Additional flag-type marker

Abstract

 An additional road marker comprising a strip body (10) made from soft, flexible-elastic material such as rubber or plastic. It is designed to be applied like a flag to means installed for marking the edge of the carriageway, such as posts, new jersey's and guard rails, so as to protrude from the carriageway and be struck, with no damages, by vehicles when they get too close do the edge of the carriageway.

Description

[0001] The present invention concerns, in general, road signalling means, and it particularly pertains to an additional flag-type marker designed to be applied to posts marking the edge of a carriageway, new jersey's and road barriers (guard rails).

[0002] Means for marking the edge of carriageways, such as posts, new jersey's and guard rails, are provided with reflectiiig studs, i.e. optical signs, which mark the edge of the carriageway, specially when visibility is reduced.

[0003] Nevertheless, lack of attention, tiredness, poor visibility etc. may cause a driver to deviate from the correct direction and to get too close to the edge of the carriageway, so as to fall to the side path or to get too close to markers such as posts, new jersey's or barriers installed at the edge of the carriageway. In this case, common means installed for marking the edge of the carriageway, essentially optical, do not give the driver any sensation or signal of such deviation and do not call the driver's attention so that he can recover the right direction.

[0004] It is an object of the present invention to obviate to such disadvantageous characteristic and to provide an additional marker which is designed to be applied to side posts, new jersey's s and guard rails, and to give a "physical" sensation of the deviation of a vehicle towards the edge of the carriageway, thus allowing the driver to recover the correct direction.

[0005] Another object of the invention is to provide an additional marker which is designed to be applied like a flag to common means used for marking the edge of the carriageway, so as to protrude from them and be struck by the vehicle which is deviating towards said means.

[0006] The marker proposed by the present invention is flexible and made from an adequate material so as not to damage the vehicles that strike it; however, its physical contact with the vehicle will advantageously signal the driver that he is getting near the edge of the carriageway and that he should therefore recover the correct direction.

[0007] Such objects and advantages are achieved with a flag-type road marker according to at least claim 1.

[0008] Further details of the invention will however become apparent from the continuation of the description made with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 shows the additional marker applied to a post installed for marking the edge of a carriageway;

Fig. 2 shows means for marking the edge of a carriageway viewed from above, provided with the flag-type marker as shown in Fig. 1;

Figs. 3a and 3b show the additional marker applied to a new jersey and to a guard rail respectively;

Fig. 4 shows a perspective view of a carriageway, with an additional flag-type marker on each post installed at the edge of the carriageway; and

Figs. 5, 6 and 7 show some possible methods to apply the additional flag-type marker to means designed to mark the edge of a carriageway, to a new jersey and to a guard rail respectively.

[0009] In such drawing, reference numeral 10 indicates an additional marker which may be applied, like a flag turned towards the carriageway, to means designed to mark the edge of a carriageway such as posts 11, new jersey's 12 and guard rails 13.

[0010] The flag-type marker 10 is made from plastic, flexible and non-deformable; it is thin and has a thicker reinforcement 10' in its upper area and at the junction with the means 11, 12, 13.
The marker may also be provided, in its middle area, with a reflecting stud 14. The reinforced areas 10' ensure the flag-type shape of the marker after installation and its resistance to stresses due to the collisions it may be subject to.

[0011] For installation, the marker 10 may be provided or integral with a base support 15 made from plate or from any other adequate material.

[0012] For application to a post 11 designed to mark the edge of a carriageway, the base support 15 of the flag-type marker 10 is, for instance, recessed and fixed by means of rivets 16 or the like to the respective post, as shown in Fig. 5. The posts installed along a carriageway appear as shown in Fig. 4.

[0013] For application to a barrier such as a new jersey 12, the base support 15 may be as shown in Fig. 6. For application to common guard rails 13, the base support will be designed so as to fit the profile of such barrier.

[0014] However, the flag-type marker will adequately protrude towards the carriageway so as to be intercepted and struck by vehicles which get unintentionally too close to the edge of the carriageway, with the result and the advantages as described above.

Claims

1. An additional road marker, characterized in that it comprises a strip body (10) made from soft, flexible-elastic material such as rubber or plastic, which is applied like a flag to means installed for marking the edge of a carriageway such as posts, new jersey's and guard rails, and which protrudes towards the carriageway so as to be struck, with no damages, by vehicles whenever they get too close to the edge of the carriageway.

2. An additional road marker according to claim 1 wherein a base support (15) is provided so as to fit the corresponding means and allow fixing thereto.

3. An additional road marker according to claims 1 and 2, wherein reinforced areas are provided by increasing its thickness or by means of ribs, in order to ensure orientation thereof when installed.

4. An additional road marker according to the previous claims, wherein at least one optical element is installed consisting in a reflecting stud.

Drawing