US2062408A - Highway guard - Google Patents

Description

Dc. 1 1936. y w, s, EDGE 2,062,408

HIGHWAY GUARD Filed Nov. 3o, 1954 4 sheets-sheet 1 o vo l -1:2:- 3 m INVENTOR 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 Y I. m l W Dec. 1, 1936. l w. s EDGE 2,062,408

HIGHWAY GUARD Filed Nov. 30, 1934 4 Sheets-Sheet INVENTOR myd@ PatentedV Dec. 1, 1936 UNITED STATE s PATENT ori-ical HIGHWAY GUARD 'walter s. Edge, Pittsburgh, Pa.. assignma Pimburgh Steel Company, Pittsburgh, Pa., a corporation of Pennsylvania Application November 30, 1934, Serial No. '155,388

Somma (ci. 18a-26) My invention is hereinafter described as ex'nployed particularly in the making of highway guards or safety barriers which are employed for protection at dangerous points along highways,

but it will be understood that various features of the invention are suitable also for use in the construction of fences generally.

Heretofore, it has been common practice to employ wooden posts for supporting barrier eleln ments such as cables or bands, and metal posts have also been employed particularly in fences. The wooden posts veven when treated with' creosote or other preserving materials have been of too short life, and in some sections of the coun- One object of my invention is to provide guard or fence having a metal post of such form g5 that the barrier elements can be conveniently and eifectively mounted thereon. 1

Another object of my invention is to-provide a metal post structure of such form that it will have great strength and be long-lived, without 30 employing an excessive amountof metal.-

Another object of my invention is to provide Y a metal post structure in two parts, one of .which can be driven into the ground, and the other of which can be readily attached thereto at 35 points above the ground.

Another object ,of my invention is to provide a metal post formed in upper and lower sections. either of which may readily be replaced in case of deterioration or damage.

40 Still another object of my inventiony is to provide a metal post structure of such form -that portions thereof will yield under impacts, thus reducing damage to the post from impacts, and

also reducing danger of the post being displaced 45 in the ground.

A further object of my invention is to provideposts with surfaces of such contour' that shearing action on wire or other bands, through impacts against the band, in the vicinity of said 50 posts is reduced. v A

Some of the forms which my invention may take are shown in the accompanying drawingsvv wherein Figure lis a face view of a portion of a highway guard; Fig. -2 is Aa. vertical sectional 55 view thereof; Fig. 3 is a view taken on 'the line III- III of Fig. 1;` Fig. 4 is a sectional view,fon an enlarged scale, of a portion of the structure eFigi 1; Fig.l 5 is a view taken on the line V--V of Fig. 4; Fig. 6 is a view taken on the line VI-VI of Fig. 5; Fig. 7 is a view s'howing a modi- 5 cation of the structure of Fig. 4; Fig.' 8 is a face view of the intermediate post of Fig. 1; on an enlarged scale; Fig. 9 is a view thereof par-- tially in side elevation and partially in section; Fig. 10 is a view taken on the line X-X of Fig. 10 9; Fig. 11'is a side view of the lower section of a post, which may be driven intothe ground; Fig.

12 is Aa face view showing a modification of the intermediate post of Fig. 8; Fig. 1,3 is a view taken on the line )H11-XIII of Fig. 1 2; Fig. 14'15 shows a modification of the structure of Fig. 1 8; Fig. 15 shows another means for'fastening thel guard band to a post, and Fig. y16 is a modification of the structure of Fig. '1.

Referring rst to Figs. l to 11, I show a struc- 2d ture which may have an anchoring post IB- at each end of the structure and a suitablenumber of intermediate posts I6, a band or barrier element I'lrbeing secured to said.posts, for the purpose of stopping vehicles which leave the highway alofng which the lguard structure is mounted. The barrier element |11- can be made t of any suitable material, andl be of various forms, but is here shown as being composed of strand and stay wires of the structure shown in my'Patent No. 1,970,954, issued August v27, 1934. The intermediate postsV are each composed of a bottom section I8, preferably in the form of a rolled shape-and an upper section I9 of 'tubular form. I have found that discarded railway track rails are quite suitable as lower post sections, because of their lowcost, and because of their heavy cross section'and great strength. The bottom section I8 can either be buried in the ground or set in concrete, or may be pointed at 40 its lower end, as shown in Fig. 11, and driven into the ground. The upper post section vI9 is formed fromy a tube of steel or other suitable metal, it beingof` suiliciently light gauge that it willyield slightly underlheavier impacts. It may suitably have a wall-thickness of approxi-- mately .148 inch. -Th'e top of thepost is closed by welding a cap 2l thereto or lin some other suitable manner. As shown-more clearly in Figs. 9 and'10, the- 5o vlower section i8 extends into the tubular section ance, and is of such diameter that it will have somewhat snug nt with the head and the base of the section I8, as shown in Fig. 10. A nut 23 has a sleeve-like extension that passes through a hole :ln the rear sideo'f the tube I9 and abuts against the head of the section I8.

