Patent Application
20120269576
During road construction, it is often necessary or desirable to paint guidelines on the roadway surface for purposes of diverting and directing traffic, to make a guideline to be followed by road construction equipment or for other purposes. One method of painting guidelines on roadway surfaces typically employed by road construction crews is to have two crewmembers hold a stringline while a third crewmember sprays the guideline along the stringline using aerosol paint. Such a process is not cost effective because it is performed on foot and therefore it is not only slow but it requires multiple crewmembers resulting in excessive manhours to perform. It also exposes multiple crew members to traffic thereby increasing the risk of personal injury.
Accordingly, there is a need for a simple, effective and inexpensive way to paint guidelines on a roadway which can be performed by a single worker, which can be performed using a vehicle so it is faster and safer because the worker is not on foot and is not exposed to traffic, and which does not require the investment in specialized roadway stripers or other specialized equipment.
Referring now to the drawings, wherein like reference numerals designate identical or corresponding parts throughout the several views,
The arm 20 is preferably L-shaped with a first leg 22 received into the trailer hitch receiver 14 while the second leg 24 preferably extends laterally to position the post 30 and holder 40 to the side of the vehicle 12 so that it can be viewed by the driver of the vehicle 12 through a side mirror (not shown). It should also be appreciated, that the arm 20 could be straight or could include a pivot pin or hinge (not shown) so that the second leg 24 is pivotable with respect to the first leg 22.
The second leg 24 of the arm 20 is preferably telescoping to provide for lateral positioning of the post 30 and holder 40 with respect to the vehicle 12. The second leg 24 preferably includes a slide arm 26 that is received within a fixed arm 28. An adjustment bolt 29 is preferably provided on the fixed arm 28 which can be rotated for engaging the slide arm 26 to frictionally hold it in position relative to the fixed arm 28 once the desired lateral position of the slide arm 26 is achieved. Alternatively, a pin (not shown) may be provided that is receivable within predefined spaced holes in the slide arm 26 for adjustably pinning the slide arm 26 in the desired position with respect to the fixed arm 28. Any other suitable means of positioning the slide arm 26 relative to the fixed arm 28 may also be used. Also as shown in
In a preferred embodiment, the post 30 and holder 40 assembly are preferably adapted from a commercially available hand held marking wand, such as a Krylon® “Hand Held Wheeler Marking Wand” (UPC 7-24504-07096-2) incorporated herein by reference, which is available from various retailers and on-line outlets. It should be appreciated, however, that rather than modifying a commercially available marking wand, the post and holder may be fabricated from or comprise any suitable components or materials as recognized by those of skill in the art. The post 30 is preferably vertically adjustable with respect to the arm 20 for positioning the paint canister 50 received within the holder 40 at the desired elevation from the roadway or ground surface to be marked. A bracket 34 is preferably mounted to the spring or resilient member 32 or to the end of the second leg 24 of the arm 20. The bracket 34 preferably slidably receives the post 30. An adjustment bolt 36 is preferably provided on the bracket 34 which can be rotated for engaging the slidable post 30 to frictionally hold it in position relative to the bracket 34 once a desired position of the post 30 is achieved. Alternatively, a pin may be provided that is receivable within predefined spaced holes in the post 30 for pinning the post 30 in the desired position relative to the bracket 34. Any other suitable means of positioning the post 30 relative to the bracket 34 may also be used.
The holder 40 is configured to receive the inverted aerosol paint canister 50 such that the nozzle 52 (
Referring to
In a preferred embodiment, the actuator 60 is electrically coupled to the vehicle's electric system using a wiring harness 70 having a connector 72 that is received within trailer light plug 74 adjacent to the trailer hitch receiver 14. Thus it should be appreciated that if the actuator 60 is electrically coupled to the left or right vehicle turn signal through the trailer light plug, the solenoid 60 will be actuated by turning on the vehicle's turn signal causing paint to be sprayed intermittently in sequence with the blinking or flashing of the vehicle's turn signal. Alternatively, or in addition, if the actuator 60 is electrically coupled to the vehicle's lights through the trailer light plug, the solenoid can be activated and de-activated, by turning the vehicle lights on and off. It should also be appreciated that rather than utilizing the vehicle's electrical system, a separate battery or other electric power source may be provided along with a switch for activating or deactivating the actuator 60.
Based on the foregoing it should be appreciated that in a preferred embodiment, a single operator may quickly mount the guideline painting apparatus 10 to a trailer hitch receiver 52 of a vehicle 50, plug the wiring harness 54 to the vehicle's trailer light plug, insert the paint canister into the holder 40, and then adjust the position of the canister holder 130 to the desired elevation. The operator can then position the vehicle on the roadway and simply actuate the system to begin the guideline spraying process by turning on the vehicle's left or right turn signal to produce intermittent guidelines as the operator drives forwardly, or a continuous guideline by turning on the vehicle's lights. When the guideline is complete, the marking system is turned off or deactivated by turning off the vehicle's turn signal or lights. When the paint canister is empty or a different color or type of marking paint is desired, the operator can stop and replace the canister with another one, then continue with the guideline marking process as just described.
Accordingly, the vehicle-mountable guideline painting apparatus 10 provides a simple and effective way for a single worker to paint guidelines on a roadway or other surface quickly and from within the safety of a vehicle thereby minimizing exposure of the worker to vehicle traffic on the roadway. The vehicle-mountable guideline painting apparatus 10, and which does not require the investment in specialized roadway stripers or other specialized equipment.
The foregoing description is presented to enable one of ordinary skill in the art to make and use the invention and is provided in the context of a patent application and its requirements. Various modifications to the preferred embodiment of the apparatus, and the general principles and features of the system and methods described herein will be readily apparent to those of skill in the art. Thus, the present invention is not to be limited to the embodiments of the apparatus, system and methods described above and illustrated in the drawing figures, but is to be accorded the widest scope consistent with the spirit and scope of the appended claims.
