Technical Field

This invention concerns traffic management units with particular, but not exclusive, reference to barriers and lane markers for highways and motorways where vehicle flow needs to be controlled or segregated and obstructions protected. Background Art

The most widespread method of temporary lane marking currently in use consists in depositing a very large number of plastic cones. Such cones have a number of advantages, such as light weight, βtackabil i t , relatively low unit cost of manufacture and good portability. At the same time, however, they suffer from a number of disadvantages, namely that they are easily knocked over by traffic or even high winds, they are frequently stolen due to the very fact of their light weight and portability, the continuity of their line is easily disturbed by the accidental or non-accidental removal of individual cones, and they can represent a hazard when knocked over in that when lying on their side they readily roll into the path of vehicles.

GB-A-1,603,060 concerns elements or bodies for use in creating patterns or structures for educational and recretational purposes. One of the elements shown in Fig. 5a has a superficial similarity through, of course, of wholly unconnected purpose, to an element forming part of the traffic management units of this invention.

My own earlier patents GB-A-1,327,687 and GB-B-2,077, 796 disclose complementarily shaped solid building blocks for use as walls or kerbs, i.e. of a quasi-permanent or permanent, non- removable, non-stackable nature.

The present invention seeks to retain the advantages of such known traffic cones while overcoming or reducing the above- mentioned disadvantages. Disclosure of the Invention The underlying recognition of this invention resides in a series of tapering bin or bucket units, preferably made of a

plastic material, which are preferably circular in plan and present a generally frusto-conical shape, which are capable of being releasably but firmly secured together with generally similar but inverted, preferably also plastics, interlocking units that have two equal and opposite arcuate portions removed so that when a series of alternating bucket and interlocking units is closely juxtaposed a traffic lane barrier may be formed, with a plan variable as desired from linear to any radius of curvature likely to be required in practice. The bucket units are readily fillable with ballast, such as water or sand, to. give stability and to provide a disincentive to unauthorised removal. Moreover, the invention seeks to provide, in combination, a series of units which when linked together have a good resistance to glancing impacts; a preferred embodiment of the invention is, moreover, constructed in such a way as to resist rolling if knocked over.

According therefore to one aspect of the present invention there is provided, in combination, a first traffic management unit which is a hollow member serving in use as a receptacle for ballast, the hollow member having a generally fully circular or regular polygonal annular horizontal cross-section, with one closed, generally planar end face and an open end opposite thereto; and a second traffic management unit has two equal and opposite concavely arcuate or concavely polygonal side faces whereby the side faces of said units are which is capable of being brought into close mating relationship with the said first unit, wherein the radii of curvature or angular spacings of said concave faces and the face(s) of said first unit are identical with each other though mathematically of opposite sign. Preferably, said other faces are convex and are of the same radius of curvature as the side face of said first unit.

The said first unit may be generally bucket-shaped so as to widen upwardly from the closed end face constituting the bottom, and said second unit may then taper upwardly in complementary fashion so that the units may be closely matingly juxtaposed.

The concave faces of said second unit have expediently a

generally horizontal groove for receiving a securing hoop which encompasses said second unit and at least one of said first unit. Advantageously, the side faces of said first unit are provided with drainage holes above the closed end face. Instead of, or in addition to, the said securing hoops the said first and second units may be linked together by interengaging male and female formations provided thereon. One example of such a construction resides in making the said first unit higher than at least part of said second unit, and providing said open end of the first unit provided with an outwardly directed rim which extends over part of the top of a juxtaposed second unit; optionally, then, the top of said second unit is provided with two grooves and the free end of said rim is provided with a downwardly directed flange receivable in either of said grooves.

The said rim may be widened on one side to form a straight edge extending substantially tangentially (or parallel with the tangent) to the said open end with a length substantially equal to the width of the said top. Preferably, the said grooves are formed as downwardly directed recesses running in respective parts of said top which are at a lower height than the highest end surface of said top.

In a preferred embodiment, one of said grooves is linear while the other is arcuate with a radius of curvature equal to the said radius of curvature.

Said one groove may merge tangentially with said other groove in the central region of said top.

According to another aspect of the invention, there is provided an article of manufacture comprising the said first unit only of the combination set forth above.

