GB2566979A

GB2566979A - Snowplowable reflective road device

Info

Publication number: GB2566979A
Application number: GB1715825.4A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Hsiung Chen Ching
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2017-09-29
Filing date: 2017-09-29
Publication date: 2019-04-03
Also published as: GB201715825D0

Abstract

A reflective road device comprises a buried mount 1 and a translucent body 2, the buried mount having a top side 11 with oblique guide surfaces 13 extending in either direction. Each guide surface has a notch 15 which extends from the edge of the mount to a concave groove 12 located in the top surface. A round hole 14 is located in the concave groove. The translucent body 2 is located in the round hole has a reflective portion 22 and a base portion 21 which locates in the round hole. A reflective layer is located across the bottom and outer surface of the base portion. Light enters the top of the body and is reflected off the reflective layer and back out of the translucent body. The oblique guide surfaces 13 are configured for directing a snow plough from the road surface to the top side 11 of the buried mount thus preventing damage to the translucent body. The body may be made of tempered glass, polycarbonate or polymethyl methacrylate. Also claimed is the buried mount on its own.

Description

SNOWPLOWABLE REFLECTIVE ROAD DEVICE ABSTRACT

A snowplowable reflective road device comprises a buried mount and a translucent body. The buried mount is buried in a road surface whereby the top side and the oblique guide surfaces of the buried mount are exposed from the road surface. An external light may enter the translucent body and exit via reflection by the translucent body. A notch formed on each of the oblique guide surfaces is configured for allowing the external light to exit towards the two ends of the buried mount. The oblique guide surfaces are configured for directing a snowplow from the road surface to the top side of the buried mount whereby the reflective portion of the translucent body is located in a concave groove formed on the top side to avoid the snowplow so as to achieve decreased cost, enhanced reflective brightness of road and enhanced life-span.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a snowplowable reflective road device, which is aimed to a reflective road device buried on the road surface for reflecting the light emitted by the vehicle and, in the case of snow on the road and snowplowing cleanup operation carried out by using snowplows, guiding the snowplows to avoid the snowplowable reflective road device, in particular to the buried mount and translucent body of the snowplowable reflective road device.

2. Description of the Prior Art

Reflective road devices are necessary safety facilities for road segmentation and warning and have reflective effects for reminding the vehicle drivers to quickly keep alert, pay attention to road conditions and vehicle travel routes so as to avoid accidents resulted in huge impact of traffic safety. Conventional reflective road devices are usually buried directly on the surface of the road, but in the snow area, when there is too much snow on the road, snow cleaning operations on the road are mainly carried out by snowplows, resulted in elimination and falling off of reflective road devices.

In order to avoid elimination of reflective road devices by snowplows in the snow area, the reflective road devices are usually installed in a metal mount, and the metal mount is then buried on the road surface. The top side of the metal mount is provided with an inclined plane such that the snowplows may pass through the reflective road device along the inclined plane so as to prevent the elimination of reflective road devices.

However, the reflective road device applied in the metal mount is a reflector buckled in the metal mount and the reflector includes a soft rubber block and glass beads embedded at the two ends of the soft rubber block. Due to low strength of the rubber block, after rolling of vehicles, it is easy to cause adverse conditions such as aging, wear and damage of the soft rubber block and broken glass beads and so on, resulting in annual huge budget for maintaining, replacing these plastic blocks and huge burden of manpower and funding of road maintenance units. Therefore, the road quality is unable to upgrade and driving safety cannot be guaranteed.

In view of this, based on accumulation of research in relevant areas and practical experience for years, the inventor has invented a snowplowable reflective road device in order to remove the disadvantages of the above-mentioned conventional technology.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention seeks to provide an improved snowplowable reflective road device. According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a snowplowable reflective road device as claimed in claim

1.

