The invention relates to a road control member placing and retrieving system and a vehicle comprising such a road control member placing and retrieving system. The invention also relates to a method for retrieving road control members and a method for placing road control members.

Road control member placing and retrieving systems are widely known in the prior art. Road control members, which are alternatively referred to as pylons or road signaling cones, are placed for example in case of roadworks or when a section of a road needs to be closed off in the case of an accident. Employing road control member placing and retrieving systems ensures that individuals involved are not at risk from passing traffic when placing or retrieving road control members. However, the known systems are usually not satisfactory as will be explained below with reference to prior art disclosures.

Replacing manual operations by automated operations performed by a system or device is only advantageous when the benefits of the replacement outweigh the disadvantages of such replacement. Benefits of automation may be increased speed, increased accuracy and/or increased safety, where disadvantages may be reduced reliability, reduced robustness, increased complexity and/or increased costs. US patent publication US 5,525,021 discloses a vehicle including a road control member placing and retrieving system which is able to automatically place road control members and to automatically retrieve road control members. Only a driver for the vehicle is required.

Although US 5,525,021 claims to have disclosed a simple and reliable system, the disclosed system comprises a lot of components and also needs to be adjusted extensively when changing between a road control member placing configuration as shown in Fig. 3 of US 5,525,021 and a road control member retrieving configuration as shown in Fig. 9 of US 5,525,021. As a result of the amount of components, the complexity of the system and the corresponding costs of the system, this system is not attractive to be used from an economical point of view. The same can be said about the vehicle including road control member placing and retrieving system disclosed in international patent publication WO 2005/071 167 A1 , which also requires a lot of components, is complex and thus expensive. US patent application US 2003/0147733 A1 discloses a vehicle including a road control member retrieving system which seems simpler than the abovementioned prior art disclosures. The shown system uses a rotating arm which due to its size and the at least two portions extending on both sides of the rotation axis poses some safety issues. Further, oil and/or water present between the retrieving lug and a road control member may cause a road control member to uncontrollably disengage from the retrieving lug. Another

disadvantage is that this vehicle can not be used to easily place road control members.

Another vehicle including a road control member retrieving system is disclosed in FR

2.832.435, in which the road control members are first toppled and then picked up by an insertion member which is inserted into a bottom opening of the lying road control members and subsequently rotated to a vertical orientation. A disadvantage of this system that it is not suitable for placing road control members.

Another disadvantage, which also applies to the other disclosed systems, is that toppling the road control members for retrieving them is done in an unreliable way, so that there is a risk that after toppling the road control member the orientation of the road control member is insufficient to pick up the road control member with the result that the road control member may be damaged or is not retrieved at all. This is especially the case when the road control member has a square base and none of the sides of the square base are aligned with respect to a toppling portion of the system to act as pivoting axis during toppling. Current measures to reduce this risk have been unsatisfactory or complex.

Hence, it is desirable to provide a road control member placing and retrieving system which is more reliable. It is further desirable to provide a road control member placing and retrieving system which is easy to use for both retrieving and placing road control members. It is also desirable to provide a road control member placing and retrieving system which is attractive from a cost point of view.

In order to meet one or more of the above objects, there is provided a road control member placing and retrieving system according to claim 1. The toppling and erecting device may engage an upper portion of an upright road control member with the toppling portion while being moved in a particular direction to topple the road control member. Toppling the road control member may also result in engagement between a lower portion of the road control member with the erecting portion to guide the lower portion of the road control member during further toppling when necessary. At the end, the road control member has been moved to a lying orientation in which the road control member is ready to be picked up by the pick up and lay down device.

When the toppling and erecting device is moved in an opposite direction than described above, the erecting portion of the toppling and erecting device may first engage with a bottom portion of a lying road control member, so that the lying road control member is erected by the erecting portion. Erecting the lying road control member may also result in the road control member also engaging with the toppling portion to guide the road control member during the erecting process when necessary. This allows the pick up and lay down device to lay down a road control member in a lying orientation which the toppling and erecting device can erect to an upright orientation.

It is thus not necessary for both the erecting portion and the toppling portion to always engage with the road control member during toppling and erecting of the road control member. Hence, the toppling and erecting portion may also be configured such that during toppling of the road control member by the toppling portion the erecting portion only engages with the road control member to guide the road control member when the orientation of the road control member deviates too much from a desired orientation, and such that during erecting of the road control member by the erecting portion the toppling portion only engages with the road control member to guide the road control member when the orientation of the road control member deviates too much from a desired orientation. It is further possible that during erecting of the road control member the erecting portion is not able to engage during the entire erecting process and that in that case the toppling portion ensures that the erecting process is properly completed after disengagement of the erecting portion and/or it is possible that during toppling of the road control member, the toppling portion is not able to engage during the entire toppling process and that in that case the erecting portion ensures that the toppling process is properly completed after

disengagement of the toppling portion. An advantage of the road control member placing and retrieving system is the configuration of the toppling and erecting device in the form of a separate toppling portion and erecting portion cooperating together during toppling and erecting, so that the orientation of the road control member after toppling or erecting is ensured and thus a more reliable system is provided.

Another advantage may be that the separate toppling and erecting portion allow the system to be used in a similar manner for retrieving and placing as the operations for retrieving a road control member can simply be done in the reverse order to place the road control member. This ensures an easy to use system during both retrieving and placing. No adaptations are required in order to change between retrieving and placing other than moving the toppling and erecting device in an opposite direction.

Another advantage may be that less components and also less complex components are required, so that the costs of the system can be relatively low.

