Road sign cone

Abstract

To provide a novel road sign cone with a simple configuration, a dead weight to resist wind pressure, excellence in climate endurance and as well expectation of effective use of resources.SOLUTION: A road sign cone 1 of approximately conical shape consists of a core material 11 that is made of metal bar material with relatively large diameter and short length, multiple peripheral materials 12 that are made of metal bar material with relatively small diameter and long length, and a bottom surface material 21 that is made of metal bar material with diameter equal to that of the peripheral materials 12, and is processed to bend into a circle and welded at both ends to form a ring shape. One end of the peripheral materials 12 is welded and fixed to the outer circumferential surface of the core material 11 at approximately equal intervals, and the other end is welded and fixed to the circular part of the bottom surface material 21 at approximately equal intervals to form the approximately conical road sign cone 1. The metal bar materials can be any of iron, stainless steel, copper, brass, or aluminum, and in particular, reusing surplus reinforcing bars at construction sites etc. can relate to effective use of resources.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 1

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a road sign cone having a generally conical shape used for purposes such as regulating the passage of vehicles and pedestrians and guiding passageways, and in particular to a road sign cone having enhanced resistance to strong winds and improved weather resistance for long-term use. [Background technology]

[0002] Cone-shaped road sign cones are widely known and are placed in conspicuous positions on the road surface to mark no-entry zones for vehicles or temporary no-parking zones, or to protect pedestrians at construction sites, accident sites, etc. Various names for such products are used on the market, such as color cone (registered trademark), road cone, triangular cone, safety cone, D-cone, and pylon, but in this specification they will be referred to as "road sign cone" or simply "cone."

[0003] FIG. 3 shows the appearance of a typical road sign cone known in the prior art. In FIG. 3, a road sign cone 1 generally consists of a cone-shaped main body 10 and a brim-shaped bottom 20 that is the part to be installed on the road surface, and is formed by integral molding using synthetic resin such as polyester. By using synthetic resin as the material, it becomes lightweight, and by making it cone-shaped, it is possible to cover them one after another and stack them, which makes it convenient to transport. Most of them are colored red or orange, which are easy to notice, but other colors such as green and yellow are used depending on the purpose of use, or one or more bands 10a like a headband are drawn on them, or reflective tape is attached to improve visibility at night. In terms of size, the height is generally about 70 cm, and the diameter of the base part where the main body 10 connects to the bottom 20 is about 24 cm, but various dimensions are also seen depending on the purpose of use.

[0004] When the road sign cone 1 constructed as above is used, it is used alone or a thin plate cone bed 30 made of rubber or the like and having a square periphery with a circular hole in the center is passed over the main body 10 from above to cover the bottom part 20, and this is placed at a predetermined position on the road surface as a weight. Furthermore, a connecting bar 40 as shown in the figure, which has fixing rings on both ends, is placed over the top of the main body 10 to connect multiple road sign cones in sequence, and it can be used to prevent intrusion or as an approach guide for vehicles and pedestrians.

[0005] However, there was room for improvement in these road sign cones known in the prior art. One problem was the weather resistance and durability issues caused by the use of synthetic resins such as polyester. In particular, since they are mostly used outdoors due to their nature, they are exposed to sunlight and wind and rain, and as a result, the entire cone becomes brittle and can crack or collapse even with a slight impact, making them unsuitable for long-term use. Another problem was that, also due to being made of synthetic resin, it was light in weight at about 2.5 kg, and when a strong wind blew, it was easy to shift its position, and it could fall over or be blown away, making it unable to fulfill its role as a road sign. Although synthetic resins are lightweight and easy to transport for temporary use, they are often used for relatively long periods of time in areas such as no entry zones and no parking zones, and it was desirable for them to be able to withstand stable use.

[0006] In response to the above-mentioned problems, some countermeasures are known in the prior art. One of the widely used countermeasures is to cover the bottom surface 20 of the cone 1 with a cone bed 30, as shown in FIG. 3, which acts as a weight to prevent the light cone from shifting position or falling over. Another countermeasure is disclosed in Patent Document 1, as shown in FIG. 4, in which a number of openings (13) are opened around the cone-shaped cone body (14) with a total area equivalent to 30 to 75% of the surface area of ​​the body (14), and wind is passed through the openings and the hollow interior of the cone to reduce the effect of wind pressure.