Also described herein is a snowplowable reflective road device including a buried mount provided with a top side, a concave groove provided on the top side, two oblique guide surfaces downwardly and obliquely extending from two ends of the top side to two ends of the buried mount, respectively, wherein a round buried hole is provided in the concave groove and a notch connected to the concave groove is provided in each of the oblique guide surfaces; and a translucent body provided with a base portion and a reflective portion raised from die base portion, wherein the base portion is buried in the round buried hole whereby the reflective portion is located in the concave groove, a reflective layer is configured on the bottom and an outer part of the base portion whereby an external light entering the translucent body via the reflective portion is reflected through the reflective layer and is reflected through the reflective layer. The notch is configured for allowing the external light to exit towards the two ends of the buried mount. The oblique guide surfaces are configured for directing a snowplow from the road surface to the top side of the buried mount whereby the reflective portion of the translucent body is located in the concave groove to avoid the snowplow so as to achieve decreased cost, enhanced reflective brightness of road and enhanced life-span.

Preferably, the base portion and the reflective portion are formed integrally, an upper surface of the top side of the base portion surrounds the reflective portion and the external light enters the translucent body via the upper surface.

Preferably, a main marker towards one end of the buried mount is configured on the center of the notch and a secondary marker is configured on a portion on the upper surface and corresponding to the main marker.

Preferably, each of two semi-elliptical arcs is respectively configured on each of the outer parts and towards a direction of the notch and faces the corresponding secondary marker.

Preferably, the reflective portion is configured to have a dome-shape.

Preferably, the reflective portion is configured to have a semi-elliptical arc in an incident direction of the external light.

Preferably, the translucent body has a horizontal effective reflection angle span of ± 20 ⁰ in the direction of reflection.

Preferably, the translucent body is made of tempered transparent materials.

Preferably, the translucent body is one of the translucent body, the translucent body is made of tempered glass, polycarbonate or polymethyl methacrylate.

Preferably, the base portion is configured to have a shape of a cone frustum.

Preferably, the buried mount is made of metal and an expanding ring rib is configured at the outer portion of the buried mount for enhancing fixation strength.

Preferably, the concave groove of the buried mount is configured to have a round shape.

The foregoing aspects and the accompanying advantages of this invention will become more readily appreciated as the same becomes better understood by reference to the following detailed description, when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a snowplowable reflective road device according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a perspective exploded view of the snowplowable reflective road device of Fig. f.

Fig. 3 is a top view of the snowplowable reflective road device of Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a cross-sectional view of the snowplowable reflective road device of Fig. f.

Fig. 5 is a perspective exploded view of an another snowplowable reflective road device according to a modified embodiment of the snowplowable reflective road device of Fig. 2.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Referring to Figs, f to 3, a snowplowable reflective road device according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention is disclosed. The disclosed snowplowable reflective road device comprises a buried mount 1 and a translucent body 2. The buried mount 1 may be made of metal and may be buried on the road surface.

In the illustrated embodiment, the buried mount 1 is provided with a top side 11, a concave groove 12 and two oblique guide surfaces 13. The concave groove 12 may be rectangular (square) or polygonal concave groove and provided in the top side 11 of the buried mount f. A round buried hole 14 is provided in the bottom of the concave groove 12. The oblique guide surfaces f 3 are formed to be downwardly and obliquely extending from two ends of the top side 11 of the buried mount 1 to two ends of the buried mount f, respectively. A notch 15 is provided on each of the oblique guide surfaces f 3 and two ends of the buried mount f are respectively connected to the concave groove 12 by the notch 15. An expanding ring rib 16 is configured at the outer portion of the buried mount f for enhancing fixation strength such that the buried mount 1 may be securely positioned on die road surface by the ring ribs 16. In a preferred consideration, the translucent body 2 may be made of tempered transparent materials and the translucent body 2 may be made of tempered glass, polycarbonate or polymethyl methacrylate. To be specific, the translucent body 2 may be provided with an integrally formed base portion and reflective portion 22, both of which are in a transparent form. The reflective portion 22 may be raised from the top side of the base portion 21 and an upper surface 2f f of the top side of the base portion 2f surrounds the reflective portion 22 and a reflective layer 23 is configured on the bottom and outer part of the base portion 2f. The base portion 21 of the translucent body 2 may be buried in the round buried hole 14 of the buried mount f by means of attaching or embedding such that the reflective portion 22 of the translucent body 2 is located within the concave groove 12 of the buried mount f.

