US2253790A - Pavement traffic signal - Google Patents

Description

Aug. 26, 1941. F. w. KLINE PAVEMENT TRAFFIC SIGNAL J 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Sept. 25, 1958 Cittorneg- Aug. 26, 1941. R w 2,253,790

PAVEMENT TRAFFIC SIGNAL Filed Sept. 23, 1938 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 I 2o 15 1e 15 i j 5 :Ifif' l illustrated Patented Aug. 26, 1941 PAVEMENT TRAFFIC SIGNAL Frank W. Kline, Detroit, Mich., assignor of onehalf to Hackett Brass Foundry Company, Detroit, Mich., a corporation of Michigan Application September 23, 1938, Serial No. 231,318

8 Claims.

Thisinvention relates to street traffic signals and particularly signals adapted to be partially embedded in the pavement of a street.

An object of the invention is to provide a signal casing having -a base adapted to be set into a street pavement, .fiush with the surface, and having a dome portion adapted to project a slight distance above the pavement and formed with openings shaped to form the letters of a warning word, said dome carrying thick translucent cover members for such openings.

Another object is to provide means within said casing for illumining said openings.

A further object is to provide in a novel manner for producing illumination of thewindows in a desired color.

A further object is to detachably secure the domed top of the casing to the base thereof, so that access may be readily had to the casing for light bulb replacement or other purposes.

These and various other objects are attained by the construction hereinafter described and in the accompanying drawings,

wherein: g Fig. l is a top plan view of the improved signal.

Fig. 2 is a front view thereof.

Fig. 3 is a' vertical sectional View taken on the line 33 of Fig. l. v r

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary vertical section, taken on the line 4--4 of Fig. 1, showing one of the letter-forming openings of the signal dome.

Fig. 5 is a view similar'to Fig. 4 but disclosing a modified construction.

Fig, 6 is a fragmentary vertical section showing one of the fasteners whereby the cover of the signal casing is secured to the base thereof.

In these views, the reference character 1 designates the hollow base of the metallic casing of the signal, said base being rectangular and open at top and bottom, and being set into a street pavement, flush with the surface thereof. Preferably said base is exteriorly formed with a plurality of projecting lugs 2, or other projections suited to securely anchor it in the pavement. The casing further comprises a rectangular cover member 3, set into the base flush with the top edge thereof and seated on a ledge 4, formed integral with the base and extending interiorly upon and continuously around the wall thereof. The cover member is secured to the base by a plurality of tap bolts 5 passing freely through suitable apertures in the corner portions of the cover and threaded into enlargements 6 of said ledge, formed at the corners of the base. Prefness, at its corner portions, to adapt the heads of the bolts to be countersunk in said portions, so that they will not be subjected to undue wear Themajor and central portion of the'cover member forms an elliptical dome l, projecting preferably several inches above the flat corner portions and margin of the cover, such dome being sufficiently shallow that the wheels of vehicles may ride over it readily. Upwardly extending from the base of the dome and elongated in the general direction of its length, is a panel formed by a row of adjoining plane faces 8, inclined at approximately 35 degrees to the'vertical, and recessed below the outer face of the dome so as to form a shoulder 9 bordering said panel; Each of said faces has a slight divergency tothe next adjoining face, whereby they are conformed'angularly to the dome curva ture. 'Between the adjoined faces 8, the dome is formed with ribs l0 extending from top to bottom of the panel and substantially flush with theouter faceof the dome. Opposite each rib [0 the dome is interiorly formed with a relatively large interior reinforcing rib ,l l, and preferably the ribs ll extend some distance beyond the panel toward the center portion of the dome. Each plane face 8 is-broken by an opening or openings l2 extending through the dome wall and shaped to form a desired letter, the several letters so formed coacting to form a desired word or symbol for the instruction of traffic, as for example the illustrated word Stop. Covering each of such letters is a plate [3 of glass or other hard translucent material, such plates being seated against the faces 8 of the dome and within erably the cover is somewhat increased in thickthe recesses coextensive with such faces. Each plate I3 is held in place by bolts l4 freely traversing its corner portions and threaded into the dome, the heads of such bolts being countersunk in and flush with the outer faces of the plates. The bolts I4 are further utilized to interiorly attach to the dome a set of relatively thin plates l5 of colored glass or other durable translucent material, extending across the openings l2, such glass being preferably red so that light outwardly projected through said openings will produce a more effective warning.

