Inertial barrier
First Claim
1. An inertial barrier for use in protecting a vehicle from roadway hazards comprising a plastic container having a bottom wall and open top and a side wall, a ledge extending laterally inwardly from the side wall in spaced relation from the bottom wall and open top, and an insert having sides sized and shaped to be supported by the ledge inside the container, the insert having an axially upwardly, radially inwardly extending top wall for supporting a dispersible granular energy absorbing material above the insert inside the container, wherein the container side wall includes a cylindrical upper side wall portion that is stepped laterally inwardly at discrete intervals along its height from the open top, and a generally rectangular lower side wall portion that tapers inwardly from a lowermost edge of the upper side wall portion to the bottom wall to facilitate stacking of a plurality of such containers during transit or storage, wherein the ledge is continuous and extends laterally inwardly from the generally rectangular lower side wall portion substantially to the same lateral extent around the entire periphery of the lower side wall portion and the insert has straight opposite side edges that are sized and shaped to substantially match the cross sectional shape of the lower side wall portion immediately above the ledge.
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Accused Products
Abstract
An inertial barrier includes a standard size plastic container and a single size insert that is supported by a ledge inside the container for supporting different amounts of sand or other dispersible granular energy absorbing material thereon to achieve different barrier weight configurations. The insert has an axially upwardly, radially inwardly extending top wall that permits some downward flexing of the insert inside the container as the weight of the material that is placed on the insert builds up, causing the sides of the insert to expand and push radially outwardly against the container side wall, preventing the material from leaking past the insert inside the container. Axially extending ribs may be provided in the container side wall for increased strength and rigidity.
25 Citations
19 Claims
- 1. An inertial barrier for use in protecting a vehicle from roadway hazards comprising a plastic container having a bottom wall and open top and a side wall, a ledge extending laterally inwardly from the side wall in spaced relation from the bottom wall and open top, and an insert having sides sized and shaped to be supported by the ledge inside the container, the insert having an axially upwardly, radially inwardly extending top wall for supporting a dispersible granular energy absorbing material above the insert inside the container, wherein the container side wall includes a cylindrical upper side wall portion that is stepped laterally inwardly at discrete intervals along its height from the open top, and a generally rectangular lower side wall portion that tapers inwardly from a lowermost edge of the upper side wall portion to the bottom wall to facilitate stacking of a plurality of such containers during transit or storage, wherein the ledge is continuous and extends laterally inwardly from the generally rectangular lower side wall portion substantially to the same lateral extent around the entire periphery of the lower side wall portion and the insert has straight opposite side edges that are sized and shaped to substantially match the cross sectional shape of the lower side wall portion immediately above the ledge.
- 12. An inertial barrier for protecting an errant vehicle from roadway hazards comprising a plastic container having a bottom wall and open top, and a side wall having upper and lower side wall portions, the upper side wall portion being cylindrical and stepped laterally inwardly at discrete intervals along its length from the open top to a lowermost end of the upper side wall portion to provide a plurality of laterally inwardly stepped axially extending cylindrical surfaces, and the lower side wall portion being generally rectangular in cross section and tapered axially inwardly from an uppermost end of the lower side wall portion to the bottom wall, a continuous ledge extending laterally inwardly from the lower side wall portion substantially to the same lateral extent around the entire periphery of the lower side wall portion in spaced relation from the uppermost end of the lower side wall portion and from the bottom wall, and an insert having straight opposite side edges that are sized and shaped to substantially match the cross sectional shape of the lower side wall portion immediately above the ledge so that the insert fits on the ledge for supporting a dispersible granular energy absorbing material above the insert inside the container.
- 16. An inertial barrier for use in protecting an errant vehicle from roadway hazards comprising a plastic container having a bottom wall and open top and upper and lower side wall portions, the lower side wall portion tapering inwardly from an uppermost end to the bottom wall, and the upper side wall portion having an outwardly stepped generally rectangular non-tapered outer wall portion immediately above the uppermost end of the lower side wall portion, and a further outwardly stepped cylindrical outer wall portion immediately above the outwardly stepped generally rectangular outer wall portion to provide laterally outwardly extending flanges between the stepped cylindrical outer wall portion and the stepped generally rectangular non-tapered outer wall portion that are engageable by a generally U-shaped lifting yoke.
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19. An inertial barrier for use in protecting a vehicle from roadway hazards comprising a plastic container having a bottom wall and open top and a side wall, a ledge extending laterally inwardly from the side wall in spaced relation from the bottom wall and open top, and an insert having sides sized and shaped to be supported by the ledge inside the container, the insert having an axially upwardly, radially inwardly extending top wall for supporting a dispersible granular energy absorbing material above the insert inside the container, wherein the container side wall includes an upper side wall portion that is stepped laterally inwardly at discrete intervals along its height from the open top, and a lower side wall portion that tapers inwardly from top to bottom to facilitate stacking of a plurality of such containers during transit or storage, and the upper side wall portion has an outwardly stepped generally rectangular non-tapered wall portion immediately above the lower side wall portion and a further outwardly extending cylindrical wall portion immediately above the stepped generally rectangular wall portion that forms laterally outwardly extending flanges immediately above the stepped generally rectangular wall portion.
Specification