Preferably, at least during toppling and erecting of road control members, the toppling portion and/or the erecting portion are rigid stationary components, relative to a vehicle, and may alternatively be referred to as toppling member and erecting member respectively. In a simple embodiment, the toppling and erecting device comprises a frame with the toppling and erecting portion integrated into the frame. The toppling portion and/or erecting portion may comprise flexible and/or moveable parts as this may provide for instance the possibility to reduce the required space of the toppling and erecting device, e.g. by folding, which is advantageous from a storage point of view. The flexible and/or moveable parts may be locked to temporarily provide a rigid structure. In an embodiment, the pick up and lay down device comprises:

- a first frame to be attached to the vehicle such that the pick up and lay down device is aligned relative to the toppling and erecting device;

- a rotatable arm;

- drive means to drive rotation of the rotatable arm; and

- an insertion member for insertion into a bottom opening of a road control member; wherein the rotatable arm is rotatably attached to the first frame on one side of the rotatable arm, wherein the insertion member is attached to the other side of the rotatable arm, and wherein the drive means are arranged to drive rotation of the rotatable arm relative to the first frame between a first position, in which the insertion member is able to be inserted into a bottom opening of a lying road control member, and a second position, in which the insertion member is able to carry a road control member in an upright orientation. This pick up and lay down device provides an easy and effective solution to place and pick up road control members in a lying configuration. By properly choosing the length of the rotatable arm and the position of a rotation axis of the rotatable arm, the second position of the rotatable arm can be such that a person on the vehicle can easily place a road control member on the insertion member for placing a road control member or grab a road control member from the insertion member after pick up. If properly chosen, the second position of the rotatable arm is optimal from an ergonomic and safety point of view for the person placing and retrieving road control members. In an embodiment, the insertion member has a substantial cone shape. This cone shape may be formed by a closed surface, but may for instance also be formed by multiple rods arranged such that together they define a cone shape. An advantage of the multiple rods is that a sensor may be provided to measure the presence of a road control member on the insertion member.

In an embodiment, the toppling and erecting device comprises a guiding portion, wherein the guiding portion is configured to engage with a middle portion of an upright road control member in order to capture said upright road control member and to align the road control member in a horizontal direction perpendicular to a traveling direction of the vehicle with respect to the toppling portion and the erecting portion. This reduces the accuracy with which the road control member placing and retrieving system has to be positioned with respect to the road control members in order to retrieve them. The guiding portion may for instance have a fork-like shape, wherein the fingers of the fork-like shape are bend outwards to capture road control members.

In an embodiment, the toppling and erecting device comprises an alignment member to engage with a lower portion of a road control member in order to rotate the road control member about a longitudinal axis of the road control member to a desired position at least during toppling of the road control member. This alignment operation is preferably done while the road control member is being engaged by the toppling portion and possibly the erecting portion, so that the forces applied by the alignment member to the road control member do not result in an undesired displacement of the road control member, but only in a rotation about the longitudinal axis. Hence, rotation of the road control member is done in a controlled manner. The desired position may be that a side of a square base of the road control member is arranged parallel to the ground surface, so that the road control member is positioned in a stable orientation on the ground surface. In an embodiment, the road control member placing and retrieving system comprises a sensor to detect a by the toppling and erecting device toppled road control member. This allows to automate the pick up of the road control member as the sensor will indicate whether a road control member has been toppled by the toppling and erecting device and is ready for pick up. The sensor may be a visual sensor detecting a lying road control member before begin engaged by the pick up and lay down device, but may also be a contact sensor detecting contact between a lying, i.e. toppled, road control member and the insertion member of the pick up and lay down device. Said road control member detection sensor may be arranged on the insertion member for detecting a road control member. In an embodiment, the sensor is an ultrasonic sensor detecting the presence of a road control member on the insertion member using the presence or absence of reflected ultrasonic energy similar to radar.

In an embodiment, a sensor for measuring the orientation of the rotatable arm is provided. The sensor may measure the angular orientation of the rotatable arm relative to a stationary part such as the first frame or a vehicle on which the road control member placing and retrieving system is placed. It is also possible that the sensor comprises two detectors, wherein one detector measures the angular orientation of the rotatable arm relative to a third reference and the other detector measures the angular orientation of a stationary part such as the first frame or vehicle relative to the third reference, so that the angular orientation of the rotatable arm relative to the stationary parts can be determined from a difference between outputs of the two detectors. The third reference may be formed by the direction of gravity. Using the two detector sensor may have the advantage that no moving parts have to be used resulting in a more reliable and robust system, and that the measured angular orientation is independent of tilting of the road control member placing and retrieving system.

In an embodiment, the road control member placing and retrieving system comprises a control unit configured to control the drive means based on an output of the road control member detection sensor while retrieving road control members. Additionally, the control unit may be configured to control the drive means based on a velocity of the vehicle as this allows to control the timing of the pick up operation, where said sensor indicates that the pick up operation is required to pick up a by the sensor detected road control member. Alternative or additional to the velocity sensor providing an output to the control unit, the velocity sensor may also be used to present information to a driver of a vehicle equipped with the road control member placing and retrieving system, said information for instance indicating to the driver if the vehicle is driven at a desired velocity, a too low velocity or a too high velocity, so that the driver is able to properly control the velocity of the vehicle to ensure that the road control members are positioned at a desired distance relative to each other. In an embodiment, the control unit is configured to control the drive means based on an output of the road control member detection sensor and on an output of the above described angular sensor, so that in a pick up operation the rotatable arm is in the first position and the rotatable arm is only moved to the second position when a road control member is detected. When no road control member is present to be picked up, the pick up operation can not be performed. Additionally or alternatively, in a lay down operation the rotatable arm is initially in the second position and may be allowed to be moved to the first position once a road control member is placed on the insertion member and detected by the road control member detection sensor. This provides additional safety to the system during the pick up operation and/or the lay down operation. To further improve safety during the lay down operation, the control unit may be configured to delay the movement of the rotatable arm from the second position to the first position once the presence of the road control member on the insertion member is detected by the road control member detection sensor, so that the person placing the road control member on the insertion member has time to retract from the insertion member.

