WO1993019249A1

WO1993019249A1 - Road signaling device

Info

Publication number: WO1993019249A1
Application number: PCT/EP1993/000655
Authority: WO
Inventors: Luigi Dario
Original assignee: G. Plast S.N.C. Di Loredana Giorio & C.
Priority date: 1992-03-23
Filing date: 1993-03-18
Publication date: 1993-09-30
Also published as: ITVI920048A0; ITVI920048A1

Abstract

The invention consists of a road signaling device inserted into the roadway, which is characterized in that it includes a plate (40) made of transparent material and level with the roadway, at least one reflector inclined with respect to the roadway and such that it can reflect the vehicle light in the opposite direction of movement, and a body containing the plate and the reflector.

Description

ROAD S IGNALING DEVICE This invention consists of a road signaling device inserted into the roadway and particularly suitable to signal the roadway at night or with poor visibility. Everybody knows that at night, if there is no external lighting, the roadway is signaled by means of discontinuous white stripes in the middle of the road and continuous stripes, for example yellow stripes, on the side of the same roadway. These signals are sufficiently visible and sufficiently useful when the conditions of visibility are rather good, but the situation becomes difficult when visibility is reduced or rather nullified by the presence of the fog or of mud, for example, produced by intermittent rain. In this case, the road signals made with white (or other colours) paint on the roadway become rather invisible and, at any rate, they can only be used at a very close distance. The aim of this invention is to offer a signaling device that can really increase visibility, also with precarious conditions, as a consequence of fog or of the little rain that covers the roadway with mud. Therefore, the aim of this invention is to increase the effectiveness of the existing signals, adding new ones that can be visible also with poor visibility. All the above-mentioned aims and other ones which will be deeply highlighted hereinafter, are achieved by the invent- ed signaling device for vehicles, which is inserted into the roadway, characterized in that it is composed of a hollow body provided with a cover made of transparent material and which is substantially placed at level with the roadway, inside of which at least one reflector is present, said reflector being inclined with respect to the same roadway and being inclined in such a way as to reflect the light of the motor vehicles in the opposite direction of movement. The signaling device of this invention is locked into the roadway, for example either at the beginning and at the end of a intermittent white stripe delimiting the center line of the road, or laterally with a certain inter- mittence to delimit the road edge. The transparent material of the cover can be either glass or resistant plastic material, so as to prevent the motor vehicle wheels from breaking it. Immediately below this transparent cover, one or two re- flectors are included, depending on utilization. In this way, the light of vehicle headlights hitting the signaling device is reflected and the horizontal traffic signs - and thus road safety - are increased. Further advantages and characteristics of this invention will be better highlighted in the description of a particu- lar device given just as an indication, which does not intend to be restrictive, and shown in the enclosed draw-

__* ings where: - fig. 1 shows a view of a car illuminating the signaling devices of this invention, which are embedded in the road- way; - fig. 2 shows a top view of a road with the signaling devices of this invention; - fig. 3 shows an example of the signaling device of this invention in perspective; - fig. 4 shows the device in fig. 3 in section; - fig. 5 shows an alternative version of execution of the invented device in perspective; - fig. 6 shows a sectional view of the device in fig. 5; - fig. 7 shows the alternative version of execution of fig. 5, inserted into the roadway. ' With reference to fig. 3 and 4, one can see that the night signaling device of this invention, collectively referred to as 11, includes a hollow body 1 whose shape is substan- tially parallelepiped. Two reflectors, referred to as 2 and 3, are present inside it and they are inclined with respect to the cover surface 4. The reflectors 2 and 3 can also be made of a single piece, with double inclination, as one can see in fig. 3 and 4. The hollow body 1 can also be made of plastic or of any other material, such as concrete, which shall have a suit- able form to contain the two reflectors 2 and 3. Furthermore, the cover of this hollow body is composed of a transparent and removable plate 4 which is placed on the body and sealed with a special material, in such a way that in the space 5 between the plate 4 and the reflectors 2 and 3 neither dust nor water can enter. This is aimed at main-- taining the refracting surfaces undamaged. As one can' see in fig. 1, the invented signaling devices, _ collectively referred to as 11, are fixed to the roadway 6, in such a way that they can only be removed by removing the asphalt. As one can see in fig. 2, the devices 11 can be usefully placed at the beginning and at the end of each stripe of the center line that divides the road, but, of course, they can also be used to delimit the roadway and, thus, be placed on the road edges. In this case it is not necessary for the signaling device to have two reflectors, one for each direction of movement, as highlighted in fig. 3 and 4, but a single reflector will be sufficient, which is to be placed inclined with respect to the higher transparent plate.- It is clear that in the case of fig. 3 and 4, the device is to have two refraction planes, referred to as 2 and 3, since when positioning the device on the center line of the roadway it is useful that the device can be used by cars coming from both directions, for example with two different colours . An alternative vers ion of execut ion f or this invented device , based on the same solution , is shown in f ig . 5 , 6 and 7, where said signaling device is collectively referred to as 111. It includes a hollow body 10, whose cover is a cap 40, made of a single piece with the same hollow body 1. The convexi- ty of this cap is directed outward: in this way, when the signaling device in inserted into the roadway 61, convexity is slightly protruding with respect to the same roadway 61, as one can see in fig. 7. In this case, the hollow body 10 is provided with a remov- able bottom 60 for supporting a reflector 20 inside the hollow body 10 and inclined. Of course, even two reflectors can "be placed inside this hollow body 10, which reflect in both directions of move- ment. Another form of execution for this invention can be repre- sented by the fact that the invented signaling device, instead of being composed of a containing body and at least one reflector, could present such reflector incorporated in a single transparent mass, for example of plastic or glass, directly placed on the roadway. Any other possible executions shall be considered protected by these claims.

Claims

CLAIMS 1) Road signaling device for vehicles, inserted into the roadway (16; 61) characterized in that it comprises a hollow body (1; 10), provided with a cover (4; 40) made of transparent material and substantially placed at level with the roadway having inside at least one reflector (2, 3; 20), inclined with respect to the same roadway, this re- flector reflecting the vehicles light in the opposite direction of their movement. 2) Road signaling device according to claim 1), char- acterized in that the cover is a removable level plate (4), applied to the hollow body (1) which has a box shape. 3) Road signaling device according to claim 1), char- acterized in that the cover of the hollow body (10) is a cap (40) placed in such a way that its convexity is pro- truding from the roadway (61) and it is made enblock with the same hollow body. 4) Road signaling device according to claim 3), char- acterized in that the hollow body (10) is provided with a removable bottom (60). 5) Device according to claim 1), characterized in that it comprises two reflectors (2, 3) placed with the same inclination, with respect to the two directions of movement in the road. 6 ) Road s ignal ing devic e , ac cordi ng to c l aim 1 ) , characteriz ed in that said at least one ref lector ( 2 , 3 ; 20 ) is incorporated in a transparent body .

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