According to yet another aspect of the invention, there is provided an article of manufacture comprising the said second unit only of the combination as set forth above. Brif Description of the Drawings The invention will be described, purely by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a first preferred embodiment of two different traffic management units that are intended to be combined together in accordance with the present invention; Figure 2 is a plan view illustrating the juxtaposition of a total of five units made up of the two units shown in Figure 1 in alternation resulting in a solid traffic lane marking or barrier along a generally curved line;

Figure 3a is a perspective view of a securing hoop for securing together the different units shown in Figure 1 in an alternating fashion;

Figure 3b is a sectional view of the securing hoop according to Figure 3a;

Figure 4 is a perspective view of a solid traffic barrier laid out in a generally linear form and made up of alternating units as shown in Figure 1 and secured together by the securing hoop shown in Figures 3a and 3b;

Figure 5 is a plan view of a second preferred embodiment of the invention illustrating in perspective view modified units, Figures 6 to 8 are respectively cross-sections taken along the planes indicated by the lines A-A and B-B in Figure 5 and a perspective view analogous to Figure 4; and

Figures 9 and 10 are, respectively, a view similar to Figures 4 and 2, but illustrating a third preferred embodiment; and

Figs.11 and 12 are, respectively, views similar to Figs.1 and 4, but illustrating a fourth preferred embodiment. Best Modes of Carrying out the Invention

Referring to the first embodiment of the invention illustrated in Figures 1 to 4 two different traffic management units 10 and 20 are provided. The unit 10 is essentially bucket- shaped, that is to say it is of circular cross-section widening upwardly from a closed end or bottom 12 to an open top 14. The side face 11 of the member 10 may be provided with top and bottom bands 15 of red colour leaving a white reflective gap therebetween. Around the periphery of the side face 11 adjacent

the upper end of the lower red band 15 a series o f angularly spaced apart drainage holes 17 are provided. The units 10 are readily chargeable with water or sand to give them stability and the drainage holes 17 provide a means for limiting the amount of ballast that is to be placed within the units 10.

In a typical embodiment the overall he ight of the unit 10 may be 900 mm but this is evidently variable.

The unit 20 serves to interlock in an al ternat ing fashion two units 10 and for this purpose it has two equal and oppos ite concavely arcuate faces 22 the radius of curvature of which is substantially identical with the radius of the unit 10. Equally, the unit 20 tapers upwardly in a fashion complemen tary to the progressive widening of the unit 10 so that the two units 10 and 20 may be closely juxtaposed and mated. The arcuate faces 22 are connected by convex faces 24 at the bottom of which a part- annular flat rim or base 26 is provided to improve the stability of the unit 20. The unit 20 may be solid or hollow. It may be preferable for the unit 20 to be open at its bottom (as viewed in Figure 1 ) so that the unit 20 is in effec t an inverted bucke t because then the units 20 are themselves s tackable in the same way as the units 10 are s tackable. Each concave face 22 o f the unit 20 is provided with coloured reflective bands 28 analogously with the bands 15 of unit 10. Approximately half-way between top and bottom each concave face 22 is provided w ith a peripheral recess 30 having a bottom ledge 33, for a reason about to be described.

Both units 10 and 20 are to be made of a suitable plas tics material .

As Figure 2 shows , because of the equal and opposite curvatures of the faces 11 and 22 the units 10 and 20 may be closely juxtaposed. The line connecting the respective centres of curvature indicated by crosses may be laid out in a very easy fashion according to any radius of curvature that may be required in practice to present a straight or arcuate line. The resulting scalloped view in side elevation of the linked units 10, 20 improves visibility to a motorist.

Figures 3a and 3b illustrate a securing hoop 35 by means of which two units 10 may be linked to a unit 20 therebet een. The hoop 35 consists of two circular hoop parts 36 connected by a double concave-convex intermediate portion 38, the interconnections being strengthened by gussets 40. The two circular hoop parts 36 are not co-planar: the one on the left (as viewed) being lower than the one on the right. Moreover, as Figure 3b makes it clear, the intermediate portion 38 tapers upwardly. In use, see Figure 4, hoops 35', 35" are first fitted over two units 20 and pushed down until each intermediate portion 38 is firmly seated in the respective recess 30 and abuts the respective ledge 33. Then two adjacent circular hoop parts 36 of the hoops 35', 35" are brought into superposed registry with each other at any desired angular arrangement, e.g. straight or curved. Finally, units 10 are inserted from the top (thus every third unit 10 in a row will be surrounded by two hoop parts 36), and finally, ballast is added to the units 10 as desired. Although the embodiment described above works extremely well it is to be noted that before securing the units 10 and 20 together, and/or if the securing rings or hoops 35 come loose or are removed in some other way, the units 10, 20 can roll on their side. It is, of course, extremely unlikely that this could occur in view of the use of the securing hoops 35; nevertheless the embodiment about to be described further reduces and practically eliminates the risk of the units rolling over on their sides.

