US2088001A - Highway guard - Google Patents

Description

July 27, 1937. w. F. SCHULZ HIGHWAY GUARD Filed Nov. 2. 1935 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Walterrm'chwI/z,

Patented July 27, 1937 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 2,088,001 HIGHWAY GUARD Walter F. Schulz, Youngstown, Ohio, assignor to Truscon Steel Company, Youngstown, Ohio, a

corporation of Michigan 'Application November 2, 1935, Serial No. 48,011

Claims.

This invention relates to an impact absorbing member adapted to be used singly or in multiple as a guard rail wherever automotive vehicles may be used or stored to minimize property damage.

To that end the invention contemplates a novel guard strip having special features of con-v struction which render the same of special utility the facility with which they may be repaired in case-of extraordinary damage. In that connection, one of the important considerationsis to provide a sheet steel strip which will not only readily yield under impact but will also deflect the vehicle back to a position or course of safety and at the same time return to normal position after the blow has been delivered. Various expedients have been heretofore resorted to for tensioning a strip or guard rail either between individual posts or between the end posts or socalled "dead-men. While these types of devices are more or less efficient and reliably function under themost rigid service conditions, nevertheless, it is desirable to simplify the constructionnot only to effect greater economy in manufacture but likewise to save labor and material 1 installation.

Accordingly, the present invention has primarily in view, a simple and practical type of guard strip which may be mounted on suitable supports, and which has the distinctly advantageous feature of carrying therewith its own tensioning means so that it may not only more adequately absorb the shock of impact but will more quickly and effectively recuperate after being subjectedto a blow. In its general aspect, the invention includes a guard strip having an ofisettensioning portion or portions which tend to elongate when the face of the strip is subjected to impact, thereby not only permitting the strip to quickly yield, but at the same time placing the said laterally projecting portion under increasing tension so that after the load or impact has been removed, the body of the strip will be quickly brought or drawn back to normal condition. v

A'further object of the invention is to provide a guardstrip having an integral tensioning portion which has the advantage of enabling the tensioning means to be incorporated in the strip by-subjecting the same to a simple mechanical operation which gives the offset portions of the strip the desiredset to pre-dispose the metal thereof in such a way that the deformations tend to flatten out when the strip is subjected to impact, thereby placing the deformed portions under tension which will cause the strip to quickly recuperate when the force of the impact is relieved. v

A further object of the invention is to provide a guard strip which has a greater elastic limit than a flat strip, thereby avoiding rupture, under extraordinary impact while at the same time tending to bring the strip back to normal condition as previously indicated.

With the above and other objects in view which will more readily appear as the nature of the invention is better understood, the same consists in the novel features of construction, combination and arrangement of parts as will be hereinafter more fully described, illustrated in the accompanying drawings and defined in the appended claims.

A preferred and practical embodiment of the invention is shown in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a top plan view of a strip embodying the present improvements used in a highway guard.

Figure 2 is an enlarged detail elevation of a pair of interconnected strips.

Figure 3 is a top plan view of the construction shown-in Figure '2.

Figure 4 is a vertical crosssectional view taken on the line 4-4 of Figure 2.

Figure 5 is a detail perspective view of a portion of the strip looking at the same from the rear.

Figure 6 is a diagrammatic view illustrating the manner in which an installed strip yields or under stress. 1 Similar reference characters designate corresponding parts throughout the several figures of the drawings;

According to the example chosen to illustrate the application of the invention to one of its uses, the novel strip sections A are shown as interconnected to provide a continuous guard rail whose opposite ends are anchored as at B to the end posts or dead men 0 while the intermediate portions of the rail, composed of the several strips, are supported by the posts D and the brackets E. The brackets E may be of any suitable type, such for example as that shown in my copending application Serial No. 25,491, filed June 7, 1935 and the end strip of the rail may be secured to the end posts C by suitable tie rods C without the necessity of using coil or other springs since each individual strip comprising the rail embodies or includes its own tensioning means, and the entire installation is orginally set up under tension throughout, that is from one extremity to the other.

The brackets E on intermediate posts preferably include yielding arms for supporting the strip and the entire bracket is so mounted on the post as to have a limited shiftable or sliding movement in a horizontal direction across the face of the post' not only to better adjust the strip to change in length due to temperature variation but also to assist in distributing the force of the impact throughout the rail and to the end posts.

Referring particularly to the individual strips, it will be observed that each includes a body portion I which presents a smooth outer impact face intended to be disposed toward the approaching vehicle while a portion of the strip is offset or vdeflected rearwardly to provide thetensioning flange 2. In the example shown, the strips are provided with opposite tensioning flanges extending along the margins of the strip so that the entire'strip partakes of a channel shaped formation as will be apparent from Figure 4. The tensioning elements 2 are preferably formed integrally with the body I and consist of a plurality of arched deformations 3 which constitute a plurality of individual spring tensioning sections extending throughout the. length of the strip. In practice, the strip is formed into substantially channel shape to provide the offset flanges 2 and then the flanges are subjected to a deforming operation by means of rolls or dies while the metal is either hot or cold to produce the sinuous flange formations including the preformed individual spring sections referred to. By deflecting the metal of the flanges into the arched or substantially fluted formation shown, it will be apparent that each section will have a tendency to normally assume the arched or bowed formation referred to, but when the body I of the strip is subjected to impact, thereby to become flexed on an are between the brackets or supports, the spring sections 3 will yield along with the body of the strip and tend to flatten out; but, because they are in tension'when under stress, as soon as the force of the impact is removed, the plurality ofspring sections will tend to contract and thus pull the body of the strip back to normal position. Moreover, while the strip is being subjected to impact, it will be apparent that the various spring sections give added resiliency or strength to the strip tending to counteract the force of the impact and push the vehicle back to safety.

