A COLLAPSIBLE TRAFFIC MARKER

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to a portable warning triangle marker.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

A wide variety of portable traffic markers, as well as directional signs, prohibition signs, barriers and the like are known in the art. One commonly used traffic marker is in the form of a two-dimensional triangular form, supported by two supporting rods fixed to the bottom portion thereof such that the rods are rotatably articulated to each other and can be turned into a cross to allow the triangle board to stand vertically.

Various types of three-dimensional traffic markers are known in the art. One such traffic marker is disclosed in US 2002/0062780. This warning marker is collapsible and is composed of several multilateral taper layers of the same taper (gradient) with the bottom layer as its base. The top taper layer is pulled upward to drive the middle taper layers move so that the bottom, middle and top layers are clutched in position successively. Once a road damage or a car breakdown happens, the warning marker is put on the ground or hung on the cover of the rear luggage case of the car to warn the passengers or/and the cars following behind with an appearance of a polyhedral solid triangular state.

Another collapsible traffic marker is disclosed in US 6,338,311- This reference discloses a telescopic roadblock comprising a base and a cone on the base. The cone is of telescopic structure defined by a plurality of inter-linked concentric hard conical sleeves having the same height and decreasing diameters with two adjacent hard conical sleeves being connected together by a soft material, whereby the cone can be easily compressed up to the same height as a hard conical sleeve. The hard conical sleeve with the smallest diameter is set on the topmost end. The outer surface of the cone is coated with reflectorizing material.

A roadblock of a similar construction, as illustrated in Fig. 1, is available on the market for example under the brand name ABS Basement Traffic Cone manufactured by Yueqing Great Wall Electroacooustic Factory, China, (http ://www.made-in- chmaxom/image/σfDiOQHiymQmAirLtbVM/Traffic-Cone.ipg ^' ) This roadblock has a vertical axis and comprises a sleeve converging from the cone's bottom end to its top end, and plurality of concentric annular frame portions tapering, with the same tapering gradient, towards the top end of the sleeve, and attached to the sleeve in spaced apart relationship. The roadblock is collapsible from an extended vertical state in which the frame portions are kept by the sleeve spaced apart along the vertical axis with the diameter of the frame portions decreasing from the lowermost frame portion to the uppermost frame portion, into a collapsed horizontal state in which the frame portions are nested one within the other and spaced apart in the radial direction relative to the vertical axis. The roadblock is mounted on a base member having a cavity, from which the cone protrudes upwardly when in the extended state and within which it is received when in the collapsed state. The sleeve of the roadblock is made of a fluorescent material bearing thereon circumferential light reflecting strips. The roadblock is further adapted for mounting an external LED light on its top end, which when not in use, is stored in a storage compartment formed in the base of the roadblock.

US 4,875,028 discloses a triangle traffic for stalled or disabled vehicles, comprising inter alia an outer triangular portion which is red and reflective and which is placed on a structure, an inner triangular portion which is yellow and which can be lit up by two light bulbs which are on the inside of the structure, and a lighting selection switch allowing for either continuous or blinking light.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

According to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a warning traffic polyhedron with triangular faces, comprising: a warning member having a vertical axis and comprising a sleeve converging from its bottom end to its top end, and plurality of concentric polygonal frame portions each having at least three sides and corners therebetween, said frame portions being attached to said sleeve in coaxially aligned relationship with their corresponding sides being parallel, whereby said member is collapsible from an extended vertical state in which said portions are kept by said

sleeve spaced apart along said vertical axis with the length of the frame portions' sides decreasing from the lowermost frame portion to the uppermost frame portion, and thereby forming together with the sleeve said triangular faces, into a collapsed horizontal state in which said portions are nested one within the other and spaced apart in the radial direction relative to said axis, and a base member having a cavity, to which said marker member is attached so as to protrude upwardly from the base member when in said extended state and to be received within said cavity when in said collapsed state.

According to another aspect of the present invention a polyhedral warning arrangement is disclosed, the arrangement comprising a warning member having a vertical axis and a base member having a cavity, to which said marker member is attached so as to protrude upwardly from the base member, the warning arrangement being provided with at least one opening adapted to receive an illumination element therethrough such that the illumination element illuminates the interior of the warning member.