[0007] FIG. 5 shows another countermeasure in the prior art disclosed in Patent Document 2, in which the cone-shaped main body is made up of multiple (three or more) vertically elongated rod-shaped hollow synthetic resin display members (3), thereby making the cone lighter and reducing the wind pressure resistance area in strong winds, thereby preventing the cone from shifting position or falling over. [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0008] [Patent Document 1] JP 2010-285759 A [Patent Document 2] Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 11-36243 [Patent Document 3] Patent Publication No. 2021-25023 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0009] The above-mentioned countermeasures in the prior art still have room for improvement. For example, in the countermeasure against weights using a cone bed 30 shown in FIG. 3, the weight of the cone bed 30 is about 2 kg, and even if a certain degree of effect is obtained, even if it is combined with the weight of the cone 1 itself, which is about 2.5 kg, it still does not have enough resistance to strong winds. In the countermeasure shown in FIG. 4, although the effect of reducing wind pressure is seen, the weight is further reduced by opening many holes, and since it is still made of resin, the problems of weather resistance and durability remain unchanged. Furthermore, in the countermeasure shown in FIG. 5, the vertically long rod-shaped display member (3) is made of semi-transparent hollow resin, which leads to further weight reduction, and in order to compensate for this, it is necessary to take measures such as embedding a weight (23) in the base part (21). In addition, in order to make the display member (3) emit light, a reflector and a light source (not shown) are stored inside the hollow part, making the structure extremely complicated.

[0010] In view of the above, the present invention aims to provide a new road sign cone that has a simple structure, is resistant to wind pressure by its own weight, has excellent weather resistance, and is expected to contribute to the efficient use of resources. Note that the reference characters in parentheses in the explanation of the prior art shown in Figures 4 and 5 are only applicable to the corresponding patent documents, and do not match the reference characters used for each element of the present invention shown below. [Means for solving the problem]

[0011] The present invention solves the above-mentioned problems by replacing the main body of the cone with a plurality of metal bars, preferably made from scrap steel, one end of which is welded to the outer periphery or underside of a core material made of metal bars that forms the top of the cone, and the other end, which opens like an umbrella, is welded to a bottom material formed by processing the metal bars into a ring shape, resulting in a roughly conical metal body with a simple structure, and specifically includes the following:

[0012] That is, one aspect of the present invention relates to a road sign cone having an approximately conical shape that is placed on a road surface to regulate or guide the movement of vehicles and pedestrians, and which is composed of a core material made of metal bar material having a circular or polygonal cross-section, a plurality of peripheral materials made of metal bar material having a circular or polygonal cross-section that is relatively thin and long compared to the core material, and a metal bottom material that is placed on the road surface to support the core material and peripheral materials, one end of the plurality of peripheral materials is welded and fixed to the outer circumferential surface or bottom edge of the core material, and the other end that opens out like an umbrella is welded and fixed to the bottom material at approximately equal intervals, thereby forming an approximately conical shape overall, and which is characterized in that the bottom material is placed in contact with the road surface when used.

[0013] The bottom surface material can be either a relatively thin metal bar material similar to the surrounding material, bent into a circle and welded at both ends to form a ring, or a bottom surface material made of a metal plate having a circular or square planar shape. When the bottom surface material is a bottom surface material made of the metal bar material formed into a ring shape, a plurality of disk-shaped grounding materials made of metal plate material can be attached at approximately equal intervals to the side of the bottom surface material facing the road surface. The grounding material can stably place road sign cones on the road surface, and can also function as a seat for the cone bed when the cone bed is placed on top of the cone bed.

[0014] The entire road sign cone, or at least the surrounding materials, may be painted in one or more colors depending on the intended use, or may be surface coated with either plating, an anti-rust top coat, or a special paint that utilizes the Mie effect using inorganic nanoparticles such as silicon.

[0015] The metal bars may be made of any one of iron, stainless steel, copper, brass, and aluminum. At least one of the metal bars constituting the core material, the peripheral material, and the bottom surface material may be made of reinforcing bars used as a foundation material for reinforced concrete, preferably reinforcing bars that are discarded as surplus at construction sites, etc. Effect of the Invention

[0016] By implementing the present invention, it is possible to achieve the remarkable technical effect of providing a road sign cone which has a simple structure yet is sufficiently resistant to strong winds, has sufficient weather resistance and durability to withstand long-term use, can be used in almost the same way as cones in the prior art, and, when made from recycled materials, leads to the effective use of resources. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0017] [Figure 1] 1 is a perspective view showing an appearance of a road sign cone according to an embodiment of the present invention; [Diagram 2]FIG. 2 is a partially exploded perspective view showing the configuration of the road sign cone shown in FIG. 1. [Diagram 3] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a typical road sign cone according to the prior art, along with its associated components. [Figure 4] FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an example of an improvement measure for a road sign cone according to the prior art. [Diagram 5] FIG. 13 is a perspective view showing another example of an improvement measure for a road sign cone according to the prior art. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0018] A road sign cone (hereinafter, simply referred to as a "cone") according to an embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 shows an overall view of a cone 1 according to this embodiment. Although the appearance is similar to a resin cone shape according to the prior art, the cone 1 according to this embodiment differs from the prior art in that both the main body 10 and the bottom surface 20 are made of metal bar material. FIG. 2 shows a partially exploded view of the cone 1 shown in FIG. 1, and shows its configuration. The main body 10 is made of a core material 11 that forms the top, and a peripheral material 12 made of multiple metal bar materials that surrounds the core material in a cone shape. The bottom surface 20 is made of a bottom surface material 21 that is also made of a metal bar material processed into a circle, and multiple metal disk-shaped grounding materials 22 that are optional.

