Traffic cones are used heavily on roads to create temporary road management systems. In some circumstances, the number of cones needed can be substantial, e. g. on motorways. However, the siting and removal of large numbers of traffic cones is labour intensive, strenuous and time consuming, and possibly also dangerous where cones must be sited or removed next to on-going traffic.

Apparatus are known for rapid siting of cones onto a carriage-way, but there is still a need for a rapid, cost effective collector of cones which is also safe for the operators. This is especially so where new health and safety legislation requires or will require more mechanical assistance to be given to manual tasks, e. g, lifting heavy traffic cones onto trucks.

Therefore, according to one aspect of the present invention there is provided an apparatus for collecting cones from a surface onto or into a moving vehicle comprising an elongate conveyor having a loading end near the level of the surface and a discharging end, and a bar located to engage an upper part of a cone, the conveyor and bar being connected to the vehicle, wherein the bar engages the cone upon movement of the vehicle causing the cone to tilt and an edge of the base of the cone to rise, which edge locates onto the loading end of the conveyor, and the cone is conveyed on the conveyor to its discharging end for collection onto or into the vehicle.

Only two operators may be required for the present invention, one driver and one person organising the collection on or in the vehicle, unless the cones are collected automatically on or in the vehicle.

The present invention also reduces the risk of injury to operators. The operators do not have to be on the surface, e. g. motorway, and do not have to collect manually the cones, and lift them onto or into the vehicle.

The term"cone"as used herein is intended to mean any upstanding device used to create or assist in a temporary road management system. Commonly these are conical road traffic cones. The surface on which such cones are placed are commonly carriage-ways such as road or motorways.

The vehicle may be self-propelled or be towed. Preferably, the vehicle is self- propelled, and comprises a platform on which the cones are collected, e. g. a flat-bed truck, possibly having one or more hinged sides.

The apparatus of the present invention may be integral with the vehicle.

Preferably, it is detachable from the vehicle and may be towed thereby, especially where the vehicle is a normal road vehicle. Apparatus which is detachable from the vehicle could still be supported by the vehicle in use. Preferably, the apparatus is self- supporting, e. g. on a wheeled trolley.

According to one embodiment of the present invention, the conveyor is an endless belt rotating about two rollers, one at each end of the conveyor. Once located on the belt of the conveyor, a cone is conveyed to the discharging end by friction and gravity. Preferably, the conveyor includes a speed control to alter the speed of rotation of the belt as desired. This may depend on the number and location of the cones to be collected, and the speed of the vehicle. The conveyor can be incline in use at an approximate angle of 10°-15° to the plane of the surface.

The bar is located above and in front of the loading end of the conveyor.

Engagement of the bar with an upper part of a cone causes tilting of the cone because

the vehicle and hence connected bar are moving relative to the stationary cone. The bar may be of any shape. However, the bar is preferably a crossbar transverse to the direction of the vehicle and conveyor, and it is attached to the conveyor near its loading end by one or more support arms which may be integral with or detachable from the conveyor.

The bar preferably engages the apex of the cone. The bar may have guide means to assist alignment of the cone with the loading end of the conveyor and to assist engagement of the cone with the bar. The guide means could be a forked-arm arrangement. The bar may be height-adjustable to assist alignment with different cone heights. The bar may also be fixed, or adapted to disengage with the cone once the cone is located on the conveyor, e. g. by elevation of the bar above the cone.

The apparatus may include a locating means at or near the discharging end of the conveyor to assist location of cones on the conveyor onto or into the vehicle. The locating means may automatically collect the cones on or in the vehicle. The locating means could be a secondary conveyor between the main conveyor and the vehicle or a boom which assists movement of a cone on the conveyor onto a platform.

According to another embodiment of the present invention, the apparatus is adapted also to deliver cones to a surface by loading cones onto the conveyor from a vehicle and discharging said cones from the conveyor onto the surface. Preferably, the position of the apparatus is reversed and the direction of the conveying action of the conveyor is reversed. Also preferably, the bar is moved to a rest or engaged position. In this embodiment, the apparatus may act as both a delivering and collecting means of cones, thus saving on the need for and cost of two separate apparatus.

According to a yet further embodiment, the apparatus includes one or more drums having ridges or fingers in front of the loading end of the conveyor. The drums can be free-wheeling or powered to rotate, and assist catching and transferring the

base of the cone onto the conveyor. A stationery rod may be provided to the front of the drums to support the trailing edge of the base after the top of the tilted cone passes under the bar and the cone tries to right itself, the leading edge of the base being engaged by the ridges or fingers of the drums.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of collecting cones from a surface onto or into a moving vehicle wherein a bar moving with the vehicle engages the upper part of a cone causing tilting of the cone and an edge of the cone to rise, and wherein that edge is located onto the loading end of an elongate conveyor which conveys the cone to a discharging end for collection onto or into the vehicle.

