US3289555A

US3289555A - Roadside marking post

Info

Publication number: US3289555A
Application number: US362711A
Authority: US
Inventors: Steenberg Andreas Peter
Original assignee: Dammannbeeken Plasticindustri AS
Current assignee: Dammannbeeken Plasticindustri AS
Priority date: 1963-04-26
Filing date: 1964-04-27
Publication date: 1966-12-06
Anticipated expiration: 1983-12-06
Also published as: LU45864A1; BE647007A; DE1897957U; NL6403768A; GB996950A

Description

DSG 6, 1956 A. P. sTEENBx-:RG

ROADSIDE MARKING PST Filed April 27, 1964 United States Patent O 3,289,555 RUADSHDE MARKING PST Andreas Peter Steenherg, Hvidovre, Copenhagen, lDenmark, assignor to Dammannbeeken Plasticindustri A/S, Copenhagen, Denmark Filed Apr. 2.7, 1964i, Ser. No. 362,711

Claims priority, application Denmark, Apr. 26, 1963,

1,956/63; lan. 24, 1964, 369/64 4 Claims. (Cl. 941-15) The invention relates to a roadside marking post having a base portion adapted to be forced into a tubular base receiver which receiver is placed in the earth, a body portion, and va reflective material mounted on the body portion.

It is known to manufacture roadside marking posts of rigid materials with resilient locking means at their base so that the .posts can be readily removed from the receiver, for example when the grass of the verge in which they are mounted is to be mowed, land so that they are thrown up from the corresponding receiver when struck by a colliding vehicle. Since, however, the post is of a rigid material i-t has to be provided with separate resilient locking means, which enhances its oost of manufacture. Further, there are known roadside markers of resilient materials, but these .are similarly provi-ded with separate attachment means `and are furthermore rather costly to manufacture.

It has been found that roadside ymarking posts `of plastic are very advantageous, partly because such material is cheap, partly because they may be made so resilient that they do not damage a vehicle that hits them. Owing to their light weight they are further easy to remove, either temporarily during repair works or for replacement. The plastic material, however, presents certain problems in regard to retaining the post in the tubular base receiver, which problems are due partly to the softness of the material and partly to the fact that t-he material works somewhat when exposed to the temperature variations. It is the object of the invention to solve these problems and to manufacture a cheap, but nevertheless durable roadside marking post of the aforesaid kind.

An essential feature of the roadside marking post `according to the invention is that it has the form of a resilien-t hollow ybody of plastic and surface of which is formed with at least one contact surface with one or more locking bosses Whichare made integral with the post and serve to retain it to its receiver. Such a hollow body is of considerable bendability land streng-th and since the contact surface and the locking bosses may be formed as an integral part of the roadside marking post during its manufacture, lfor example by inflation in a mold, the post can be manufactured `at low cost.

The use rof plastic material involves furthermore problems in regard to retaining reflective materials to the post, which is likewise due to the softness of the material and its tendency to work when exposed to temperature variations. However, this problem is solved too when the post, as in the case of yone embodiment according to the invention, has one or more contact surfaces with locking bosses on its upright part above the base section, the said locking ybosses serving to retain the rellective material to the post. These locking bosses can be readily made by the same methods as the locking bosses provided in the base.

An essential feature of the roadside marking post according to t-he invention is that the contact surfaces for the reflective materials are countersunk in the surface yof the post, the reflective materials being mounted on correspondingly formed plates which with projecting locking bosses with widened heads are pressed into holes in the ICC contact surfaces. Furthermore, from the edge of the countersunk Contact surface the locking bosses engage the edges of the plate. As a result the plates with the reflective materials may be mounted promptly and securely, since, when the pole is withdrawn from the mold, they are placed on the contact surfaces with the pins passed into the holes of same, after which the locking bosses engage the plate edges when the plastic material around the plates contracts by the cooling, so as to lock the plates in position. The pins that `are passed into the holes by snap action prevention the plate with the reflective material from bulging out `from the contact surface when the latter is brought into contact with the hot plastic surface.

