GB2303395A

GB2303395A - A road or roadside marker

Info

Publication number: GB2303395A
Application number: GB9514419A
Authority: GB
Inventors: James Mcintosh
Original assignee: Roadtex Ltd
Current assignee: Roadtex Ltd
Priority date: 1995-07-14
Filing date: 1995-07-14
Publication date: 1997-02-19
Also published as: GB9514419D0

Description

A ROAD OR ROADSIDE MARKER This invention relates to road marking devices of a kind used for marking off road works, or a pavement or other roadside work site, for separating traffic flows, for warning of hazards, and the like.

Several methods of providing road markers are known.

Perhaps the most widely used of these is the road "cone" comprising a conical upper portion, usually with a reflective sheath around it, with an enlarged base portion usually with some kind of weighting included to provide the cone with stability. Other types of road marking include the thin cylindrical type used in conjunction with the housing for a "cats eye", again comprising a reflective sheath around a plastic body. For roadside works, a further method is sometimes used comprising members supported on a base for supporting horizontal plank like members usually provided with red and white reflective stripes to form a continuous fence-like barrier around the road works etc.

However, there are several problems with the types of road marking discussed above. All of the markers discussed above are relatively expensive. These road markers present a relatively small surface area to on an oncoming motorist, unless large numbers of the markers are used, again leading to high expense. Their expense can lead to higher incidence of theft from road workings, with potentially hazardous consequences. Another problem, particularly with the "fence" type road markings, is that they are particularly susceptible to wind which can cause them to fall over, again leading to a potentially hazardous situation.Furthermore, if the road markers of the types discussed above are run over by a vehicle, either by being displaced from their correct position or by a vehicle straying from its correct path, they are either damaged beyond reuse or deformed such that their use in future is limited.

Therefore according to the present invention, there is provided a road or roadside marker comprising a conventional vehicle tyre having a circumferential wall and two opposing side walls wherein each of the side walls is cut at two spaced portions enabling the tyre to be stood upright as a marker.

The present invention provides a road or roadside marker which is considerably cheaper and yet much more robust than those currently available. By utilising used tyres as the main element in the road marker the cost is reduced, since this raw material has a "negative" cost in that currently a fee of 40p to 50p per tyre, is payable for removing used tyres. If proposed European Legislation is enacted, this removal fee could be increased, further reducing the cost of the road markers according to the present invention.

As mentioned above, road markers are susceptible to being hit or run over by passing vehicles. If a vehicle does hit or drive over a road marker according to the present invention, the marker is unlikely to be damaged in any way and, assuming the collision is not at high speed, the vehicle should be undamaged as well. Another advantage of the present invention is that when arranged edge to edge, the road markers provide a much more substantial barrier up to a reasonable height. For example a blind person using a guide stick or "white stick", could walk straight between two conventional road cones unless they are arranged close to each other.However with a road marker formed from a tyre, the width of the marker is considerably greater than the traditional road cone, and the widest part is several tens of centimetres off the ground, so that even if the road markers are not detected by the end of the "white stick", it is still possible that the side portions of the tyre will contact with a blind person's leg or an upper part of the stick.

The road marker according to the present invention has further advantages over traditional road markers, in terms of their storage and transportation. Because of their natural shape, tyres are easily carried by holding the inner rim of one of the side walls which provides a hold for the person moving the road marker. Moreover, by setting the road markers in rotationally offset positions, they can be stored on top of each other, quite compactly, up to a considerable height.

The road marker, according to the present invention, may be provided with additional stability by splaying out the side portions between the cuts to provide the base portion.

In order to obtain the splayed portion of the side walls in the splayed position, it is necessary to attach to each other a portion of the circumferential wall between the cuts and a portion of the side walls. This may be achieved by passing a tie through holes in each of the opposing portions to hold them together. Alternatively the two opposing portions may be adhesively secured together or stapled together.

A hole may be provided in the tyre into which a light, a reflective beacon or a post may be inserted. A further hole may be provided in the portion of the circumferential wall between the cuts to provide a lower support for a post passed through the previously described hole in the tyre. Such a post may be used for supporting horizontal partitions or signs.

The road marker may be further provided with means for attaching cordon tape to it. This may be done by providing two holes near the top of the tyre, feeding the cordon tape into one hole and out of the other, and possibly round again, to attach the tape firmly to the marker. In order to further increase the visibility of the road marker according to the present invention, the tyre may be painted, either completely or partially, (e.g.

striped), using a bright or light reflective paint. The visibility of the road marker may be further improved by applying reflective stickers or patches to the side walls or outer circumferential edges of the tyre to provide visibility from all directions.