In an applicable embodiment, the base portion 21 of the translucent body 2 may have a shape of a cone frustum and the reflective portion 22 of the translucent body is configured to have a dome-shape.

Referring to Fig. 4, the translucent body 2 may be secured to the road surface by the buried mount f such that the top side f f and oblique guide surfaces f 3 of the buried mount f are exposed from the road surface, and the notch 15 of the buried mount f faces an extending direction of the road surface. The reflective portion 22 of the translucent body 2 is contained in the concave groove 12 of the buried mount f to be protected by the concave groove f 2 and aligns towards an extending direction through the notch 15 of the buried mount 1. When the buried mount 1 and translucent body 2 is illuminated by light from external vehicles, street lights or ambient light, the light may enter downwards or obliquely downwards into the translucent body 2 via the reflective portion 22 and/or upper surface of the translucent body 2 and be reflected through the reflective layer 23 at the bottom and outer parts of the base portion 2f and exit upwards or obliquely upwards through the reflective portion 22. The notch 15 is configured for scattering the reflected light emitted from the reflective portion 22 towards the ends of the buried mount f and therefore projecting the reflected light towards the extending direction of the road to allow the reflected light to be visible to vehicles on the road.

It is understood that when the buried mount 1 and the translucent body 2 are covered by accumulated snow on the road and a snowplower passes by the buried mount 1 and the translucent body 2 for snowplowing, die oblique guide surfaces 13 are configured for directing die snowplow from the road surface to the top side 1 f of the buried mount f whereby the reflective portion 22 of the translucent body 2 is located in the concave groove to avoid the snowplow and would not be damaged direcdy and the reflective road device is less likely to be damaged. Furthermore, the material and structure of the translucent body 2 is obviously superior to the reflector composed of the soft rubber block and the glass beads. Accordingly, the road surface brightness and durability is enhanced and there is no need for frequent replacement of the buried mount f and translucent body 2, thereby saving costs.

As shown in Figs. 1 to 3, a main marker 151 towards one end of the buried mount 1 is configured on the center of the notch 15 of the buried mount 1 and a secondary marker 212 is configured on a portion on the upper surface 211 and corresponding to the main marker 151. The reflective portion 22 of the translucent body 2 may be configured to have a semi rugby ball shape such that each of semi-elliptical arcs 221, 222 towards the direction of the notch 15 are configured on the outer parts of the reflective portions 22. The U.S. Patent Application No. 15/686,475 filed on August 25, 2017, which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety, may be referred to for the description of the translucent body in this application.

In comparison with the conventional 360° reflective device having 360° evenly distributed reflective brightness in the same horizontal level, the disclosed translucent body 1 may concentrate the reflected light within a horizontally effective reflection angle span centralized in the direction of the incident light on the road (the direction pointed by the arrow on the mark), as the angle 0° axis, to gready enhance the reflective brightness. The disclosed reflective road device is such manufactured that the concentration of the reflected light of the translucent body 1 may be increased when the horizontally effective reflection angle span becomes smaller. In other words, the smaller the effective reflection angle span is, the higher the reflective brightness is. The horizontally effective reflection angle span centralized in the light incident direction may be but not limited to ± 20°, ± 15°, ± 10°, ± 5°, ± 2°.

The secondary marker 212 is configured on a portion on the upper surface 2f 1 of the translucent body 2 corresponding to the direction of the notch f 5 of the buried mount f and corresponds to the semi-elliptical arcs 221, 222. The main marker 151 and the secondary marker 212 may be configured as a pattern such as an arrow, a character, a number, or a symbol, and other concave and convex structures. When the translucent body 2 is secured within the concave groove 12 of the buried mount f with the base portion 21, the secondary marker 2f2 of the translucent body 2 may be set corresponding to the main marker 151 of the buried mount f so as to quickly and easily adjust the semi-elliptical arcs 221, 222 of the translucent body 2 towards the extending direction of the road via the notch f 5 of the buried mount f. When the translucent body 2 is illuminated by light, the light reflected from the translucent body 2 may 5 converge on the semi-elliptical arcs 221, 222, and be projected out of the notch 15 via the semi-elliptical arcs 221, 222 to further enhance the reflection brightness.

