CA2353127C - Telescopic pylon - Google Patents

Abstract

The pylon has a cane mounted on a base. The cone telescopes from an open position in which the cone tapers upwardly to a closed position in which the cone is substantially flat. The cone is hollow and a coil spring within the cone biases the cone open. There is a lock for selectively locking the cone closed for storage when the cone is not in use.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to pylons used to mark areas and more particularly to a telescopic pylon which folds to a shape which is substantially flat for storage.

Pylons are commonly used to mark areas such as a road, parking lot, building and so on. Large numbers of pylons are used by various branches of government.
Municipalities and departments of roads and highways, for example, use many pylons in their day to day operations. Space must be found to store them when they are not in use and finding sufficient space for this purpose is often a problem since each pylon occupies a significant amount of space.

Pylons nest with like cones when they are not in use and some savings in space results from this. However, for a number of reasons, pylons do not nest very well. One reason is that they become misshapen over time and either do not nest at all or nest to only a small degree. Another reason is that if two or more pylons are too close together, they become difficult to separate. To avoid this problem they are not pushed together when being prepared for storage. Rather they are only placed one on top of each other. By so doing the problem of separating them is alleviated but the problem of storage is aggravated since the pylons take up more space when loosely nested than they do if tightly nested.

DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

I have invented a pylon which does not share the short-comings of the conventional pylons mentioned above. The pylon is telescopic and closes to a flattened position for storage. When flat, the pylon takes up relatively little space whether or not the pylon is in the correct shape. The flattened pylons can be piled on top of each other for storage without becoming attached to each other.

Briefly, the pylon of my invention comprises: a base; a cone mounted on the base and telescoping from an open position in which the cone tapers upwardly to a closed position in which the cone is substantially flat. Resilient means is provided for biasing the cone open and means is provided for selectively locking the cone closed for storage.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The telescopic pylon of my invention is described with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of the pylon;
Figure 2 is an elevation of the pylon;

Figure 3 is a plan view of the pylon from the line identified as "Fig. 3 -Fig. 3" of Figure 2;

Figures 4 and 5 are elevations, partly in section, of the cone. In Figure 4 the cone is open and in Figure 5 the cone is closed or flattened.

Figure 6 is an enlarged elevation of the pylon in which the cone is closed or flattened;
Figure 7 is an enlarged elevation of the male element of a locking element mounted

2 at the top of the cone;

Figure 8 is a perspective view of the element illustrated in Figure 7;

Figure 9 is an enlarged perspective view of the female element of the locking mechanism; and Figure 10 is a perspective view of the element illustrated in Figure 9.

Like reference characters refer to like parts throughout the description of the drawings.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

With reference to Figures 1- 3, the telescopic pylon of the invention, generally 10, has a cone 12 which mounted upon a base 14. The male element 16 of a locking mechanism is mounted at the apex of the cone.

With reference to Figure 4, the cone has an outer skin or layer 20 within which a coil spring 22 is mounted. The spring resiliently biases the cone open as illustrated in that drawing. A downward force applied against the top or apex of the cone however will cause the cone to collapse to the closed position illustrated in Figure 5 in which the cone is substantially flat and is substantially entirely accommodated within base 14.

The locking mechanism for locking the pylon in the closed or flattened position is illustrated in Figures 7 - 10. With reference first to Figures 7 and 8, the male element of the locking mechanism, generally 30, has a circular cap 32 and a cone-shaped shank 34. A pair

3 of tongues, one marked 36 and the other being hidden are diametrically opposite each other and extend downwardly from the cap. The tongues are spaced apart from shank 34.
The female element of the locking mechanism illustrated in Figures 9 and 10, generally 40, has an upper wal142 having a central opening 44 for receipt of the shank of the male element. Two slots 46,48 disposed diametrically opposite each other are formed in the upper wall. A cylindrical side wall 50 extends downwardly from the upper wall.

The male element is mounted to the apex of the cone and is free to rotate relative to the cone. A pair of tabs 60, 62 extend upwardly from the cap of the element to facilitate manual rotation of the element.

The female element is mounted in the base of the pylon and is fixed so that it cannot rotate. The two elements cooperate with each other to lock the cone closed when they are beside each other as in Figure 5.

The two elements lock together when the tongues 36 of the male element are received in the slots 46, 48 of the female element and the male element is rotated until a portion of each tongue is beneath the upper wall of the female element. When so locked the cone is relatively flat and cannot open until the male element is rotated until the tongues can be removed from the slots. When the tongues are out of the slots, coil spring 22 biases the cone into the open position.

4 It will be understood, of course, that modifications can be made in the embodiment of the pylon described herein without departing from the scope and purview of the invention.

Claims (8)

THE EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION IN WHICH AN EXCLUSIVE
PROPERTY OR PRIVILEGE IS CLAIMED ARE DEFINED AS FOLLOWS:

1. A telescopic pylon comprising:

a base;

a cone mounted on said base and telescoping from an open position in which said cone tapers upwardly, to a closed position in which said cone is substantially flat;

resilient means, having an apex, for biasing said cone open; and means for selectively locking said cone closed for storage;

wherein said resilient means for biasing said cone open comprises a male engaging element located at the apex that is adapted to connect with a corresponding female engaging element.

2. A telescopic pylon comprising:

a base;

a cone mounted on said base and telescoping from an open position in which said cone tapers upwardly, to a closed position in which said cone is substantially flat;

resilient means, having an apex, for biasing said cone open; and means for selectively locking said cone closed for storage;

wherein said base comprises a female engaging element adapted to connect with a corresponding male engaging element.

3. The telescopic pylon of claim 1 or claim 2 wherein said cone is a skin element.

4. The telescopic pylon of any one of claims 1 to 3 wherein said cone is attached to the resilient means.

5. The telescopic pylon of any one of claims 1 to 4 wherein the resilient means is a coil spring.

6. The telescopic pylon of any one of claims 1 to 5 wherein the resilient means has a larger diameter at said base than at the apex.

7. The telescopic pylon of claim 1 wherein said corresponding female element is mounted in the base.

8. The telescopic pylon of claim 2 wherein the corresponding male element is mounted to the apex of the resilient means.