Apparatus and method for revitalising a road marking

Abstract

 Apparatus for revitalising a road marking on a road surface (2), the apparatus being adapted to move in a travel direction. The apparatus comprises a heater arrangement (10), and a rotatable drum (14, 16), wherein the heater arrangement is adapted to heat the road marking or the road surface directly and/or by heating the drum, and the drum is adapted to roll in the travel direction on the road marking and thereby mechanically treat the heated road marking. The present invention also relates to a method for revitalising a road marking on a road surface.

Description

Technical field

[0001] The present invention relates to an apparatus for revitalising a road marking on a road surface, and to a method for revitalising a road marking on a road surface.

Background technology

[0002] Road markings are used on roads for different purposes including, for example, visualising borders of the road and division of the road in lanes. Therefore it is of importance that the road markings are visible also in low light conditions and road markings often are retro-reflective, i.e. they reflect more light in a direction towards the driver of a vehicle on the road, compared to other directions.

[0003] Road markings on road surfaces are prone to wear from, for example, traffic and weather. As a result of the wear, the road markings may disappear from the road or be worn such that their visual appearance, for example retro-reflection, deteriorates. It is known that road markings sometimes must be repainted and/or drop-on glass added due to the wear. There is a need for efficient revitalisation of road markings.

Summary of the invention

[0004] An object of the present invention is to provide an efficient apparatus and an efficient method for revitalising a road marking on a road surface.

[0005] Other objects of the present invention include providing solutions to identified problems, and to improve techniques, with regard to prior art and what is known with regard to wear to road markings. Revitalisation, as used herein, may refer improving retro-reflection of the road marking, or improving the retro-reflection and increasing the thickness of the road marking on the road surface. The present invention sallow for efficient revitalisation of road markings.

[0006] According to a first aspect of the present invention, those and other objects, are achieved by an apparatus for revitalising a road marking on a road surface, the apparatus being adapted to move in a travel direction, the apparatus comprising a heater arrangement, and a rotatable drum, wherein the heater arrangement is adapted to heat the road marking or the road surface directly and/or heating the drum, and the drum is adapted to roll in the travel direction on the road marking and thereby mechanically treat the heated road marking.

[0007] According to an embodiment, the heater arrangement may comprise one or more oil burners.

[0008] According to an embodiment, the heater arrangement may comprise two or more oil burners, such as, for example, 2, 3, 4, 5 or 6 oil burners.

[0009] According to an embodiment, the heater arrangement may comprise two or more oil burners, wherein at least two burners are arranged one after the other as seen in the travel direction.

[0010] According to an embodiment, the drum is arranged behind the heating arrangement as seen in the travel direction.

[0011] According to an embodiment, the apparatus may further comprise a bead applicator, which bead applicator is arranged behind the rotatable drum as seen in the travel direction, and which bead applicator is arranged to apply retro-reflective beads to the surface of the heated and mechanically treated road marking.

[0012] According to an embodiment, the apparatus may further comprises a compound applicator, which compound applicator is arranged behind the rotatable drum as seen in the travel direction, and which compound applicator is arranged to apply road marking compound to the road surface.

[0013] According to an embodiment, the apparatus may further comprise a cleaner, which cleaner is arranged in front of the heater arrangement as seen in the travel direction, and which cleaner is arranged to clean the road marking.

[0014] According to one embodiment, the cleaner may be an air knife.

[0015] According to a second aspect, there is provided a method for revitalising a road marking on a road surface, the method comprising, for a portion of the road marking,
cleaning the road marking or the road surface in case it is determined that a cleaning is considered appropriate,
heating the road marking or the road surface directly and/or by heating a drum, wherein the road marking or the road surface has been cleaned before heating in case it was determined that a cleaning was considered appropriate,
mechanically treating the road marking by rolling a drum on the road marking in case it is determined that the road marking is of a sufficient quality suitable for revitalising by mechanical treatment,
applying road marking compound to the road surface in case it is determined that the road marking is of inferior quality requiring application of road marking compound for revitalising the road marking, applying retro-reflective beads onto the road marking in case it is determined appropriate to apply retro-reflective beads for revitalising the road marking.

[0016] According to an embodiment, the heating the road marking may be made by a heater arrangement comprising one or more oil burners.

[0017] According to an embodiment, at least two burners may be arranged one after the other as seen in the travel direction.

[0018] Embodiments and discussions with regard to the first aspect may be relevant to the second aspect. References to these embodiments are hereby made, where relevant.

Brief description of drawing

[0019] Figure 1 schematically illustrates an apparatus according to an embodiment.

Detailed description of a preferred embodiment

[0020] The embodiments provide ways to revitalise the retro-reflection of existing road markings by using material of the existing road marking where relevant, thus it is made possible with the embodiments to improve the road marking without repainting the line. The method may be used on any road marking made of a thermoplastic material.

[0021] In figure 1, an apparatus 1 for revitalising a road marking on a road surface 2 is illustrated, the apparatus 1 being adapted to move in a travel direction indicated by arrow 4. In this embodiment, the apparatus has a pair of wheels for supporting the apparatus of which pair of wheels one wheel 6 is illustrated in figure 1. The apparatus comprises an air-knife 8 which may clean the surface of the road marking on the road surface 2 if it is determined appropriate.

[0022] Further illustrated in figure 1 is a heater arrangement 10, which arrangement in this embodiment comprising two oil burners 12a and 12b, arranged one after the other as seen in the travel direction, with a total heating effect of 200 W. The heater arrangement 10, according to this embodiment, heats both the road marking or the road surface, as well as a pair of rotatable drums 14, 16, which pair of drums 14, 16, when rotated over and in contact with a road marking on the road, mechanically treats the surface of the road marking and at the same time heats the road marking. The heating and mechanical treating may bring reflective elements, such as retro-reflective beads existing in the road marking to the surface of the road marking, and any undesired layer of oxidised material on the surface of the road marking may, at least to some extent, be removed from the surface of the road marking.

