US2154818A

US2154818A - Flexible highway guard

Info

Publication number: US2154818A
Application number: US91074A
Authority: US
Inventors: Robert S Mayer
Original assignee: Eimco Corp
Current assignee: Eimco Corp
Priority date: 1936-07-17
Filing date: 1936-07-17
Publication date: 1939-04-18
Anticipated expiration: 1956-04-18

Description

April 18, 193 9. Y R. s. MAYER FLEXIBLE HIGHWAY GUARD Filed July 17, 1936 2 Sheets-Sheet l Attorney 6L!!! 9 N 3 M Al O\ Q.

R Sv MAYER FLEXIBLE HIGHWAY GUARD Filed July 17, 1956 Aprii as, 1939.

y AWN n mm n x. A ffomey Patented Apr. 18, 1939 UNITED STATES FLEXIBLE HIGHWAY GUARD Robert S. Mayer, Salt Lake City, Utah, asslgnor to The Eimco Corporation, Salt Lake City,

Utah

Application July 17, 1936, Serial No. 91,074

3 Claims.

The present invention relates to improvements in flexible highway guards or road guards of the type employing flexible and resilient rails and supporting posts, arranged along one or both sides of the highway or road, especially at dangerous points, to prevent automotive vehicles from leaving the road, as well as to prevent complete wrecking or demolition of a vehicle that may collide with the guard rail.

In carrying out the invention, sectional and continuous guard rails, possessing durability, strength, and a high degree of resiliency or elasticity are provided for absorbing the shocks of colliding cars or automotive vehicles, and for defleeting the colliding vehicle back into the roadway or highway. Means are provided in the construction of the sectional and continuous guard rails to compensate for expansion and contraction of the metal rails under differing degrees of heat, whereby the continuity and uniformity of the guard rail is preserved, and warping is eliminated. A novel type of spring suspension or support for the rails, on spaced posts, is provided to absorb lateral shocks and strains imposed against the guard rail, and to return the rails to proper position after absorbing the impact of a colliding vehicle.

In the manufacture of the various parts of the guards a minimum number of parts are required, which may be produced at comparatively low cost, and these parts may readily be assembled for initial use, and with facility broken or bent parts may be replaced for maintenance of the highway guard.

The invention consists in certain novel combinations and arrangements of parts as will hereinafter be more fully set forth and claimed. In the accompanying drawings one complete example of the physical embodiment of the invention is illustrated, wherein the parts are combined and arranged according to the best mode so far devised for the practical application of the principles of the invention. It will be understood that various changes and alterations may be made D in the exemplifying structures, within the scope of the appended claims without departing from the principles of the invention.

Figure 1 is a front face view, or elevation, at one end of the guard embodying the invention.

Figure 2 is a top plan or top edge view of the structure of Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a vertical transverse sectional View at line 3-3 of Figure 1.

Figure 4 is a perspective detail view of one of the spring supporting braces, detached from a post.

Figure 5 is a perspective view of one of the supporting or suspending straps, detached from a rail-section. a

Figure 6 illustrates the arrangement of the bolt holes in the overlapping ends of two adjoining rail-sections.

In the erection of the guard the required num ber of posts as I and 2, of suitable material, are in spaced at intervals of say twelve feet along the side of the road or highway to be guarded, and a continuous rail, made up of sections, as 3 and 4, is'braced, and suspended or supported in resilient manner from the row of posts. If the posts are 15 spaced at twelve-foot intervals, the rail-sections are slightly longer in order to permit overlapping of adjoining ends of the sections, and these sections, as indicated are preferably concavo-ccnvex in cross section with the convex face toward the road or highway. Each section is preferably fashioned of hot rolled carbon steel of high tensile strength, to insure durability and also to insure a certain degree of flexibility or resiliency under impact from a colliding vehicle. The ends of adjoining rails overlap at the posts as indicated in Figures 1 and 2, and as indicated in Figure 6, where the adjoining ends are separated for purposes of illustration, each section is provided at one end with round bolt holes 5 and at its other end each section is provided with a complementary set of elongated bolt holes or slots 6 that extend longitudinally of the rail section. A suitable number of bolts 1 are passed through the holes and slots to secure together the overlapping ends of the sections, and the resulting continuous rail is capable of expansion and contraction under differing degrees of heat to prevent warping or, displacement of the rail-sections, and also to permit, or compensate for a slight relative longitudinal movement of a rail section under impact from a colliding vehicle.

Near the opposite ends of a rail section are provided spaced supporting or suspending straps 8, which are vertically arranged, transversely of the rail, and each of these straps is fashioned from a steel forging, with

offset ends

9, 9, struck on the same arc as the concave curve of the rail section. The two offset ends 9, 9, are Welded to the rail section, and the strap thus provides a s-upporting or suspending loop at the outer or rear side of the rail.

