US20120282024A1

US20120282024A1 - Retractable speed bump

Info

Publication number: US20120282024A1
Application number: US13/102,868
Authority: US
Inventors: Cheyenne Hua
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2011-05-06
Filing date: 2011-05-06
Publication date: 2012-11-08

Abstract

A retractable speed bump mounted in a street, road or roadway for controlling the speed of vehicles, which includes three main components: enabling bar, bump, and a link mechanism. The speed bump rests in the grooves on the road surface when it is not in operation. When a vehicle moves over the enabling bar, the tire runs on top of the enabling bar, pushing the enabling bar downward. This downward force triggers the link mechanism and pushes the bump up out of the grooves on the road surface. In one embodiment according to the present invention, the link mechanism is a class 1 lever.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to vehicle speed control means and more particularly to an improved vehicle speed bump device.
2. Description of Related Art
Generally, speed bumps are frequently embedded in roadways or placed on top of the roadway to regulate the speed of vehicles crossing over them. The speed bumps are generally low enough for vehicles to safely cross yet high enough to force a vehicle to slow down while crossing otherwise causing a substantial jolt to the vehicles. However, even when the speed of the vehicle has been reduced, a substantial jar is often imparted to the vehicle. In some cases, the speed bump can strike the frame of the vehicle; it happens especially to the sports car or sedan because they are low to the ground. Because of this indiscriminate effect on vehicles traveling over speed bumps, attempts have been made to produce retractable speed bumps.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,362,424 to Barber (1982) discloses a speed bump for use on roadway which imparts a controlled jar (using liquid underneath the ground inside the device) to vehicles as they pass over. A retarding force is imparted to a downwardly depressible member responsive to the speed of the vehicle. The speed bump do not retract, so that even slow moving vehicles are jolted by passing over the bumps. U.S. Pat. No. 4,974,991 to Mandavi (1990) discloses a speed bump device (made of steel or the like) that includes a lock which operates to lock the speed bump of the device in operative position when contacted by a vehicle wheel moving at a higher speed. U.S. Pat. No. 6,457,900 B2 to Bond (2002) discloses a speed bump that is operative based on the speed of the vehicle contacting the bump. These retractable speed bumps stay in operation and only returns to recess when the vehicle makes contact in a slow speed. The shortcomings of these speed bump is that even if the vehicle is driven within the speed limit they still need to make impact with the bump in order to put the speed bumps back to recess.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,011,470 B1 to Breazeale et al. (2006) discloses a retractable speed bump that having a retractable canister therein, which canister extends above the housing in response to the speed of a vehicle as detected by a speed sensor. The shortcoming of the invention is that the car can slow down in front of the speed sensor but speed up after passing the speed sensor and thus deviating from the intended purpose of speed control. Also, the electric/electronic system is expensive. U.S. Pat. No. 7,476,052 B2 to Hall (2009) discloses a retractable fluid-filled speed bump which is controlled by the speed detected by the traffic management control device; it shares the same shortcomings of U.S. Pat. No. 7,011,470 B1. U.S. Pat. No. 7,645,090 B2 to Rastegar et al. (2010) discloses a method for slowing vehicle moving along a surface using a traffic control speed bump, which is controlled by speed sensor and shares the same shortcomings of U.S. Pat. No. 7,011,470 B1.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,389,677 to Dunne (1968) discloses a traffic control device that utilizes the weight (force) of the car applied downward to push up the bump. When a vehicle rolls onto the tubes, the weight of the vehicle forces the air in the tubes in a forward direction into the larger, inflatable barrier members (speed bump).
Accordingly, there remains a need for a retractable speed bump device that is nested into a recess when not in use and is triggered and controlled by the vehicle's tire pressure when the tire runs over a specified spot ahead of the bump. The device should utilize simple mechanics and controls the bump by the predetermined time interval based on speed limit.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A retractable speed bump mounted in a street, road or roadway for controlling the speed of vehicles, which includes three main components: enabling bar, bump, and link mechanism. The enabling bar lies horizontally across the road surface; it is not an actual bump. It is small as to not obstruct movement of the vehicle. The bump also lies across the road surface. Although it is large, in its resting position it is leveled with the road surface and thus does not obstruct movement of the vehicle.
The link mechanism is installed beneath the road surface. In one embodiment, the link mechanism is a class 1 lever comprising a lever arm having a first end and a second end, and a fulcrum at the middle of the lever arm. The link mechanism further comprises column. In operation, when the first tire of a vehicle makes contact with the enabling bar, the pressure of the tire pushes the enabling bar downward and provides energy to the link mechanisms. The link mechanisms then transform the downward force of the enabling bar into the upward force of the bump through class 1 lever mechanics. Once the bump is pushed to the limit, it starts to fall via gravity, freely or with a resistance. The rate that the bump falls is set according to the speed limit posted on the roadway. If the vehicle exceeds the speed limit, the bump does not have sufficient time to fall and recede back into the road surface level before the front wheels of the vehicle hit the bump. If the vehicle is moving within the posted speed limit, the bump has receded back into the road so that the vehicle will run over the bump without impact. Once the enabling bar is pushed down to the limit it will slowly recover due to resistance so that the second tire should not hit the enabling bar again.
