Signals and indicators – Street traffic – Portable
Reexamination Certificate
1999-06-09
2001-10-23
Nguyen, Kien T. (Department: 3712)
Signals and indicators
Street traffic
Portable
C116S06300T
Reexamination Certificate
active
06305312
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates generally to traffic channelizing apparatus, and more particularly to a stackable flat panel traffic channelizing device having a handle on top.
The development of plastic traffic delineators, such as plastic barricades, cylinders, cones and barrels, for directing and channeling traffic flows has significantly increased the safety of automotive transportation. If an automobile strikes a wood or metal delineator, the occupants may be seriously injured and the automobile and the delineator may be seriously damaged. If a vehicle strikes a plastic delineator, the relatively lightweight, collapsible delineator causes little damage to the vehicle, and is significantly less likely to injure the vehicle occupants. Plastic delineators are also sufficiently resilient to withstand numerous hits from vehicles without being seriously damaged.
For ease of manufacture and use, plastic barricades have previously been made in two identical pieces that are hinged together. To assemble the barricade, one of the pieces is rotated about its lengthwise axis and matched to the other piece. Bolts are typically used to hinge the two pieces together.
These prior plastic barricades have certain disadvantages. For instance, barricades often need to be transported to different construction sites. Ideally, the barricade is easily stacked during transport to reduce the volume required for transport. In the past, stacking has required that the barricades be collapsed and stacked on top of each other, similar to a deck of cards.
Because the plastic is smooth, stacked plastic barricades have a tendency to slide off. To solve that problem, stacking lugs have been added to faces of the barricades, see, for instance, the barricade depicted in U.S. Pat. No. 5,003,912, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by this reference. Such stacking lugs complicate the manufacture of the barricades, require additional material and slow the stacking process because workers need to align the lugs with the corresponding holes that receive the lugs. Furthermore, the lugs often were crushed and sometimes interfered with mounting of a sign on the flat panel of the barricade.
Another disadvantage of the prior barricades is the relative cost involved with constructing a barricade. That is, the two identical sides had to be bolted together, which required time and effort during manufacture. Also, the prior plastic barricades were relatively heavy, even if constructed of lightweight plastic.
In contrast, plastic cylindrical or conical traffic delineators have many advantages, including relative ease of manufacturing and light weight. However, cylindrical and conical delineators and cones do not have wide, flat panels for placement of signs or for increasing the surface area, and therefore the visibility, of the delineator. Thus, such delineators are not useful for mounting signs.
One attempt to increase the surface area of a sign on a conical delineator is depicted in U.S. Pat. No. 5,749,673, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by this reference. As shown in that patent, flexible sheets of plastic are affixed to opposing sides of the conical walls. The conical delineator remains stackable, because the flexible plastic sheets bend around the conical wall when a second conical delineator is stacked on the first. However, such delineators require workers to rivet the plastic panels to the walls of the delineator, and do not stack as efficiently as would be desirable. Furthermore, after continued use and stacking, the flat panels, which are typically made of polyethylene sheeting or other plastic, cease to remain flat but rather will begin to curve around the delineator wall. This reduces the visible surface area of the delineator.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
According to the present invention, a flat panel vertical traffic channelizer is provided that overcomes these and other drawbacks of the prior delineators. A channelizer made according to the present invention is a unitary piece of plastic that does not require any assembly, thereby reducing the cost of manufacture. The channelizer also stacks and unstacks easily, and includes a large flat panel for attaching signs.
A flat panel vertical traffic channelizer according to the present invention is preferably formed from blow molded plastic. The shape is similar to that of a cross between a cone and a barricade, that is, if the flat panels forming the sides of the channelizer were removed, the corners of the channelizer would generally form a cone, frustum or conic section. The walls of the channelizer are preferably of a defined thickness to reduce the weight of the channelizer and prevent “locking” of the channelizer when stacked, but maintain the strength and durability of the channelizer.
The channelizer according to the present invention comprises two flat panels having at least the minimum surface area set by state or federal regulation. Each panel forms a wall of the channelizer. One or more handles are formed on the top of the channelizer. The handle or handles are formed of a loop of plastic large enough for a hand to be inserted through the loop. When two or more channelizers are stacked, a deck formed in the inner surface of the upper stacked channelizer strikes the upper surface of the handle or handles, thereby preventing the panels from engaging and reducing lock-up of the stacked channelizers.
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Bent Bruce C.
Bent James A.
Bent Manufacturing Company
Colter J. Harrison
Francis Faye
Nguyen Kien T.
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