Safety delineators

• US 5,560,732 A
• Filed: 02/10/1994
• Issued: 10/01/1996
• Est. Priority Date: 02/10/1994
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: TrafFix Devices Inc.
• Original Assignee: TrafFix Devices Inc.
• Inventors: Kulp, Jack H., Sullivan, James P.
• Primary Examiner(s): Schoeppel, Roger J.
• Application Number:
  US08/195,119
• Time in Patent Office: 964 Days
• Field of Search: 404/6, 404/9, 404/10, 404/13, 40/612, 116/63 P
• US Class Current: 404/10
• CPC Class Codes: E01F 9/654 in the form of three-dimensional bodies, e.g. cones; capable of assuming three-dimensional form, e.g. by inflation or erection to form a geometric body
• CPC Class Codes: E01F 9/688 Free-standing bodies
• CPC Class Codes: E01F 9/70 Storing, transporting, placing or retrieving portable devices

Abstract

A safety delineator is provided having either a conical or a tubular body portion, which has an improved handle feature permitting easy and comfortable full hand gripping of the delineator. The invention additionally solves a longstanding problem common to prior art support bases for delineators and the like, by providing a convenient handle, molded integrally with the support base element, for picking up the base. The inventive handle not only provides a convenient means for grabbing the delineator, but it also provides an additional advantage with respect to conical delineators, in that it prevents them from sticking together when they are stacked. Two types of inventive support bases are disclosed. One is a base molded from a heavy solid material, such as rubber, and includes additional advantageous features such as anti-skid grippers on the bottom surface of the base element and stacking rings molded onto the upper surface of the base element for assisting in compactly stacking a plurality of bases. The second type is molded from resilient plastic, and adapted to be filled with a ballast material such as sand. This base is advantageously molded to provide a funnel structure for filling the ballast chamber, which, after the filling step is completed, is cut off. The base element edges are then sealed to permanently seal the ballast chamber. Additional features of this type of base are its dome-like configuration and the provision of corrugations on its bottom surface, both of which contribute to its crush resistance.

Claims

1. A method of fabricating a support base for an upstanding structure, comprising the steps of:

a) molding a base member from a resilient plastic, said base member having upper and lower surfaces which enclose a hollow chamber therein, a funnel structure extending out of said base member from said chamber;

b) filling said chamber with a ballast material comprising a flowable mass of loose particles, said ballast material being received into said chamber through said funnel structure;

c) cutting off said funnel structure such that edges of each of said upper and lower surfaces are in adjoining relationship at the cutting point; and

d) permanently sealing said adjoining edges at the cutting point so that the ballast material is permanently sealed within said chamber.

2. A method of fabricating a support base, as recited in claim 1, wherein step b) includes shaking or spinning said base member while said chamber is being filled.

3. A base for supporting an upstanding structure, said support base comprising:

a base member having a bottom surface which is adapted to be supported by a horizontal surface, said base member including an integrally molded hollow chamber which is adapted to be filled with a ballast material comprised of a flowable mass of loose particles for providing stabilization weight to said base member and for increasing the crush resistance thereof, said base member having no removable cover means for permitting filling and emptying of the hollow chamber during the useful lifetime of said support base;

a mounting aperture extending through said base member which is adapted to receive a base end of said upstanding structure; and

a handle integral with said base member for permitting convenient gripping of said support base.

4. A support base as recited in claim 3, wherein the bottom surface of said base member is corrugated to improve the crush resistance of said base member and to prevent skidding along said horizontal surface.

5. A support base as recited in claim 3, wherein said chamber is adapted to be permanently sealed during its useful lifetime, such that said ballast material is permanently enclosed therein.

6. A support base as recited in claim 3, wherein an edge of said base member includes a funnel-like portion extending therefrom, said funnel-like portion providing an opening into said chamber and being adapted to receive said ballast material for filling said chamber and to be permanently sealed once said ballast material has been received.

7. A support base as recited in claim 3, wherein said base member upper surface includes a plurality of guide recesses molded therein, for receiving and guiding straps which may be used to securely wrap a stack of said support bases.

8. A support base as recited in claim 3, wherein said handle is molded integrally with said base member and further comprises a hollow gripping portion spaced from said base member by a solid extender portion.