The link mechanism comprises a lever arm with a fulcrum (pivoting point) at the middle and the first end under the enabling bar and the second end under the bump. The link mechanism may be contained in a generally rectangular-shaped encasement embedded under the roadway with only two openings on the top near the road surface, the first opening for the enabling bar and the second opening for the bump. The encasement is made of strong, rigid and corrosion resistant materials e.g. steel such that the hollow space inside the encasement allows the up and down motion of the lever and the frame of the encasement still can support the weight and pressure from the mass on top of and from the surroundings of the encasement. A sturdy column connecting the enabling bar and the first end of the lever, conveys the force from the enabling bar to the first end of the lever, pushing down the first end, and in turn, pushing up the second end of the lever, which is connected to the bump by a column. The column may be in various shapes. One of the embodiments of the column is a spiral spring.
The bump lies horizontally across the road surface. It may be made of strong, rigid but relatively light material. When it is pushed up by the link mechanism the height is the maximum speed bump height allowed by the regulation of the town. The height of the bump above the roadway upon impact will depend on how much the speed of the vehicle exceeds the speed limit of the implemented road. Once pushed up to the limit, it will start to fall via gravity, freely or with a resistance. The roadway has horizontal groove across the road to receive the bump when in recess; the bump is nested in the groove so the top of the bump levels with the road surface. There may be small and negligible gap between the bump and the road surface. The bump may comprise means for filling the gap between the top of the bump and the road surface when it is nested in the groove. For example, the bump may be composed of several longitudinal pieces across the roads which are slidable against each other such that the bump may be assembled in different shape to make seamless connection with the road surface when retracted.
In another embodiment, the link mechanism is accomplished by using a conduit filled with a viscous fluid and two pistons directly below the enabling bar and the bump, respectively. When the vehicle passes over, the tire rolls over the top portion of the enabling bar, depressing the enabling bar. The enabling bar pushes down the piston or pneumatic cylinder directly below the enabling bar and forces the fluid flow towards the other piston which in turn pushes the bump up and out of the groove on the road surface. Once the bump is pushed up to the limit, it will start to fall via gravity, freely or with a resistance. When the pressure on the enabling bar drops after the vehicle passes over, the speed bump starts to fall gradually due to the fall of the piston underneath. The falling rate of the speed bump is predetermined and designed based on the speed limit.
In another embodiment, the speed bump device comprises an enabling bar, a bump and a wiring link mechanism that connects the enabling bar and the bump. As a vehicle moves over the enabling bar, the tire pressure depresses the enabling bar. The downward force from the enabling bar triggers the rotation movement of the wire, which in turn is transformed to an upward force that pushes the bump up.
The more important features of the invention have thus been outlined in order that the more detailed description that follows may be better understood and in order that the present contribution to the art may better be appreciated. Additional features of the invention will be described hereinafter and will form the subject matter of the claims that follow.
Before explaining at least one embodiment of the invention in detail, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its application to the details of construction and the arrangements of the components set forth in the following description or illustrated in the drawings. The invention is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced and carried out in various ways. Also it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology employed herein are for the purpose of description and should not be regarded as limiting.
As such, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the conception, upon which this disclosure is based, may readily be utilized as a basis for the designing of other structures, methods and systems for carrying out the several purposes of the present invention. It is important, therefore, that the claims be regarded as including such equivalent constructions insofar as they do not depart from the spirit and scope of the present invention.
The foregoing has outlined, rather broadly, the preferred feature of the present invention so that those skilled in the art may better understand the detailed description of the invention that follows. Additional features of the invention will be described hereinafter that form the subject of the claims of the invention. Those skilled in the art should appreciate that they can readily use the disclosed conception and specific embodiment as a basis for designing or modifying other structures for carrying out the same purposes of the present invention and that such other structures do not depart from the spirit and scope of the invention in its broadest form.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Other aspects, features, and advantages of the present invention will become more fully apparent from the following detailed description, the appended claim, and the accompanying drawings in which similar elements are given similar reference numerals.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of one embodiment of the present invention in the rest position and a separate view of roadway surface;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the embodiment disclosed in FIG. 1 in the rest position and with a road surface on top of the invention;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of one embodiment disclosed in FIG. 1 in operation and a separate view of roadway surface;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of one embodiment disclosed in FIG. 1 in the operation and with a road surface on top of the invention;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of another embodiment of the present invention in the rest position and with a road surface on top of the invention; and