According to one embodiment, the arrangement may further comprise a sleeve converging from the warning members bottom end to its top end, and plurality of concentric frame portions, said frame portions being attached to said sleeve in coaxially aligned relationship, whereby said member is collapsible from an extended vertical state in which said portions are kept by said sleeve spaced apart along said vertical axis with the dimension of the frame portions decreasing from the lowermost frame portion to the uppermost frame portion, into a collapsed horizontal state in which said portions are nested one within the other and spaced apart in the radial direction relative to said axis received within the cavity.

The warning traffic arrangements according to both above aspects of the present invention may comprise one or more of the following features:

- each face of the polyhedron may have a top edge defined by one side of the uppermost frame portion, a bottom edge defined by one side of the lowermost frame portions, and two side edges extending therebetween defined by the corners of all the frame portions;

- each face may further comprise strips of light reflecting material attached thereto along said top, bottom and side edges thereof;

- the sleeve may be made of one of the following materials: nylon, chemical fiber, plastics and the like;

- A -

- the frame portions may be adapted to receive attaching elements at least at three spaced apart locations along their perimeter; according to one embodiment, at least some of the attaching elements may be in the form of a clip;

- the warning member may have a grasping arrangement at its top for securing said warning member to the base member;

- the base may comprise an upper and a lower member, wherein the upper member may have an aperture corresponding in shape and dimensions to the lowermost frame portion;

- the lower member may have a top and a bottom surface, the top surface and said aperture in the upper member defining said cavity;

- the lower bottom surface may be formed with a central opening via which said vertical axis passes and the grasping arrangement member may have a fixation means adapted for being fixed to said opening when in the collapsed state to keep the warning member in such state;

- said opening may be adapted to receive therein an illumination element protruding into said warning member through said cavity so as to illuminate the warning member's interior;

- the top of the warning member may be adapted to receive therein an illumination element so as to illuminate the warning member's interior;

- the illumination element may be a LED light;

- the sleeve may be at least partially transparent at least at areas thereof between the sides of said frame portions;

- the base member may be provided with at least one storage compartment in the bottom surface thereof;

- the storage compartment may be adapted to receive the illumination element; and

- each face may further comprise warning indication thereon.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In order to understand the invention and to see how it may be carried out in practice, several embodiments will now be described, by way of non-limiting examples only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is an illustration of a known in the art collapsible roadblock in various states;

Fig. 2A is a perspective view of a warning traffic polyhedron according to one embodiment of the present invention, in its expanded state;

Fig. 2B is a perspective view of a warning traffic polyhedron according to one embodiment of the present invention, in its collapsed state;

Fig. 3A is perspective view of frame portions and a base member of the polyhedron shown in Fig. 2 A;

Fig. 3B is perspective view of frame portions and a base member of the polyhedron shown in Fig. 2B;

Fig. 4 is a bottom view of the polyhedron shown in Fig. 2 A;

Fig. 5 is a perspective bottom view of the polyhedral warning arrangement according to another embodiment of the present invention;

Fig. 6 is a perspective view of a warning traffic polyhedron according to another embodiment of the present invention; and

Fig. 7 is a perspective view of a warning traffic polyhedron according to yet another embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

Fig. 2A shows one example of a portable and collapsible warning traffic tetrahedron generally designated 10 in accordance with the present invention, which comprises a warning member 12 having a top end 16, a bottom end 18, triangular warning faces 13, and a base member 30 having a cavity 31. The warning member 12 is collapsible and is attached with its bottom end 18 to the base member 30 so as to be received in its cavity 31 when in a collapsed state as shown in Fig. 2B, and to protrude from the base member in its extended state as shown in Fig. 2A.

The warning member 12 has a vertical axis A and comprises a sleeve 14 converging from the bottom end 16 of the warning member to its top end 18, and a

frame 35 constituted by a plurality of concentric triangular frame portions 20, better seen in Fig. 3A, attached to the interior of the sleeve 14 by attaching elements.