9. A safety delineator, comprising:

a body portion having a top end and a base end, said base end including a horizontal support element for supporting said body portion in an upstanding position; and

a handle adapted to permit convenient generally full hand gripping of said safety delineator, said handle being integrally molded with said body portion and comprising a shaft portion axially oriented and extending axially upwardly from said body portion top end and a knob portion extending axially upwardly from said shaft portion;

wherein said handle is at least four inches long and said shaft portion therefore has a sufficient length to permit all of the fingers of an average adult hand to be wrapped thereabout in a generally full hand grip.

10. A safety delineator as recited in claim 9, wherein said handle is approximately five and one half inches long.

11. A safety delineator as recited in claim 9, wherein said body portion top end has a first diameter, said shaft portion has a second diameter which is smaller than said first diameter, and said knob portion has a third diameter which is greater than said second diameter.

12. A safety delineator as recited in claim 11, wherein said knob portion is generally hemispherical.

13. A safety delineator as recited in claim 11, and further comprising a first transition region between said body portion top end and said shaft portion and a second transition region between said knob portion and said shaft portion.

14. A safety delineator as recited in claim 13, wherein said first transition region comprises a first fillet which provides a generally smooth transition between said first and second diameters and said second transition region comprises a second fillet which provides a generally smooth transition between said second third diameters.

15. A safety delineator as recited in claim 9, wherein said body portion is conical.

16. A safety delineator as recited in claim 9, wherein said body portion is tubular.

17. A safety delineator as recited in claim 9, wherein said shaft portion has a textured outer surface, in order to provide an improved gripping surface.

18. A safety delineator as recited in claim 9, wherein said shaft portion includes a plurality of spaced circumferential ribs.

19. A safety delineator as recited in claim 9, wherein said shaft portion diameter is substantially the same at both axial ends of the shaft portion.

20. A safety delineator as recited in claim 11, wherein said second diameter is about one and one quarter inches, to thereby permit easy and convenient gripping of said shaft portion.

21. A safety delineator as recited in claim 9, wherein said body portion is conical and said shaft portion has a length adequate to ensure that when a plurality of conical delineators are axially stacked, in a nesting fashion, the handle of each lower delineator functions to stop the travel of the next higher stacked delineator downwardly thereupon before interfering contact between the conical sidewalls of the stacked delineators causes said delineators to stick or jam.

22. A safety delineator as recited in claim 9, and further including a support base comprising:

a base member having a bottom surface which is adapted to be supported by a substantially horizontal surface;

a mounting aperture extending through said base member which is adapted to receive said base end of said body portion; and

a handle integral with said base member for permitting convenient gripping of said support base.

23. A safety delineator as recited in claim 22, said support base being adapted to be stacked compactly with other like support bases, wherein said base member further includes:

an upper surface;

a stacking ring extending upwardly from said upper surface; and

a stacking recess in said lower surface having a size corresponding to said stacking ring;

wherein when a plurality of said support bases are in a stacked relationship, the stacking ring on each said base member is adapted to be received by the stacking recess in the lower surface of the base member immediately thereabove.

24. A safety delineator as recited in claim 22, wherein said base member is molded from a resilient plastic and includes an upper surface, said upper surface and said bottom surface enclosing a hollow chamber, said chamber being adapted to be filled with a ballast material comprised of a flowable mass of loose particles for providing stabilization weight to said base member and for increasing the crush resistance thereof, said base member further being generally dome-shaped such that said upper surface tapers down to nearly 0 inches at the edges of the base member to substantially eliminate vertical side walls, said upper surface further including a plurality of guide recesses molded therein, said lower surface including a plurality of texture elements for providing an anti-skid surface and for increasing the structural stiffness and rigidity of said base member, and said handle being canted at an upward angle and being molded integrally with said base member, said handle further comprising a hollow gripping portion spaced from said base member by a solid extender portion.

25. A safety delineator as recited in claim 24, wherein said chamber is adapted to be permanently sealed.

26. A safety delineator as recited in claim 24, wherein an edge of said base member includes a funnel-like portion extending therefrom, said funnel-like portion providing an opening into said chamber and being adapted to receive said ballast material for filling said chamber.

27. A safety delineator as recited in claim 9, wherein said handle has a configuration generally resembling the handle of a baseball bat.

28. A safety delineator as recited in claim 9, wherein said horizontal support element comprises a generally circumferential lip.