In the central portion of the casing, is disposed a means for illuminating the openings l2, such means being preferably an electric bulb l6 mounted in a socket l1, terminally carried by a threaded conduit 18 passing through a wall of the base and clamped therein by nuts l9.

In order that the bulb may serve with a maximum efficiency to illuminate the letter-forming openings, it is preferred to dispose the bulb within a polished metallic reflector hood 20 rigidly carried by the conduit l8 rearwardly of the socket l1 and extending substantially to the margins of the panel to be illuminated.

The described signal secures the advantage that it may be set directly in a traiiic lane, where it is most readily perceived by a driver, and cannot be obscured by another lane of trafiic, as is true of a curb signal. Furthermore, if encountered by a wheel of a vehicle, the resulting jar conveys a warning, even if the signal was' not observed.

As a modification eliminating necessity for a light bulb or other light source within the dome, a polished reflector plate 2| of metal, or some other plate providing a reflecting surface may be secured within the dome against each plate 15, preferably by the same bolts I ia that hold the plates l3 and IS in place. Thus the rays from the head lights of a vehicle approaching the signal will illuminate the reflector plates to the extent that same are exposed through the letterforming openings, and the driver will'be warned as in the first-described construction.

The invention is presented as including all such modifications and changes as come within the scope of the following claims.

What I claim is:

1. In a pavement signal, a casing'comprising a base adapted to be embedded in a pavement and a hollow dome adapted to project above the pavement, such dome having a recess in its exterior face adjacent to said base, and having a symbolforming aperture opening from said recess to the dome interior, a translucent cover for said aperture fitted in said recess substantially flush with the exterior face of the dome, and a member within the dome having a reflecting surface registered with said aperture.

2. In a pavement signal as set forth in claim 3, a common means for securing said translucent cover and reflector to the dome.

3. In a pavement signal, a casing comprising a base adapted to be embedded in a pavement and a hollow dome adapted to project above the pavement, such dome having a recess in its exterior face adjacent to said base, and having a symbol-forming aperture opening from said 'recess to the dome interior, a translucent cover for said aperture fitted in said recess substantially flush with the exterior face of the dome, a colored translucent member covering said aperture .interiorly of the dome, a member adjacent to the last-mentioned translucent member forreflecting light outwardly through the same and through said aperture, and a common means for securin said translucent members and reflecting member to the dome.

4. In a pavement signal, a casing comprising a base adapted to be embedded in a pavement and a hollow dome adapted to project above the pavement, such dome having a recess in its exterior face adjacent to said base, and having a symbolforming aperture opening from said recess to the dome interior, a translucent cover for said aperture fitted in said recess, and means within the casing for illuminating said aperture, a colored translucent member covering said aperture interiorly of the dome, and a common means for securing the two translucent covers to the dome.

5. A pavement signal comprising a hollow dome laterally formed with an aperture extending through the dome wall, means for securing such dome to a pavement in an upwardly projecting relation thereto, a translucentv cover for said aperture, set into the dome wall from its exterior, a colored translucent member covering said aper ture interiorly of the dome, and a common means for securing the two translucent covers to the dome.

6. A pavement signal comprising a hollow base adapted to be embedded in a pavement and. a hollow dome detachably mounted on the base and adapted to project above the pavement, such dome having a laterally facing recess in its exterior face and an aperture opening from such recess to the dome interior, a translucent cover for said aperture fitted in said recess, a support laterally carried by the base and projecting interiorly of the base toward said aperture, a light source carried by such support for illuminating the aperture, and a reflector hood mounted on said support and directing light from said source toward said aperture.

'7. Apavement signal comprising a hollow dome formed with a laterally facing and horizontally elongated panel, exteriorly recessed in the dome and forming a row of sloping plane faces, forming with each other obtuse angles and each having a letter-forming aperture opening through the dome wall, the several apertures having a word-forming relation, ribs formedat the intersections of said plane faces on both the inner and outer faces of the dome, and translucent cover members for said apertures set intosaid recessed panel and engaging said plane faces and fitted between the exterior ribs,

8. A pavement signal as set forth in claim 6, said hood extending toward the apertured portion of the dome, at an upward inclination and having portions above, below, and-at opposite sides of the light source.

- FRANK W. KLINE.

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