IE54990B1 - Improvements relating to mountings for reflective roadstuds - Google Patents

Description

2 2 54990 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 5 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 10 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 15 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 20 freezing of the water in cold weather. More importantly, if the mounting is not a snug rit 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 3 354990 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 5 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 10 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 15 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 20 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 25 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 5 occurring on the road surface surrounding the mounting.

It may be of advantage to form the under-surface 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 10 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, 15 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 20 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 25 of the hole cut into the road surface and would provide added insurance against movement of the mounting within 54990 S the hole.

The invention may be performed in. various ways and a preferred embodiment thereof will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, 5 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 10 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 15 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 20 place by inwardly projecting flanges 7.

The mounting will be fixed into a road surface in the following manner. Firstly a circular hole will β 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 1mm 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 7 75499ο 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 5 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 material (or pre-filling the hole 9) the adhesive could also be 10 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 15 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 20 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 25 displaced by a vehicle wheel (following deterioration of the road surface), as a lighter object is less likely 8 8 54990 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, 5 without seriously affecting the strength of the mounting.

The method of inserting mountings of the form as described in this Patent Application is described and claimed in our Patent Specification 10 No.'** - ;; '·' which has been filed as a Divisional Application from this Application.

Claims (9)

9 9 54990

1. 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 tov-ards the rim.

2. A mounting according to claim 1, wherein the under-surface of the base is dished inwardly.

3. A mounting according to claim 1 or'claim 2, wherein keying projections or recesses extend from or into the circumferential outer wall and/or the undersurface of the base.

4. A mounting according to claim 3, wherein the circumferential projections are rings or helices.

5. A mounting according to claim 3, wherein the circumferential recesses are helical or annular grooves.

6. A mounting according to claim 3, wherein the projections are elongated bars or fingers projecting outwardly from the sides of the base.

7. A mounting according to any one of claims 1 to 6, provided with a filling aperture in its upper 10 10 54390 surface leading to an opening in the side wall adjacent the base and through which adhesive may be injected.

8. A mounting according to any one of claims 1 to 7, formed from iron, aluminium or other robust 5 metal, or a robust plastics material.

9. A mounting, substantially as herein described with reference to the accompanying drawings. F. R. KELLY & CO., AGENTS FOR THE APPLICANTS.