The pick up and lay down device and the toppling and erecting device are preferably mountable to both sides of a vehicle, so that depending on the road situation the road control member placing and retrieving system is used on the left side of a vehicle or on the right side of the vehicle. This can for instance be implemented by providing a guiding system which allows to move the toppling and erecting device and/or the pick up and lay down device between the two opposite sides of the vehicle, wherein the toppling and erecting device and/or the pick up and lay down device may be fixed in position relative to the respective guiding system during the process of retrieving and placing road control members. In an alternative embodiment, the toppling and erecting device and/or the pick up and lay down device are releasably mountable to the vehicle on both sides of the vehicle.

In an embodiment, the toppling and erecting device is configured such the height level above ground of the toppling portion and/or erecting portion is adjustable, preferably using an actuator, e.g. an hydraulic actuator, where gravity compensation may be applied, for instance using a spring. In an embodiment, at least a part of the road control member placing and retrieving system is releasably mountable to a vehicle, so that the vehicle may also be used for other operations and/or to allow the road control member placing and retrieving system to be mounted to both sides of the vehicle. It is therefor preferred that the releasably mountable components have such a weight that they can be easily handled by one or two persons. The maximum weight of the components is therefor preferably below 50 kg, more preferably below 40 kg and most preferably below 25 kg.

In an embodiment, the road control member placing and retrieving system may comprise additional indicators, such as a distance indicator indicating the by the vehicle traveled distance, which indicator may be set to zero every time a road control member is placed, and a time indicator indicating the time the system and personnel have worked, a battery indicator indicating the power left in the batteries, and/or operational indicators indicating the proper functioning or absence thereof of different components.

The invention also relates to a vehicle including a road control member placing and retrieving system according to the invention.

The road control member placing and retrieving system may derive its required power from the vehicle, for instance by electrically connecting the road control member placing and retrieving system directly or via a transformer to the electrical system of the vehicle.

However, it is also possible that additionally or alternatively the road control member placing and retrieving system comprises its own power source, e.g. in the form of batteries. In an embodiment, the toppling and erecting device and the pick up and lay down device have an operational position relative to the vehicle in which the toppling and erecting device and the pick up and lay down device are aligned with respect to each other, and preferably also a storage position relative to the vehicle in which the toppling and erecting device and the pick up and lay down device do not extend outside the vehicle seen in plan view.

In order to be able to use the road control member placing and retrieving system with different types of vehicle while ensuring that the toppling and erecting portions and also the insertion member in the first position are at a required predefined height level from the ground, the toppling and erecting device and/or the pick up and lay down device are preferably adjustable in height relative to an attachment location to the vehicle. In an embodiment, the vehicle comprises a velocity sensor to detect the velocity of the vehicle, wherein the road control member placing and retrieving system comprises a control unit configured to control the drive means based on an output of the velocity sensor. The invention also relates to a method for retrieving an upright road control member according to claim 12.

In an embodiment, the method also comprises the following steps:

detecting the presence of a road control member after being toppled by the toppling and erecting device;

detecting the velocity of the vehicle;

wherein picking up the lying road control member with the pick up and lay down device is controlled based on the detected presence of the road control member and the detected velocity.

In an embodiment, the pick up and lay down device comprises a rotatable arm with an insertion member for insertion into a bottom opening of a road control member, wherein the rotatable arm is rotatable between a first position, in which the insertion member is able to be inserted into a bottom opening of a lying road control member, and a second position, in which the insertion member is able to carry a road control member in an upright orientation, wherein the method comprises the following steps:

positioning the rotatable arm in the first position;

detecting the presence of a road control member after being toppled by the toppling and erecting device;

- moving the rotatable arm to the second position when a road control member ready to be picked up is detected, thereby picking up the lying road control member.

The invention also relates to a method for placing a road control member according to claim 14.

In an embodiment, the method also includes the step of detecting the velocity of the vehicle, wherein laying down a road control member with the pick up and lay down device is controlled based on the detected velocity of the vehicle. In an embodiment, the pick up and lay down device comprises a rotatable arm with an insertion member for insertion into a bottom opening of a road control member, wherein the rotatable arm is rotatable between a first position, in which the insertion member is able to be inserted into a bottom opening of a lying road control member, and a second position, in which the insertion member is able to carry a road control member in an upright orientation, wherein the method comprises the following step:

positioning the rotatable arm in the second position;

- detecting the placement of a road control member on the insertion member;

moving the rotatable arm to the first position when the placement of a road control member on the insertion member is detected thereby laying down the road control member. In an embodiment, there is a significant time delay in between the detecting of the placement of the road control member on the insertion member and the moving of the rotatable arm to the first position.

The invention also relates to a road control member placing and retrieving system, which when attached to a vehicle, is able to carry out the method for retrieving upright road control members according to the invention and/or the method for placing road control members according to the invention.

The invention also relates to road control member placing and retrieving system comprising a toppling and erecting frame with a first member and a second member, wherein the first member is arranged to topple a road control member from an upright orientation to a lying orientation when the toppling and erecting frame is moved in a first direction over a road control member in the upright orientation, wherein the second member is arranged to erect a road control member from a lying orientation to an upright orientation when the toppling and erecting frame is moved in a second direction over a road control member in the lying orientation, wherein the second direction is opposite to the first direction, wherein the first member is arranged to guide a road control member during erecting of the road control member by the second member, and wherein the second member is arranged to guide a road control member during toppling of the road control member by the first member.