In assembling the strips into guard rail formation, the end portions are placed in substantially telescopic relation so as to overlap preferably in the location of the brackets E. Both ends of each strip are provided with spaced pairs of longitudinally oval openings 4-4 which may be brought into registry to receive the bolts or fastenings 5 for not only interconnecting the strips but also mounting them on the brackets. The purpose of the oval or elongated holes 4 is to permit suff cient tolerance in a vertical direction to enable the interconnected strips to assume a relatively angular relation in a general horizontal' direction to permit the rail to follow the undulations of the roadside.

The last strip in the rail, that is the strip in each end thereof, may have its outer extremity equipped with a channel or equivalent member 6, preferably perforated at suitable locations to receive the tie rods C which are connected to the end posts as previously referred to. When the strips are assembled in guard rail formation and installed for service, all of the strips constituting the guard rail are placed under tension from the end posts. In other words, the entire guard rail comprising the interconnected strips A is placed under tension by tightening the nuts on the tie rods C so that the entire guard rail assumes the characteristics of continuous elastic band. When the installation is made, due consideration is given to the temperature conditions prevailing at the time, the original tension being sufficient to take care of average seasonal temperature variations and consequent variations in the length of the strip. Roughly, the strips of the individ- .ual guard rails are tensioned originally between words is always stretched or elongated, not only to provide for changes in length of the strip due to temperature changes, but also to provide rebound or reflex resilience responsive to impact.

When the individual strips are subjected to impact, they will yield, according to the force of the impact on an arc of relatively long radius because the supporting posts are usually placed on an average of sixteen feet apart. Therefore, the vehicle will be deflected back to a safe position along a gradually curved surface due to the arc of long radius previously referred to, generated at the time of impact. As the blow is delivered to the individual strip, the individual spring sections are elongated in proportion to the intensity of the impact, the tensioning wave on the successive spring sections generating progressively from the body of the strip toward the outer edge portion of the flange 2. With the type of steel sheet ordinarily used, the deflection of the strip may have an average maximum deflection of approximately 18 inches, but in every case, the structure is designed so that the yield point of the metal is not reached when the sinuous flange 2 is stretched to a substantially straight line.

From the foregoing, it will be apparent that the present strip provides, in itself, an eiflcient elastic member constitutirg a guard having its own tensioning means, for example, the sinuous flange or flanges 2 whose individual sections store up energy when a blow is imposed on the strip due to being stretched, and which contract when the blow or impact is relieved to return the stress back to normal position. throughout its length.

Moreover, due to the fact that with the present construction the strips can be made longer than ber adapted to be supported at its ends, including a metallic strip-like body having an impact refrom the spirit of the invention and scope of the appended claims.

I claim:-

1. A self-recuperating impact absorbing member adapted to be supported at its ends, including a metallic strip-like body having an impact receiving face and carrying tensioning means bent backwardly from a longitudinal edge. and effective on deformation of the body by a blow imposed on said impact receiving face between the ends of the strip to bring the body back to its normal plane.

2. A self-recuperating impact absorbing memceiving face and carrying integral spring means bent backwardly therefrom and effective upon deformation of the body by a blow imposed on the said impact receiving face to bring the body back to its normal plane.

3. A self-recuperatingimpact absorbing member adapted to be supported at its ends, including, a normally plane strip-like body having an impact receiving face and carrying an integral deformed elastic flange effective upon deformation of the body by a blow imposed on the impact face thereof to bring the body back to its normal plane.

4. A self-recuperating impact absorbing member adapted to be supported at its ends, including a metallic strip-like body having a normal plane receiving face and also having a laterally projectpact receiving face thereof to bring the body back to its normal plane.

5. An impact absorbing guard comprising spaced supports and a yieldable guard strip carried by said supports and having a laterally projecting tensioning portion, said tensioning portion comprising a series of spring tensioning sections.

6. An impact receiving guard comprising spaced supports and a yieldable guard strip of substantially channel shape cross .section, the sides of the channel being deformed to provide a plurality of tensioning portions which elongate under stress due to impact imposed on the face of the strip and contract on removal of impact to automatically return the strip to normal position.

'7. A guard strip including a body having a front impact receiving face and integral self-ad justing continuous spring means at the rear face of the strip.

8. A self-recuperating strip for highway guards and the like comprising a yieldable body having a portion projecting therefrom deformed 'to pro- 'duce a series of spring tensioning sections of substantially arched formation, thereby providing an elastic member whose total initial length is greatrail for tensioning the same throughout its eni u tire length. A

10. A highway guard comprising a continuous elastic guard rail having an impact face and normally held throughout its entire length under predetermined stress to provide tension for per mitting the rail to expand and contract under varying temperature conditions and also having a continuous elastic flange portion at rightanglesto said impactface to provide reflex resilience responsive to impact.

WALTER F. SCHULZ.

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