Material or article handling – Self-loading or unloading vehicles – Loading or unloading by other carrier or mover means – and...
Reexamination Certificate
2002-09-20
2004-04-27
Tran, Khoi H. (Department: 3651)
Material or article handling
Self-loading or unloading vehicles
Loading or unloading by other carrier or mover means, and...
C414S551000, C414S435000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06726434
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates generally to the deposition of traffic cones onto roadway surfaces, and more particularly to new and improved traffic cone setting devices, mechanisms, or apparatus for both semi-automatically and automatically depositing traffic cones at predeterminedly spaced locations of roadway surfaces in accordance with predeterminedly timed sequences.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Traffic cones are a ubiquitous sight upon the nation's roadways whether they are being used, for example, to visually indicate to motorists either the presence of a construction site, to delineate and separate moving lanes of traffic from roadside work zones, to close particular street regions to oncoming traffic, or the like. As is well known, a supply of traffic cones is usually carried upon a roadwork truck or vehicle operated either by means of a local government agency or a subcontractor organization hired by the local government, and as is often the case, the traffic cones are manually deposited or placed upon the particular roadway by means of operators or workmen personnel who take individual traffic cones from a supply of such cones carried upon the roadwork truck or vehicle and place the individual traffic cones upon the roadway surface at predeterminedly spaced intervals along the particular route being travelled by the roadwork truck or vehicle. In accordance with one mode of operation, the operators or workmen personnel may be positioned upon one side of the roadwork truck or vehicle, and while effectively hanging onto, for example, a rail member, or similar support, of the roadwork truck or vehicle by means of one arm, the operator or workman places a traffic cone onto the roadway with his or her other arm. Alternatively, an individual operator or workman will often sit upon a rear bed, deck, or platform portion of the roadwork vehicle or truck so as to be capable of periodically depositing the traffic cones along the roadway as the roadwork vehicle or truck moves along the particular route along which the traffic cones are to be deposited.
As can readily be appreciated, the aforenoted well-known modes of operation present significant safety problems for the operators or workmen personnel in that the operators or workmen personnel are disposed in precarious positions or orientations upon the roadwork truck or vehicle. Incidents have in fact occurred, for example, during such traffic cone placement or deposition operations, wherein workmen or operator personnel have accidentally fallen from the trucks or vehicles and have either suffered serious injuries, or even worse, have suffered injuries which have proven to be fatal. These situations are not of course entirely unanticipated in view of the fact that sometimes unexpected events occur during movement of the roadwork truck or vehicle alongside ongoing traffic. These events may cause, for example, the particular roadwork truck or vehicle to undergo somewhat sudden movements comprising a change in direction, necessary braking or acceleration, or the like. In addition, it is sometimes difficult for the workmen personnel or operators to simultaneously pick up and then properly control the disposition and placement of the traffic cones onto the roadway surface in view of the fact that each traffic cone weighs at least ten pounds depending upon the particular cone and its size. All of such movements, and the weight force inherent to each traffic cone, can cause destabilizing forces to effectively be impressed upon or transmitted to the operators or workmen personnel which can of course lead to the aforenoted unfortunate injury or death situations to occur as a result of an operator or workman either losing his or her balance, or losing his or her hand-held grip upon the truck or vehicle support structure. Still further, the constant lifting and manipulation of the traffic cones is not ergonomically desirable from a health point of view for the operators or workmen personnel.
In order to overcome such operational drawbacks characteristic of manual procedures for depositing traffic cones onto roadway surfaces, several automated systems have been proposed such as those systems disclosed, for example, within U.S. Pat. No. 5,244,334 which issued to Akita et al. on Sep. 14, 1993, U.S. Pat. No. 5,213,464 which issued to Nicholson et al. on May 25, 1993, or U.S. Pat. No. 5,054,648 which issued-to Luoma on Oct. 8, 1991. While all of such disclosed systems comprise systems for depositing traffic cones onto roadway surfaces, none of the systems disclose a magazine structure for enabling an operator to load a plurality of traffic cones into the system or means for automatically dispensing the traffic cones so as to place the cones at predeterminedly spaced locations upon the roadway surfaces.
A need therefore exists in the art for a new and improved system or apparatus for depositing traffic cones onto roadway surfaces wherein as a result of the provision of such a system or apparatus, the operators or workmen personnel are not exposed to the dangers of oncoming traffic, and wherein further, the traffic cones can be readily, easily, and efficiently deposited without adversely affecting the workmen or operator personnel from an ergonomically healthful and non-fatiguing point of view.
OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide new and improved devices, mechanisms, systems, or apparatus for depositing or placing traffic cones onto roadway surfaces.
Another object of the present invention is to provide new and improved devices, mechanisms, systems, or apparatus for depositing or placing traffic cones onto roadway surfaces wherein the operationally unsafe conditions characteristic of conventional manual traffic cone deposition or placement techniques or procedures can be effectively overcome.
An additional object of the present invention is to provide new and improved devices, mechanisms, systems, or apparatus for depositing or placing traffic cones onto roadway surfaces which comprise manual and semi-automatic devices, mechanisms, systems, or apparatus.
A further object of the present invention is to provide new and improved devices, mechanisms, systems, or apparatus for depositing or placing traffic cones onto roadway surfaces which comprise manual and semi-automatic devices, mechanisms, systems, or apparatus which enable operators or workmen personnel to be positioned at a location or work station which is substantially safe in that the location or work station is positioned relatively remote from the sides or rear end section of the roadwork truck or vehicle such that operators or workmen personnel will not or cannot readily fall off the roadwork truck or vehicle and onto the roadway even if the roadwork truck or vehicle undergoes or experiences relatively sudden movements.
A last object of the present invention is to provide new and improved devices, mechanisms, systems, or apparatus for depositing or placing traffic cones onto roadway surfaces which comprise manual and semi-automatic devices, mechanisms, systems, or apparatus which enable operators or workmen personnel to be positioned at a location or work station which is substantially safe in that the location or work station is positioned relatively remote from the sides or rear end section of the roadwork truck or vehicle such that operators or workmen personnel will not or cannot readily fall off the roadwork truck or vehicle and onto the roadway even if the roadwork truck or vehicle undergoes or experiences relatively sudden movements, and yet the individual operators or workmen can obviously control the deposition or placement of the traffic cones onto the roadway surfaces at predetermined locations and in accordance with desired timed sequence parameters or techniques.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The foregoing and other objectives are achieved in accordance with the teachings and principles of the present invention through the provision of a first embodiment of a new and improved device, mechanism, syste
Anderson Brad
Anderson Merwin
England Bertrum
Orthaus Chad
Wilkens Jeffrey Arnold
Illinois Tool Works Inc.
Schwartz & Weinrieb
Tran Khoi H.
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