Joints and connections – Including frangible component
Reexamination Certificate
1999-06-29
2001-06-26
Browne, Lynne H. (Department: 3629)
Joints and connections
Including frangible component
C403S362000, C052S098000, C248S548000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06250835
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an improvement in poles, markers and the like provided with a device for linking to the ground with breaking point, in particular anti-parking posts or vertical signalling markers used in road signalling.
2. Description of the Related Art
It is relatively expensive to replace markers and posts damaged further to a shock by a vehicle, insofar as not only must the damaged part be replaced, but it has to be unsealed and the replacement part sealed.
In the past, it has therefore been proposed to fix the signalling markers or posts with the aid of a ground-linking device comprising a breaking part, so that, in the event of shock by a vehicle, only the linking piece or one of its elements is deformed or broken. It follows that, in principle, only the linking piece and/or the corresponding element are to be replaced.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,340,531 in particular discloses such a linking device. This document provides fixing the pole to the ground via a sealed base having a hollow tube with the diameter of the pole, the link between this hollow tube and the pole being ensured by a linking piece which is placed, half in this hollow tube and half in the pole. This linking piece presents a median circumferential thin section intended to form the zone of deformation or of rupture. This linking piece may be pierced in its length so as to receive a sling intended to maintain the pole and the base together when the linking piece has broken. The major drawback of this device consists in the risk of damaging the opposite edges of the pole and the base. In effect, in the event of a considerable shock, bringing about complete rupture of the linking piece, the edges of the pole and of the base may violently strike one another or part of the linking piece.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,912,405 discloses another device of this type, comprising a linking piece of which a part is interposed between the pole and the tube sealed in the ground, having the same diameter as the latter but having a thinned rupture zone. Inside this linking piece there extends a flat iron element intended to maintain the sealed tube and pole together after rupture of the linking piece. The geometry of this flat iron element is not favourable to correct functioning of this device apart from a shock perpendicular to the plane of this piece.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved linking device fully performing its role while avoiding any damage of the pole and of the base.
Another object of the invention is to provide such a device which may be adapted to poles of different geometrical shapes.
A further object of the invention is to provide a device which may be used with a base not projecting above ground level.
Yet another object of the invention is to be able to propose such a device not having a part projecting with respect to the pole on inclined ground.
The present invention has for its object a pole, marker or the like formed by an anchoring post and a vertical member or upright, in particular a tube, the anchoring post and upright being linked together by a linking piece, preferably cylindrical, having a zone of lesser resistance to force. The assembly is arranged so that the opposite edges of the anchoring post and the upright have a space therebetween in which the zone of lesser resistance is provided. The linking piece, possibly having a central longitudinal bore, receives a sling or the like shaped to provide a link between the anchoring post and upright after rupture of the linking piece. The post and the upright each include a plate or block element, the two plates oppose one another and at least one has a surface sloping from its center towards its periphery such that the space between the two plates is greater at the periphery of the pole than at its center.
The linking piece is therefore centered on the median axis of the pole and of the anchoring post.
The linking device according to the invention, formed by the two plates and the linking piece, may be used for any street structure fixed to the ground by one or more uprights or poles. Without this being exhaustive, mention may be made of anti-parking posts or markers, barriers, benches, candelabra, signalling, in particular road-signalling masts, advertizing supports and panels, luminous markers, supports of all types, such as trashcan supports. The expression pole, marker or the like is therefore intended to cover all of the possibilities.
The inclined surface of the plate is preferably a surface of generally convex shape. Advantageously, the curvature or the angle of the inclined surface is chosen so that the linking piece breaks before contact between the plates. In any case, the curvature makes it possible to avoid any contact between the edges of the plates. Possible contacts will be made in resistant zones of the plates. In addition, the plates may advantageously be pieces which are solid or of thickness greater than the thickness of the poles, and therefore present a high resistance.
According to the invention, the plates may have an outer diameter identical to or different from that of the anchoring post or the upright which bear them. It will very advantageously be identical when plate and pole will be off-the-ground in order not to increase the dimensions and to avoid any projecting part. The plate or plates may be fixed definitively, for example by welding, or be made in one piece with the upright and/or the anchoring post, or be removably fixed by any means known per se.
According to a particularly advantageous modality, anchoring post and corresponding plate are removably fixed together and are arranged so as to be able to be placed below ground level or substantially at that level. A circular, preferably flat, supple joint is provided between the two plates, preferably on their periphery. This embodiment ensures a certain tightness and renders invisible the adaptation of the pole or marker while allowing the linking piece to be easily changed after a shock. The outer diameter of the joint is preferably larger than or equal to that of the upper plate or the upright, which advantageously makes it possible to preserve the seal and the plate in the event of rupture. In the event of rupture, the upper plate linked to the upright does not come into contact with the seal, but with the joint. The joints are preferably chosen to present a diameter greater than the diameter of the plates.
According to a particular embodiment, a supple, flat, circular joint is provided between the two plates and not projecting therebeyond, as well as a second circular joint coming into position on the periphery of the preceding one, this joint being shaped to be able to adapt itself substantially to the inclination of the ground. It may therefore be a question of a second flat joint, of a joint presenting an inclined surface or, preferably, of a flat joint cut into two parts along an inclined plane so that, in the case of horizontal or substantially horizontal ground, the joint is used in its flat form and, in the case of inclined ground, one of the two joints is turned through 180° so that the maximum thicknesses of the two joints coincide. In the latter case, a flat, unequally cut joint may be used, so as to propose to the user different possibilities from the same joint set, as a function of the inclination of the ground, the user being able simply to use one or the other of the two half-joints thus produced or the association of the two.
According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, particularly adapted to a location below ground level, the plate fixed to the anchoring post is formed by a first half-plate secured with the anchoring post and presenting a housing to receive, on the one hand, one end of the linking piece and, on the other hand, a second half-plate having the bore for the linking piece and means for removable fixation in the housing of the first half-plate, in that the linking piece presents the end (for example a flange) shaped to b
Bochna David E.
Browne Lynne H.
Chamel Didier
Dowell & Dowell , P.C.
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