ROADSIDE USE

Field of the invention

[001] The present invention relates to roadway barriers of the cable or wire rope type.

The present invention more particularly relates to improvements in wire rope post and related attachment systems.

Background of the invention

[002] Wire rope and cable systems are well known and are gaining greater usage due to the advantages of such systems. Improvements in the assembly of such systems, particularly those which provide assistance to installers help to make such systems more desirable to the marketplace.

[003] Any reference herein to known prior art does not, unless the contrary indication appears, constitute an admission that such prior art is commonly known by those skilled in the art to which the invention relates, at the priority date of this application.

Summary of the invention

[004] The present invention provides a wire rope barrier assembly having a post with slot at its upper end forming a space located between two upper post portions; a cable or wire rope located at the lower end of said space and a cap positioned on the upper end of said post which receives said two upper post portions, said cap including a slot extending downwardly from its upper surface to provide a space into which is received an upper wire rope or cable.

[005] The cap can have an opening on either side of said slot in said cap.

[006] The slot in said cap can diverge in the direction from the bottom of said slot in said cap to said upper surface.

[007] The slot in said cap can be sized and or shaped so as to not impede said upper wire rope from exiting said slot and or so that said cap will not move off said post as said upper wire rope moves off said cap or post.

[008] A third wire rope can be located intermediate said upper and lower wire ropes.

[009] The third wire rope can be located above said lower wire rope and said cap.

[010] A spreader or spacer member can be located in said space above said lower rope and said third rope, with said third rope being in contact with the upper end of said spacer.

[011] The spreader or spacer can have a scalloped portion to engage the upper extremity of said lower most cable and or the spreader or spacer has an upper scallop portion to receive the lower periphery of the third cable. [012] The slot in said cap can converge in the direction from the bottom of said slot in said cap to said upper surface, or said slot in said cap can include at least one projection in said space to restrict the movement of said upper cable out of said slot in said cap.

[013] The cap can include a lower slot of a width to allow said lower wire rope or said third wire rope if present to pass therein.

[014] The cap and post can have a matching shape.

[015] The cap can include at least one or two cavity formations accessible via its base, said cavity formation or formations being sized and shaped so as to receive therein said two upper post sections

[016] A retainer can be positioned between the lower and said cap to reinforce the two upper sections of said post.

[0117] The present invention also provides a cap for a post for use in a wire rope barrier system, said cap including a slot in its upper region to receive a first wire rope, said first wire rope able to exit said cap in the event of a collision while said cap remains on said post, said cap having at least one cavity to receive two upper post sections of a bifurcated post.

[018] The slot to receive said wire rope can include inclined sides which increase the width of said slot in said cap at the upper end of said slot by comparison to the lower end.

[019] The slot to receive said wire rope can alternatively include inclined sides which decrease the width of said slot in said cap at the upper end of said slot by comparison to the lower end, or the slot can include projections to close off the width of the slot at the upper end of the slot.

[020] The cap can include a lower slot to receive a wire rope as it moves upwardly during a collision by a motor vehicle.

Brief description of the drawings

[021] An embodiment or embodiments of the present invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

[022] Figure 1 is a perspective view of a wire rope, post and cap system in an assembled state;

[023] Figure 2 is a plan view of the assembly of Figure 1 ;

[024] Figure 3 is a right or left side view of the system of Figure 1 ;

[025] Figure 4 is a side view of the upper portion Of the post and cap of figure 1 ;

[026] Figure 5 is a side view of the cap of the assembly of Figure 1 ; [027] Figure 6 is an underneath perspective view of the cap of the assembly of Figure

1 ;

[028] Figure 7 is an upper perspective view of the cap of the assembly of Figure 6;

[029] Figure 8 is a perspective view of the upper end of the post of figure 1 ;

[030] Figure 9 is a perspective of the obround retainer of the assembly of Figure 1 ;

[031] Figure 10 is a perceptive view of the spreader of assembly Figure 1 ;

[032] Figure 11 is perspective view of another wire rope, post and cap system assembly similar to the assembly of Figure 1 ;

[033] Figure 12 is perspective view of further wire rope, post and cap system assembly similar to the assembly of Figure 10;

[034] Figure 13 is a perspective view of a cap similar to Figure 7, showing the use of projections with the upper slot; and

[035] Figure 14 is an underneath perspective view of cap similar to figure 6, but the upper slot has a converging form in the end of slot to upper surface of the cap direction.

