GB2303396A - Base for a free standing road sign - Google Patents

Description

BASE FOR A STAND This invention relates to a base for a free standing stand such as a road sign, and in particular to means for supporting the stand in an upright position.

Road signs of the sort generally used on the road workings for providing warnings or information for road users or pedestrians suffer from certain drawbacks. In particular, because these signs are free standing and not permanently attached to a solid mounting, they have a tendency to be knocked or blown over. To avoid this the signs are usually made out of heavy material such as metal to increase their weight or are weighted down in position by applying sand bags or other weights to the body of the signs. For example, many signs have cross members between each pair of front and rear legs and sand bags are laid over these cross members to weight the sign down. However, these bags are susceptible to bursting and/or falling off, again leaving the sign vulnerable to being blown or knocked over.Sand bags are also difficult to move about not only due to their weight but their bulk and lack of a convenient handhold.

The need for road signs to be heavy also adds to their expense. There is no need, other than the requirement for stability, to make the sign out of such heavy and potentially expensive materials.

A further problem with these signs is that they are not adjustable and are generally designed to be positioned on level ground. However, the nature and layout of roadwork sites are such that it is often not possible to position the sign on such level ground. For example, the sign may be on inclined ground or the sign may be partially on a kerbstone and partially on the road. As a consequence it is either necessary to rest the roadside legs of the sign on a support or to leave the sign at an angle, further decreasing its stability.

Therefore according to the present invention there is provided a base for a free standing stand, comprising a conventional vehicle tyre and connecting means for connecting said tyre to a road sign.

The present invention provides a support for a road sign which is more durable and more reliable than traditional methods of supporting road signs and yet still economical to manufacture. By utilising used vehicle tyres in the road sign base, the overall cost of the base can be reduced. The abundance of used tyres, means that, as a raw material, it has a "negative" cost in that a fee of around 40p to 50p per tyre is payable for disposal of them. If proposed European legislation is enacted, this disposal fee could be increased, further reducing the cost of tyres and hence road sign bases according to the present invention.

By using the present invention to provide the weighting means for the sign, the sign itself can be made from much lighter and cheaper materials again reducing the cost and increasing the durability of such road signs.

The problem of the awkwardness of moving heavy and bulky sand bags round is also avoided by using such a road sign base.

The bases according to the present invention can be rolled into position, thus avoiding the need for them to be carried.

The connecting means for connecting the tyre to the road sign may be adjustable such that the height at which the leg is supported can be adjusted. Therefore, if the road sign is being used on uneven ground, by using the road sign base of the present invention on one or more of the legs, the sign can be held level.

The connecting means may be comprised of two portions, the tyre engaging portion and a sign attachment portion. By having the sign attachment portion pivotally attached to the tyre engagement portion, road signs of various constructions and in various positions can be utilised. The tyre engaging portion may be constructed of a rigid material having its peripheral edge or edges inserted between the sidewalls of the tyre. The tyre engaging portion may be formed from a circular plate, or from a spider having two or more arms projecting radially from the centre with the ends of the arms being between the sidewalls of the tyre.In order to restrict the movement of the tyre engaging portion and to prevent it from becoming detached from the tyre, the sidewalls of the tyre may be attached together, eg. by stitching, the portions of the sidewalls of the tyre between the projecting arms of the tyre engaging portion such that the side walls grip the tyre engaging portion.

The sign attachment portion may comprise of a tubular material into which the leg of the sign is inserted. This tubular section of material may have a square or rectangular section to accommodate both round and the more typical angle section shaped legs used on road signs.

The sign attachment portion may include a locking device such as a clamping screw. The locking device may be formed by a threaded rod being screwably insertable through the side wall of the tyre attachment portion to abut against the leg of the road sign when inserted into the sign attachment portion to lock it relative to the sign attachment portion. The locking device may include a handle or lever to allow ease of use.

The weight of the tyre and the connecting means provides the sign with a larger area base and increased stability due to the weight of the base. However, additional weight may be provided to provide even greater stability than that provided by the weight of the tyre. This may be provided in a number of ways such as by including extra weight on or inside the tyre.

One way of doing this is to include sand bags or the like in the space between the side walls of the tyre. Alternatively one or more sand filled polythene sleeves may be used to provide additional weight. However to further improve the economy of the road sign base according to the present invention, a used tyre inner tube or sections thereof may be cut open, filled with sand, and then resealed and inserted into the space between the side walls of the tyre.

The method of utilising used tyre inner tubes, filled with sand to provide ballast, may be utilised in isolation to replace conventional sand bags.

The connecting means is preferably made of metal but may be partially or completely manufactured from other materials such as plastic.

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 a respective view of the road sign base according to the present invention, with a section of the tyre cut away to show the arrangement of the connecting means; Figure 2 shows a diametrical section through the tyre; Figure 3 shows a planned view of the sign base according to the present invention; Figure 4 shows a section on line IV-IV of Figure 3; Figure 5 shows a road sign base according to the present invention having extra ballast provided by the addition of an extra tyre to the top of the main tyre; and Figure 6 also shows the addition of extra ballast being provided by attaching an extra tyre to the bottom of the main tyre.