[0019] The metal bar materials mentioned above are all cut from metal round bars. In this embodiment, the inner core material 11 is a bar material with a diameter of 35 mm cut to a length of 50 mm, the peripheral material 12 is 15 pieces of metal round bars with a diameter of 10 mm cut to a length of 73 cm, which is relatively thin compared to the core material 11, and the bottom surface material 21 is a metal round bar with a diameter of 10 mm cut to a length of 75 cm and processed into a circle, and then both ends are butted together and welded to form a ring shape. The optional grounding material 22 is a metal plate with a thickness of 4 mm and a diameter of 35 mm, and four pieces of it are welded and fixed to the back side of the bottom surface material 21 facing the road surface. The height of the completed cone 1 obtained by this is about 70 cm, which is the same as that of the conventional technology.

[0020] In Fig. 2, each peripheral member 12 (only one member is shown) has its upper end 12a welded and fixed to the periphery of the core member 11 at approximately equal intervals, and its lower end 12b, which opens like an umbrella, is welded and fixed to the periphery of the bottom member 21 at approximately equal intervals. After each peripheral member 12 is welded and fixed to the core member 11 at the inner upper end, the periphery is processed with a grinder to form a smooth tip, and if necessary, a molten welding rod is used to fill gaps and steps to form a rounded shape without protrusions or recesses. One end 12a of the peripheral member 12 may be welded and fixed along the edge of the lower surface of the core member 11, rather than to the outer periphery of the core member 11.

[0021] The above dimensions and quantities are merely examples, and can be changed as desired as long as the cone functions as intended. For example, the diameter of the core material 11 can be about 25 mm to about 40 mm, the diameter of the peripheral material 12 and the bottom surface material 21 can be about 8 mm to about 12 mm, and the number of peripheral materials 12 can be about 6 to 20 depending on the size of the cone. The materials for each metal bar can be iron, stainless steel, copper, brass, aluminum, etc. The core material 11, the peripheral material 12, and the bottom surface material 21 can be square bars with a cross section of a square or other polygonal shape instead of round bars. In this embodiment, rebars used in building construction, etc., particularly those cut off due to excess dimensions at construction sites and otherwise discarded, are reused, thereby making effective use of resources. In the illustrated example, deformed rebars with uneven ribs around the periphery are used to increase adhesion to concrete and increase pull-out resistance, but the present invention is not limited to this.

[0022] The surface treatment can be painted in any color available on the market, such as red, orange, yellow, green, or blue, or it can be plated or coated with a transparent top coat for rust prevention. In special cases, the surface can be left as is to create a weathered atmosphere. When using reinforcing bars, the rusting stops at a certain limit, and the surface has a unique vintage feel. Conversely, durability can be improved by using a semi-permanent paint that does not discolor or fade (see Patent Document 3, for example) that utilizes Mie resonance by inorganic nanoparticles such as silicon nanoparticles, which have been developed recently. Here, Mie resonance is a phenomenon in which, according to Patent Document 3, when light with a wavelength λ (nm) enters a material (refractive index n), the effective wavelength in the material is λ / n (nm), and when the effective wavelength λ / n (nm) of the light is equal to the diameter of the particle, a standing wave is formed, and the lowest order Mie resonance, that is, electric and magnetic dipole resonance, appears in the optical domain. Like conventional cones, the surrounding material 12, which spreads out in an approximately conical shape like the ribs of an umbrella, can be made more visible by adding a white headband-like band around it or by attaching luminous material to it.

[0023] In terms of weight, the weight of the cone is 6 to 7 kg in the above embodiment, which is about 2 to 3 times the weight of the cone made of synthetic resin in the conventional technology, and it exhibits sufficient resistance to wind when placed on the road surface. If the above-mentioned grounding material 22 is attached, the grounding material 22 can be used as a seat and the cone bed 30 according to the conventional technology shown in Figure 3 can be placed on top of it to provide a more stable resistance to wind. Alternatively, when the other ends 12b of the multiple peripheral members 12 are welded and fixed to the bottom surface member 21, the bottom surface member 21 itself, which protrudes outward from the peripheral member 12, can be used as a seat for the cone bed 30 by welding it to the inner periphery of the circular bottom surface member 21. In addition, since the cone has a hollow cone shape like the conventional technology, multiple cones 10 can be stacked one on top of the other, making it suitable for transportation.