Each frame portion 20 has three sides 22 and corners 24 therebetween and it tapers towards the top end 16 of the warning member 12. All the frame portions 20 are of the same height H and have the same tapering gradient. The corners 24 are shown as sharp edged corners; however, it should be appreciated that their edges may be rounded.

As seen in Fig. 3 A, when the warning member 12 is in its expanded state, the frame portions 20 are arranged with their sides 22 being parallel and having equal axial spacing 21 therebetween to define sides 39 and corners 37 of the frame 35. The length L of the sides 22 of the frame portions 20 decreases from the maximal length L of the lowermost frame portion 20a to the minimal length / of the uppermost frame portion 20b. As seen in Fig. 3B, when the warning member 12 is in its collapsed state, the frame portions 20 are nested one within the other and spaced in the radial direction by the spacing 23.

The frame portions 20 may be made of any suitable material, allowing the warning member 12 to keep its form under any conditions. Such material may be for example a metal or plastic material, and in the latter case, the material may be at least partially transparent.

Reverting to Fig. 2 A, each face 13 of the sleeve 14 has a closed top 19, an open bottom 17 and two side edges 11 and 15 extending therebetween. Each face 13 should be designed to meet all necessary local regulations referring to warning triangles.

For example, and as shown, each face may comprise light-reflecting strip or strips 32 extending along the top 19, the bottom 17 and the side edges 11 and 15 thereof, forming thereby a light-reflecting triangle 60 defining the periphery of the face 13. The color of the light reflecting strip(s) may be orange or red in accordance with local traffic regulations.

In addition to the light reflecting strip(s) 32, each face 13 may further be provided with fluorescent strip or strips extending adjacent and along the light- reflecting strip(s) to form within the face 13 a fluorescent triangle 65. In case when each face 13 of the sleeve 12 is formed with at least one of the triangles 60 or 65, its area bound by the triangles, which will hereinafter be referred as a window 62, should

not be reflective but it may be at least partially transparent at least at its areas (not shown) corresponding to the spacing 21 between the frame portions 20.

A triangle similar to the triangles 60 and 65 may be formed on the face 13 by a succession of illuminating elements such as LEDs ₃ extending along the top 19, the bottom 17 and the side edges 11 and 15 of the face 13. This succession of the illumination elements may be carried either by a strip similar to the strip 32 but not necessarily light reflective; or a strip extending adjacent and along the light-reflecting strip 32; or by the sleeve 14 itself, e.g. at the corners 24 of the frame portions 20. Fig. 6 shows one example of such triangle formed by illumination elements E attached to the strip 32.

The sleeve 14 should preferably be impermeable to withstand harsh weather conditions, such as storm, rain, wind, snow etc., such as nylon, chemical fiber, plastics etc. The sleeve 14 may be multi-layered, in which case its external layer should be impermeable. For example, the sleeve 14 or at least its external layer may be made of a substantially transparent nylon material.

The material from which the sleeve 14 is made, or at least one layers thereof, may be reinforced but should be flexible enough so as to allow the warning member 12 when assembled from the sleeve 14 and the frame portions 20, on the one hand to keep its tetrahedron shape, when in the expanded state (Fig. 2A), and on the other hand, to be collapsed into the collapsed state (Fig. 2B). For example, such reinforcing layer may be in the form of a plastic fiber net. Alternatively, to reach the same result, the sleeve 14 may comprise reinforcement elements fully or partially extending along the vertical dimension of the sleeve 14.

To assemble the warning member 12, the frame portions 20 of the frame 35 are attached to the sleeve 14 in the arrangement described above with reference to Fig. 3 A, so that the strips 32 cover the corners 24 of the frame 35, to locate the triangle 60 symmetrically with respect to each side 39 of the frame. The frame portions 20 may be attached to the sleeve by any appropriate means, for example by attaching elements such as clips or the like, at least three spaced apart locations along the perimeter of the frame portion 20. The latter may have apertures adapted to receive the attaching elements.

