “about” is used to provide flexibility to a numerical range endpoint by providing that a given value may be “a little above” or “a little below” the endpoint while still accomplishing the function associated with the range.
As used herein, a plurality of items, structural elements, compositional elements, and/or materials may be presented in a common list for convenience. However, these lists should be construed as though each member of the list is individually identified as a separate and unique member.
Concentrations, amounts, proportions and other numerical data may be expressed or presented herein in a range format. It is to be understood that such a range format is used merely for convenience and brevity and thus should be interpreted flexibly to include not only the numerical values explicitly recited as the limits of the range, but also to include all the individual numerical values or sub-ranges encompassed within that range as if each numerical value and sub-range is explicitly recited. As an illustration, a numerical range of “about 1 to about 5” should be interpreted to include not only the explicitly recited values of about 1 to about 5, but also include individual values and sub-ranges within the indicated range. Thus, included in this numerical range are individual values such as 2, 3, and 4 and sub-ranges such as from 1-3, from 2-4, and from 3-5, etc., as well as 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5, individually. This same principle applies to ranges reciting only one numerical value as a minimum or a maximum. Furthermore, such an interpretation should apply regardless of the breadth of the range or the characteristics being described.
Turning now to
While the configuration shown in
The present disclosure helps resolve these concerns by providing a spacer 50 which engages the arm 20 attached to the sign when the shear bolt 34 is sheared. Instead of allowing the arm 20 to fall all of the way horizontal, the spacer 50 engages the arm. This is advantageous because doing so may prevent the sign 24 from forcefully impacting the top of the jersey barrier where the top of the jersey barrier may damage the sign, or vice versa. In one preferred application, the spacer 50 may be made from a resilient or semi resilient material, such as a high-density polymer or other rubber-like material so that the spacer 50 takes some or all of the impact of the force/weight of the falling sign. This prevents damage to both the sign 24 and the top of the barrier 4.
The spacer 50 preferably extends upwardly sufficiently that it engages and holds the arm 20 substantially above horizontal (i.e., at least 20 degrees toward the vertical) as shown in
The spacer 50 as shown in
The spacer 50 may be anywhere from one inch to eight inches (2.54 to 20.32 cm) wide depending on the sign at issue, though between 1.5 and four inches (3.81 and 10.16 cm) is most common. Thus, for example, one preferred embodiment has the ends being three inches (7.62 cm) wide and 2 inches (5.08 cm) thick.
Turning now to
While a wide range of materials can be used, the currently preferred material for making the spacer is ballistic rubber, although natural rubber, styrene-butadiene rubber, butyl rubber, nitrile, Neoprene®, ethylene propylene diene monomer, silicone, Vitron®, hydrated nitrile and polyurethan are examples of other rubber like compounds that would also work well. The material is preferably durable and should function in both hot and cold climates. It will also be appreciated that the spacer can be formed in layers and the layers need not be made out of the same material.
Turning now to
Thus, there is disclosed a roadway safety device and method for using the same. It will be appreciated that modifications can be made without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention. The appended claims are intended to cover such modifications.
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