Referring to Fig. 5, in a modified embodiment, the concave groove 12 of the buried mount f may be formed as a circular concave groove so that 10 the inner wall of the concave groove f 2 and the inner wall of the round buried hole 14 is connected and formed in one-piece so that the structure of the concave groove 12 and the round buried hole 14 may be further simplified. Circular concave groove may provide function of diverged stress and reduction in the hot spot of shattering, thus increasing the life span of 15 the buried mount and snowplowable reflective road device.

Claims

What is claimed is:

1. A snowplowable reflective road device, comprising:

a buried mount provided with a top side, a concave groove provided on the top side, two oblique guide surfaces downwardly and obliquely extending from two ends of the top side to two ends of the buried mount, respectively, wherein a round buried hole is provided in the concave groove and a notch connected to the concave groove is provided in each of the oblique guide surfaces; and a translucent body provided with a base portion and a reflective portion raised from the base portion, wherein the base portion is buried in the round buried hole whereby the reflective portion is located in the concave groove, a reflective layer is configured on the bottom and an outer part of the base portion whereby an external light entering the translucent body via the reflective portion is reflected through the reflective layer and exits through the reflective portion and the notch is configured for allowing the external light to exit towards the two ends of the buried mount, and wherein the buried mount is buried in a road surface whereby the top side and the oblique guide surfaces are exposed from the road surface and the notch faces an extending direction of the road surface, and the oblique guide surfaces are configured for directing a snowplow from the road surface to the top side of the buried mount whereby the reflective portion of the translucent body is located in the concave groove to avoid the snowplow.

2. A snowplowable reflective road derice as claimed in claim f, wherein the base portion and the reflective portion are formed integrally, an upper surface of the top side of the base portion surrounds the reflective portion and the external light enters the translucent body via the upper surface.

3. A snowplowable reflective road derice as claimed in claim 2, wherein a main marker towards one end of the buried mount is configured on the center of the notch and a secondary marker is configured on a portion on the upper surface and corresponding to the main marker.

4. A snowplowable reflective road derice as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the reflective portion is configured to have a dome-shape.

5. A snowplowable reflective road derice as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the reflective portion is configured to have a semi-elliptical arc in an incident direction of the external light.

6. A snowplowable reflective road device as claimed in claim 5, wherein the translucent body has a horizontal effective reflection angle span of ± 20 0 in the direction of reflection.

7. A snowplowable reflective road derice as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the translucent body is made of tempered transparent materials.

8. A snowplowable reflective road derice as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the translucent body is made of tempered glass, polycarbonate or polymethyl methacrylate.

9. A snowplowable reflective road derice as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the base portion is configured to have a shape of a cone frustum.

f 0. A snowplowable reflective road device as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the buried mount is made of metal and an expanding ring rib is configured at the outer portion of the buried mount for enhancing fixation strength.

11. A snowplowable reflective road device as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the concave groove of the buried mount is configured to have a round shape.

12. A buried mount for a snowplowable reflective road device, comprising: a top side;

a concave groove provided on the top side;

two oblique guide surfaces downwardly and obliquely extending from two ends of the top side to two ends of the buried mount, respectively;

a round buried hole provided in the concave groove, wherein a translucent body is buried in the round buried hole, and a notch connected to the concave groove is provided in each of the oblique guide surfaces and configured for allowing an external light reflected by the translucent body to exit towards the two ends of the buried mount, wherein the buried mount is buried in a road surface whereby the top side and the oblique guide surfaces are exposed from the road surface and the notch faces an extending direction of the road surface, and the oblique guide surfaces are configured for directing a snowplow from the road surface to the top side of the buried mount whereby a translucent body is located in die concave groove to avoid die snowplow.

13. A buried mount for a snowplowable reflective road device as claimed in claim 12, wherein the buried mount is made of metal and an expanding ring rib is configured at the outer portion of the buried mount for enhancing fixation strength.

f 4. A buried mount for a snowplowable reflective road device as claimed in claim 12 or 13, wherein the concave groove of the buried mount is configured to have a round shape.