[0023] It is realised that the apparatus 1, for this and other embodiments, may have a single rotatable drum, or more than two rotatable drums, for the purpose of heating and/or mechanically treating the road marking. It is further, realised that the heater arrangement 10, for this and other embodiments, alternatively may be adapted such that it heats the road directly essentially without heating the pair of drums 14, 16; or be adapted to heat the pair of drums 14, 16 essentially without directly heating the road.

[0024] An arrangement with two or more burners 12a and 12b, one burner after the other, may provide efficient heating of the road marking. For example, the road marking may be sufficiently heated without being over heated on the surface, such as by instead of using one burner having a higher heating efficiency, using a plurality of burners each having a lower heating efficiency. Further, two or more rotatable drums arranged one after the other may be efficiently heated, for example, by each drum being heated essentially by one oil burner.

[0025] The heating and mechanical treating further make efficient the application of new retro-reflective beads, such as, for example, suitable glass beads, on the road marking. An additional advantage gained by the rotatable 14, 16 drum(s) is that they may form a structure in the road marking surface which may improve the road markings visibility for example in wet conditions.

[0026] The illustrated apparatus further comprises a bead applicator 18 for the application of retro-reflective glass beads to the road marking, if it is considered appropriate. Beads may be provided to the glass bead applicator 18 from a glass container 20 by means of a high-pressure compressor 22. The glass beads may be heated to, for example, about 150 degrees Celsius by means of a special connection tube between the glass container and the glass distributor (not illustrated). The connection tube may, for this purpose, comprise an inner tube in which the glass beads are transported and an outer tube in which heated oil from the compound pot is circulated by means of a pump. Thus, the glass beads are heated by means of the heated oil when being transported to the glass distributor. The bead applicator 18 applies the, thus, heated beads on the road marking which has been processed and heated by the rotatable drums 14, 16.

[0027] Although not illustrated in figure 1, the apparatus 1 may further comprise a compound applicator arranged behind the rotatable drum 14, as seen in the travel direction, and which compound applicator may be arranged to apply road marking compound to the road surface, if it is considered appropriate. Thereby it is made possible to apply new compound to the road marking, for example if the compound of the road marking is completely worn off the road surface, or worn to such an extent it is deemed appropriate to apply additional compound to the road marking.

[0028] According to an embodiment, one or more of rotatable drums 14,16 may comprise teeth or a toothed wheel which creates, for example, a squared pattern in the road marking surface.

[0029] According to an embodiment, the apparatus for revitalising a road marking on a road surface may comprise two, or more, rotatable drums.

[0030] The apparatus described with reference to figure 1 provides improved and revitalised existing road markings, without the need of adding new compound to the road marking, for example by bringing forward retro-reflective beads existing in the road marking, and/or the application of new retro-reflective glass beads. It may, thus, not be necessary to apply new retro-reflective beads to the road marking when revitalising the road marking.

Claims

1. Apparatus for revitalising a road marking on a road surface, the apparatus being adapted to move in a travel direction, the apparatus comprising
a heater arrangement, and a rotatable drum,
wherein the heater arrangement is adapted to heat the road marking or the road surface directly and/or by heating the drum, and
wherein the drum is adapted to roll in the travel direction on the road marking and thereby mechanically treat the heated road marking.

2. The apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the heater arrangement comprises one or more oil burners.

3. The apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the heater arrangement comprises two or more oil burners, wherein at least two burners are arranged one after the other as seen in the travel direction.

4. The apparatus according to anyone of the previous claims, wherein the drum arranged behind the heating arrangement as seen in the travel direction.

5. The apparatus according to anyone of the previous claims, wherein the apparatus further comprises a bead applicator, which bead applicator is arranged behind the rotatable drum as seen in the travel direction, and which bead applicator is arranged to apply retro-reflective beads to the surface of the heated and mechanically treated road marking.

6. The apparatus according to anyone of the previous claims, wherein the apparatus further comprises a compound applicator, which compound applicator is arranged behind the rotatable drum as seen in the travel direction, and which compound applicator is arranged to apply road marking compound to the road surface.

7. The apparatus according to anyone of the previous claims, wherein the apparatus further comprises a cleaner, which cleaner is arranged in front of the heater arrangement as seen in the travel direction, and which cleaner is arranged to clean the road marking.

8. The apparatus according to claim 7, wherein the cleaner is an air knife.

9. Method for revitalising a road marking on a road surface, the method comprising, for a portion of the road marking,
cleaning the road marking or the road surface in case it is determined that a cleaning is considered appropriate,
heating the road marking or the road surface directly and/or by heating a drum, wherein the road marking or the road surface has been cleaned before heating in case it was determined that a cleaning was considered appropriate,
mechanically treating the road marking by rolling a drum on the road marking in case it is determined that the road marking is of a sufficient quality suitable for revitalising by mechanical treatment,
applying road marking compound to the road surface in case it is determined that the road marking is of inferior quality requiring application of road marking compound for revitalising the road marking,
applying retro-reflective beads onto the road marking in case it is determined appropriate to apply retro-reflective beads for revitalising the road marking.

10. The method according to claim 9, wherein the heating the road marking is made by a heater arrangement comprising one or more oil burners.

11. The method according to claim 10, wherein at least two burners are arranged one after the other as seen in the travel direction.

Drawing