With reference to Fig. 3B and 4, the base member 30 has an upper surface 70, a lower surface 72 and its cavity 31 is open towards the upper surface. The cavity 31

has a depth (not seen) corresponding to the height H of the frame portions 20, to receive them therein when the warning member 12 is in its collapsed state. The lower surface 72 of the cavity 31 may be formed with a central opening 26, with a rim 75 to secure the warning member 12 to the base 30, in which case the warning member may have a grasping arrangement at its top end, which is adapted to engage the rim 75. The grasping arrangement may be in the form of flexible, radially outwardly biased legs (not shown) each having at least one fixation protrusion.

Fig. 5 illustrates another example of a polyhedral warning arrangement generally designated as 40, which may or may not be similar to the warning traffic tetrahedron 10 illustrated in Figs 2A to 3B.

The polyhedral warning arrangement 40 has a tetrahedral warning member 42 and a base member 44. The warning member 42 has a plurality of faces 45 each having a light reflecting triangle along its perimeter and at least partially transparent windows 47. The base member 44 has an upper and a lower surface, and is formed with a central opening 46, which may or may not be similar to the opening 26 of the base member 30 described above.

The polyhedral warning arrangement 40 is provided with an illuminating element 49, e.g. LED light, having an illumination portion 80 and a fastening portion 82 and adapted for being mounted in the opening 46. The illuminating element 49 is being detachably mountable in the opening 46 to allow the illumination portion 80 to emit light into the interior of the warning member 42, to thereby provide back illumination to the windows 47 thereof, thereby improving the visibility of the light- reflecting triangle 85, especially when natural visibility conditions are poor.

If desired, the illuminating element 49 may also be detachably attachable to the top of the warning member 42, with its illumination portion 80 facing the interior thereof, to achieve the above effect. The fastening portion 82 of the illuminating element 49 is adapted to fix it to the base member at the opening 46 and, optionally, to a similar opening at the top of the warning member 42. The fastening portion 82 may be of any appropriate design.

The electrical source for the illuminating element may be battery or any other electrical source, e.g., an adapter for a D. C. cigarette lighter of the vehicle supplied with a cable of sufficient length so as to extend between said cigarette lighter and the

warning traffic tetrahedron when the later is positioned at the required by the regulations distance.

The polyhedral warning arrangement 40 may also be provided, in addition or instead of the illuininating elements described above, with an illuminating element 70, e.g. a LED light, detachably attachable to the top of the warning member 42, as shown in Fig. 7, allowing to enhance the visibility of the warning arrangement 40.

The polyhedral warning arrangement 40 may be provided with at least one storage compartment for storing therein at least one of the detachably attachable illuminating elements described above when not in use, e.g. the illuminating element 49 and/or the illuminating element 70. As shown hi Fig. 5, such compartment 48 may be formed at the lower surface 90 of the base member 44.

The base member may be provided with one or more magnetic strips (not shown) attached to the lower surface of the base member 44, to facilitate attachment of the arrangement to a metallic surface such as that of a car. The polyhedral warning arrangement 40 may be of any shape such as pyramid, tetrahedron etc.

The warning traffic tetrahedron 10, and the polyhedral warning arrangement 40 may be of any desired dimensions.

The at least one of the faces of the polyhedrons 10, 40 warning members may have a warning indication(s) mounted thereon.

The base member 30, 44 may comprise storage compartments adapted to contain various elements and accessories such as the illumination element, first aid kit, D.C cigarette lighter adaptor etc.

The base member 30, 44 may comprise detachably attachable storage compartment(s) adapted to contain various elements and accessories such as the illumination element(s), first aid kit, D.C cigarette lighter adaptor etc.

The base member 30, 44 may be provided with one or more weights for increasing the weight of the arrangement and/or with one or more anti skid patches, to prevent unintentional displacement or movement of the arrangement.

The base member 30, 44 may further comprise a cover for covering the bottom surface of the lower member thereof.

Whilst some embodiments have been described and illustrated with reference to some drawings, the artisan will appreciate that many variations are possible which do not depart from the general scope of the invention, mutatis mutandis.