The road sign base (1) comprises a tyre (2) and a connecting means (10). The connecting means (10) comprises a tyre engaging portion (5) having four arms (5a, 5b, 5c, 5d) arranged at right angles to each other projecting from a central position such that the ends of the arms sit between the side walls of the tyre (2). In this way, the tyre engaging portion is retained in the tyre. In order to attach the tyre engaging portion (5) to the tyre attachment means (4) in a pivotable manner, a loop (6) is provided at the centre of the tyre engaging portion (5). A corresponding loop (7), which is linked through the loop (6) on the tyre engaging portion, is attached to the sign attachment portion (4). This provides a large degree of movement to allow the sign base to be attached to road signs having legs at a variety of angles or to signs on uneven ground.

In use, the leg of a sign is inserted into the tubular section of the sign attachment portion (4) and, once set to the correct height, a locking means (8) is engaged to clamp the leg of the sign in the set position in the sign attachment portion.

The locking means comprises an angled rod of metal having a threaded portion which is screwed through the tubular body of the sign attachment means and against the leg of the sign, clamping it between the locking means and the edge of the sign attachment means.

In order to prevent the connection means from moving around between the walls of the tyres and possibly becoming separated from the tyre completely, the edges of the sidewalls of the tyre between the arms of the tyre engaging portion, are attached together by stitching or stapling the opposing sides of the sidewalls together. Figure 3 shows a plan view of the road sign base according to the present invention having the stitching (30) clearly visible. Figure 4 is a section looking out from the centre of the tyre, showing how the stitching squeezes the side walls of the tyre together around the arms of the tyre engaging means to grip it and to hold it in position.

This gripping action prevents the arms from moving in and out of the tyre and the stitching itself prevents the tyre engaging means from rotating within the tyre. Although this embodiment has stitching to attach the side walls of the tyre together, other methods may be used to attach the sidewalls together such as adhesive, staples or the like.

In more extreme conditions, such as in high wind, the additional weight provided by the tyre and connecting means may not be enough to provide the sign to which they are attached sufficient stability in all conditions. Therefore additional weight may be added. Figure 3 shows a sand filled vehicle inner tube (31) included inside the tyre of the present invention.

However, the additional weight provided by a sand filled inner tube may not be required in all situations. Therefore it would be beneficial to allow weight to be added as and when it is needed. An additional tyre (with or without additional sand ballast) may be used in this case. This can be laid on the top of the main tyre (2) of the road sign base of the present invention, as shown in Figure 5.

Alternatively, if the sand weighted base is insufficient, and additional weight is required permanently, an additional tyre (31) may be attached permanently to the top (similarly to Figure 5) or to the bottom (as in Figure 6) of the main tyre (2). The construction of Figure 6 shows a road sign base utilising an additional tyre (31) attached to the bottom of the main tyre (2). This provides a road sign base having increased weight and also increased height which may be advantageous in making the sign more visible and more conspicuous at a greater distance.

Claims (18)

1. A base for a free standing stand comprising a conventional vehicle tyre and connecting means for connecting said tyre to said stand.

2. A base as claimed in claim 1 wherein the connecting means comprises a tyre engaging portion having parts of its peripheral edge inserted between the inner faces of the side walls of the tyre.

3. A base as claimed in claim 2 wherein the connecting means further comprises a stand attachment means engaged with said tyre engaging portion, for attachment to a stand.

4. A base as claimed in claim 3 wherein the stand attachment means is pivotally engaged with said tyre engaging portion.

5. A base as claimed in claim 4 wherein the stand attachment means includes a closed loop which is linked with a corresponding loop on the tyre engaging portion.

6. A base as claimed in any one of the preceding claims wherein the or a stand attachment means of the connecting means includes a tubular portion into which a leg of a said stand is insertable.

7. A base as claimed in claim 6 wherein the stand attachment means further includes a locking means for releasably locking the leg of the stand to the stand attachment means.

8. A base as claimed in claim 7 wherein the leg of the stand may be locked in various positions, to vary the height at which the leg is supported.

9. A base as claimed in claim 7 or 8 wherein the locking means comprises a threaded rod which can be screwed in and out of the wall of the stand attachment means to push against the leg of the stand to lock it against said stand attachment means.

10. A base as claimed in any one of the preceding claims wherein the or a tyre engaging portion of said connecting means comprises a number of arms projecting radially outward from a central portion such that the ends of the arms lie between the inner face of the sidewalls of the tyre.

11. A base as claimed in claim 10 wherein the opposing sidewalls are attached together in the portion of the sidewalls between the arms of the connecting means.

12. A base as claimed in claim 11 wherein the sidewalls are stitched together.

13. A base as claimed in any one of the preceding claims wherein the tyre is ballasted.

14. A base as claimed in claim 13 wherein the ballast is provided by an additional tyre attached to the tyre.

15. A base as claimed in claim 13 wherein the ballast is provided by a weight provided in the space between the sidewalls of the tyre.

16. A base as claimed in claim 15 wherein the weight is provided by sand bags.

17. A base as claimed in claim 15 wherein the weight is provided by a sand filled vehicle tyre inner tube or a portion thereof.

18. A base for a stand substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as shown in the accompanying drawings.