US1988994A - Connecter for traffic guards - Google Patents

Description

Jan. 22, 1935. v. cAMP CONNECTER FOR TRAFFIC GUARDS 2 Sheets-Sheet l Filed May 26, 1932 Jan. 22, 1935. v CAMP 1,988,994

GONNECTER FOR TRAFFIC GUARDS Filed May 26, 1932 2 Shets-Sheet 2 Patented Jan. 22, 1935 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 4 Claims.

The invention relates to connecters for resilient strip road guards and more particularly to road guards of the general type exemplified in prior patents of the applicant, Nos. 1,793,673;

1,793,675 and 1,793,676, and has for its object the provision of relatively simple, inexpensive and highly eflicient means for connecting the ends of separate strips or panels together, to maintain the necessary degree of tension throughout the line of strips or panels, and also for attaching the flnal or end strips or panels to suitable anchoring means and for imposing the desired tension on the connected series of strips or panels constituting the impact member of the resilient road guard.

The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. l is a rear elevation of a road guard with the connecter applied as an element of the anchoring means.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary view similar to Fig. 1 showing the details of one embodiment of the connecter.

Fig. 3 is a section on line 3--3 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is a plan or edge view looking downward on Fig. 2.

Fig. 5 is a rear elevation showing the connecter as applied for joining the ends of adjacent strips or panels.

Fig. 6 is a plan view thereof.

Figs. 7 and 8 are views similar to Figs. 5 and 6 illustrating a modification oi the connecter.

Fig. 9 is a section on line 9-9 of Fig. 8.

In the several patents aforesaid, there are shown various forms of resilient road guards involving strips or panels of sheet metal supported on posts spaced along the roadway and maintained under tension. A short section of one of these forms of road guard is illustrated in the drawings,

Fig. 1 showing the end section 1 of the guard comprising a strip of sheet metal, secured at one end to spring connecter 2, which is securedto post 9 by a bolt 3. Similar strips are connected in like manner between the spaced posts through- 46 out the length of the guard, the series of strips being maintained under tension, so that a vehicle impacting the strips at any point will be forced or deflected back onto the roadway. The present invention includes means for imposing and 50 maintaining the necessary tension on the series of strips and also for connecting the ends of separate strips together and the terminal strips or panels to the anchoring means, such. for example, as a post 9. In the particular form of connecter shown in Figs. 1 to 4, 5 indicates a strap of sheet metal provided with a series of spaced loops or corrugations 6 extending transversely of the strap, the latter being secured to the end of the strip 1, preferably by spot welds, as conventionally illustrated in Fig. 2. Pref- 5 erably the end of the strip 1 is bent at a right angle to form a flange 4, which abuts the vertical faces of the loops. 6 and is provided with holes or perforations registering with the loops, said flange 4 constituting a reinforcement for the 10 connecter, which may, if desired, be spot welded to the edges of the loops 6. 7 As a further reinforcing element, an angle iron 7 is spot welded to the face of the strip or panel 1 with its outstanding flange abutting the rear edges of the loops 6, 15 said flange being provided with holes or perforations registering with the loops and also with the openings in flange 4.

Bolts 8 engage the registering openings in the loops 6 and the flanges 4 and 7 and pass through 20 a similar series of openings in anchoring post 9, the bolts being provided with nuts 8', which are set up on the threaded ends of the bolts to impart the desired degree of tension to the strip or panel 1 and, through the latter, to the entire series of :5 strips or panels constituting the guard. In order to enhance the stability of post 9, a strut 10 is interposed between the same and the next post 9' in the'series. I

When it is desired to connect the ends of ad- 30 jacent strips or panels together, each of the ends to be so connected may be provided with a connecter of the type described, the completed joint being shown in'Fig. 5. In this case, the strip 1 has applied to its end a strap 5 having the spaced :5 series of loops 6, which is abutted by an end flange 4 of the strip at one side and by the reinforcing angle iron 7 on the other side. Similarly, strip 1' is provided with a strap 5 secured to the face thereof having the spaced loops 6' 40 abutted by the flange 4' and angle iron 7'. The flanges 4, 4' formed on the ends of the strips and the outstanding flanges of the angle iron 7, 7 are provided with openings registering with the loops 6, 6', respectively, the several openings being traversed by bolts 8, the threaded ends of which are provided with nuts 8' by means of which the ends of the strips 1 and 1' may be drawn together .to impose the requisite tension on the strips. In the modification shown in Figs. '7, 8 and 9, similar straps 5, 5 are secured to the faces of the strips 1 and 1 a short distance from the respective ends of the strips, which latter are preferably overlapped and the connecting bolts 8 are passed directly through the loops 6, u

6, the heads of the bolts bearing upon the end edges of one set of loops and the nuts 8' bearing against the similar edges of the opposite set of loops. In this particular embodiment of the invention, the flanges on the ends of the strips are omitted, as are the angle irons employed in the form of connecter as hereinbefore described. This form of the invention, therefore, constitutes a simplified construction which may be effectively employed, when the strips or panels and the straps with the loops therein are of relatively heavy gauge metal, such as sheet steel, which possesses sufficient inherent strength.

From the foregoing description, it will be apparent that the connecter provides a sturdy joint between the end of the sheets or panels or between the terminals of the panels and the anchoring posts, that may be made up at a minimum expenditure of labor and material and will enable the connections to be made and the desired degree of tension applied to the series of strips without employing special tools.

What I claim is:

1. A connecter for resilient strip traflic guards, comprising a metal strap having transverse loops secured to the face of the strip, an angle iron abutting an edge of the strap and secured to the strip, said angle iron having openings registering with the loops in the strap, and bolts engaging the openings and the loops.

2. The combination with a resilient strip of a. road guard having its end bent to form an angular flange having openings therein, of a metal strap having transverse loops secured to the face of the strip with its edge in abutting engagement with said flange and the loops in alignment with the openings therein, and bolts engaging the loops and openings.

3. The combination with a resilient strip of a road guard having its end bent to form an angular flange having openings therein, of a metal strap having transverse loops secured to the face of the strip with its edge in abutting engagement with said flange and the loops in alignment with the openings therein, an angle iron secured to the strip abutting the inner edge of the strap and having openings in alignment with the loops and bolts engagin the openings in the angle iron, the loops and the openings in the flange.

4. The combination with a strip of a road guard having its end bent to form an angular flange with openings in the latter, of a transverse member secured to the strip in abutting engagement with said flange and having transverse openings in alignment with the opening in the flange, and bolts engaging the openings in the flange and transverse member.

EUGENE V. CAMP.

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