This road control member placing and retrieving system may be combined with all embodiments described in this application where appropriate. In that case, the toppling and erecting device is embodied as a toppling and erecting frame, the first member is equivalent to the toppling portion, and the second member is equivalent to the erecting portion. The first direction may then correspond to the normal traveling direction of a vehicle to which the toppling and erecting frame is attached or to a direction opposite to the normal traveling direction of the vehicle depending on the way the toppling and erecting frame is attached to the vehicle.

The invention will now be described in a non-limiting way by reference to the accompanying drawings in which like parts are indicated by like reference symbols, and in which:

Fig. 1 depicts a schematic view of a vehicle including road control member placing and retrieving system according to an embodiment of the invention;

Fig. 2 depicts a top view of the toppling and erecting device of the road control member placing and retrieving system of Fig. 1 ;

Figs. 3-9 depict different steps of a method to retrieve a road control member using the road control member placing and retrieving system;

Fig. 10 depicts a schematic view of a vehicle including a road control member placing and retrieving system according to another embodiment of the invention Fig. 1 1 depicts a perspective view of a toppling and erecting device of the road

control member placing and retrieving system of Fig. 10;

Fig. 12 depicts a perspective view of a pick up and lay down device of the road

control member placing and retrieving system of Fig. 10 in an operational configuration; and

Fig. 13 depicts a side view of the pick up and lay down device of the road control member placing and retrieving system of Fig. 10 in a storage configuration.

Fig. 1 schematically depicts a vehicle VE including a road control member placing and retrieving system RPS according to an embodiment of the invention, which road control member placing and retrieving system is attached to the vehicle VE to operate on a side of the vehicle, in this example on a right side of the vehicle VE. The road control member placing and retrieving system may also be attached to the opposite, i.e. the left side, of the vehicle to operate on said opposite side. The components of the road control member placing and retrieving system may therefore be mountable to both sides of the vehicle and/or may be moveably mounted to the vehicle to be moved between the two sides of the vehicle.

The road control member placing and retrieving system comprises a toppling and erecting device TED and a pick up and lay down device PLD.

The pick up and lay down device PLD comprises a first frame FF that is attached to the vehicle VE. Rotatably mounted to the first frame is an arm RA, wherein the rotation of the arm RA about rotation axis AX is driven by drive means DM. The drive means are in this example embodied by a pneumatic or hydraulic cylinder arranged between the first frame FF and the rotatable arm RA, but it will be apparent to the skilled person in the art that any suitable drive means may be selected for this purpose. At a free end of the rotatable arm, an insertion member IM is provided for insertion into a bottom opening of a road control member. The insertion member IM in this example has a cone shape as this more or less matches with the inner shape of a cavity in the road control member. It will be apparent to the person skilled in the art that using other road control members having a different inner shape of the cavity may require the use of a differently shaped insertion member.

The rotatable arm RA is shown in two positions, namely a first position (shown in solid lines), in which the insertion member is able to be inserted into the bottom opening of a road control member that lies on the ground GR in a lying orientation, and a second position (shown in dashed lines), in which the insertion member is able to support a road control member in an upright orientation. The second position allows a person on the vehicle to position a road control member on the insertion member during placing of road control members on the ground GR or to remove a picked up road control member from the insertion member during retrieving of road control members on the ground GR. Due to the road control member placing and retrieving system according to the invention this can be done in a safe way without requiring the person to lean out of the vehicle.

The toppling and erecting device TED comprises a second frame SF mounted to the vehicle VE, which second frame is at least in use aligned with the pick up and lay down device PLD for placing and/or retrieving road control members.

In this embodiment, the second frame SF comprises a guide portion GP configured to engage with a middle portion of an upright road control member in order to capture said upright road control member and to align the road control member with a toppling portion TP and an erecting portion EP in a horizontal direction perpendicular to a normal traveling direction TD of the vehicle VE.

The toppling portion TP is configured to engage with an upper portion of a road control member in order to topple the road control member from an upright orientation to a lying orientation or to guide the road control member during erecting of the road control member. The erecting portion EP is configured to engage with a lower portion of a road control member in order to erect the road control member from a lying orientation to an upright orientation or to guide the road control member during toppling of the road control member. Hence, the vehicle of Fig. 1 has to move in a normal forward traveling direction (to the right in Fig. 1) during placing of road control members and has to move in an opposite direction (to the left in Fig. 1) during retrieving of road control members. When desired, this can also be reversed. The road control member placing and retrieving system may further be provided with a sensor to detect a by the toppling and erecting device toppled road control member, e.g. a ultrasound transducer or infrared detector, wherein an output of the sensor can be used by a control unit (not shown) to drive the drive means DM. The vehicle VE may be provided with a velocity sensor (not shown) to measure the velocity of the vehicle relative to the ground GR, wherein an output of the velocity sensor may be used by the control unit to drive the drive means DM.

The vehicle VE may further be provided with a sensor to measure the angular orientation of the rotatable arm RA, wherein an output of the angular sensor may be used by the control unit to drive the drive means DM.

Fig. 2 depicts a top view of the toppling and erecting device TED of the road control member placing and retrieving system RPS of Fig. 1. Shown is the second frame SF which is attached to the vehicle VE (not shown in Fig. 2).

Fig. 2 also clearly indicates the guide portion GP which is in this example formed by two fork elements FE that capture road control members RCM and guide, i.e. align, them with the toppling portion TP and erecting portion EP.

