US2997978A - Barricade - Google Patents

Description

Aug. 29, 1961 A. E. cLuTTER BARRICADE Filed May 8, 1959 INVENTOR. Hz'llzal E 7114222? ATTORNEYS United States Patent O 2,997,978 BARRICADE Arthur E. Clutter, Box 165, Lamed, Kans. Filed May 8, 1959, Ser. No. 811,884 4 Claims. (Cl. 1116-63) -ports having ground-engaging portions consisting of two feet whereby each support is, in itself, unstable and unable to stand upright. A barricade bar is provided with means engageable with portions of each support and spans the space therebetween. The engagement between the bar and supports, each being readily removable, serves to hold the supports in upright position, and against rotational movements while at the same time the supports hold the barricade bar in the desired operative position. This is accomplished yby providing a rigid rod extending upwardly from each support and passing removably through tubular sockets on the ends of the barricade bar. The supports are further provided with upwardly facing channels positioned to receive the lower edge of the barricade bar to prevent substantial rotation of the bar or support about the axis of the rigid rod.

It is therefore an object of this invention to provide a barricade structure of simple and rugged construction, yet inexpensive and durable -in use.

Another object of the invention is to provide a barricade having readily separable parts adapted to be compactly stored or transported in a minimum of space.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a barricade bar sufficiently exible to resist damage on impact and having protected, attention-getting visual characteristics.

A further object is to provide a barricade that is easily and readily assembled or dismantled, yet highly stable when in use.

Other objects and advantages will become apparent to those skilled in the art as the description proceeds with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. l is a front elevational view of a barricade embodying the present invention set up for use and with parts broken away;

FIG. 2 is an end elevational view of the barricade shown in FIG. l;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary horizontal sectional view taken along the line 3-3 of FIG. 1; and

FIG. 4 is a highly enlarged fragmentary vertical sectional view through the barricade bar and taken along the line 4 4 of FIG. l.

The barricade structure of the present invention comprises a pair of upright supports 2 and an removable horizontally extending and elongated iiat barricade bar or board 4. The uprights 2 are identical in construction and each comprises a pair of rigid metal legs 6 arranged in inverted V formation, as shown in FIG. 2. At their upper ends the legs 6 are rigidly joined together by being welded to a bracing or gusset plate 8, Welded to a side face of the upper end portion of each leg 6. The lowermost ends of the legs 6, therefore, comprise spaced feet adapted to rest on the ground or other supporting surface. A short length of channel iron 10 is welded or otherwise iixedly secured to the upper ends of the legs 6 and plate 8. The channels 10 each comprise a horizontal web portion 12 and upstanding side flanges 14.

Patented Aug. `29, 1961 The legs 6 and plates 8 can be said to define a single vertical plane. The channel 10 is arranged with its web 12 horizontal and its side flanges 14 arranged to extend perpendicular to the said single Vertical plane.

An upright rigid rod 16 is iixed to each support between the upper ends of legs 6 and extends upwardly therefrom in the same vertical plane previously referred to. The rigid rod 16 is welded to the plate 8 and to the adjacent ends of legs 6 and extends upwardly substantially midway between flanges 14 and through the web 12 of the channel A10. As shown, the rigid rods 16 extend upwardly a distance substantially greater than the vertical width of the barricade bar 4 shown in the drawings. Thus, the upright supports are adapted to cooperate with barricade bars or boards Wider than the one shown.

The barricade bar 4 is of elongated at form and preferably comprises a core 18 (see FIG. 4) of plywood or similar tough but flexible solid material. Extending along each edge of the core 18 is a tempered spring steel 4rod 20. The rods 20 are of a diameter about equal to the thickness of core 18 and extend the 4full length of the barricade bar 4. Y

A layer of fibrous material 22, such as Fiberglas mat or cloth, is placed around the assembly of core 18 and rods 20 and is, in turn, surrounded and enclosed by a layer 24 of canvas or equivalent flexible material. The layer 24 is, in turn, enclosed by a layer 26 of striping and/or reilectorized material to give the barricade bar its desired visual characteristics. By way of example, the layer 26 may be essentially a dull or dark color and provided with spaced diagonal strips 23 (see FIG. 1 also) of highly reflective material. The alternating dark and reflective strips, therefore, constitute an attention-getting visual characteristic rendering the broad side of the bar 4 readily visible in any light, and particularly when subjected to illumination from automobile headlights or the like.

