Deformable speed hump

• US 6,659,682 B2
• Filed: 11/21/2001
• Issued: 12/09/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 03/12/1997
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Autospan Limited Of Greengate Works
• Original Assignee: Autospan Limited
• Inventors: Heeks, Graham
• Primary Examiner(s): Hartmann, Gary S.
• Assistant Examiner(s): FLORIO, KRISTINE MARIE
• Application Number:
  US09/990,409
• Publication Number:
  US 20020085881A1
• Time in Patent Office: 748 Days
• Field of Search: 404/6, 404/10, 404/11, 404/15, 404/16
• US Class Current: 404/15
• CPC Class Codes: E01F 9/529 specially adapted for signalling by sound or vibrations, e.g. rumble strips; specially adapted for enforcing reduced speed, e.g. speed bumps

Abstract

A road traffic speed control device which is located in a roadway, is formed of resiliently deformable material and is deflatable by the passage of a vehicle thereover at the intended speed limit of the vehicle in the roadway, in use. The device may be formed from an extruded or compressed partially recyclable rubber compound.

Claims

1. A road-traffic speed-control device which is locatable in a roadway, said device comprising a speed hump formed from a resiliently-deformable material and having at least one of a perforation, an aperture and a valve means disposed therein so that air within said device is in restricted communication with a surrounding atmosphere to permit deflation of said device by a passage of a vehicle over said device at an intended speed limit of said vehicle in said roadway, but not at speeds exceeding said speed limit, and is sufficiently resilient to reinflate itself automatically after passage of said vehicle.

2. The road traffic speed control device recited in claim 1, wherein said resiliently-deformable material is an extruded partially-recyclable rubber compound.

3. The road traffic speed control device recited in claim 1, wherein said resiliently-deformable material is a compressed partially-recyclable rubber compound.

4. The road traffic speed control device recited in claim 1, wherein said device has a semi-cylindrical cross-section.

5. The road traffic speed control device recited in claim 1, wherein said device has a substantially sinusoidal cross-section.

6. The road traffic speed control device recited in claim 1, wherein said device reinflates after said deflation, said device further comprises a valve which permits said deflation and reinflation, and said valve is disposed in a side wall of said device.

7. The road traffic speed control device recited in claim 1, further comprising a helical spring disposed within said device, said spring biasing said device in an inflated position.

8. The road traffic speed control device recited in claim 1, wherein said device is deflated by said passage of a vehicle over said device at a speed of between 5 mph and said intended speed limit of said vehicle in said roadway.

9. The road traffic speed control device recited in claim 1 comprising inner and outer walls of resiliently deformable material, the inner wall defining an elongate chamber for having said restricted communication with the atmosphere, the outer wall providing a surface for vehicles.

10. The road traffic speed control device recited in claim 9, wherein said inner wall comprises a substantially cylindrical tube extending within the device, while the outer wall defines a part-sinusoidal profile.

11. The road traffic speed control device recited in claim 9, wherein air in a space between said inner and outer walls is not in communication with the surrounding atmosphere.

12. The road-traffic speed-control device of claim 1, wherein the speed hump is sufficiently resilient to reinflate itself automatically after passage of said vehicle by drawing air from the atmosphere through the at least one of a perforation, an aperture and a valve means.

13. A road-traffic speed-control device locatable on a roadway, comprising a resiliently-deformable speed hump having an interior portion for holding a fluid, and at least one of a perforation formed in the speed hump, an aperture formed in the speed hump, and a valve mounted on the speed hump, wherein:

the at least one of a perforation, an aperture, and a valve permits the fluid to flow out of the interior portion when a pressure of the fluid is below a predetermined value corresponding to a pressure of the fluid when a vehicle passes over the speed hump at a predetermined speed, so that the speed hump deflates when the vehicle passes over the speed hump at a speed below the predetermined speed; and

the at least one of a perforation, an aperture, and a valve prevents the fluid from flowing out of the interior portion when a pressure of the fluid is approximately equal to or greater than the predetermined value so that the speed hump does not deflate when the vehicle passes over the speed hump at a speed approximately equal to or above the predetermined speed.

14. The road-traffic speed-control device of claim 13, wherein the at least one of a perforation, an aperture, and a valve permits the fluid to flow into the speed hump so that the speed hump self-inflates after the vehicle has passed over the speed hump at the speed below the predetermined speed.

15. A road-traffic speed-control device locatable on a roadway, comprising a speed hump resiliently deformable between an inflated state and a deformed state, and at least one of a perforation formed in the speed hump, an aperture formed in the speed hump, and a valve mounted on the speed hump, wherein:

the at least one of a perforation, an aperture, and a valve permits a fluid located inside the speed hump to pass through the at least one of a perforation, an aperture, and a valve to an environment outside the speed hump when the speed hump is subject to an impact load below a predetermined level so that the speed hump deforms in response to the impact load below the predetermined level; and

the at least one of a perforation, an aperture, and a valve prevents the fluid located inside the speed hump to pass through the at least one of a perforation, an aperture, and a valve when the speed hump is subject to an impact load approximately equal to or greater than the predetermined level so that the speed hump remains in the inflated state when subject to the impact load approximately equal to or greater than the predetermined value.

16. The road-traffic speed-control device of claim 15, wherein the valve permits a fluid located in the environment outside the speed hump to flow into the speed hump after the speed hump has been subject to the impact load below the predetermined value so that the speed hump returns to the inflated state.