The road control member RCM usually has a square base B and on top of that square base a pylon element P having a conical or frusto-conical shape. The guide portion GP engages with a middle portion of the road control member and thus engages with a portion of the road control member having a relatively large diameter as indicated by D1 . The toppling portion TP engages with an upper portion of a road control member as it is provided at a higher level than the guide portion GP and thus engages with a portion of the road control member having a relatively small diameter as indicated by D2. The erecting portion EP is provided on an opposite side of the toppling portion compared to the guide portion GP seen in traveling direction TD. The erecting portion EP will engage with a lower portion of the road control member and in this case will thus engage with the square base B. In the shown example of Fig. 2, the square base of the road control member is oriented such that the side facing away from the toppling and erecting device TED is parallel to the horizontal direction which in turn is perpendicular to the traveling direction TD. In this way, toppling the road control member RCM with the toppling and erecting device will result in a reliable end orientation after toppling, because said side of the square base can be used as pivoting axis. However, when the road control member RCM is rotated about a longitudinal axis LA of the road control member such that none of the sides of the square base are parallel to said horizontal direction which is perpendicular to the traveling direction, toppling of the road control member may result in an unreliable end orientation or end position. To avoid this, the toppling and erecting device may be provided with an alignment member AM extending adjacent the erecting portion so that when the road control member is not in the desired orientation about the longitudinal axis, the alignment member AM engages with a side of the base to move the road control member automatically to a desired orientation during toppling which results in a stable and reliable toppling process. Fig. 3 - 9 depict different steps of a method for retrieving a road control member using the vehicle of Fig. 1. The method for retrieving a road control member may comprise the steps: providing a vehicle with a toppling and erecting device and a pick up and lay down device (Fig. 3);

moving the vehicle in a traveling direction thereby engaging a middle portion of the upright road control member with a guiding portion of the toppling and erecting device to align the road control member in a horizontal direction perpendicular to the traveling direction of the vehicle relative to a toppling portion and erecting portion of the toppling and erecting device (Fig. 4);

moving the vehicle in the traveling direction thereby engaging an upper portion of the upright road control member with the toppling portion to topple the road control member (Fig. 5); moving the vehicle in the traveling direction thereby engaging a lower portion of the upright road control member with the erecting portion during toppling of the road control member to guide the road control member (Fig. 6 and 7);

moving the vehicle in the traveling direction until the road control member has moved from the upright orientation to a lying orientation (Fig. 8); and

picking up the lying road control member with the pick up and lay down device (Fig. 9).

The abovementioned method will be explained in more detail below with reference to the Figs. 3-9.

Fig. 3 depicts the vehicle VE of Fig. 1 which is about to retrieve a road control member RCM. To this end, the vehicle VE is driving in a negative traveling direction NTD, i.e. the vehicle is driving backwards. This is not necessary, but determined by the way the toppling and erecting device TED and the pick up and lay down device PLD are mounted to the vehicle. It is thus envisaged that the toppling and erecting device and the pick up and lay down device are mounted to the vehicle in a different way such that the vehicle has to drive forwards (in an opposite direction PD to the negative traveling direction NTD) in order to retrieve road control members.

Fig. 4 depicts the vehicle VE in a situation in which the road control member RCM is captured in between the two fork elements FE (see Fig. 2) of the guiding portion GP of the second frame SF of the toppling and erecting device TED. The guiding portion GP will guide the road control member towards the toppling portion TP and erecting portion EP by engaging with a middle portion of the road control member RCM.

In Fig. 5, the toppling portion TP engages with an upper portion of the road control member RCM. The upper portion is situated above the center of gravity of the road control member, so that engagement between the toppling portion and the road control member will start to topple the road control member as shown in Fig. 6. During toppling, the base B, i.e. the lower portion of the road control member, is guided by the erecting portion EP, which means that any deviation from a desired trajectory will result in engagement between the base and the erecting portion forcing the base to follow substantially the desired trajectory and thus resulting in a stable and reliable end position on the ground. It is also possible that the erecting portion and the base B are always engaged with each other during at least a portion of the toppling process, so also in case the base is following the desired trajectory. Fig. 7 depicts the situation in which the road control member has toppled a bit more than in Fig. 6, but is not yet in a lying orientation. Please note that the erecting portion is still guiding the base B of the road control member. In Fig. 6 and 7 the base B of the road control member may engage with the alignment member AM of Fig. 2 in order to rotate the road control member about its longitudinal axis LA to a desired orientation, thereby ensuring a stable and reliable end position of the road control member on the ground GR.

In Fig. 8, the situation is shown that the road control member is lying on the ground after being toppled by the toppling and erecting device. A sensor SE is provided that detects the presence of the toppled road control member, for instance using ultrasound, light or any other suitable detection mechanism.

Although the sensor SE is shown in Fig. 8 to be separately provided, the sensor may be arranged on the rotatable arm, e.g. on the insertion member, so that the presence of a toppled and lying road control member is detected when the insertion member is inserted into the bottom of the road control member as depicted in Fig. 9.

The output of the sensor SE may be provided to a control unit CU which drives the drive means DM in order to pick up the road control member from the ground. The sensor SE allows to only perform a pick up operation by the rotatable arm if a road control member is present.

The vehicle VE may further be provided with a velocity sensor (not shown) to measure the velocity of the vehicle relative to the ground, wherein an output of the velocity sensor can be provided to the control unit, so that the drive means can be operated in dependency of the velocity of the vehicle. This allows to control the timing of movement of the rotatable arm RA with respect to the relative position of the vehicle to the lying road control member.