By means of these suspending or supporting loops on the rail-sections, the continuous rail, as a whole, is supported from the row of posts through the medium of spring suspension braces, one attached to each of the posts and located between a post and the guard rail. These spring suspension braces are fashioned of tempered steel, heat treated to insure a maximum tensile strength, and possessing a degree of resiliency or elasticity that will absorb shocks due to impact of .a vehicle against the supported guard rail. Each of these spring braces comprises a central body portion ID with elongated bolt holes or slots ll, through which the bolts l2 pass for securing the brace in horizontal position on the post, and nuts 33 are provided at the rear of the post to secure the bolts. The brace is fashioned with duplex, angular arms i 4, l4, extending in opposite directions from the fixed body or cen tral portion of the brace, and these arms terminate in oppositely extending alined ends 15, positioned in a vertical plane parallel with the rail sections of the continuous rail. The strong but resilient brace arms are coupled with the guard rail through the instrumentality of the loops or straps 8 on the outer faces of the adjoining ends of a pair of rail sections, and it will be seen that the ends l5 project through the suspending loops, loosely so that the angular arms may be flexed under impact against the face of the rail. As the angular arms are flexed they tend to straighten into parallelism with the guard rail, as the shock of impact is absorbed, and the free ends I 5 of the arms slide in the looped straps of the rail to compensate for the elongation of the flexed brace. After the impact, and due to the resiliency of the brace, the latter assumes its original form and length and the ends l5 are slightly retracted, inwardly, through the supporting loops.

The flat ends l5 of the braces, parallel with the guard rail, are of suflicient length to permit relative longitudinal movement of the rail with relation to the brace, or vice versa, and this relative movement compensates for expansion and contraction of the continuous rail under varying degrees of heat, as well as flexing and elongation and. contraction of the overall length of the spring braces, under impact.

As a protection at the end of the guard rail, for both the rail and also for a vehicle colliding with the end of the rail, a special rail section I6 is attached to the last (or first, as the case may be) full-length section, as 3. The inner face of this end-section is concavo-convex in cross section, similar to the full length rail-sections, but the end-section is provided with a return bend E1 of fiat metal, which forms a looped end for the guard rail, which is turned away from the highway to protect the posts and to assist in avoiding injury or damage to vehicles colliding therewith. The loop ll terminates in a flat end i8 that is secured by bolts against the rear face of the end post I, and while this end is rigidly attached to the post, it will be apparent that the spring brace at the front of the post provides the necessary resiliency to absorb shocks from impact of a colliding vehicle with the end of the guard rail, thus preventing material damage to the guard rail.

The duplex arms of the spring braces, one to each post, it will be noted, provide Widely spaced bearings or supports for the loops of the rail sections, and in this manner the continuous guard rail, throughout its length, has a substantial means for its support, in connection with the row of posts, that renders the guard rail strong and durable. The rail sections, which are of substantial width, or height, are adapted to resist impact of a colliding vehicle, without breaking, and Without danger of entanglement with the vehicle, and the latter is deflected back into the highway, instead of breaking through the barrier or guard rail.

The various parts of the highway guard may be assembled and erected in any suitable manner, and repairs and replacements may be made with facility when necessary. Preferably the loops on the adjoining ends of two rail sections are first. slipped over the opposite ends of the spring brace; then the overlapping ends of the rail sections are bolted together at l; and the spring brace is then bolted to the post by the use of bolts [2 and nuts I3, It will however, be apparent that other modes may be employed for assembling and jointing the parts, and because of the minimum number of parts employed, this work may be accomplished with facility and by the use of unskilled labor and ordinary tools.

Having thus fully described the invention, what is claimed and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is:

l. The combination with a support and a spring brace mounted thereon comprising oppositely extending resilient supporting arms, of a sectional guard rail, said guard rail comprising adjoining sections having overlapping ends, means permitting relative movement between. said overlapping ends, and supporting loops rigid with said ends slidably mounted on said supporting arms.

2. The combination with a supporting post and a spring brace mounted thereon comprising oppositely extending resilient supporting arms, of a sectional guard rail, said rail comprising adjoining sections, supporting loops on adjoining ends of the sections and mounted on said arms, and one of said sections having a return bend forming a loop attached to said post.

3. The combination with a supporting post and a spring brace mounted thereon comprising oppositely extending resilient supporting arms, of a sectional guard rail comprising adjoining sections having overlapping perforated ends, the openings on one end of each section being elongated and the end having elongated openings adapted to co-act with the opposite end of the adjoining section, and means for securing said adjoining ends whereby relative longitudinal movement between adjoining ends is permitted, and supporting loops on said adjoining ends of said sections and mounted on said arms.

ROBERT S. MAYER.