Passive Safety Support with Ball-Joint Connecting Rods
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing road sign post assemblies pose safety risks during vehicle impacts due to their location at the edge of traffic lanes, and current solutions either compromise signage visibility or are costly and hazardous.
Innovation Solution
A passive safety support system with a compact, easy-to-implement design featuring a base anchored to the ground, an upper flange, gripping means, and connecting rods with ball joints, allowing the support to flex and absorb impact while maintaining signage visibility.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of information
If the post and sign assemblies are installed at the immediate edge of the traffic lane, then the signaling efficiency is improved, but the safety risk to vehicle occupants increases
Solution Approach 1:
The support structure incorporates dynamic elements including a deformable lattice mast that can flex and absorb impact energy, and a passive safety mechanism that allows the structure to give way during vehicle impact. This dynamic behavior enables the sign to remain visible at the traffic lane edge while reducing the harmful effects of collision with vehicle occupants.
2Object-affected harmful factors
If the post and sign assemblies are installed 4-5 meters from the edge of the traffic lane, then the safety risk is reduced, but the signaling efficiency deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The dynamic passive safety support allows the structure to remain positioned at the optimal location for signaling efficiency (at the edge of the traffic lane) while dynamically responding to impact by deforming and absorbing energy. This eliminates the need to relocate the sign away from the traffic lane to improve safety.
3Object-affected harmful factors
If a safety barrier is installed along the traffic lane, then the safety risk is reduced, but the cost increases and new hazards are created for two-wheeled riders
Solution Approach 1:
The invention extracts the safety function from the sign post assembly itself by incorporating a passive safety support with a deformable lattice structure that can absorb impact energy. This eliminates the need for separate expensive safety barriers while maintaining safety benefits. The safety capability is integrated directly into the support structure.
Solution Approach 2:
The passive safety support uses a sacrificial lattice structure designed to deform and absorb impact energy during collision, providing an affordable alternative to expensive permanent safety barriers. The structure is designed to give way during impact, protecting occupants without requiring costly infrastructure.
4Object-affected harmful factors
If a known passive safety support with aluminum lattice structure is used, then the safety function is achieved, but the manufacturing cost increases and the structure becomes bulky
Solution Approach 1:
The invention changes the material parameter from aluminum lattice structure to wooden lattice structure, achieving the same passive safety function while reducing manufacturing cost and bulk. The wooden lattice is designed with appropriate dimensions and connectivity to provide equivalent impact energy absorption capabilities.
Solution Approach 2:
The wooden lattice structure is designed with varying local properties - the spacing, dimension, and connectivity of individual lattice members are optimized at different locations to achieve the required safety performance. This allows cost-effective construction using locally available wood while maintaining the passive safety function.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The system effectively absorbs impact energy, reducing the risk to vehicle occupants and maintaining signage visibility without the need for expensive or bulky structures, while being cost-effective and easy to manufacture.
Implementation Method 1
The purpose of SSPs is to absorb the energy generated by impact with a vehicle in such a way as to break, deform or eject upon said shock
Implementation Method 2
an upper flange arranged above from and remote from said base, connecting rods connecting the base and the upper flange between them... allowing the support to flex and absorb impact
Data Source
Figure 1~2
Figure 3~4
AI summary
Passive safety support (1) arranged to be fixed to the ground (2) and to support a post (3) comprising a base (10) arranged to be anchored to the ground (2), an upper flange (11) disposed above said base (10), gripping means (12) fixed to said upper flange (11) and capable of cooperating with the lower end of the post (3) to fix the latter to said upper flange (11), and connecting rods (13) connecting the base (10) and the upper flange (11) together, each of the connecting rods (13) being assembled, on the one hand, at its lower end to said base (10) by a removable or non-removable fixed connection and, on the other hand, at its upper end to said upper flange (11) by a ball joint connection.