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US 12,753,557 B2Granted
Roadway safety device
AssigneeArgo Corp, Inc.
InventorsJayson Kesler, Stacey Kesler
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A roadway safety device includes one or more spacers which engage a falling arm attached to a sign so as to lift the sign relative to a structure on which a housing bracket attached to the arm rests. The roadway safety device may include a spacer which dampens the fall of the arm and which holds the arm at an upward angle to make the sign more visible to drivers.
Claims20
A roadway safety device comprising:
- a bracket,
- an arm pivotably attached to the bracket and pivotable between a generally vertical position and a horizontal position, and
- at least one spacer disposed in the bracket wherein the at least one spacer is separated from the arm by a void when the arm is disposed in the generally vertical position, and wherein the arm impacts the spacer so as to stop movement of the arm if the arm attempts to move to the horizontal position and wherein the spacer if formed by an elongate piece of resilient material having a first middle portion having a thickness and a first end portion and a second end portion, and wherein the first end portion and second end portion are between two and 10 times the thickness of the middle portion.
A method for improving the safety of a roadway sign attached on top of a barrier, the method comprising:
- selecting a roadway sign which is attached to an arm which is pivotably mounted to a housing bracket so that the arm pivots from a vertical position and a generally horizontal position;
- disposing a resilient spacer adjacent to and underneath the arm and spaced away from the arm such that if the arm rotates, the arm impacts the spacer, the spacer absorbing force from the rotating arm and limiting rotation of the arm to prevent the arm or sign from engaging the barrier.
A method for improving the safety of fallen roadway signs, the method comprising:
- selecting a roadway sign attached by an arm to a housing bracket wherein the arm pivots with respect to the housing bracket;
- disposing a spacer in the housing bracket but spaced away from the arm so as to limit rotation of the arm relative to the housing bracket so that the roadway sign is held above horizontal.
A roadway safety device comprising:
- a bracket having a bottom wall and a pair of sidewalls extending upwardly from the bottom wall;
- an arm pivotably attached to at least one of the side walls;
- a sheer bolt attached to at least one of the side walls for preventing pivoting of the arm unless the sheer bolt is sheered;
- and
- a spacer disposed in the bracket for limiting the pivoting of the arm, the spacer being spaced apart from the arm until the shear bolt is sheared and the arm rotates into engagement with the spacer.
2 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.