[0024] The use of the road sign cone 1 according to the present embodiment configured as described above is exactly the same as that of the conventional cone, and the bottom part 20 can be placed on the road surface at a desired position to restrict or guide the entry of vehicles and people. During transportation and storage, multiple cones can be stacked using the hollow part of the cone shape, allowing for effective use of space. In addition, in order to increase stability due to further weight increase, the cone base 30 according to the conventional technology shown in FIG. 3 can be used, and when extending the restricted area, multiple road sign cones 1 can be connected together using the connecting bar 40 shown in FIG. 3.

[0025] As a modification of the above embodiment, instead of the bottom surface material 21 of a ring-shaped round bar with the bottom surface portion 20 butt-welded, a bottom surface portion made of a thick iron plate or other metal plate having a circular or square shape may be used, and a plurality of surrounding materials 12 spreading in an umbrella shape may be welded to the upper surface or the outer periphery of the bottom surface portion. In this way, by appropriately selecting the thickness of the metal plate, the cone bed 30 serving as a weight can be made unnecessary, and further, the plurality of grounding materials 22 forming the seat surface can be eliminated. When the bottom surface portion 20 is made of a metal plate, it is preferable to punch out the metal plate that is the inner part of the plurality of surrounding materials 12 to be welded into a circular shape to form a doughnut shape, which allows a plurality of cones 1 to be stacked.

[0026] Although some of the above will be repeated, in summary, when a road sign cone made of a metal bar material according to the present invention is compared with a synthetic resin cone according to the prior art, the following significant technical effects can be obtained. 1. The surrounding materials act as bar materials, allowing wind to pass through more easily and increasing resistance to wind pressure. 2. Made of metal, the weight is increased, making it more stable when in use and preventing it from slipping or falling over. 3. Using metal increases its strength, preventing damage such as cracks that can occur with synthetic resin. 4. Being made of metal makes it more weather resistant and durable, and it can withstand long-term use under the hot sun. 5. For the same reasons, it will also be suitable for semi-permanent, continuous use. 6. Using rebar waste as metal bar material leads to effective use of resources.

[0027] As another application example, a light source such as an electric lamp can be attached to the top of the cone to further increase visibility. In this case, the top of the core material 11 can be cut and left flat as a mounting surface for the light source without grinding it, and it is also easy to make screw holes for mounting on the flat surface, making it more versatile than the resin cones of the prior art. If necessary, it is also easy to make holes in the core material 11 to pass through lead wires for current flow. [Industrial Applicability]

[0028] The road sign cone according to the present invention can be widely used in each of the industrial fields in which the cone is manufactured, sold, and used. [Explanation of symbols]

[0029] 1. Road sign cones, 10. Main body 11. Core material, 12. Peripheral materials, 20. Bottom part, 21.Bottom material, 22. Grounding material, 30. Corn Bed, 40. Connecting bar

Claims

1. A road sign cone having a substantially conical shape that is placed on a road surface to regulate or guide the movement of vehicles and pedestrians. A core material made of a metal bar material having a circular or polygonal cross section; A plurality of peripheral members each made of a metal bar having a circular or polygonal cross section and being relatively thin and long with respect to the core member; and a metal bottom material that is placed on the road surface and supports the core material and the surrounding material. A road sign cone is characterized in that one end of the multiple peripheral members is welded and fixed along the edge of the outer peripheral surface or the bottom surface of the core member, and the other end, which opens like an umbrella, is welded and fixed to the bottom material at approximately equal intervals, thereby forming an approximately conical shape overall, and the bottom material is placed in contact with the road surface when used.

2. 2. The road sign cone according to claim 1, wherein the bottom material is either a metal bar material of the same thickness as the surrounding materials, which is bent into a circle and has both ends welded together to form a ring, or a bottom material made of a metal plate having a circular or square plane.

3. 3. The road sign cone according to claim 2, wherein when the bottom material is a bottom material formed by forming the metal bar material into a ring shape, a plurality of disk-shaped grounding materials made of a metal plate material are attached at approximately equal intervals to the side of the bottom material facing the road surface.

4. The road sign cone according to claim 1, wherein the entire road sign cone or at least the surrounding materials are painted in one or more colors depending on the intended use, or are surface-coated with any of plating, anti-rust top coat, and special paint utilizing the Mie effect of inorganic nanoparticles.

5. 2. The road sign cone according to claim 1, wherein each of the metal bars is made of any one of iron, stainless steel, copper, brass, and aluminum.

6. The road sign cone according to claim 1, wherein at least one of the metal bars constituting the core material, the surrounding material, and the bottom material is made by recycling reinforcing bars used as base materials for reinforced concrete, in particular reinforcing bars that are discarded as surplus at construction sites, etc.

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