In order to provide additional stability and strength as a barrier, or simply to form a continuous chain, the road markers may be provided with a connecting part at each side, for attaching the road marker to another road marker.

This allows the road markers to be linked together in chains to form a continuous barrier. The attachment means used may be such that the road markers are connectable to each other at an angle, so as to allow them to form corners, for example. Alternatively, different attachment means may be provided for in line connection of the road markers, and for corner connection of the road markers.

Further stability of the road marker, according to the present invention may be provided by providing weighting in the base portion of the tyre, either in the larger portion of the tyre between the side walls, adjacent to the cuts, or in or on the portion of the tyre between the cuts. The weighting may be provided by a solid weight, sand filled bags or the like. One possibility as an alternative to sand bags is the use of tyre inner tubes filled with ballast, such as sand, and then sealed at the ends. This further enhances the use of recycled materials, minimising the cost of the finished road marker product.

The circumferential angle between the cuts applied to the side walls of the tyre, preferably lies in the range 50 to 180 . This provides stability whilst still providing sufficient height to ensure that the marker is clearly visible. In order to provide a marker having a preferred height of about 3/4 of the diameter of the tyre the cuts should be spaced about 1000 apart.

The road markers may be further modified by providing supporting means at one or both of the sides to which a sign, such as a "road works" warning sign, may be inserted supported by the road marker. Such support for this sign may be provided independently or in combination with the means for attaching the road markers together. Attaching the signs to the road markers at the side in this manner provides a very stable support especially in the direction in which the wind is likely to blow the sign over.

A specific embodiment of the present invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: Figure 1 shows in perspective the first stage in the preparation of the road marker according to the present invention; Figure 2 shows the completed road marker according to the first embodiment of the present invention; Figure 3 shows an underside view of a first embodiment of the road marker according to the present invention; Figure 4 shows a second embodiment of the road marker according to the present invention; Figure 5 shows third embodiment of a road marker according to the present invention; Figure 6 shows a side view of a road marker according to the present invention including a lamp; Figure 7 shows a road marker according to the present invention modified to provide support for the road sign on a post;; Figures 8(a) and 8(b) show a road marker according to the present invention modified to provide support for a road sign or marker directly attached to the road marker; Figure 9 shows examples of road markers according to the present invention modified to include fastening means to allow each road marker to be joined to another road marker; and Figure 10 shows an alternative method of supporting a road sign using the fastening means.

Referring to Figure 1, the road marker according to the present invention is constructed by taking a conventional vehicle tyre (1) having a circumferential wall (2) which usually comprises the tread, and two opposing side walls (3A, 3B). In each of the side walls (3A, 3B), two slits (5A, 6A; 5B, 6B) are cut, the cuts being circumferentially separated by an angle e, and each of the cuts (5A, 6A) being set opposite the corresponding cut (SB, 6B) on the opposing wall. The portions between the two cuts (7A, 7B) are then splayed outwards sufficiently far so that the portion (9) of the circumferential edge of the tyre between the portions (7A, 7B) inverts (as shown in Figure 2).Portions of the side walls of the tyre (23A, 23B, 24A, 24B) are then attached to the inverted portion (9) of the tyre between the two cuts to hold this portion in its inverted state.

The two parts being attached together using ties (20A, 20B, 21A, 21B) threaded through holes (22) in each part.

The splayed edge portions (7A, 7B) therefore provide a base portion which is wider than the original width of the original tyre. The size of the splayed out portions (7A, 7B) may be adjusted by altering the length of the cuts (5A, 6A, 5B, 6B).

According to a second embodiment of the present invention, the road marker may be constructed starting with a standard vehicular tyre and making cuts on the side walls of the tyres, as in the first embodiment, but extending the cuts right through the outer circumferential wall to completely sever a sector (40) of the tyre from the remainder of the tyre. The removed sector may then be inverted and attached to the remainder of the tyre (42) at the edge (41) of the cut by attaching means (22).

According to a third embodiment of the present invention, a complete sector (50) of the tyre is cut out as in the second embodiment. However, rather than inverting the removed sector, the side walls of the sector are splayed out, as in the first embodiment, causing the cutout section of the tyre to invert. This inverted section is then reattached to the remainder of the tyre using the attachment means (22) (see Figure 5).

The cuts can be made at any angle and not just those shown in the figures. For example in Figure 4 the cuts are made such that the tyre has a flat bottom whereas in Figure 2 the angle of the cuts are made nearly perpendicular to the circumference of the tyre.

The angle (e) between the cuts can be seleted according to the height of the road marker required and to accomodate different sized tyres.

