Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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TRAFFIC CONE
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to traffic cones, i.e. devices designed mainly to
delineate areas under construction and to channelize traffic.
Due to the compact size) light weight and stackability of traffic cones, they
are widely used at maintenance and repair sites.
There are many kinds of cone designs with an upward body being of
1 o conical or cylindrical shape, and an outward wide base that forms an
integral part with
the body. The differences in designs is directed in the various kinds of
bases. Most
commonly used cones have an integrally molded base made of rubber. The heavy
rubber base acts as a ballast for increased stability of the cone. A problem
that arises
with this design is that when the cone is damaged it is difficult (if not
impossible) to
remove the ballast from the damaged cone and re-use the ballast. Because of
the
integral design, the ballast is not easily separable from the damaged cone.
The end
result of a damaged cone of this type is that both the damaged cone and
integral ballast
are unnecessarily discarded together when only the cone is damaged beyond its
functional use. Therefore, it is desired for the ballast to be reusable after
the cone is
2 o damaged beyond functional use.
Another disadvantage with the integral cone plus ballast designs, as well
as other designs with molded bases, is high shipping costs. These traditional
cone
designs call for shipment of the cones with heavy rubber ballast from the
manufacturer
to the distributor to the local dealer to the end user as taught in U.S.
Patent No.
2,719,505 to Blumenthal.
In other designs, as taught in U.S. Patent No. 4,925,334 to Beard the
cone has two parts, the first being an upright cone body with a larger
outwardly
positioned base and the second being a heavy ballast ( molded rubber plates)
put onto
the cone and resting on the base as shown in Fig. 8. Other prior art designs
are set out
3 o in Figs. 9-11. Other designs teach the ballast, often in the form of
tubular sand bags,
to be laid into an open channel along the lower peripheral edge of the cone
(Fig. 9).
In addition, some prior art also teaches the ballast to be mechanically
attached to the
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base portion with fasteners or special holders (Fig. 10), while other prior
art teaches the
ballast to be exposed and co-molded with the cone to form the base portion
(Fig. 11 ).
The latter two known designs results in non-separable ballast, which is
undesirable.
Those designs also require the ballast to be shaped and/or molded to cooperate
with
s the shape of the base, further requiring additional manufacturing costs.
Recent developments in such designs have included the use of the
sidewall portion of used tires, positioned around the outer periphery of a
body portion
as disclosed in U.S. Patent No. 5,199,813 to Nagler. This design is a
variation of the
prior art illustrated in Fig. 8. This design perhaps solves the problem of
separable
1 o recyclability of the cone and ballast, but it too has drawbacks. Further
still, Nagler
teaches that having the ballast made from tire sidewalls makes the entire
device bulky
and inconvenient for handling, and occupies too much valuable space on the
road,
therefore reducing room for traffic on the road.
It is desired to have a traffic cone having a secure means for retaining a
1 s separable ballast within the confines of the cone. It is also desired to
have a design
that allows for usage and re-usage of local recyclable materials as ballast
for cones.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is an object of the invention to provide an improved traffic cone which
2 o avoids some or all of the above problems.
In the invention, the traffic cone has an upwardly-extending body with an
integral base portion made preferably of plastic, the base portion being
specifically
configured to receive ballast in a peripheral annular channel via a central
opening
through the bottom thereof. In the preferred embodiment, the ballast is
recycled
2 s portions of any industrial rubber scrap components such as treads of car
or truck tires.
The overall design allows for the ballast to be immediately removable from a
damaged
cone and re-used in a replacement cone. Further still, the overall design
allows the
end-user or local distributor of the cone to utilize local recycling resources
for the
ballast.
3 o In the preferred embodiment, the base portion has an irregular shape as
viewed from above, so that if the traffic cone is knocked over, it will not
roll.
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The preferred embodiment has a body portion having a conical shape, but
this body portion shape could be various other shapes) but still fall within
the scope of
the invention. Such other shapes for the body portion include pyramidal
polygon-
shapes, for example.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
The invention will now be described with reference to preferred
embodiments by way of example, as illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in
which:
Fig. 1 is a perspective view of one embodiment of the invention;
1 o Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the embodiment shown in Fig. 1 in partial
g host;
Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the embodiment shown in Fig. 1 in partial
ghost without any ballast;
Fig. 4 is a perspective top cross-sectional view of the base portion of the
embodiment shown in Fig.1;
Fig. 5 is a side view of the embodiment shown in Fig. 1;
Fig. 6 is a top view of the embodiment shown in Fig. 1;
Fig. 7 is the view of Fig. 4 with an alternative embodiment of the ballast
comprising of a singular strip of tire sidewall;
2 o Fig. 8 is a sectional schematic of the prior art showing the separable
ballast resting on the base;
Fig. 9 is a sectional schematic of the prior art showing the separable
ballast positioned within an exposed peripheral open channel on the base;
Fig. 10 is a sectional schematic of the prior art showing the non-separable
2 5 ballast positioned generally below the base and mechanically attached to
the base with
fasteners; and,
Fig. 11 is a sectional schematic of the prior art showing the non-separable
ballast integrally co-molded on the lower portion of the cone.
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DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
The preferred embodiment of the invention is shown in Figs. 1-6.
Referring to Fig. 1, a traffic cone 1 to delineate construction areas and to
channelize
traffic comprises a body portion 2, a base portion 3 and a separable ballast 6
(shown
s in Fig. 2). In the preferred embodiment, the body and base are integrally
molded.
Hence, in the preferred embodiment the traffic cone is a two piece
construction. The
body and base is formed from an integral one piece construction first piece,
while the
ballast is the second piece to the invention, namely a separable workpiece
element.
