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US 6,604,888 B2Granted
Energy absorbing safety barrier
OwnerDonald L. Dolaninventor
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An energy absorbing safety barrier is made of at least one horizontal stack of used tires, bolted together at the sidewalls. Both ends of the stack are closed by attached plates or an adjoining barrier. When the stack is struck axially, air escapes from the stack at a controlled rate through vents formed by forming U-shaped cuts in the tires. The vents close at the end of the impact to reduce or eliminate rebound.
Claims17
An energy absorbing safety barrier comprising
- a plurality of pneumatic vehicle tires having sidewalls,
- said tires being arranged in at least one stack with the sidewalls of adjacent tires attached to one another at the sidewalls, and
- a pair of end structures to close off the ends of the endmost tires in the stack, thus forming a closed air chamber,
- said stack being placed substantially horizontally and aligned toward traffic, and
- one or more vent valves for controlling air flow into and out of the chamber, to absorb energy while cushioning impact of a vehicle and to minimize rebound of the vehicle,
- wherein each of said vents comprises a hinged flap formed from the sidewall of its respective tire.
3 more elements
An energy absorbing safety barrier comprising
- a plurality of pneumatic vehicle tires having sidewalls
- said tires being arranged in at least one stack with the sidewalls of adjacent tires attached to one another at the sidewalls, and
- a pair of end structures to close off the ends of the endmost tires in the stack, thus forming a closed air chamber,
- said stack being placed substantially horizontally and aligned toward traffic, and
- one or more vent valves for controlling air flow into and out of the chamber, to absorb energy while cushioning impact of a vehicle and to minimize rebound of the vehicle, wherein each of said tires has a hole formed in its tread at the bottom thereof to prevent water from accumulating in said tires.
2 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.