GB2167793A - Bedding reflective roadstud mountings - Google Patents

Abstract

A roadstud mounting has a base 2 of circular cross-section enabling it to be mounted readily and securely within a circular hole 9 formed in a road surface using a core-drilling machine. The machine can cut a larger upper recess 8 which receives a rim 3 of the mounting. A passageway 10 allows adhesive material to be injected into the narrow space between the mounting and the hole 9 and the tapered wall 12 of the base 2 results in a wedge 13 of adhesive material being formed which tends to hold the mounting securely in place. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Improvements relating to mountings for reflective roadstuds This invention is concerned with the construction of housings for mounting reflective roadstuds into road surfaces. The conventional form of reflective roadstud mounting has a generally square or oblong shape and the method of bedding a mounting into a road surface comprises the steps of chiselling out a square or oblong hole of a size large enough to receive the mounting, making good the base of the hole, and then fixing the mounting into the hole with a suitable adhesive which will fill the gap between the mounting and the hole edges.

The main problem with this method of fixing such a mounting into a road surface is that the hole chiselled out is almost certainly likely to be of an irregular shape and will give rise to a clearance gap between the edge of the hole and the mounting which will vary around the perimeter of the mounting. A poorly formed hole can give rise to several problems.

Thus small gaps may be left through which water could seep to cause cracking of the road surface due to freezing of the water in cold weather. More importantly, if the mounting is not a snug fit within the hole, there is the possibility that, with use, the mounting may rock loose under the impact of the wheels of traffic. Furthermore, the bedding method employed involves several steps and thus a fair amount of time is needed for the operation of bedding in of each mounting.

It is an object of this invention to provide a mounting for a reflective roadstud which will alleviate or substantially eliminate the above problems.

Accordingly, this invention provides a mounting for a reflective roadstud comprising a housing defining an internal cavity with mounting projections to hold in place a rubber pad incorporating the reflecting studs, wherein the housing has a base of circular external cross-section, the upper portion of the housing is formed with a rim of larger diameter than the circular base,-and the circumferential outer wall of the base tapers inwardly from the under-surface towards the rim.

The provision of such a mounting having a base and rim of circular external cross-section means of course that it can be embedded in a hole which is also of circular cross-section.

The rim of the mounting will cover over the edge of the hole receiving the circular base.

Such holes can readily be formed in a road surface by using a core drilling machine. Such a hole can have quite precise dimensions so that a very small clearance gap between the edge of the hole and the base of the mounting can be assured. This results in a much more secure embedding of the mounting into the road surface with adhesive, with much less possibility that the mounting may rock loose. Furthermore, there are very clean edges to the wall of the hole so that there is much less risk of subsequent wear occurring on the road surface surrounding the mounting.

It may be of advantage to form the undersurface of the base so that it is dished inwardly so as to provide a better key with the adhesive material which will hold the mounting in the hole and to provide space for a projecting surface at the base of the hole on which the mounting may tend to rock. Because the outer wall of the base of the mounting tapers inwardly from the under-surface, then when an adhesive material is injected into the gap between the mounting and the hole, the adhesive material will form a wedge which tends to hold the mounting securely in place. Additionally keying projections or recesses may be formed to extend from or into the circumferential outer wall and/or the under-surface of the base. The circumference projections could be rings or helices and the recesses could be helical or annular grooves.As an alternative, the projections could be elongated bars or fingers projecting outwardly from the sides of the base. These would be received in grooves radiating from the edge of the hole cut into the road surface and would provide added insurance against movement of the mounting within the hole.

The invention also extends to a method of bedding into a road surface a mounting for a reflective roadstud, comprising a housing defining an internal cavity with mounting projections to hold in place a rubber pad incorporating the reflecting studs, wherein the housing has a base of circular external cross-section, and the upper portion of the housing is formed with a rim of larger diameter than the circular base, the method comprising drilling out a cylindrical core of the road surface to provide a hole which will receive the base of the mounting with a small clearance, drilling out the top portion of the hole to a larger radius so as to receive the rim of the mounting, and fixing the mounting into the hole with a suitable adhesive material, so that the rim is a flush fit in the portion of the hole of larger radius.

The adhesive material may be bitumen, or a resinbased adhesive, or concrete. It is of advantage to provide the mounting with a filling aperture in its upper surface leading to an opening in the side wall adjacent the base, through which the adhesive may be injected.