Detailed description of the embodiment or embodiments

[036] Illustrated in Figure 1 is a wire rope barrier assembly 10 which includes a post 2 having a bifurcated end 14 which has an outboard post portion 16 and an inboard post portion 18 and a gap 20 between them, as is best illustrated in Figure 8. The gap or space 20 provides a location for receiving a lower rope 32, an intermediate rope 34, and upper rope 36 therebetween.

[037] As can be seen in Figure 1 the lower rope 32 is at the bottom of the space 20 and above this lies a spreader or spacer 22 as will be described in more detail below with respect to Figure 10. The intermediate rope 34 lies at the upper end of the spacer or spreader 22. Over the free ends of the outboard portion 16 and inboard portion 18 is a post end cap 24 which is illustrated in more detail below with respect to Figures 4 to 7.

[038] As illustrated in Figure 6, the post end cap 24 includes two cavities 37 in the underside thereof to receive each of the termini of portions 16 and 18 of post 12. As best seen for figure 7 the cap 24 has its own bifurcated end, formed by a slot or space 26, between the walls and portions of the cap 24 which surround cavities 37. The post cap 24 is positioned on the post 12 and is dimensioned so that a lower slot 28 will be positioned above the intermediate rope 34.

[039] Between the intermediate rope 34 and lower rope 32 is located a retainer 35 which is best illustrated in Figure 9. It is preferably manufactured from stainless steel in a continuous band, or a band which has its free ends joined as illustrated in Figure 9. It is sized and shape so as to receive, by a sliding fit, the outer periphery of the post 12, to thereby help retain the wire rope's and the integrity of the upper end of the post 12 in the event of a collision and to control the point, or timing, of the release of the cables with respect to the post 12 in the event of a collision.

[040] Illustrated in Figures 2 and 8 it can be seen that the cross section of the post 12 is similar to the numeral 3, and is called a SIGMA post or section.

[041] Illustrated in Figure 4 is a detail of the upper slot 26 in the post cap 24 which provides a space 26 between inboard and outboard portions of the cap 14. As best seen in Figure 6, the "sides" of the slot 26 are open, which, because the slot 26 is diverging in an upward direction, exposes several millimetres of the edge of the slot 121 in the post 12. This ensures that the slot 121 in the post 12, does not interfere, hinder or delay the upper wire rope from exiting the slot 26. Further by this means, it prevents the upper wire rope in slot 26 from lifting the cap 24 off the post 12, until the cap 24 is pushed off by the intermediate rope 34, as it leaves the slot 121 in the post 12. This ensures that the bracing provided by the cap 24, in addition to the retainer 35 of figure 9, help to maintain the integrity of the top of the post 12, thereby permitting a greater absorption of energy by the intermediate and lower wire ropes 32 and 34.

[042] In other embodiments as illustrated in Figures 13 and 14, the illustrated cap works in a different manner. The slot 26 can be such that the upper end of the slot or space 26 has a width W1 which is of a lesser dimension than the width W2 at the lower end of the space or bifurcation, so that the sides of the slot 121 in the post 12 will not protrude through the cap 24 into the volume of the slot 26: This width W2 can wide enough to accommodate the outer or outside diameter of the wire rope 36 whilst the width W1 can of a lesser dimension which the upper wire rope 36 will have to push past by as it moves down into the base of the space or slot 26. This means that once the wire rope 36 is in position in the vicinity of the lower end of the space 26, force of sufficient upward magnitude must be applied to the wire rope 36 for it to escape from the upper reaches of the slot 26 and again push past the lesser width W1. Such a system will require the cap to be secured to the post 12, such as by a pop rivet or self tapping screw or other means, because otherwise the cap 24 with such a restriction may otherwise be lifted off the post 12 as soon as the upper wire rope 36 moves upwardly with respect to the post. This may mean that the extra bracing supplied by the cap 24 and the retainer of figure 9, will otherwise fail before the post 12 has time to absorb as much impact as possible.

