GB2487982A

GB2487982A - Temperature Sensitive Road Marking

Info

Publication number: GB2487982A
Application number: GB1102522.8A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Blaine Leathem
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2011-02-12
Filing date: 2011-02-12
Publication date: 2012-08-15
Also published as: GB201102522D0

Abstract

A temperature sensitive road marking that changes colour as the temperature of the road surface falls to a temperature where icy conditions may be present. The road marking may be placed separately on the surface or on road signs and may be in the form of an easily recognizable symbol, such as a snowflake. The road marking may be constructed from thermo sensitive plastic and may include luminous materials, which in use, may make the color change more visible.

Description

TEMPERATURE SENSITIVE ROAD MARKINGS

This invention relates to an innovation to improve road safety for road users when the ambient and road temperatures fall to allow ice build up on road surfaces.

I have been a keen driver for many years now, however having experienced the treacherous driving conditions that many parts of the UK endured during the recent cold snap where temperatures dropped below minus 18 degrees Celsius that I set about trying to come up with a solution to improve road safety for all road users. Recent figures suggest that costs to insurance companies were almost fl8million per day along with the possibility of many fatalities as a result of road traffic collisions during the cold spell.

The solution I have devised comprises of the conventional road markings that are used on every road being temperature sensitive, whereby when the surface temperature drops below a temperature where ice may be present the road markings would be change colour to warn road users of the potential danger to allow them to adjust their driving style to suit.

This concept could also be used to create an easily identifiable marking or symbol that has the ability to change colour in the same manner outlined above, positioned at regular intervals along the road or on road safety signs to drastically reduce application costs without compromising the ability to notify road users of the potential risk of ice.

My invention will now be described by way of example and with reference to the accompanying drawings and notes in which: * Figure 1 shows how the road markings on a typical road layout would be when the road temperature is high enough that no risk of ice is evident.

* Figure 2 shows how the road markings on a typical road layout would change colour when the road temperature is low enough that a risk of ice on the surface is present * Figure 3 shows how the concept could be used to create an easily identifiable symbol to notify road users of the risks while also reducing cost of application.

LI Page In Figure 1 we are able to witness a typical road layout when the road temperature is high enough that there is no danger of ice, whereby (1) is the road surface, (2) are the road markings in the centre of the road, (3) demonstrates how markings are used to identify junctions etc and (4) illustrates the road edge.

In Figure 2 we are able to witness the same typical road layout when the road temperature is low enough that a risk of ice on the surface is present, whereby (1) is the road surface, (2) are the road markings in the centre of the road which have now changed their appearance, in this case to a blue colour to highlight the potential danger of ice, (3) demonstrates how markings are used to identify junctions etc also changed to blue, and (4) illustrates the road edge.

In Figure 3 we can see how a symbol, such as the snowflake (1) could be used to highlight the risk of icy conditions, whereby the symbol could be positioned at regular intervals along the road or on the road safety signs. When the road temperature shows no sign of icy conditions the symbol is not visible to road users, however when the temperature decreases to a level where ice is a possibility the symbol becomes visible to road users in a suitable colour (2) in this instance blue.

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Claims

CLAI MS: 1. A temperature sensitive road marking positioned on the road surface or road signs that is able to change color when the temperature of the road falls to a low enough level that a risk of ice on the surface is present, ensuring that road users are adequate!y and constantly warned of the potential dangers of icy conditions so they can adopt their driving style to suit the particular road they are driving on.
2. A temperature sensitive road marking according to claim 1 that can either be used on all existing road markings to notify road users of the risk of ice or that can be placed separately on the road surface or road signs as an easily identifiable symbol such as a snowflake as shown in figure 3 to reduce application costs.
3. A temperature sensitive road marking according to all preceding claims whereby it is constructed from durable and hard wearing materials such as thermo sensitive plastics that are currently used for road markings and could be made from luminous materials so as when the colour change takes place that it is illuminated to make it more visible and easier to identify by road users.31 Page