The locking bosses may according to the invention form an edge extending the whole way round along the countersunk contact surface and sloping on to the plate which carries the reflective material. The plate is thus surrounded by the plastic edge so that it is very eiiiciently retained along the whole edge without the use of short locking bosses which might be exposed to wilful damage.

The plate carrying the reflective material may according to the invention have an edge section which is narrower than the remaining part of the plate. The projecting plastic edge or the bosses around the countersunk cont-act surface may thereby be made flush with the re- -maining surface of the plastic post `and the reflective surface.

According to the invention it is advantageous that the locking vboss of the base is designed with a projection on flat contact surface of the base receiver, which, by the way, is cylindrical `and has a circumferential depression at its upper end, the said depression being limited upwardly by a tiat, projecting supporting flange substantially .at right angles to the longitudinal axis of the post. When the roadside marking post is mounted in its base section, the upper part of the flat surface of the base is resting in contact with -a corresponding flat surface of the base, Ithe locking boss engaging beneath the last mentioned surface, and the depression beneath the supporting flange acts as an accordion f-old so as to provide added bendability of the post and thus increasing its resistance to the impact caused by slight collision with vehicular tratlic. OW- ing to the flat contact surface the post is always correctly positioned in the base receiver, that is, in such manner that the reflective material faces in the proper direction, `and this surface and the locking rboss are preferably mounted so as to face the oncoming vehicular traffic, so that the locking -boss in case of collision is pressed into still firmer engagement with the base section.

The bendability of the post may according to the invention be further increased if the supporting flange upwardly passes into `a conical part of the surface of the post, the said part, again, passing at its upper end into the upper box-shaped part of t-he post.

The locking boss of the base may according to the invention be provided between a couple of longitudinal ribs projecting from the llat surface to a height slightly less than the height of the l-ocking boss. When the post is pressed down into the base receiver until the locking boss with snap action engages the underside of the corresponding locking edge, the post slides on the ribs which thereby absorb the wear and at the same time prevents the locking boss from being depressed so much that it loses its elasticity.

The -invention will now b-e described in detail with reference to the drawing, in which FIGURE 1 shows an embodiment of a roadside marking post according to the invention, viewed in perspective,

FIGURE 2 is a section on the line II-II of FIG- URE 1,

FIGURE 3 is a corresponding section of `another embodiment,

FIGURE 4 shows the triangular plate carrying the reflective material, viewed from the edge inwardly towards the right angle,

FIGURE 5 is a section on the line V-V of FIGURE 1 through the base of the roadside marking post, with the base receiver shown in ghost form,

FIGURE 6 is the lower part of the base, viewed from the side, with the base receiver shown in ghost form, and

FIGURE 7 is a side view of the base mounted in the base receiver, which view is partly in section along section line VII-VII of FIG. 6.

The roadside marking post illustrated consists of a hollow body of plastic with an upper part 1 having the form of a flat box the larger side surfaces of which are of narrowing width downwards, forming at their lower end together with the narrow side surfaces a truncated downwardly tapering section 2 the lower end of which, again, passes into a short flange section 3 -of the form of a cylindrical truncated cone with downwardly facing flat base to form a supporting flange -4 on which the roadside marking post is resting when mounted in a tubular base section in the ground. Owing to the fo-rm of the body of the post it is of great strength and bendability when manufactured of a tough plastic material, the rectangular cross section of the upper end of the post giving it rather great strength, simultaneously with the post having a certain bendability at the edge between the

sections

2 and 3 and still `greater bendability at the transition between the section 3 and the base 5 of the post since there is provided here Ia circumferential groove 6 so that the whole section involved acts as an accordion bellows with a single fold.