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of another embodiment of the present invention in the operation and with a road surface on top of the invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Referring to FIG. 1 to FIG. 4, there are disclosed an embodiment of the speed bump device according to the present invention. The embodiment is designed based on simple mechanics—class 1 lever mechanism. The speed bump device 1 comprises three major components: an enabling bar 10, a speed bump 20, and a link mechanism which is a class 1 lever 30 in this embodiment. The class 1 lever 30 includes a lever arm 301 having a first end 304 under the enabling bar 10, and a second end 306 under the speed bump 20, and a fulcrum 302 at the middle of the lever arm 301. The enabling bar 10 is connected to the first end 304 by means of column 308 and the speed bump is connected to the second end 306 by means of column 310. The lever 1 is installed inside a strong, rigid and corrosion resistant rectangular shaped encasement 40 which has two openings on the top next to the road surface 2. The first opening 402 allows the column 308 to protrude out and retracts back into the encasement 40 so that the enabling bar 10 may exert pressure downward from the vehicle tire. The second opening 404 allows the column 310 to protrude out and retracts back into the encasement 40 so that the speed bump 20 may rise up and fall down to control the traffic speed. The roadway surface 2 has a small, shallow groove 21 for receiving enabling bar 10 and a larger, deeper groove 23 for receiving speed bump 20. Although the column 308 and 310 are shown in rectangular shaped cylinder in the drawings, they may be in any shape.
Referring to FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, when the vehicle 3 has not approached enabling bar 10 yet, the enabling bar 10 slightly protrudes out of the road surface 2 but does not obstruct traffic or cause any jolt to the vehicle. The speed bump 20 is nested in the groove 23 with the top leveled with the road surface 2. The speed bump 20 may be rounded in shape on the top there may be a slight gap between speed bump 20 and the road surface 2 but the gap shall not cause any jolt to the vehicle or affect the movement of the vehicle.
Referring to FIG. 3 and FIG. 4, when there is a vehicle 3 traveling on the roadway, as the vehicle 3 moves over the enabling bar 10, the pressure of the tire pushes the enabling bar 10 downward; the energy is conveyed by the column 308 and 310 and transformed to the work pushing the speed bump 20 rise up of the groove on the road surface 2.
After a predetermined time interval based on the speed limit, the column 310 and the second end 306 of the lever 30 falls downwards due to gravity which in turn pulls down the bump 20 into groove 23 and returns to the resting position illustrated in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2. The device 1 may include other means to control the force that brings the second end 306 and the column 310 to fall besides gravity. The falling rate of the speed bump is predetermined and designed based on the speed limit.
Another embodiment of the device 1 is disclosed in FIG. 5 and FIG. 6 where the similar elements are given similar reference numerals in FIG. 1 to FIG. 4. In this embodiment, the link mechanism is a conduit 50 which is installed in an encasement 40 similar to the one used for the class 1 lever disclosed in FIG. 1 to 4. The conduit 50 comprises a U-shaped tube 501 having one end extending towards the enabling bar 10 (hereinafter “the first end” 502) and the other end extending towards the bump 20 (hereinafter “the second end” 504). The tube is filled with viscous fluid 510. On the top of the fluid within the first end 502, sits a first piston 506 beneath the enabling bar 10; on the top of the fluid 510 within the second end 504, sits a second piston 508 beneath the bump 20. In general, the conduit 50 serves the same function as a class 1 lever. Referring to FIG. 5, when the vehicle 3 has not approached the enabling bar 10 yet, the enabling bar 10 is supported by the piston 506 and slightly protrudes out of the road surface 2 but will not obstruct traffic or cause any jolt to the vehicle. The speed bump 20 is nested in the groove 23 with the top leveled with the road surface 2. As the vehicle 3 moves over the enabling bar 10, the tire rolls over the enabling bar 10, pushing the enabling bar 10 downward, depressing the piston 506. The increased pressure build-up on the fluid 510 directly below the piston 506 forces the fluid 510 to flow towards the second end 504 and pushes the piston 508 which in turns pushes the bump 20 up from the groove 23 on the road surface 2.
After a predetermined time interval based on the speed limit, the piston 508 and the viscous fluid 510 will fall downwards due to gravity and the speed bump 20 retracts into groove 23 and returns to the resting position illustrated in FIG. 5. The device 1 may include other means to control the force that brings the speed bump 20 falls besides gravity. The falling rate of the speed bump 20 is predetermined based on the speed limit so that the vehicle 3 travels within the speed limit will not encounter the bump 20 while the vehicle 3 travels over the speed limit will encounter the bump 20.
While there have been shown and described and pointed out the fundamental novel features of the invention as applied to the preferred embodiments, it will be understood that the foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the invention and not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise forms disclosed. Obvious modifications or variations are possible in light of the above teachings. The embodiments discussed were chosen and described to provide the best illustration of the principles of the invention and its practical application to enable one of ordinary skill in the art to utilize the invention in various embodiments and with various modifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated All such modifications and variations are within the scope of the invention as determined by the appended claims when interpreted in accordance with the breadth to which they are entitled.