An embodiment of the present invention will now be described by way of example only and with reference to the accompanying diagrammatic drawings in which: Fig. 1 shows a side view of a vehicle and apparatus for collecting cones according to an embodiment of the present invention; Fig. 2 shows an aerial view of the apparatus and vehicle of Fig. 1; and Figs. 3a and 3b are split rear and front view respectively of the apparatus and vehicle of Fig. 1.

Referring to the drawings, Fig. 1 shows a vehicle 2 having a cab 4 and platform 6. An elongate conveyor 8 on a trolley frame 10 is attached to one side of the vehicle 2 through arm 11 (Fig. 3b). The conveyor 8 has a loading end 12 and a discharging end 13. The conveyor comprises an endless belt 14 rotating around rollers 16,18 at each end of the conveyor 8. A speed control unit (not shown) is attached to one roller 16 to allow the speed of the conveyor belt 14 to be altered. The control unit could be activated from the cab 4.

In front of the loading end 12 of the conveyor 8 are two drums 20 having three or four fingered rings 21 thereon, each ring 21 having five to seven fingers or ridges

equispaced thereabout. The drums 20 and rollers 16,18 can all be powered by a dedicated power unit on the trolley frame 10, or from the vehicle 2. The speed of the drums 20 and rollers 16,18 could be related to the speed of the vehicle 2, especially when the apparatus acts to deliver cones to the carriageway, so that the cones are collected and discharged at a velocity which does not unbalance them. A stationary rod 40 is provided to the front of the drums 20.

A frame 22 is attached to the conveyor 8 comprising support arms 24 and crossbar 28. The height of the crossbar 28 may be ajustable to align it with the upper part of the cones to be collected.

In use, the vehicle 2 travels in direction 32 parallel to one or more cones 34, e. g. a line of cones 34, to be collected from a carriageway 33. As the vehicle approaches a cone 34, the crossbar 28 engages the apex of the cone 34. Continuing movement of the vehicle 2 in direction 32 causes tilting of the cone 34 and an edge 36 of the base of the cone 34 to rise as shown in Fig. 1. By co-ordinating the location of the crossbar 28 with the location of the drums 20 and loading end 12 of the conveyor 8, the height of the cone 34 and speed of the vehicle 2, the raised edge 36 the cone 34 locates onto the fingers of the drums 20, is caught thereby, and passed over the drums 20 and onto the loading end 12 of the conveyor 8. After the top of the tilted cone 34 passes under the bar 28 and the cone 34 tries to right itself, the trailing edge of the base of the cone 34 is supported by the rod 40 with the leading edge of the base being engaged by the ridges or fingers of the drums 20. The rotating belt 14 then starts to convey the cone 34 up the conveyor 8.

If the frame 22 is fixed, the cone 34 continues tilting as the vehicle 2 progresses until the angle of the cone 34 is such that the tip of the cone passes under the crossbar 28. The cone 34 then rebalances itself on the rod 40 and the drums 20 and conveyor 8.

The cone 34 is conveyed to the discharging end 13 of the conveyor 8. Once at the discharging end 13, the cone 34 can be manually taken off the conveyor 8 for storage on the platform 6. Alternatively, there is an automatic cone collection and storage mechanism (not shown). Beneficially, as shown in Fig. 2 a series of powered transverse rollers 36, forming a secondary conveyor, act to move cones 34 therealong to help transfer the cone 34 from the conveyor 8 onto the platform 6.

Subsequent cones can be collected either individually or sequentially with continuing motion of the vehicle 2.

In Fig. 1, the apparatus of the present invention is shown in a position for collecting cones. The apparatus is detachable from the vehicle 2 by detaching the arm 11 from the trolley 10. By reversing the position of the apparatus (relative to the vehicle 2), it can be adapted to discharge cones 34 onto the carriage-way 33 from the platform 6. The direction of the conveyor 8 and drums 20 are reversed also, and the frame 22, or at least the cross-bar 28, is removed. Cones 34 are loaded onto the top end of the conveyor 8 (previously the discharging end 13) and discharged from the conveyor 8 and across the drums 20 onto the carriageway 33.

The apparatus can be towed by the vehicle 2 to its place of use before side attachment by the arm 11. The loading end 12 of the conveyor 8 and the drums 20 are preferably moveable upwardly on the trolley 10 to increase their clearance from the carriageway 33 during towing.

Variations and modifications can be made without departing from the scope of the invention described above.