US20230143673A1

US20230143673A1 - Reflective traffic cone

Info

Publication number: US20230143673A1
Application number: US17/520,766
Authority: US
Inventors: William J. Keegan
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2021-11-08
Filing date: 2021-11-08
Publication date: 2023-05-11

Abstract

A reflective traffic cone incorporating a plurality of reflective members attached on its outer surfaces and inner surfaces, such that the traffic cone can reflect light from a vehicle and be visible in low light conditions even when it becomes knocked over upon a road surface.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

There are no related applications incorporated herein by reference.

COPYRIGHT NOTICE

A portion of the disclosure of this patent document contains material which is subject to copyright protection. The copyright owner has no objection to the facsimile reproduction by anyone of the patent document or the patent disclosure, as it appears in the Patent and Trademark Office patent file or records, but otherwise reserves all copyright rights whatsoever. 37 CFR 1.71(d).

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

This invention relates generally to traffic warning devices and more specifically traffic cones.

2. Description of the Related Art

Prior art traffic cones only have reflective members placed upon outer surfaces thereof. Therefore, when the traffic cones becomes knocked over upon a road surface the reflective members are not always visible nor reflect light from a vehicle back to the operator of the vehicle, thereby rendering the traffic cone as useless, and even becoming dangerous since the vehicle may run over the traffic cone causing damage to the vehicle and possibly impeding the operation of the vehicle.
Accordingly, the present invention overcomes the disadvantages associated with the prior art, by providing a reflective traffic cone incorporating a plurality of reflective members attached on its outer surfaces and inner surfaces, such that the traffic cone can reflect light from a vehicle and be visible in low light conditions even when it becomes knocked over upon a road surface.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In view of the foregoing disadvantages inherent in the known types of traffic cones, the present invention provides a reflective traffic cone incorporating a plurality of reflective members attached on its outer surfaces and inner surfaces, such that the traffic cone can reflect light from a vehicle and be visible in low light conditions even when it becomes knocked over upon a road surface. As such, the general purpose of the present invention, which will be described subsequently in greater detail, is to provide a traffic cone that includes a plurality of reflective members attached on its outer surfaces and inner surfaces and incorporates all the advantages of the prior art and none of the disadvantages.
There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, the more important features of the invention in order that the detailed description thereof that follows may be better understood and in order that the present contribution to the art may be better appreciated.
Numerous objects, features and advantages of the present invention will be readily apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art upon a reading of the following detailed description of presently preferred, but nonetheless illustrative, embodiments of the present invention when taken in conjunction with the accompanying 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 descriptions and should not be regarded as limiting.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The figures which accompany the written portion of this specification illustrate embodiments according to the teachings of the present invention.

FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of the traffic cone according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 shows a bottom view of the traffic cone according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention of FIG. 1 .

The various embodiments of the present invention will hereinafter be described in conjunction with the appended drawings.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The embodiments of the present disclosure described below are not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the disclosure to the precise forms disclosed in the following detailed description. Rather, the embodiments are chosen and described so that others skilled in the art may appreciate and understand the principles and practices of the present disclosure.
The following embodiments and the accompanying drawings, which are incorporated into and form part of this disclosure, illustrate embodiments of the invention and together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the invention. To the accomplishment of the foregoing and related ends, certain illustrative aspects of the invention are described herein in connection with the following description and the annexed drawings. These aspects are indicative, however, of but a few of the various ways in which the principles of the invention can be employed and the subject invention is intended to include all such aspects and their equivalents. Other advantages and novel features of the invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of the invention when considered in conjunction with the drawings.
Turning now descriptively to drawing, referring to FIGS. 1-2 , the present invention discloses a traffic cone 100 comprising a body 110 including at least one side wall 120 including an outer surface 122 and an inner surface 124, and wherein the at least one side wall forms a bottom rim 130 and an opening 140 at a bottom portion thereof adjacent the bottom rim; a base 160 including a top surface 162, a bottom surface 164, and an opening 166 formed through the base from the top surface through the bottom surface, wherein the opening 140 of the body 110 is equal to or larger than the opening 166 of the base 160, wherein the body 110 is attached to the base 160 such that the opening of the body aligns with the opening of the base, and wherein the base is adapted to be placed upon a road surface and support the body upwardly therefrom; a plurality of reflective members 180 attached to the outer surface 122 of the side wall of the body, and wherein at least one of the reflective members 180 is attached to the inner surface 124 of the side wall of the body. As shown in FIG. 1 , when in use, the traffic cone 100 is placed in an upright position upon a road surface and the at least one reflector member 180 upon its outer surface of the side wall of the body is visible, and the at least one reflector member 180 upon the inner surface of said side wall of said body is not visible, and, as shown in FIG. 2 , when the traffic cone 100 falls down or is knocked over and is in a fallen position upon a road surface the at least one reflector member 180 upon the outer surface of the side wall of the body is visible, and the at least one reflector member 180 upon the inner surface of the side wall of the body is also visible through the opening of the body and the opening of said base, and wherein the traffic cone 100 is adapted to be visible via light from a vehicle reflecting off the at least one reflector member upon the outer surface of the side wall when the traffic cone is in the upright position, and is adapted to be visible via light from a vehicle reflecting off the at least one reflector member upon the inner surface of the side wall when the traffic cone is in the fallen position.
The at least one side wall 120 may be formed as an annular wall along with the at least one reflector member 180 upon the outer surface of the side wall of said body being formed as an annular reflector, and along with the at least one reflector member 180 upon the inner surface of the side wall of the body being formed as an annular reflector.
The reflective traffic cone 100 may further comprise at least one reflector member 180 upon the top surface 162 of the base 160 and at least one reflector member 180 upon the bottom surface 164 of the base 160.
The base 160 may be formed having a square shape having four corners, wherein a respective reflector member 180 is placed upon the top surface 162 thereof at each of the four corners, and wherein a respective reflector member 180 is placed upon the bottom surface 164 thereof at each of the four corners.
There may be a plurality of spaced reflective members 180 upon the outer surface 122 of the side wall of the body, and there may also be a plurality of spaced reflective members 180 upon the inner surface 124 of the side wall of the body.
The outer surface 122 of the side wall of the body may further include at least one indentation adapted to releasably retain one of the plurality of reflective members 180 therein, and the inner surface 124 of the side wall of the body may further include at least one indentation adapted to releasably retain one of the plurality of reflective members therein.
The top surface of each of the four corners of the base may include at least one indentation adapted to releasably retain one of the plurality of reflective members therein, and wherein the bottom surface of each of the four corners of the base may also include at least one indentation adapted to releasably retain one of the plurality of reflective members therein.
The plurality of reflective members 180 may be formed from flexible reflective tape or formed from rigid reflective panels. And the body 110 and the base 160 may be formed from a material chosen from a group of materials consisting of plastic and rubber.
The side wall 120 of the reflective traffic cone may be formed having a frustoconical shape. Furthermore, the plurality of reflective members 180 may be attached via an epoxy resin.
Although specific embodiments have been illustrated and described herein, it will be appreciated by those of ordinary skill in the art that any arrangement, which is calculated to achieve the same purpose, may be substituted for the specific embodiment shown. This application is intended to cover any adaptations or variations of the present invention.
Although the invention has been explained in relation to its preferred embodiment, it is to be understood that many other possible modifications and variations can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