The hole in the road surface itself may be formed additionally with recesses to act as a key for the adhesive material and/or to receive corresponding projections on the mounting. One possibility is that the corresponding recesses and projections could provide a screw-thread whereby the mounting may be screwed into position in the hole prior to fix ing by the adhesive material.

The invention may be performed in various ways and a preferred embodiment thereof will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a perspective view from above of a mounting for a reflective roadstud constructed in accordance with this invention; Figure 2 is a cross-section of the mounting of Figure 1 shown fixed into a road surface; and Figure 3 is an underneath plan view of an alternative form of mounting of the invention.

The mounting shown in Figures 1 and 2 comprises an upper portion 1 from which depends a base 2 of circular cross-section. The outer edge of the upper portion 1 provides a rim 3 of slightly larger radius than the base 2.

A cavity 4 is formed within the mounting which receives a rubber pad 5 of conventional design incorporating reflecting studs 6 and held in place by inwardly projecting flanges 7.

The mounting will be fixed into a road surface in the following manner. Firstly a circular hole will be formed in the road surface by using a core drilling machine, the core so formed being knocked out with a cold chisel.

The floor of the hole will then be made good if necessary. An upper portion of the core drilling shaft cuts a shallow recess 8 (Figure 2) of a slightly larger radius than the main hole 9. The mounting will then be dropped into the hole so that the rim 3 is received within the recess 8, the remaining space within the hole 9 being filled with a suitable adhesive material, such as bitumen, resin-based adhesive, or concrete. A passageway 10 passing through the mounting can be used to inject the adhesive material into the space 11 and may with advantage be provided with a grease-nipple type device so that the adhesive material may be injected under pressure whilst the mounting is held down.It will be seen that the side wall 12 of the base 2 of the mounting is tapered (so that there is a clearance with respect to the wall surface of the hole 9 of 1 mum at the base of the hole and 2mm near the top of the hole), thus producing a wedge 13 of adhesive material which tends to hold the mounting down into the hole. The bottom surface 14 of the base 2 is dished as shown in Figure 2.

If desired, the external circular wall surface of the base 2 can be formed with projections, grooves, recesses, rings, or helices to provide added gripping surfaces for the adhesive material and similar formations may be created in the wall surface of the hole 9. Figure 3 illustrates an arrangement whereby elongated fingers 15 are provided from the base 2. These will be received within correspondingly formed slits radiating outwardly from the hole 9 in the road surface which will be filled subsequently with adhesive material so as to hold the mounting securely in place.

As an alternative to injecting adhesive ma teriai (or pre-filling the hole 9) the adhesive could also be applied simply by use of a brush to the mounting 2 and/or the interior of the hole 9.

The mounting comprising the parts 1 and 2 is formed from cast aluminium or iron or other robust metals although it will be appreciated that other convenient materials and methods of forming may be used. One particular possibility is to form the mounting from a robust plastics material. This would have suitable characteristics, such as high impact and abrasion resistance, as well as resistance to ultra violet light which tends to degrade some plastics materials.

Also a mounting formed from plastics material would be of light weight compared with solid metal mountings. This is of advantage if the mounting should become displaced by a vehicle wheel (following deterioration of the road surface), as a lighter object is less likely to cause damage or injury. Even metal mountings can have their weight reduced removing some of the metal from the base portion 2, such as by forming it with scalloped recesses in the circumferential surface, without seriously affecting the strength of the mounting.

Claims (5)

1. A method of bedding into a road surface a mounting for a reflective roadstud, comprising a housing defining an internal cavity with mounting projections to hold in place a rubber pad incorporating the reflecting studs, wherein the housing has a base of circular external cross-section, and the upper portion of the housing is formed with a rim of larger diameter than the circular base, the method comprising drilling out a cylindrical core of the road surface to provide a hole which will receive the base of the mounting with a small clearance, drilling out the top portion of the hole to a larger radius so as to receive the rim of the mounting, and fixing the mounting into the hole with a suitable adhesive material, so that the rim is a flush fit in the portion of the hole of larger radius.

2. A method according to claim 1, wherein the adhesive material is bitumen, or a resinbased adhesive, or concrete.

3. A method according to claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the hole is additionally formed with recesses or projections to act as a key for the adhesive material and/or to receive corresponding projections or recesses on the mounting.

4. A method according to claim 3, wherein corresponding recesses and projections provide a screw-thread whereby the mounting may be screwed into position in the hole prior to fixing by the adhesive material.

5. A method of bedding a mounting for a reflective roadstud into a road surface, substantially as herein described with reference to the accompanying drawings.