Stiffener core for a highway marker

• US 5,205,236 A
• Filed: 07/26/1991
• Issued: 04/27/1993
• Est. Priority Date: 07/26/1991
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Flexstake, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Flexstake, Inc.
• Inventors: Hughes, Robert K.
• Primary Examiner(s): Cuchlinski, Jr., William A.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Beres, John L.
• Application Number:
  US07/736,735
• Time in Patent Office: 641 Days
• Field of Search: 116/63 R, 116/DIG. 16, 116/209, 116/173, 40/608, 40/610, 40/612, 404/6, 404/9, 404/10, 404/11, 404/13
• US Class Current: 116/63.00R
• CPC Class Codes: E01F 9/629 Traffic guidance, warning or control posts, bollards, pillars or like upstanding bodies or structures

Abstract

An impact resistant marker for highway marking has facilities that cause it to deflect if struck by a vehicle. The marker has a base and a post. The post connects to the base by means of a flexible element. The post has a longitudinal hole through it. A stiffener core locates in this hole and extends part of the distance of the hole. The lower end of the stiffener core is spaced above the upper end of the mandrel by a clearance. If struck, the stiffener core causes the post to deflect at the elastomeric element.

Claims

1. An impact resistant marker, comprising in combination:

a base adapted to be secured to the ground and having an upward protruding mandrel;

a post having a longitudinal hole extending therethrough and having a lower end;

an elastomeric flexible element having a lower end secured to the mandrel and an upper end secured to the lower end of the post, so as to allow the post to pivot from an upright position to an inclined position if struck by a vehicle;

a stiffener core extending through the hole in the post from the lower end o the post upward for a selected distance, to cause the post to pivot at the flexible element rather bend above the flexible element, if struck by a vehicle; and

wherein the hole is generally elliptical in transverse cross-section, having cross-sectional major and a minor dimensions, and wherein the core has a lower portion that is generally elliptical in transverse cross-section, having substantially the same dimensions as the major and minor dimensions of the hole, the core having an upper portion that has substantially the same major dimension but a lesser minor dimension than the hole.

2. An impact resistant marker, comprising in combination:

a base adapted to be secured to the ground and having an upward protruding mandrel;

a post having a longitudinal hole extending therethrough and having a lower end;

an elastomeric flexible element having a lower end secured to the mandrel and an upper end secured to the lower end of the post, so as to allow the post to pivot from an upright position to an inclined position if struck by a vehicle;

a stiffener core extending through the hole in the post from the lower end of the post upward for a selected distance, to cause the post to pivot at the flexible element rather bend above the flexible element, if struck by a vehicle;

wherein the hole is generally elliptical in transverse cross-section, having cross-sectional major and a minor dimensions, and wherein the core has a lower portion that is generally elliptical in transverse cross-section, having substantially the same dimensions as the major and minor dimensions of the hole, the core having an upper portion that has substantially the same major dimension but a lesser minor dimension than the hole; and

wherein the upper portion of the core is solid.

3. An impact resistant marker, comprising in combination:

a base adapted to be secured to the ground;

a mandrel extending upward from the base above the ground, the mandrel having a transverse width and a transverse thickness measured 90 degrees relative to the width, the width being greater than the thickness;

a post having a transverse width and a transverse thickness measured 90 degrees relative to the width, the width being greater than the thickness, the post having a lower end and an upper end;

a longitudinal hole extending through the post;

a tubular elastomeric flexible element having a lower end extending over and being secured to the mandrel and an upper end extending over and being secured to the lower end of the post, the flexible element having a transverse width and a transverse thickness measured 90 degrees relative to the width, the width being greater than the thickness so as to allow the post to pivot from an upright position to an inclined position if the post struck by a vehicle from a direction generally perpendicular to the width of the post;

a stiffener core extending through the hole in the post from the lower end of the post upward, to cause the post to pivot at the flexible element rather than bend above the flexible element if struck by a vehicle;

where the hole has a major dimension that is measured parallel to the width of the post and a minor dimension that is measured parallel to the thickness of the post, and wherein the major dimension is greater than the minor dimension, and wherein the core has a lower portion that has a width substantially the same dimension as the major dimension and a thickness substantially the same dimension as the minor dimension; and

wherein the core has an upper portion that has a width substantially the same dimension as the major dimension and has a thickness that is less than the minor dimension.

4. An impact resistant marker, comprising in combination:

a base adapted to be secured to the ground;

a mandrel extending upward from the base above the ground, the mandrel having a transverse width and a transverse thickness measured 90 degrees relative to the width, the width being greater than the thickness;

a post having a transverse width and a transverse thickness measured 90 degrees relative to the width, the width being greater than the thickness, the post having a lower end and an upper end;

a longitudinal hole extending through the post, the hole having a major dimension that is measured parallel to the width of the post and a minor dimension that is measured parallel to the thickness of the post, and wherein the major dimension is greater than the minor dimension;

a tubular elastomeric flexible element having a lower end extending over and being secured to the mandrel and an upper end extending over and being secured to the lower end of the post, the flexible element having a transverse width and a transverse thickness measured 90 degrees relative to the width, the width being greater than the thickness so as to allow the post to pivot from an upright position to an inclined position if the post struck by a vehicle from a direction generally perpendicular to the width of the post;

a stiffener core extending through the hole in the post from the lower end of the post upward to a point below the upper end of the post, to cause the post to pivot at the flexible element rather than bend above the flexible element if struck by a vehicle, the core having a lower portion that has a width substantially the same dimension as the major dimension and a thickness substantially the same dimension as the minor dimension; and

wherein the core has an upper portion that has a width substantially the same dimension as the major dimension and has a thickness that is less than the minor dimension.