Claims

1-15. (canceled)

16. A speed bump device for controlling the traffic speed comprising:

a) an enabling bar lying horizontally across the road surface and designed to not obstruct movement of the vehicle; with the pressure of the vehicle tire, said enabling bar is pushed downward to create a downward force;

b) a speed bump lying horizontally across the road surface, wherein the bump, once pushed up to the limit, will start to fall freely via gravity; and

c) a link mechanism, transforming the downward force of said enabling bar into an upward force of said bump, wherein said link mechanism is a single class 1 lever comprising a lever arm having a first end and a second end, and a fulcrum substantially positioned at the middle of said lever arm.

17. The speed bump device of claim 16, wherein the enabling bar is in contact with the first tire of the vehicle and is pushed downward by the pressure of said vehicle tire, once pushed down to the limit, said enabling bar will start to recover with a resistance to slow the recovery, so the second tire will not hit said enabling bar again.

18. The speed bump device of claim 16, wherein the link mechanism further comprises a first column connecting the enabling bar with said first end of said lever arm and a second column connecting the bump with said second end of said lever arm.

19. A speed bump device for controlling the traffic speed comprising:

b) a speed bump lying horizontally across the road surface, wherein the bump, once pushed up to the limit, will start to fall freely via gravity;

c) a conduit link mechanism, lying beneath the road surface, including a U shaped tube filled with a fluid, having a first end extending toward the enabling bar, a second end extending toward the bump, a first piston sitting on top of the fluid within the first end connecting said U shaped tube to said enabling bar, a second piston sitting on top of the fluid within the second end connecting said U shaped tube to said bump; and

d) an encasement, the link mechanism being installed within said encasement, having two openings on top of said encasement just beneath the road surface, the first opening allowing the first piston to protrude from and retract into said encasement in order to support upward and downward movement of the enabling bar, the second opening allowing the second piston to protrude from and retract into said encasement to provide support to the upward and downward movement of the speed bump.

20. The speed bump device of claim 19 wherein the enabling bar is in contact with the first tire of the vehicle and is pushed downward by the pressure of said vehicle tire, once pushed down to the limit, will start to recover with a resistance to slow the recovery, so the second tire will not hit the bump again.

21. The speed bump device of claim 19, wherein the height is the maximum speed bump height allowed by the regulation of the town and the height of the bump above the roadway upon impact is determined by how much the speed of the vehicle exceeds the speed limit of the implemented road.