The vehicle VE may further be provided with a sensor (not shown) for measuring the angular orientation of the rotatable arm, which sensor may be integrated into the rotatable arm, preferably at or near the rotation axis of the rotatable arm, wherein an output of the angular sensor can be provided to the control unit, so that the drive means can be operated in dependency of the angular orientation of the rotatable arm. Alternative to the sensor being located at or near the rotation axis of the rotatable arm, a sensor with two detectors may be provided, wherein one detector measures the angular orientation of the rotatable arm relative to a third reference and the other detector measures the angular orientation of a stationary part such as the first frame or vehicle relative to the third reference, so that the angular orientation of the rotatable arm relative to the stationary parts can be determined from a difference between outputs of the two detectors. The third reference may for instance be formed by the direction of gravity. Fig. 9 depicts the situation after picking up of the lying road control member. The insertion member has been inserted into a cavity of the road control member via a bottom opening and by rotating the rotatable arm to the second position, the road control member is supported by the insertion member in an upright orientation in which the road control member is ready to be removed from the insertion member by a person on the vehicle.

The Figs. 3-9 also depict the possible steps of a method for placing road control members on the ground GR, but in that case the order of the Figures is reversed. The method may include the following steps:

providing a vehicle with a toppling and erecting device and a pick up and lay down device (Fig. 9);

laying down a road control member with the pick up and lay down device, wherein the road control member is laid down in a lying orientation (Fig. 8);

moving the vehicle in a traveling direction thereby engaging a lower portion of the road control member with an erecting portion of the toppling and erecting device to erect the road control member (Fig. 7);

moving the vehicle in the traveling direction thereby engaging the upper portion of the road control member with a toppling portion of the toppling and erecting device during erecting of the road control member to guide the road control member (Figs. 6 and 7);

- moving the vehicle in the traveling direction until the road control member has moved from the lying orientation to an upright orientation (Figs. 3, 4 and 5).

To this end, the vehicle needs to move in a positive traveling direction PD (indicated only in Fig. 3) which is opposite to the negative traveling direction NTD. The method may also include a person manually putting a road control member on the insertion member when the rotatable arm is in the second position (Fig. 9).

When a sensor to measure the presence of a road control member is arranged on the rotatable arm, preferably at the insertion member, the output of the sensor can be used as a trigger for the control unit to move the rotatable arm to the first position to lay down the road control member. The control unit may therefor be configured to detect the placement of a road control member on the insertion member, possibly wait a while for safety reasons and subsequently control the drive means to move the rotatable arm including road control member to the first position.

Fig. 10 depicts a vehicle VE including a road control member placing and retrieving system RPS according to another embodiment of the invention, which road control member placing and retrieving system is in this embodiment attached to the vehicle VE to operate on a side of the vehicle, in this example on a left side of the vehicle VE.

The vehicle VE is provided with a cabin CA at the front of the vehicle for at least a driver. At the rear of the vehicle a platform PL is provided. The platform is delimited by a framework FR, so that personnel can safely work on the platform and equipment can safely be worked with on the platform, without the risk of a person or equipment falling of the platform. The framework may even allow a roof structure, so that at least a portion of the platform is substantially protected from environmental influences such as rain, sun and wind.

The framework includes a door DO to allow personnel access to the platform of the vehicle. Two stairs ST are provided to make allow easy access to the platform.

The road control member placing and retrieving system RPS comprises a toppling and erecting device TED and a pick up and lay down device PLD. The toppling and erecting device TED is configured to topple and erect road control members. In this embodiment, the toppling and erecting device is able to automatically topple upright road control members when the vehicle is driving backwards and is able to automatically erect lying road control members when the vehicle is driving forwards.

The toppling and erecting device TED is shown in more detail in Fig. 1 1 , and comprises a second frame SF having an upper frame portion SF1 and a lower frame portion SF2. The upper frame portion SF1 is configured to connect the toppling and erecting device TED to the vehicle. The upper frame portion therefor comprises two bars B1 , B2 extending sideways from the upper frame portion, and comprising respective hooks H1 , H2 to connect to the side of the vehicle as shown in Fig. 10. The upper frame SF1 is further provided with a connecting arm CA including a hook H3 to connect the connecting arm to the vehicle.

The connecting arm CA is pivotably connected to the upper frame portion so that the connecting arm can pivot to the opposite side of the upper frame as depicted in Fig. 1 1 to connect the toppling and erecting device to an opposite side of the vehicle. To allow this, hook 3 comprises two hook portions each hook portion being associated with one side of the vehicle. When the connecting arm is having an orientation allowing the upper frame portion to connect to the vehicle as desired, said orientation may be fixed by for instance a pin-hole assembly so that movement of the upper frame portion after connecting the upper frame portion to the vehicle is limited and that forces applied to the toppling and erecting device by road control members can be adequately absorbed and transferred to the vehicle.

The bars B1 , B2 are slidably received in respectively tubulars TU 1 , TU2, which are part of the upper frame portion SF1 , in order to extend on both sides depending on which side the upper frame portion has to be connected to the vehicle. In order to connect the upper frame portion to the other side of the vehicle, the bars B1 ,B2 are provided with respective hooks H1 , H2 on both sides of the bars B1 , B2. The position of the bars B1 , B2 can be locked relative to the tubulars TU 1 and TU2 by respective locking pins P11 , PI2. The locking pins P11 , PI2 in combination with holes, e.g. holes H01 , H02, in the bars B1 , B2 may allow the bars to be locked in at least two positions including a right position to connect the upper frame portion to the right side of the vehicle and a left position to connect the upper frame portion to the left side of the vehicle. Preferably, the bars B1 , B2 when extending sideways in one direction to connect the upper frame portion to a corresponding side of the vehicle, do not extend in the opposite direction outside the upper frame portion. The lower frame portion SF2 comprises a toppling portion TP, an erecting portion EP, and in this case also a guiding portion GP. The guiding portion GP which is not necessarily part of the toppling and erecting device is able to capture road control members during retrieving of the road control members and guide the captured road control members towards the toppling and erecting portion. An advantage is that the driving of the vehicle can be less precise than in absence of the guiding portion, as the guiding portion provides a larger capture range in a sideways direction perpendicular to a traveling direction TD of the vehicle.

