Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
CA 02913699 2015-11-30
METHOD OF MOUNTING A TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT EQUIPMENT
TO AN ELEVATED STRUCTURE AND BRACKET THEREFORE
FIELD
[0001] The improvements generally relate to the field of traffic
management equipment
and more specifically to the operation of securing a piece of traffic
management equipment
to an elevated structure.
BACKGROUND
[0002] Various forms of traffic management equipment require to be mounted to
elevated
structures, such as a post. An example is variable-message signs (also
referred to as
changeable-message signs, electronic-message signs, dynamic-message sign, or
with their
abbreviations VMS, CMS, or DMS, for instance for instance), which can be
relatively heavy
as they typically include a plurality of LED displays with their powering
electronics housed in
a weather-resistant housing.
[0003] It was known to mount such equipment at relatively elevated
positions on a traffic-
side post. This operation was typically performed by an operator standing in a
platform with
the piece of equipment, and elevated to the height of the position along the
post by a boom.
It was known to first assemble a bracket to the elevated position along the
post, and to then
position the equipment into place against the bracket and screw the equipment
into the
bracket.
[0004] While this scenario has been tolerated and considered satisfactory
to a certain
extent for years, it had several drawbacks and inconveniences. For instance,
it was
uncomfortable enough for the operator elevated by the platform to hold the
equipment into
place while screwing it into place against the bracket, when the equipment was
not too
heavy, and when reaching a given weight, this operation even required the
presence of two
operators on the platform. The same can be said from the inverse operation of
unscrewing,
which can be required to remove the equipment, either permanently or to
perform periodic
maintenance operations for instance. Accordingly, there remained room for
improvement.
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SUMMARY
[0005] There is provided a bracket having a base provided as part of or
securable to the
elevated structure and an adapter provided as part of or securable to the
traffic management
equipment. The traffic management equipment with the adapter thereon can be
mounted to
the base and the elevated structure by a more simple manipulation easier to
perform when
elevated on a platform when compared to the scenario described above.
[0006] In accordance with another aspect, there is provided a method of
mounting a traffic
management equipment to an elevated structure, the method comprising :
elevating a
platform having an operator, a traffic management equipment, and an adapter
thereof to the
elevated position of the elevated structure; engaging the adapter, with the
traffic
management equipment secured thereon, with a base made integral to the
elevated
structure, via mating engagement members of the adapter and the base.
[0007] In accordance with one aspect, there is provided a bracket
assembly for mounting
a traffic management equipment to an elevated structure, the bracket assembly
comprising a
base and an adapter, the base being securable to the elevated structure with a
mating
portion of the base being exposed, the mating portion of the base having base
engagement
members; the adapter being securable to the traffic management equipment with
a mating
portion of the adapter being exposed, the mating portion of the adapter having
adapter
engagement members mating with the base engagement members; wherein the
adapter
with the traffic management equipment secured thereto can be engaged with the
base via
the mating engagement members when the base is secured to the elevated
structure.
[0008] In accordance with another aspect, there is provided a bracket
which includes a
base securable to the post, and an adapter which is securable to the piece of
traffic
management equipment, wherein the adapter, with the piece of traffic
management
equipment mounted thereto, can be snappingly engaged with the secured base in
a
relatively simple operation. A mating tab-hook and slot arrangement can be
used to engage
the components to one another and snap mechanism components can be used to
hold the
engagement in the absence of a positive manipulation. The bracket can have a
housing
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which prevents manual access to key components of the snap mechanism and means
to
lock the snap mechanism to prevent unauthorized access, accidental access or
theft.
[0009] Many further features and combinations thereof concerning the present
improvements will appear to those skilled in the art following a reading of
the instant
disclosure.
DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES
[0010] In the figures,
[0011] Fig. 1 is a schematic view generally showing the operation of
elevating an operator
to secure a traffic management equipment to an elevated structure;
[0012] Fig. 2 is an oblique view of an example of a bracket assembly
mounted to a post;
[0013] Fig. 3 is an exploded view of components of the bracket assembly
of Fig. 2;
[0014] Fig. 4A and 4B are two cross-sectional views showing the action of
engaging the
hook tabs with the slots along the sliding engagement path; and
[0015] Fig. 5 is an oblique view of the bracket assembly of Fig. 2 taken
from the opposite
side.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0016] Fig. 1 generally shows an operator 12 in a platform 14 elevated by
boom 16. More
specifically, the operator 12 is elevated to perform an operation on a traffic
management
equipment 18, such as mounting it to or dismounting it from an elevated
structure 20, via a
bracket assembly 10, for instance. In this specific example, the traffic
management
equipment 18 is a variable-message sign 18a and the elevated structure 20 is
an elevated
portion of a post 20a. In alternate embodiments, the bracket assembly 10 can
be adapted for
other forms of traffic management equipment 18 than a variable-message sign
18a and for
other forms of elevated structures 20 than a post 20a. Nonetheless, the
variable-message
sign/post example is used hereinbelow for illustrative purposes and for the
sake of simplicity.
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[0017] Fig. 2 shows an example of a bracket assembly 10 for mounting the
variable-
message sign 18a to the post 20a (see Fig. 1). The bracket assembly 10 can
generally be
seen to have two main components : a base 22 which is configured for permanent
or semi-
permanent mounting to the post 20a and an adapter 24 for permanent or semi-
permanent
mounting to the variable-message sign 18a. More specifically, the base 22 has
transversal
apertures 26 through which post fasteners 28 in the form of metal bands can be
inserted and
wrapped firmly around the post 20a. A post-mating portion 30 of the base 22
has two
laterally-opposite slanted flanges 32 forming an angle and snugly mating
against
corresponding sides of the post 20a when attached thereto. The adapter 24, on
the other
hand, has threaded apertures 34 which correspond with apertures provided in a
back wall of
the variable-message sign (not shown). Accordingly, mechanical screws 36 can
be inserted
across the apertures in the back wall of the variable-message sign and screwed
into the
threaded apertures 34 of the adapter 24 to firmly secure the adapter 24 to the
variable-
message sign. As seen in Fig. 2, the adapter 24 and the base 22 both have a
corresponding
mating portion 38, 40 which is securely engaged with the mating portion of the
other one of
the adapter 24 and the base 22.
[0018] Turning now to Fig. 3 where the adapter 24 and base 22 are shown
exploded and
from the opposite, "post", side, it can be seen that the mating portion 38 of
the adapter and
the mating portion 40 of the base each have a corresponding plurality of
engagement
members 42, 44 for said secure, mating engagement shown in Fig. 2. In this
particular
embodiment, the adapter engagement members 42 are male whereas the base
engagement
members 44 are female, though it will be understood that the adapter can have
female
engagement members and the base can have male engagement members in alternate
embodiments. Moreover, in this specific embodiment, the engagement members 42,
44 are
provided in a number of 6 on each one of the adapter 24 and the base 22, for
an associated
degree of engagement. The adapter engagement members 42 are provided in the
form of
slots 46 in a sheet metal member, and the base engagement members 44 are
provided in
the form of downwardly oriented hook tabs 48. Accordingly, and as best shown
in Figs. 4A
and 4B, to engage the adapter 24 to the base 22, the hook tabs 46 are first
engaged into the
slots 48 by a horizontal movement 50 of the adapter 24 towards the base,
normal to the post
axis, and the adapter 24, with the traffic management equipment previously
affixed to it, is
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then slid in a downward movement 52 to engage the edges 54 of the slots into
the nooks 56
of the hook tabs 48 along what will be referred to herein as a sliding
engagement path 58 of
the hook tabs 48, after which the weight of the traffic management equipment
acting on the
adapter 24 will tend to maintain the hook tabs 48 satisfactorily engaged with
the edges 54 of
the slots 46. In an alternate embodiment where the male members are provided
as part of
the base instead of the adapter, the hook tabs can be turned upwardly instead
of
downwardly for a comparable effect. Mating hook shapes can also be used in
alternate
embodiments instead of a hook tab and slot arrangement, for instance.