The visibility of the road markers according to any of the embodiments may be improved by applying bright or reflective paint to the surface of the tyre or by applying strips of reflective material (61) to the side walls or to the circumferential wall of the tyre. The road markers may be further provided with two holes (62, 63) at the top of the tyre (see Figures 6 and 9) through which cordon tape or string or the like (92) may be passed to provide a continuous cordon barrier between road markers or between a road marker and some other object. The user of the road marker simply passes the tape or string through one hole to the interior of the tyre and out of the second hole to attach the tape to the tyre.

A beacon or light (60) may be attached to the top of the tyre by providing a hole (64) to which the base of the beacon or light is inserted, the beacon or light being provided with lugs or a circumferential ring (65) to position the light or beacon at the correct height and to prevent it from falling completely through the hole. By providing a further hole (72) in the circumferential portion of the tyre which forms the base, the road marker may be used to support a post (70) for supporting horizontal members (eg. plancs etc), signs (71), scaffolding posts, or the like.

The road marker may also be modified by providing supporting members (81A, 81B) (see Figures 8a and 8b) into which a road sign may be inserted. In order to provide the facility to connect together a number of the markers in a line to provide a continuous barrier to vehicles or pedestrians, the barriers may be provided with attachment members (90, 91) (as shown in Figure 9) to allow the road markers to be connected together either in a line or at an angle to each other, for example, at a corner.

Claims

1. A road or roadside marker comprising a conventional vehicle tyre having a circumferential wall and two opposing side walls wherein each of the side walls is cut at two spaced portions enabling the tyre to be stood upright as a marker.

2. A marker according to claim 1, wherein the portion of the side walls between the cuts is splayed outwards to provide a base portion, the marker further comprising fastening means for retaining said splayed portions of said side walls in said splayed position.

3. A marker according to claim 1 or 2 wherein the cuts in each of the side walls extend completely through the side walls and through the outer circumferential wall to provide a separated tyre sector portion.

4. A marker, according to claim 1, wherein the cuts on the side walls extend across the circumferential wall and meet the cuts on the opposing side wall such that a sector of the tyre is cut from the remainder of the tyre; the sector being inverted such that the outer surface of the circumferential wall faces the inside of the remainder of the tyre, and wherein the side walls of the sector are splayed outwards to provide a base portion, the road marker further comprising means for retaining said splayed portions of said side walls of said sector in said splayed position to allow the type to stand upright on said base portion as a marker.

5. A marker according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the fastening means comprise holes in the base portion and the side walls, and ties passed through the holes to hold the fastening surfaces together.

6. A marker according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the fastening means comprise staples.

7. A marker according to any one of claims 1 to 4, wherein the fastening means is adhesive.

8. A marker according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein a hole is cut in the tyre to which a light, a reflective beacon or a post is insertable.

9. A marker according to claim 8, wherein the hole is in the portion of the tyre opposite to the base.

10. A marker according to claim 9, wherein a further hole is cut in the base portion to provide additional support when a post is inserted into the marker.

11. A marker according to claim 9 or 10, wherein the post has a sign or means for supporting a horizontal partitioning member on the top.

12. A marker according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the side walls are provided with attachment means, to which cordon tape or the like is attachable.

13. A marker according to claim 12, wherein the attachment means comprises two holes through which the cordon tape is passable.

14. A marker according to any of the preceding claims, wherein, brightly coloured or reflective paint is applied to at least part of this surface of the tyre.

15. A marker according to any of the preceding claims, wherein reflective patches are attached to the side walls, and/or circumferential walls of the tyre.

16. A marker according to any one of the preceding claims, having weighting means provided in the portion of the tyre between the splits.

17. A marker according to claim 16, wherein the weighting means is provided by a sand filled bag.

18. A road marker according to claim 17, wherein the bag of the sand filled bag is formed from a section of tyre inner tube.

19. A marker according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the angle subtended, at the central axis of the tyre, by the cuts in the tyre is from 50 to 180'.

20. A marker according to any of the preceding claims, further comprising attachment means on opposite edges of the tyre on the outside of the circumferential wall, such that the road marker may be attached to another road marker or to other objects.

21. A marker according to claim 20, wherein the attachment means are adapted to allow the marker to be attached to another road marker at different angles, so as to form a corner of a cordon barrier.

22. A marker according to any of the preceding claims, wherein the marker is further provided with second attachment means to which a sign may be attached such that the sign sits at one or other edge of the tyre, at right angles to it.

23. A marker substantially as herein before described, with reference to and as illustrated in Figures 1 to 10 of the accompanying drawings.