The layer26 and in fact the entire barricade bar is enclosed in an outer covering 30 of a transparent pressure-baked polyester resin or the like. The outer layer of resin thus renders the barricade bar extremely tough and resistant to weather, abrasion, and impacts, and provides a barricade having a long useful life.

As will be obvious, the plywood core 18 and the spring steel rods 20 serve to hold the barricade ibar in shape and in substantially rigid self-sustaining condition. However, those very materials render the bar somewhat ilexible so that it will flex upon impact rather than shatter or break. The layers of brous material, canvas and resin add further strength to the structure without detracting from its useful flexibility and may, if desired, be themselves impregnated with a polyester resin baked under pressure.

A fitting 31 is provided at each end of the barricade bar 4, one of which is shown in detail in FIG. 3. Each fitting 31 comprises a length of upright metal tube or pipe 32 of a length substantially equal to the Vertical width of the bar 4. Each tube or pipe 32 is provided with a pair of spaced metal flanges or plates 34 welded thereto and lie against the end portions of opposed faces of the -bar 4. Suitable bolts 36 or the like, extending through plates 34 the banicade bar and hold the tubes or pipes 32 so that the socket defined by the interiors thereof lie substantially in the vertical plane of the flat barricade bar 4. The inside diameter of the tubes 32 is only slightly greater than the diameter of the rigid rods 16 o-n the supports 2, previously described, whereby the tubes 32 may be slipped over corresponding rods 16 in the manner shown in the drawings. The channels 10 previously described,

are of such dimension that the distance between the flanges 14 is only slightly greater than the outside dimension of the end iittings, as dened by the outer diameter of tubes 32 and theA distance between the outer facesV of platesl 34. Thus, when the bar 4 is assembled to the support 2 in the manner shown, the lowermost edge of the barricade bar 4 and the lower ends of the end fittings thereon enter the upwardly facing channel 10 witha slight clearance.

Since. the supports 2 are substantially planar structures, they are highly unstable and will not stand erect by themselves. Likewise if the supports 2 were permitted to be rotated about a vertical axis to lie in the same plane as Vthe bar 4,V the entire barricade would be unstable and would not stand erect. The upwardly facing channels 10, however, prevent any such rotation and maintain the planes of the supports 2 at all times substantially perpendicular tothe vertical plane of the bar 4 and thus releasably hold lthe barricade in stable condition.

Obviously, the barricade may be disassembled with extreme ease by simply lifting the bar 4 from the supports 2 and the parts can then be stored or transported in a very small dat space.

While a single specific embodiment of the invention has been shown and described herein, it is to be understood that other embodiments may be resorted to Within the scope of the appended claims.

2,997,978 Y Af I claim:

l. In a barricade structure, a bai-ricade bar comprising, an elongated flat core strip of relatively rigid but somewhat exible wood-like' material, a spring steel rod extending along and abutting each longitudinal edge of said core strip, a layer of eXible material surrounding said core strip and rods and provided with an outer surface having attentiomat-tracting visual characteristics, and an outer layer of transparent resin enclosing said exible material.

2. A structure as dened in claim l wherein said core strip isv plywood.

3. A structure as deined in claim 1, including a layer of brous material between said core strip and rods and said layer of flexible material.

4. A structure as defined in claim l, including ttings at the ends of said bar defining open-ended tubular sockets substantially in the plane of said core strip and extending substantially the entire width thereof.

References Cited in the tile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,838,151 Penote Dec. 29, 1931 1,998,520 Penote Aug. 23, 1935 2,517,982 Crocker Aug. 8, 1950 2,701,127 Elliot Feb. l, 1955 2,777,415 Martin et a1 Ian. l5, 1957 2,879,378 Hemphill Mar. l24, 1959

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