[0019] Referring back to Fig. 3, for increased certainty, the bracket
assembly 10 is further
provided with a holding mechanism 60. In this specific embodiment, the holding
mechanism 60 includes a pivot component 62 which is pivotally mounted to the
base 22
around a pivot axis 64 which is horizontal during use in this embodiment. The
pivot
component 62 has a lever 66 which extends away from the pivot axis 64 to allow
manual
activation of the pivoting movement around the pivot axis 64, and a holding
member 68
which can be pivoted into a holding position (shown in Fig. 4B and 5) above
the engaged
hook tabs 48 (or otherwise said, "behind" the engaged hook tabs 48 with
reference to the
downward sliding engagement path 58) to further prevent the adapter 24 from
becoming
disengaged from the base 22. In this embodiment, the lever 66 is provided with
a slot 70
which engages an apertured tab made integral to the base 22 when the holding
member 68
is in the holding position above the engaged hook tabs 48 (as shown in Fig.
5), in a manner
that a padlock loop can be engaged with the apertured tab aperture 74 to lock
the angular
position of the pivot component 62 and prevent disengagement of the holding
member 68
from the holding position unless the padlock is removed. The apertured tab 72
can be
considered to form a base loop which engages the lever 66 and can be locked
against it.
[0020] In this embodiment, the pivot component 62 is further housed within
a chamber
formed in a housing 80 of the base 22 to prevent unauthorized manual access to
or
tampering of the pivot component 62.
[0021] Moreover, in this embodiment, as seen in Fig. 5, the holding
member 68 is
provided in the form of a transversally-oriented flange and a leaf spring 76
secured to the
housing of the base 22 extends over the transversally-oriented flange, biasing
it into the
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holding position. As can be understood, the configuration of the holding
member 68 relative
to the pivot axis 64 and slots 46, and in a movement best shown in Figs. 4A
and 4B, allows
for the hook tabs 48 to push the holding member 68 and pivot it against the
bias of the leaf
spring 76 simply during the normal horizontal movement of penetrating the hook
tabs 48 into
the slots 46. Once the hook tabs 48 have reached the full engagement with the
edges 54 of
the slots 46, the holding member 68 has become free from their pivoting force
and is biased
back into the holding position shown in Fig. 4B to hold the hook tabs 48 into
their engaged
position. Manual activation of the lever 66, against the biasing force, is
then required to
move the holding member 68 out of the holding position to free the hook tabs
48 and allow
removal of the adapter 24 as a whole from the holding mechanism 60.
[0022] In the illustrated embodiment, the selection of the adapter 24 for
having the male
members rather than the female members was found practical as it allowed
incorporating the
components of the holding mechanism 60 in the base 22. However, in alternate
embodiments, it can be preferred to incorporate the components of the holding
mechanism 60 in the adapter 24.
[0023] Fig. 5 shows the adapter 24 engaged with the base 22, with the
holding
member 68 in the holding position against the hook tabs 48, for clarity.
[0024] As can be understood, the examples described above and illustrated are
intended
to be exemplary only. In alternate embodiments, the bracket assembly can be
adapted for
other forms of traffic management equipment than a variable-message sign and
for other
forms of elevated structures than a post, even though the variable-message
sign/post
example is used hereinabove for illustrative purposes. The specific
configuration of the
engagement members can vary, the number of engagement members can be less or
more
than 6 in alternate embodiment and a single, wide, pair of mating engagement
members can
be considered satisfactory in alternate embodiments. Moreover, mating hooks
can readily be
used instead of mating hook tabs and slots in alternate embodiments, for
instance.
Moreover, many of the illustrated features are entirely optional and can be
omitted in
alternate embodiments. The scope is indicated by the appended claims.
