Foldable supporting device and quick release mechanism therefor

Supports – Stand – Understructure

Reexamination Certificate

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Details

C248S166000, C248S170000, C403S096000

Reexamination Certificate

active

06315253

ABSTRACT:

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention pertains to supporting devices such as those used to support roadway signs and barriers to advise nearby motorists and bystanders of construction sites and other hazards. The present invention also pertains to quick release mechanisms for deploying the supporting device.
2. Description of the Related Art
There has been increasing demand for warning and advisory information concerning worksite activities. For example, organizations charged with safety concerns have come to increasingly appreciate the effectiveness of lightweight temporary sign stands to warn oncoming motorists of nearby work activities. Typically such lightweight sign stands are made to be collapsible for compact storage. In order to complement the sign stand, the sign panels are made of lightweight foldable material. Such completed sign stand assemblies may be conveniently stored in work vehicles, available for ready deployment, thereby bypassing the need to withdraw the sign stand assemblies at a remote location and to schedule their delivery to the worksite. Such sign stand assemblies have offered a great advantage for work operations which last only a day, or part of a day. Work situations of this type present unique demands not associated with long term projects, since motorists will not encounter the worksite on a repeated basis and thus will not have the benefit of past experience as a forewarning. It is important that the sign stand assemblies offer reliable advisory and instructional assistance, particularly for motorists traveling at highway speeds. Sign stand assembles located adjacent a highway must withstand wind gusts generated by moving vehicles as well as wind gusts occurring at outdoor locations, which are usually unabated, especially for multiple lane highway constructions.
Substantial advances have been made in the art of lightweight collapsible sign stand assemblies. For example, commonly assigned U.S. Pat. No. 4,954,008 has been met with ready commercial acceptance and has been recognized not only for its provision of a strong reliable sign stand support, but has also been found to offer substantial labor savings when the sign stand is deployed, and again when the sign stand is collapsed for storage, after use. U.S. Pat. No. 4,954,008 provides a quick release mechanism located at the point where support legs are pivotally secured to a base for supporting the sign mast. The quick release mechanism is operated by depressing a lever arm in order to allow free rotating of the support leg with respect to the remainder of the sign stand assembly.
Frequently, sign stand assemblies must be erected or taken down in inclement weather. At times, the combination of wind gusts occurring during inclement weather and a sudden pressure burst from nearby traffic can substantially complicate a worker's task.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In researching ways in which sign stand assemblies can be improved, it has been discovered that different workers find manipulation of one type of quick release mechanism to be easier in a particular situation than other types of quick release mechanisms.
Improvements in sign stand assemblies are continually being sought. It is an object of the present invention to provide quick release mechanisms having different types of actuating motions associated with the deployment or storage of support legs pivotally mounted to a support base.
Another object of the present intention is to provide sign stand assemblies having improved stronger joinder of support legs to a support base.
A further object of the present invention is to provide support bases and quick release mechanisms therefor constructed from a minimum number of inexpensive components.
These and other objects of the present invention are provided in a foldable supporting device comprising:
a base member including a plurality of support flanges having respective outer peripheries;
a plurality of legs pivotally mounted to respective support flanges for pivotal movement between operational and storage positions;
said legs defining a slot for receiving portions of a respective support flange outer periphery as the leg is pivoted between unfolded and folded positions;
the outer peripheries of the support flanges defining at least one locking recess;
a plurality of locking pins extending through respective legs, the locking pins having an elongated double-ended body with an enlarged head at one end lying outside the leg and an exposed portion at the other end extending beyond the leg;
the locking pins carried by the legs so as to be positioned adjacent.the support flange outer periphery and so as to be movable between a locked position received in the locking recess and an unlocked position outside of the locking recess;
a plurality of spring bias means carried on respective legs so as to urge the locking pin body into the recess to lock the leg against pivoting about the support flange; and
the locking pin movable out of the recess when the exposed portion is deflected so as to oppose the force of the spring bias means.


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