Device reducing speed of vehicles travelling on a roadway

• US 7,967,526 B2
• Filed: 04/23/2008
• Issued: 06/28/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 07/06/2007
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Jose Antonio Aguilera Galeote
• Original Assignee: Jose Antonio Aguilera Galeote
• Inventors: Aguilera Galeote, Jose Antonio
• Primary Examiner(s): Hartmann; Gary S
• Application Number:
  US12/666,045
• Publication Number:
  US 20100202830A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,161 Days
• Field of Search: 404/15
• 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

The invention relates to a device reducing speed of vehicles travelling on a roadway, formed by at least one strip of flexible material, rubber or other similar material, made up of several hollow chambers which are interconnected by a calibrated conduit which enables the controlled passage of the fluid filling said chambers from that flattened by the wheel of the vehicle towards the adjacent chamber. The fluid contained therein is water, or a non-Newtonian fluid offering the higher viscosity, the higher the stress gradient applied thereto is, the fluid itself acting as means for controlling the resistance to deformation of the strip as the higher is the speed of impact of the vehicle in said strip.

Claims

1. A device for reducing speed of a vehicle travelling on a roadway, comprising a strip made of a flexible material, having a plurality of hollow fluid-filled chambers interconnected by a calibrated conduit for controlled passage of fluid from a chamber on which a wheel of the vehicle is located to at least one other chamber,

the fluid which fills the plurality of chambers being a non-Newtonian fluid having a viscosity which varies proportional to a stress gradient applied thereto,

such that a resistance offered by the strip to deformation by the wheel of the vehicle varies depending on the speed of impact, so that if the vehicle travels at a low speed the fluid has a lower viscosity and the strip has a lower resistance to deformation, and as the speed of the vehicle increases the viscosity of the fluid is higher, increasing resistance to deformation, thus forming a more rigid obstacle to the passage of the vehicle.

2. The device according to claim 1, in which the non-Newtonian fluid comprises wet sand.

3. The device according to claim 1, in which the non-Newtonian fluid comprises a solution of starch in water.

4. The device according to claim 1, in which the calibrated conduit comprises at least one orifice having a diameter selected based on a desired speed limit.

5. The device according to claim 1, in which the plurality of chambers comprise at least three independent elements, and the calibrated conduit is calibrated selected based on a desired speed limit.

6. The device according to claim 1, further comprising at least one expansion deposit connected to at least one chamber, located on a side closest to the edge of the roadway, forming an expansion element complementary to the at least one chamber, for relief of pressure therein when the vehicle passes over the chamber.

7. The device according to claim 1, in which the non-Newtonian fluid comprises a solution of sugar in water.