The body portion, in the preferred embodiment, is a conical-shape. Other
shapes for
1 o the body portion including a slightly vertically tapered body, or a
stepped cylinder shape
body, or a pyramidal polygon shape body would still fall within the scope the
invention.
The lower extremity of the body ends with the base outwardly extending
therefrom. The
base rests on the ground. When the base is weighted with ballast it provides
the
required stability for the cone. At or near the upper extremity of the body
portion 2,
1 s there is, in the preferred embodiment, an aperture 29 for gripping the
traffic cone with
a finger.
The body and base can be constructed of any suitable weather and
impact resistance material, preferably a lightweight, flexible material such
as
polyethylene or EVA or PVC plastisol. The body and base portions may be formed
by
2 o various known manufacturing methods, including rotormolding, injection
molding, and
blow molding.
Referring to Fig. 3, the base 3, is specifically configured to receive the
ballast in a peripheral annular channel 17 defined therein. In the preferred
embodiment, the base 3 comprises a sidewall 9, a upper planar portion 11 and a
lower
2 s planar portion 12 to form this annular channel. The lower planar portion
forms a central
opening 13. The ballast is inserted through this opening into the annular
channel.
Preferably, the opening is circular and the centre of the opening coincides
with the axis
of the body. The diameter of the opening A is selected to be greater than the
diameter
of the inner lower extremity of the cone A' so as not to interfere with
stackability of the
3 o cones. The lower planar portion has a retaining means to keep the
installed ballast
from shifting out of the storage area unintentionally. In the preferred
embodiment, the
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retaining means is an upwardly disposed lip 5 that extends from the edge of
the central
opening. The lip is of sufficient height so as to prevent the ballast from
dislodging out
of the annular channel accidentally (i.e. in the event of the traffic cone
being hit by
traffic). Therefore, the sidewall, the upper planar portion, the lower planar
portion and
s the lip form a peripheral annular channel 17 that acts as a storage area for
the ballast.
In the preferred embodiment, the base, when viewed from above, forms
a substantially rectangular shape having two diagonally opposite corners being
shallow
U-shaped (as best shown in Fig. 6). The base shape is, advantageously, an
irregular
shape that prevents rolling of the traffic cone if the cone is knocked over on
its side. In
1 o the preferred embodiment, the irregular shape of the base, as viewed from
above,
substantially forms a rectangular shape. The rectangular shape has two
diagonally
opposite sharp corners 7 and two other substantially less sharp diagonally
opposite
corners. The shape forms two shallow curved portions extending between said
sharp
corners. The outer periphery of the annular channel has a substantially
corresponding
1 s shape as said irregular shape. Other anti-roll base shapes would also fall
into the
scope of the invention such as a polygonal or D-shape. So long as there is at
least one
lateral protrusion 7 forming a corner on the base with which the traffic cone,
if on its
side, will need to overcome in order to roll, then the resulting shape will
fall within the
scope of the invention.
2 o The ballast is made from portions of scrapped industrial products
including
car and truck tires, conveyor belts, sealing profiles, etc. However, in the
preferred
embodiment, it has been found that strips of recycled tire treads 6 are
suitable for such
purposes because of its availability, flexibility, high density and good
durability. To
achieve maximum stability of the traffic cone) the desired fit for the ballast
is a tight fit.
2 s However, the upper planar portion 11 should preferably have sufficient
clearance with
the top of the ballast 6 to allow the easy installation of the ballast into
the annular
channel 17 (as shown in Fig. 2). On the other hand, the clearance should not
be too
much so as to allow the ballast to easily dislodge from the storage means in
the event
of an impact.
3 o Referring to Fig. 4, a number of recycled tire tread strips 6 cut to a
suitable
width from at least one tire can be laid within the annular channel. The
preferred
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embodiment illustrates four strips laid into the annular channel. The desired
orientation
of such strips should be such that the natural tendency of the strips is to
push outwardly
towards and against the sidewalls 9; therefore, naturally biassed to remain
securely
within the annular channel.
s In the preferred embodiment) four treads are utilized in the annular
channel as ballast. Two of the treads abut along their outside lengths the
side walls
("outer treads") of the annular channel, and the other two treads abut the
inside lengths
of the first two outer treads.
As shown in Fig. 7, an alternative layout for ballast may be made from a
1 o continuous strip cut from recycled tire sidewall. The strips in this case
are spirally laid
on top of one another in the annular channel so as to be naturally biassed to
remain in
the annular channel. In situations where additional weight is required and
there is no
more space in the annular channel to accommodate additional ballast, tire
sidewall
portions are particularly suitable to place over the cone to rest on top of
the base (not
15 shown).
As a result of the present invention, a number of advantages are
achieved. First, there is more economical replacement of a damaged traffic
cone
because of the two piece design of the invention. In the event the first
piece, namely
the body and base portion, is damaged, the ballast (the second piece) may be
2 o advantageously easily removed from the damaged first piece and re-used in
a new
replacement body and base portion. Another advantage is that there is more
economical assembly of the traffic cone. Insertion of the separable ballast
allows for
final assembly of the traffic cone at any stage of distribution. For instance,
if a local
dealer used the local resources of used tire components then there would be no
need
2 s to ship the ballast from the traffic cone manufacturer to the assembler.
As a result, the
traffic cone is environmentally friendly and more economical to manufacture,
distribute
and maintain than conventional traffic cones.
It will be appreciated that the above description relates to the preferred
embodiment by way of example only. Many variations on the invention will be
obvious
3 o to those knowledgeable in the field, and such obvious variations are
within the scope
of the invention as described and claimed, whether or not expressly described.
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