Claims

What is claimed is:

1. A traffic cone comprising:

a body including:

at least one side wall including:

an outer surface; and

an inner surface; and

wherein said at least one side wall forms a bottom rim;

wherein said at least one side wall forms an opening at a bottom portion thereof adjacent said bottom rim;

a base including:

a top surface;

a bottom surface; and

an opening;

wherein said opening is formed through said base from said top surface through said bottom surface;

wherein said opening of said body is equal to or larger than said opening of said base;

wherein said body is attached to said base such that said opening of said body aligns with said opening of said base;

wherein said base is adapted to be placed upon a road surface and support said body upwardly therefrom;

a plurality of reflective members;

wherein at least one of said reflective members is attached to said outer surface of said side wall of said body; and

wherein at least one of said reflective members is attached to said inner surface of said side wall of said body;

wherein when said traffic cone is in an upright position upon said road surface said at least one reflector member upon said outer surface of said side wall of said body is visible, and said at least one reflector member upon said inner surface of said side wall of said body is not visible;

wherein when said traffic cone is in a fallen position upon said road surface said at least one reflector member upon said outer surface of said side wall of said body is visible, and said at least one reflector member upon said inner surface of said side wall of said body is also visible through said opening of said body and said opening of said base; and

wherein said traffic cone is adapted to be visible via light from a vehicle reflecting off said at least one reflector member upon said outer surface of said side wall when said traffic cone is in said upright position, and is adapted to be visible via light from a vehicle reflecting off said at least one reflector member upon said inner surface of said side wall when said traffic cone is in said fallen position.

2. The traffic cone of claim 1, wherein said at least one side wall forms an annular wall.

3. The traffic cone of claim 2, wherein said at least one reflector member upon said outer surface of said side wall of said body is formed as an annular reflector; and wherein said at least one reflector member upon said inner surface of said side wall of said body is formed as an annular reflector.

4. The traffic cone of claim 1, further comprising at least one reflector member upon said top surface of said base; and at least one reflector member upon said bottom surface of said base.

5. The traffic cone of claim 1, wherein said base is formed having a square shape having four corners; wherein a respective reflector member is placed upon said top surface thereof at each of said four corners; and wherein a respective reflector member is placed upon said bottom surface thereof at each of said four corners.

6. The traffic cone of claim 1, wherein there are a plurality of spaced reflective members upon said outer surface of said side wall of said body; and wherein there are a plurality of spaced reflective members upon said inner surface of said side wall of said body.

7. The traffic cone of claim 1, wherein said outer surface of said side wall of said body further includes at least one indentation adapted to releasably retain one of said plurality of reflective members therein; and wherein said inner surface of said side wall of said body further includes at least one indentation adapted to releasably retain one of said plurality of reflective members therein.

8. The traffic cone of claim 5, wherein said top surface of each of said four corners of said base includes at least one indentation adapted to releasably retain one of said plurality of reflective members therein; and wherein said bottom surface of each of said four corners of said base includes at least one indentation adapted to releasably retain one of said plurality of reflective members therein.

9. The traffic cone of claim 1, wherein said plurality of reflective members are formed from flexible reflective tape.

10. The traffic cone of claim 1, wherein said plurality of reflective members are formed from rigid reflective panels.

11. The traffic cone of claim 1, wherein said body and said base are formed from a material chosen from a group of materials consisting of plastic and rubber.

12. The traffic cone of claim 1, wherein said at least one side wall forms a frustoconical shape.

13. The traffic cone of claim 1, wherein said plurality of reflective members are attached via an epoxy resin.

14. The traffic cone of claim 7, wherein said plurality of reflective members are attached via an epoxy resin.

15. The traffic cone of claim 8, wherein said plurality of reflective members are attached via an epoxy resin.