The bolt 22. also extends through a clamping bar 24 which has teeth that Vlie between the strands of the band I1 and abut against the front side of the post. 'Iightening of the nut 23 will draw the bar 24 tightly against the post I9 and will hold the post in snug engagement with the base flanges of the post section I8. The bar 24 also serves to retain the band I1 in place on the post and permits sliding movements of the band, in order that stresses may be transmitted throughout the full length of the band. Near the upper end of the bar 24 a second bolt 25 passes through the bar and the post, to assist in holding the bar in place. The curved contours of the clamping bar 24 and the post I9 at their front` sides serve to deflect vehicles which strike the guard structure in the vicinity of the post, thus reducing damage to the vehicles, as well as to the guard structure itself. Also, there is less danger of shearing or cutting of the Wire strands by vehicles which engage the same at the posts.

'I'he anchor posts I5 are composed of lower and upper sections 21 and 28, respectively, which are of the same general form as the intermediate posts I6. However, the end posts requirea more rigid support than the intermediate posts, and to this end I nd it preferable to dig holes for the reception of the lower ends of the anchor posts, and at the lower ends weld thereto cross bars 29 of suitable length, which will resist displacement of the posts. Also, I find it desirable to have the sections 21 flt the tubular sections 28 more snugly, and to this end may use either further up into the tubes 28 than the sections` I8 extend into the sections I9. The upper portion of the web of the section 21 may be cut away to permit the bolt 32 to pass through the middle of the rail head and the rail base.

The strands of the band I1 are clamped at their ends between clamping plates 33 (Figs. 4 and 5). The ends of the strands are arranged in vertically-spaced groups, the strands of each group extending into a clamping sleeve 34 and distributed around a tapered clamping pin 35. Owing to the tapered form of the sleeve 34, a pulling force exerted on the strands will cause them to be wedged tightly between the pin 35 and the inner Wall of the sleeve, in a manner usual with anchoring devices of this character.

Bolts 36 extend through the post section 26 and at their inner ends have threaded engagement with the sleeves 34 that also extend into the post. At their opposite ends, the bolts 36 are provided with nuts whereby tension may be applied to the band I1 by drawing the' sleeves 34 farther into the post.

A guy rod 38 of a well-known form is connected to the post through the usual turn buckle 39, and to anl anchor 4I that is imbedded in the ground.

. 2,062,408 is preferably extended slightly into the' ground. as

In Fig. 7, I show yieldable tensioning devices for the band, instead of rigid connections to the posts. In this structure, the anchoring sleeves 42 are of substantially the same construction as tare the sleeves 34, and bolts 43 are suitably connected at their inner ends to the sleeves 42. However, the nuts 44 of the bolts 43 do not seat against the side of the post, butextend through openings therein. The nuts 44 will be made of suitable axial dimension so that they can be conveniently operated, even though they extend for some distance into the post.

A spring 45 surrounds each bolt 43 and at its one end bears against a spring seat 46 that has engagement with the nut 44. As shown in Fig. 16, if the spring is made of smaller diameter it may seat directly against the nut 44, which corresponds to the nut 44, so that the spring can be inserted through one side of the post. At the other end of the spring is a seating member 41 which bears against the inner wall of the post. The outer faces 48 of the spring seats 46 and 41 are curved to the contour of the inner wall of the post. It will be seen that when a nut 44 is turned inwardly', against the expansive force of the spring 45, the anchor sleeve 42 will be drawn toward the post, thus tightening the band,

. and the tautness of the band will depend upon the extent to which the springs 45 are depressed by the 'nuts 44. -By this arrangement, the band may be maintained suiliciently taut, and there will be less danger of displacement of the end posts, or breaking of parts through temperature changes or through impacts against the band.

Referring now to Figs. 12 and 13, I show a structure wherein the bottom section 5I of a post may be of substantially the same form as the sections I8 and 21, but in this instance, instead of employing a tubular upper section, I bend a sheet metal strip or plate 52 in such manner as to partially surround the section 5I, a cap 53 being provided to keep out water and other foreign matter.

It will be understood that rolled sections oi' other than T form may be employed. For example, in Fig; 14, I show a post composed of an H section 55, and an upper tubular section 56.

Referring now to Fig. 15, I show the band I1 secured to a post 58, by means of bolts 58 that extend `through the post and through a bracket or casting 60. `Springs 6I surround the inner ends of the bolts .and seat against the inner face of the bracket 60, and against the nuts 62, that may be adjusted, to provide the desired tension. The ends of the wire strands are held by a clamping device 63 that corresponds to the clamping device 34-35, and screws 64 extend through the bracket 60 and have threaded engagement with the sleeves of the clamps 63, so'

that one group of strands can be adjusted relative to the other groups, independently of the adjustment ofthe .nuts 62. of the band I1 may be similarly anchored, al-

though in some cases it may be suillcient to The opposite end tion being curved to t the inner wall of the post.

2. Guard structure comprising a metal post having a tubular upper portion, and a lower portion of generally I-beam form partially extending into the lower end of the tubular mem' ber, an upperpart of the web of the I-beam being cut away, and a fastening member extending through the tubular section and through the said beam and the cut-out space in the beam. in a direction generally parallel to the plane oi the said web.

3. Guard structure comprising a metal post having a tubular upper portion, and a lower por- 15 tion of generally I-beam form partially extend- WALTER. s. EDGE.

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