The upper part 1 of the embodiment illustrated carries a triangular plate 7 on which there is provided a reflective material 8. The plate 7 is countersunk in a depression provided in the surface of the post and is retained by means of locking bosses 9 and pins 10 which are passed lby snap action through holes in the wall of the post, the pins having a pointed head 11 with a flat -underside. The plate 7 with the reflective material 8 is mounted on the post directly after -its removal from the casting mold when it has a temperature of about 60-70 C. When the pins are pressed through the holes provided in the surface of the post, the plate is retained despite the heat transmitted to it by 'the post, so that it yrests in flat contact with the countersunk contact surface on the surface of -the post. At the subsequent cooling the plastic material of the post contracts whereby the locking bosses 9 engage the edges of the rigid plate 7 .and retain the said plate in position. In the embodiment shown in FIGURES 2 and 4 the plate 7 has a thin edge section 12 so that the upper side of the roadside marking post proper and the upper side of the locking bosses 9 which constitute integral parts ofthe post and of the plate 7 are flush with each other.

FIGURE 3 shows a section through `an embodiment in which the locking bosses 9 have been substituted by an inwardly including edge 13 extending the whole way round along the contact surface on which the plate '7 is resting so that the said pla-te'is fully enclosed when the material of the .post contracts and in which the holes have been substituted by concavities. The concavities cooperate with the heads 11 in the same manner as the holes cooperate with the heads 11. In other words, the entrance of each concavity, like each hole, both of which may generically be referred to as an orifice, at a temperature of about 60-70 C., when the post is first removed from the mold, is about the same size as or larger than the head and, when the post cools, becomes smaller than the head.

The base 5 of the roadside marking post has a flat contact surface 14 conforming to a corresponding fiat surface provided in the base in which the post is to be mounted 4and being so oriented that the reflective material 8 is facing the oncoming vehicular traffic. A locking boss 15 is partly depressed when the base 5 is passed into the corresponding base section in the gro-und.l Longitudinal ribs 16 absorb wear on the post and prevent complete `depression of the locking boss 15 the elasticity of which would otherwise be lost.

What I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A resilient post having a base portion and a body portion, said base having an outwardly projecting boss adapted to resiliently engage the inner walls of a hollow receiver for mounting of said post, said body having a recess, inwardly directed resilient flanges extending from peripheral portions of said recess, the inward edges of the flanges being spaced from t-he bottom of said recess, and a plate of reflective material disposed in said recess and held in place by said resilient anges.

2. A resilient post according to claim 1, in which said flanges extend continuously from the entire periphery of the recess.

3. A resilient post according to claim 1, in which the plate is provided with at least one outwardly projecting locking pin, said locking pin having a neck and an enlarged head, `and the bottom of the recess is provided with an orifice, said head projecting completely into said orifice, the transverse dimension of said orifice being less than the transverse dimension of said head and at least as great `as the transverse dimension of said neck.

4. A resilient post according to claim 1, in which the edges of said plate are of thinner cross-section than the remainder of said plate.

Refer-ences Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,164,909 12/1915 Anberlin 40-145 1,612,035 12/1926 Lorenzo 40-143 2,653,840 9/1953 Bitzer 287--126 2,709,907 6/ 1955 Robertson 287-126 3,026,641 4/ 1962 Keats.

3,089,269 5/1963 McKiernan 40-143 3,102,742 9/ 19163 Shurcliff 287-126 3,204,355 9/1965 Whiteman 40-145 JACOB L. N ACKENOFF, Primary Examiner.

Claims

1. A RESILIENT POST HAVING A BASE PORTION AND A BODY PORTION, SAID BASE HAVING AN OUTWARDLY PROJECTING BOSS ADAPTED TO RESILIENTLY ENGAGE THE INNER WALLS OF A HOLLOW RECEIVER FOR MOUNTING OF SAID POST, SAID BODY HAVING A RECESS, INWARDLY DIRECTED RESILIENT FLANGES EXTENDING FROM PERIPHERAL PORTIONS OF SAID RECESS, THE INWARD EDGES OF THE FLANGES BEING SPACED FROM THE BOTTOM OF SAID RECESS, AND A PLATE OF REFLECTIVE MATERIAL DISPOSED IN SAID RECESS AND HELD IN PLACE BY SAID RESILIENT FLANGES.