Road structure – process – or apparatus – Traffic steering device or barrier
Reexamination Certificate
2002-01-16
2004-03-09
Hartmann, Gary S. (Department: 3671)
Road structure, process, or apparatus
Traffic steering device or barrier
C404S010000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06702511
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND
The need to reduce the impact of a vehicle coming in contact with obstructions (i.e., concrete walls), is needed to help save lives of the occupants. The steeper the angle of impact the greater the chance of sever injury to the occupant in the past other inventors have tried to resolve this problem, but all have fell short of the mark. Inventors have used all sorts of very complicated devices that are hard or expensive to make and install. Some require special walls or structures to be built. Some devices would require lengthy clean up time and man power after a crash.
This invention can retrofit obstructions by the use of an air bag sandwiched against the barrier. Over the air bag is a metal strike plate to prevent the vehicle from tearing the air bag and to spread the weight of the impact over the surface of the air bag. The metal plate is hinged on one edged and the hinge is anchored to the obstruction. On the opposite side from the hinge the metal plate is held by one or more restraints (e.g., cables). The metal plate is set at an angle to the obstruction and the roadway from 5 degrees to 60 degrees. Installed on the obstruction is a series of the invention devices that over lap each other. The angle of the metal plates points away from the on coming traffic. When the plate is struck by a vehicle, the air in the bag or bags struck begin to build in pressure. At a critical point a valve opens and lets the air escape at a controlled rate. The auto is slowed in the process and the occupants have a greater chance of escaping serious injures. The air bag is then either replaced, or refilled with air. The strike plate is either replaced, or is put back into place and secured by the restraints. The air bag has a mechanical indicator to show the air pressure inside, and/or an electronic element connected to a control point. The control point monitor can tell when there is a crash by the rise in the air pressure. The monitor can then send appropriate personnel to the crash site.
During a race, such as a NASCAR event, the cars sometimes brush the wall. When this happens the car is only slightly damaged. When the race car hits the wall hard, on any of it six sides (top-bottom-right-left-front-back), the driver is often injured. When the race car wrecks in the turns the angle is often very much straight head-on. At any speed the driver is often injured. With this device installed the impact can be greatly reduced. There is no debris, or very little, scattered over the racing service from the device. Therefore no time is lost to cleaning up the racing serface. While the track crew members are removing the race car, the debris that it spread over the racing surface, another crew reinflates the deflated air bag, or replace it with a new one. They then reset the metal strike plate, or replace it with a new one. They then replace the restraints and check the air pressure and the electronic connections. A-O-K The race is resumed. This device is capable of being installed on the concrete walls that have injured or taken the lives of so many race drivers. No need to tear out walls and replace them with new ones with some built in elaborate mechanism. Two or more anchors are all that is needed to install the invented device.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
This reusable device is for reducing the amount of impact a vehicle encounters when striking an unmoveable object. This device uses an air bag sandwiched between the unmovable object and a metal strike plate. The air bag may have one or more air chambers. Each chamber to have a valve to release the excessive air pressure that builds when a vehicle hits the strike plate. When the air is released it is at a controlled rate. A mechanical indicator shows the air pressure inside the chamber or chambers at a glimpse. Also and/or an electronic sensor is connected to a control point where the air pressure is monitored. When a vehicle hits the metal strike plate, the rise in pressure is alerted to the person monitoring the air bags. An other wise unnoticed accident can be brought to the attention of someone that can dispatch help to the scene. The metal strike plate is used to protect the air bag from being torn during a crash and to distribute the force of the impact over the entire surface of the air bag. This metal strike plate is held in place on one side by a hinged portion that is anchored to the unmovable object. The other side of the strike plate is held in check by one or more restraints (e.g., cables). The restraints hold the metal strike plate tight against the air bag. The restraints also keep the metal strike plate from swinging out into way of the on coming traffic. The metal strike plate is set to an angle between 5 degrees and 60 degrees to the roadway. The metal strike plate points away from the on coming flow of traffic.
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