The toppling portion TP is configured to engage with an upper portion of a road control member in order to topple the road control member from an upright orientation to a lying orientation and to guide the road control member during erecting of the road control member. In this embodiment, the toppling portion has a V-shape which aids in centering a road control member during toppling and/or erecting.

The erecting portion EP is configured to engage with a lower portion of a road control member in order to erect the road control member from a lying orientation to an upright orientation and to guide the road control member during toppling of the road control member. In this embodiment, the erecting portion EP comprises curved guiding members CGM to engage with the lower portion of a road control member.

The lower frame portion SF2 is connected to the upper frame portion SF1 and thereby connected to the vehicle. In this embodiment, the vertical position of the lower frame portion SF2 relative to the upper frame portion SF1 is adjustable, so that the height level of the lower frame portion above ground level can be adjusted to different road control member sizes, or the toppling and erecting device can be adapted to different vehicles while keeping the lower frame portion at the same height level above ground. In this embodiment, the vertical adjustment possibilities are provided by slidably receiving frame members FM1 of the upper frame portion SF1 in corresponding frame members FM2 of the lower frame portion FF2. The desired vertical position of the lower frame portion may then be locked by for instance clamping means or pin-hole assemblies. Connected to the second frame, in this case on either side of the lower frame portion, are alignment members AM, here embodied as bars which can extend to below the first frame to engage with a lower portion of a road control member in order to rotate the road control member about a longitudinal axis of the road control member to a desired orientation during toppling of the road control member. The alignment members AM are in this embodiment moveable along a respective guiding bar GB and can at least be locked in a retracted position, as shown in Fig. 11 , and an extended position in which the alignment member AM in this embodiment extends through the first frame to below the first frame. One alignment member AM will be used when the toppling and erecting device is connected to the right side of the vehicle and the other alignment member AM will be used when the toppling and erecting device is connected to the left side of the vehicle.

Fig. 12 depicts a portion of the pick up and lay down device PLD of Fig. 10. The pick up and lay down device comprises a first frame FF of which a part is shown in Fig. 12. The first frame can be attached to the vehicle such that the pick up and lay down device is aligned with the toppling and erecting device. The pick up and lay down device comprises a rotatable arm RA, drive means in the form of a pneumatic or hydraulic cylinder DM to drive rotation of the arm RA, and an insertion member IM for insertion into a bottom opening of a road control member. At one side of the rotatable arm RA, the arm RA is rotatably attached to the first frame to be rotatable about a rotation axis AX. The insertion member is provided at the opposite side of the arm RA, i.e. at the free end of the arm RA. During placing and retrieving road control members, the drive means DM, which are arranged between the arm RA and the first frame FF, are able to rotate the arm RA about rotation axis AX between a first position, in which the insertion member is oriented substantially horizontally in order to allow the insertion member to be inserted into a bottom opening of a lying road control member, and a second position, in which the insertion member is oriented substantially vertically in order to allow the insertion member to carry a road control member in an upright orientation.

The insertion member IM, which is provided at the free end of the arm RA, can be connected to the rotatable arm RA in different positions and/or orientations. The position and/or orientation can preferably be locked, in this example by clamping bolt CB.

First of all, the insertion member may be slidable relative to the rotatable arm in a direction parallel to the longitudinal axis of the arm RA which allows the pick up and lay down device to adapt to different vehicles while ensuring that the insertion member in the first position can be provided at the appropriate height level above ground in a similar manner as the toppling and erecting device is adjustable in height.

Further, the insertion member may be pivotable about the longitudinal axis of the free end of the arm RA for storage purposes. This may be achieved by providing a free end of the arm having a circular cross section, or using an intermediate member between the arm and the insertion member, which converts a non-circular, e.g. square, cross section of the arm into a circular cross section, so that the insertion member is able to be rotated about the circular cross section.

The first frame FF of the pick up and lay down device is in the embodiment of the Figs. 10 and 12 slidable relative to the vehicle VE between the right and left side of the vehicle. The pick up and lay down device or the vehicle therefor comprises a guiding frame GF having a stationary part SP attached to the framework FR and two extension parts XP provided at both ends of the stationary part SP (see Fig. 10). The extension parts XP are moveable between an extended position as shown for the extension part on the left side of the vehicle so that the first frame FF, the rotatable arm RA and the insertion member IM can be supported outside the framework FR next to the vehicle and in line with the toppling and erecting device TED, and an non-extended position as shown for the extension part on the right side of the vehicle which in this embodiment is folded inwards and thus poses no safety issue when this side of the vehicle is not used for placing or retrieving road control members. The first frame FF of the pick up and lay down device comprises bearings BE (see e.g. Fig. 12) cooperating with the guiding frame GF to allow the first frame to smoothly slide along the guiding frame GF. The first frame is preferably provided with a locking mechanism to lock the position of the first frame relative to the guiding frame. In this example, this is embodied as a pin LM 1 which can be received in predefined holes in the guiding frame. The holes in the guiding frame and the pin LM 1 are arranged such that the first frame can be locked at both sides of the vehicle and preferably also at a storage location inside the framework FR.

Fig. 13 depicts a side view of the portion of the pick up and lay down device shown in perspective in Fig. 12. In Fig. 12, the rotatable arm is depicted in an operational position ready for placing and retrieving road control members, where the rotatable arm in Fig. 13 is shown in a storage position. To allow this, the rotatable arm comprises two parts, namely a first arm part RA1 and a second arm part RA2 which are pivotable relative to each other about a pivot axis PA.