[043] As is visible in Figures 5, 6 and 7 the lower end of the cap 24 has a space 28 which when the assembly is assembled will sit above the intermediate rope 34. This ensures that the wire rope 34, will not immediately begin to move the cap 24 off the end of the post 12, until the height of the slot 28 has been travelled through by the rope 34. This helps to maintain the integrity of the upper end of the post while the cap 24 remains in place.

[044] The cavities 37, as illustrated in figure 6, are bounded on their outer peripheries by the internal surface of the outer walls of the cap 24. However, the internal surface of the cavities 37 are bounded by respective walls 39 which connect the lower region of slot 26 to the upper region of slot 28. These walls 39 also provide some structural integrity to the cap 24 by interlinking the opposed flat sides of the cap 24.

[045] The post cap 24 can be injection moulded or made by any appropriate manufacturing process but is preferably made from polymeric material with appropriate tlV stabilisers. While the post cap 24 would be stronger if manufactured from cast steel or such like, it is best to keep the cap 24 as lightweight as possible, to ensure it has a least amount of momentum as possible is carried by the cap when it is moving, due to the eventual separation of the cap 24 from the post 12 in the event of a collision.

[046] Illustrated in Figure 10 is the spreader or spacer 22 which shows the construction of the spacer or spreader 22. The spreader 22 includes an upper bight 221 and a lower bight 222 which are of a diameter which is approximately equal to the outside diameter of the wire ropes 32 and 34. The left and right longitudinal sides include channels 223 and 224 which channels are of a width to readily receive the thickness of the post 12 in the vicinity of its slot 121 as is best illustrated in Figure 3 and 8. The spacer or spreader 22 helps to maintain the lower cable 32 and intermediate cable 34 at an appropriate spacing of approximately 160 millimetres between the centres of the wire ropes.

[047] Illustrated in Figure 9 is the stainless steel retainer 35 which has an internal length or sized so as to snugly and slidingly fit around the outer periphery of the post 12 and is preferably located in the region between the wire ropes 32 and 34. When assembling the wire rope into the post 12 the retainer of Figure 9 is positioned after the rope 32, the lowermost rope, has been located inside the gap provided at the upper end of the post 12.

[048] Illustrated in Figure 11 is a wire rope barrier system similar to figure 1 with a cap

24 similar to that described above, except that a lower slot 28 is not provided and the retainer 35 of a height to bridge the upper circumference of rope 32 and lower circumference of rope 34. The retainer 35 is thus used as both as a reinforcement and as spacer (obviating the need for the spreader 22) between lower wire rope 32 and intermediate wire rope 34.

[049] The barrier system of figure 12 is similar to that of figure 11 , except that two upper wire ropes 36 are located in the slot 26 in the upper end of the cap 24.

[050] Where ever it is used, the word "comprising" is to be understood in its "open" sense, that is, in the sense of "including", and thus not limited to its "closed" sense, that is the sense of "consisting only of. A corresponding meaning is to be attributed to the corresponding words "comprise", "comprised" and "comprises" where they appear.

[051] It will be understood that the invention disclosed and defined herein extends to all alternative combinations of two or more of the individual features mentioned or evident from the text. All of these different combinations constitute various alternative aspects of the invention.

[052] While particular embodiments of this invention have been described, it will be evident to those skilled in the art that the present invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from the essential characteristics thereof. The present embodiments and examples are therefore to be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive, and all modifications which would be obvious to those skilled in the art are therefore intended to be embraced therein.