Referring now to Figures 5 to 8, parts analogous to those in Figures 1 to 4 have been allotted like reference numbers but increased by 100. Thus, there are bucket units 110 matable with interlocking units 120. Each bucket unit 110 is provided with a rim 116 at its top edge 114. One side of the rim 116 is widened to form a straight edge 118 which extends in a line parallel to the tangent to the top edge of the unit 110 and in fact tangentially to the rim 116 of circular section. The length of the straight edge 118 is substantially equal to the width across the top of the adjacent interlocking unit 120, that is to say, it is substantially equal

to the length of the diametral line connecting the convex surfaces 124 of the unit 120.

It will be seen that the provision of the rim 116 with its straight edge 118 prevents a unit 110 from rolling about if knocked over.

The interlockability of the units 110 and 120 is achieved by the provision of a downwardly depending flange 119 along the whole periphery of the rim 116 including the straight edge 118. The top of the unit 120 is correspondingly modified in order to accommodate the flanges 119 of two adjacent units 110 tha the unit 120 is to link together. As may be seen in Figures 6 and 7, substantially one-half of the top of the unit 120 is reduced in height by the thickness of the rim 116 so that the latter lies closely above it. Moreover, the said top is provided with an essentially diametrally extending groove 121 to accommodate the flange 119 depending from the straight edge 118. A further groove 123 is also provided in the opposite half of the top of the unit 120 which is also reduced in height by an amount substantially equal to the thickness of the rim 116. This groove 123 is arcuate with a radius of curvature equal to that of the convexity of the unit 110 and thus of the concavity of the faces 122 of the unit 120. As may be seen best in Figure 5, the essentially linear groove 121 and the arcuate groove 123 meet at a tangential central area 125. In Figures 6 and 7 a broken line 129 indicates the height of the top of the units 110 so that, as may be seen best in Figure 7, in effect the unit 120 has a 'land' 127 offset from the centre which is co-planar with the height 129 of the tops of the units 110.

It will be observed that the embodiment of Figures 5 to 7 has additional advantages besides resistance to rolling in that while retaining the full flexibility of any desired plan lay-out of linked units it obviates the need for the separate manufacture, storage and transporting of securing hoops; however, if so desired, such hoops could be used as additional securing means.

In other respects, the units illustrated in Figures 5 to 8

are similar to the units illustrated in Figures 1 to 4.

In all the preferred embodiments of the invention the flexibility of the plastics material, the visually solid appearance of a line of units linked together and the provision of ballast would improve resistance to glancing impacts bearing in mind that the ballast is limited to approximately the lower quarter of the units. Moreover, it would be possible, if desired, in a non-illustrated embodiment for the units 10 or 110 to have discharge holes at varying heights so that a series of units could then be placed in a series with progressively increasing amounts of ballast nearer the location which is to be protected. Although the provision of ballast is recommended, it is not of course essential.

In other, non-illustrated embodiments, the embodiment of Figures 5 to 8 is modified by not providing a widened rim with a straight edge but instead maintaining the rim and depending flange fully annular, and making the groove 121 correspondingly part-annular. The anti-rolling property would then be provided by other means, e.g. by using securing hoops like the hoop 35. The inter lockable units need not be of generally circular plan but may instead be of regular polygonal plan. Purely by way of example, Figures 9 and 10 illustrate a barrier made up of interengaged bucket units 210 and interlocking units 220 which are of complementarily shaped hexagonal plan. In other respects, the embodiment of Figures 9 and 10 is analogous to the previously described embodiments and accordingly no further details are given.

Finally, Figs. 11 and 12 illustrate an embodiment in which like parts are indicated by like reference numbers, increased by 300. Thus the units comprise bucket units 310 and interlocking units 320. Each unit 310, 320 is stepped in the centre region of its height and the respective steps 319, 329 face oppositely. In this way juxtaposed units form a ledge 330 for the receipt of a securing hoop 335. In a further and non-illustrated embodiment the interlocking unit may be formed with three concave arcuate surfaces spaced

apart by 120° to allow a line of bucket and interlocking units to bifurcate, e.g. around an obstruction.

The units may each be provided with means for affixing a traffic warning sign.