The arm is provided with a locking mechanism LM3 including a hook part HP and a holding part HOP which is operable by a handle HA. When first and second arm part are aligned with respect to each other, such that the rotatable arm is in the operational position, the holding part HOP is able to engage with hook part HP to lock the arm in this position. By releasing the holding part from the hook part using the handle, the first arm part RA1 is able to pivot relative to the second arm part RA2 to the storage position as shown in Fig. 13. This storage position allows the rotatable arm to be moved inside the framework FR of the vehicle VE without interfering with any of the framework components. The storage position also has the advantage that less space is occupied by the pick up and lay down device. The first arm part can be locked in the storage position by locking means LM2.

It may be convenient in the storage position that the insertion member IM is rotated about the longitudinal axis of the rotatable arm RA to extend in a transverse direction of the vehicle as shown in Fig. 13, thereby further minimizing the space occupied by the pick up and lay down device.

It will be apparent to the person skilled in the art that the shown embodiments are merely examples of the invention and that other embodiment may also fall within the scope of the invention.

The invention described above may alternatively be summarized by the following clauses: A road control member retrieving and placing system to be arranged on a vehicle, comprising:

- a toppling and erecting device;

- a pick up and lay down device;

said pick up and lay down device comprising:

- a first frame to be attached to the vehicle such that the pick up and lay down device is aligned relative to the toppling and erecting device;

- a rotatable arm;

- drive means to drive rotation of the arm; and

- an insertion member for insertion into a bottom opening of a road control member;

wherein the rotatable arm is rotatably attached to the first frame on one side of the arm, wherein the insertion member is attached to the other side of the arm, and wherein the drive means are arranged to drive rotation of the arm relative to the first frame between a first position, in which the insertion member is able to be inserted into a bottom opening of a lying road control member, and a second position, in which the insertion member is able to carry a road control member in an upright orientation,

and said toppling and erecting device comprising a second frame to be attached to the vehicle, characterized in that said second frame comprises:

- a guiding portion;

- a toppling portion; and

- an erecting portion

wherein the guiding portion is configured to engage with a middle portion of an upright road control member in order to capture said upright road control member and to align the road control member in a horizontal direction perpendicular to a traveling direction of the vehicle with respect to the toppling portion and the erecting portion,

wherein the toppling portion is configured to engage with an upper portion of a road control member in order to topple the road control member from an upright orientation to a lying orientation or to guide the road control member during erecting of the road control member,

wherein the erecting portion is configured to engage with a lower portion of a road control member in order to erect the road control member from a lying orientation to an upright orientation or to guide the road control member during toppling of the road control member. The road control member retrieving and placing system according to clause 1 , wherein said insertion member has a substantial cone shape.

The road control member retrieving and placing system according to clause 1 , wherein the second frame comprises an alignment member to engage with a lower portion of a road control member in order to rotate the road control member about a longitudinal axis of the road control member to a desired orientation during toppling of the road control member.

The road control member retrieving and placing system according to clause 1 , comprising a sensor to detect a by the toppling and erecting device toppled road control member.

The road control member retrieving and placing system according to clause 4, comprising a control unit configured to control the drive means based on an output of the sensor while retrieving road control members.

A vehicle comprising a road control member retrieving and placing system according to clause 1 , wherein the toppling and erecting device and the pick up and lay down device are aligned with respect to each other.

A vehicle according to clause 6, wherein the first and second frame are attachable to either side of the vehicle.

A vehicle according to clause 6, comprising a velocity sensor to detect the velocity of the vehicle, wherein the road control member retrieving and placing system comprises a control unit configured to control the drive means based on an output of the velocity sensor.

A method for retrieving an upright road control member, said method comprising the following steps:

• providing a vehicle with a toppling and erecting device and a pick up and lay down device;

• moving the vehicle in a traveling direction thereby engaging a middle portion of the upright road control member with a guiding portion of the toppling and erecting device to align the road control member in a horizontal direction perpendicular to the traveling direction of the vehicle relative to a toppling portion and erecting portion of the toppling and erecting device;

• moving the vehicle in the traveling direction thereby engaging an upper

portion of the upright road control member with the toppling portion to topple the road control member; • moving the vehicle in the traveling direction thereby engaging a lower portion of the upright road control member with the erecting portion during toppling of the road control member to guide the road control member;

• moving the vehicle in the traveling direction until the road control member has moved from the upright orientation to a lying orientation; and

• picking up the lying road control member with the pick up and lay down

device.

A method according to clause 9, further comprising the steps:

- detecting the presence of a road control member after being toppled by the toppling and erecting device;

- detecting the velocity of the vehicle;

wherein picking up the lying road control member with the pick up and lay down device is controlled based on the detected presence of the road control member and the detected velocity.

A method for placing a road control member, said method comprising the following steps:

• providing a vehicle with a toppling and erecting device and a pick up and lay down device;

• laying down a road control member with the pick up and lay down device, wherein the road control member is laid down in a lying orientation;

• moving the vehicle in a traveling direction thereby engaging a lower portion of the road control member with an erecting portion of the toppling and erecting device to erect the road control member;

• moving the vehicle in the traveling direction thereby engaging the upper

portion of the road control member with a toppling portion of the toppling and erecting device during erecting of the road control member to guide the road control member; and

• moving the vehicle in the traveling direction until the road control member has moved from the lying orientation to an upright orientation.

A method according to clause 1 1 , further comprising the step of detecting the velocity of the vehicle, wherein laying down a road control member with the pick up and lay down device is controlled based on the detected velocity of the vehicle.