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US 4,071,970 AGranted
Hinge plate for roadside post safety breakaway system for sign panels and the like
AssigneeTranspo-Safety, Inc.
InventorRichard A. Strizki
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
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AssigneeTranspo-Safety, Inc.
InventorRichard A. Strizki
Estimating the term…
An integral hinge is described which is adapted to be used in conjunction with a roadside post safety breakaway system for sign panels and the like. The integral hinge plate is generally rectangular in configuration and planar and is provided with a notch or groove extending thereacross which represents a weakened line portion about which the two halves of the hinge may bend or at which point the hinge may be severed in tension. The hinge plates are fixedly mounted on opposite sides of each of the posts supporting the sign panel or the like. The material and configuration of the hinge plates and the notches or weakened line portions are selected to cause the hinge plates mounted on the impact side of the posts to rupture at the notches or weakened line portions while causing the hinge plates mounted on the side of the post opposite to the impact side to bend. In this manner, impact by a moving vehicle with a post and severance of the breakaway means severs the hinge plates on the impact side and permits the vehicle to deflect the impacted post about the hinge plates on the opposite side while the post remains attached to the sign panel or the like to prevent secondary collisions with the advancing vehicle or other objects or persons in the immediate collision area.
A roadside post safety breakaway system for sign panels and the like, comprising a plurality of posts each having upper and lower post portions joined at post cut lines, the sign panel or the like being mounted on the upper post portions proximate to and above said post cut lines;
In a roadside post safety breakaway system for sign panels and the like, wherein a sign panel or the like is mounted on the upper post portions of at least two posts, the posts having lower post portions joined to said upper post portions at post cut lines in the region below and proximate to the sign panel or the like, and breakaway means for removably connecting said lower post portions to footings embedded in the ground or other supporting surface and for releasing said lower post portions from the footings upon impact therewith by a moving vehicle, the improvement comprising a plurality of hinge plates of substantially planar configuration associated with each post, at least one pair of hinge plates being spaced from each other and cut lines, each hinge plate having a first hinge portion independently fixedly connected to a respective upper post portion and a second hinge portion independently fixedly connected to an associated lower post portion to connect associated upper and lower post portions of each post to each other, said first and second hinge portions of each hinge plate being separated by a weakened line portion, the material and configuration of said hinge plate and weakened line portion being selected to cause the hinge plates mounted on the impact side of said posts to rupture substantially in tension only at said weakened line portion while causing the hinge plates mounted on the side of said posts opposite to said impact side to bend, whereby impact by a moving vehicle with a post and severance of said breakaway means severs some of said hinge plates and permits the vehicle to deflect the impacted post about the remaining hinge plates while the post remains attached to the associated upper post portion and the sign panel or the like to prevent secondary collisions with the advancing vehicle or other objects or persons in the immediate collision area.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.