Patents by Inventor Dean Alberson
Dean Alberson has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).
-
Publication number: 20080011992Abstract: According to one embodiment, a cable anchor system for an end terminal includes a cable anchor bracket configured to couple to a guardrail, in which the cable anchor bracket includes a flat plate having an aperture formed therein and a plurality of protrusions extending from a plane containing the aperture. The protrusions are configured to releasably engage the guardrail.Type: ApplicationFiled: July 10, 2007Publication date: January 17, 2008Applicants: The Texas A&M University System, TRN Business TrustInventors: Dean Alberson, Roger Bligh, D. Bullard, C. Buth, Hayes Ross, Stephen Brown
-
Publication number: 20070147957Abstract: Guardrail installation designs are described that incorporate a box beam rail as the structural rail member. The box beam rail member may have an open cross-section or a closed cross-section. An impact head is provided to bend and deflect the rail member during an end-on collision, allowing the rail member to be deflected away from the roadway and out of the path of an end-on impacting vehicle. The impact head includes a striking face and a chute portion that receives the box beam rail member therewithin. In addition to bending and deflecting the rail member, the impact head may also include a flattening section for flattening the rail member.Type: ApplicationFiled: March 6, 2007Publication date: June 28, 2007Applicant: The Texas A&M University SystemInventors: C. Buth, Roger Bligh, Dean Alberson, D. Bullard, Hayes Ross, Akram Abu-Odeh
-
Publication number: 20070134062Abstract: An energy absorbing terminal is described that is made up of a plurality of cells partially defined by cambered panels made of thermoplastic or another suitable material. The panels are supported upon rectangular frames. The cambered portion of the panels provides a predetermined point of flexure for each panel and, thus, allows for energy dissipation during a collision. The stiffness of the crash cushion may be varied by altering material thicknesses and diaphragm spacing. In operation, a vehicle colliding in an end-on manner with the upstream end of the energy absorbing terminal will cause each of the cambered panels to bend angularly at its point of flexure and, thus, cause the cells to collapse axially. The use of thermoplastic, such as polyethylene results in a reversible, self-restoring collapse for the terminal, meaning that the terminal is reusable after most collisions.Type: ApplicationFiled: February 26, 2007Publication date: June 14, 2007Applicant: The Texas A&M University SystemInventors: Dean Alberson, D. Bullard, Christopher Karpathy, John Carney
-
Publication number: 20070102689Abstract: In accordance with a particular embodiment of the present invention, a guardrail system includes at least one cable operable to contain and redirect an errant vehicle. The guardrail system also includes a plurality of guardrail support posts spaced apart in relation to one another. Each support post includes a lower portion, a mid portion, and an upper portion. The lower portion is for installing below grade adjacent the roadway. The mid portion lies substantially adjacent the grade and includes a weakened section operable to weaken the support post about a longitudinal axis. The upper portion is releasably coupled to the at least one cable such that the upper portion is uncoupled from the at least one cable when the support post is displaced.Type: ApplicationFiled: November 8, 2005Publication date: May 10, 2007Inventors: Dean Alberson, Roger Bligh, D. Bullard, C. Buth
-
Publication number: 20070063178Abstract: In accordance with a particular embodiment of the present invention, a guardrail safety system includes a guardrail beam and a support post of a predetermined depth coupled to the guardrail beam. The support post includes a lower portion for installing below grade adjacent the roadway, a mid portion that lies substantially adjacent the grade, and an upper portion releasably coupled to the guardrail beam. The mid portion includes a weakened section operable to weaken the support post about a first axis without substantially changing the behavior of the support post about a second axis that is generally perpendicular to the first axis. A flange protector is coupled between the support post and the guardrail beam. The flange protector has a depth that is less than the predetermined depth of the support post.Type: ApplicationFiled: September 18, 2006Publication date: March 22, 2007Inventors: Dean Alberson, D. Bullard, C. Buth, Roger Bligh
-
Publication number: 20070063179Abstract: In accordance with a particular embodiment of the present invention, a guardrail safety system includes a guardrail beam and a plurality of support posts in spaced apart relation to one another. Each support post is configured to be releasably coupled to the guardrail beam. A plurality of connectors couple the plurality of support posts to the guardrail beam. Each connector includes a head portion that is configured to provide a sufficiently strong connection between the guardrail beam and the support post to support the guardrail beam and a sufficiently weak connection between the guardrail beam and the support post to enable the support post to detach from the guardrail beam when struck by the errant vehicle.Type: ApplicationFiled: September 18, 2006Publication date: March 22, 2007Inventors: Dean Alberson, D. Bullard, C. Buth, Roger Bligh
-
Publication number: 20070063177Abstract: In accordance with a particular embodiment of the present invention, a guardrail safety system includes a guardrail beam having a length-of-need (LON) portion spanning between two terminal portions. The guardrail safety system also includes a plurality of guardrail support posts in spaced apart relation to one another. At least a portion of the plurality of support posts include a lower portion for installing below grade adjacent the roadway, a mid portion that lies substantially adjacent the grade, and an upper portion releasably coupled to the LON portion of the guardrail beam. The mid portion includes a weakened section operable to weaken the support post about a first axis without substantially changing the behavior of the support post about a second axis that is generally perpendicular to the first axis.Type: ApplicationFiled: September 18, 2006Publication date: March 22, 2007Inventors: Dean Alberson, D. Lance Bullard, C. Eugene Buth, Roger Bligh
-
Publication number: 20060017048Abstract: A cable guardrail release system includes a first number of anchor posts installed adjacent a roadway. Each of the first number of anchor posts secures an end of a respective cable. Each anchor post is operable to release the respective cable secured by the anchor post upon a vehicle impact to the anchor post. The system may include a length of need section that includes a plurality of intermediate support posts each configured to support each of the respective cables. The length of need section may include portions of each of the respective cables running in between the plurality of intermediate support posts. Each anchor post may be configured to resist release of the respective cable secured by the anchor post upon a vehicle impact to the length of need section generally at an angle to the flow of traffic on the roadway.Type: ApplicationFiled: August 23, 2005Publication date: January 26, 2006Inventors: Dean Alberson, Roger Bligh, D. Bullard, C. Buth
-
Publication number: 20060002760Abstract: A heavy duty ground retractable automobile barrier for a railroad crossing. Concrete bunkers are placed at each side of a roadway. An upstanding concrete-filled steel pipe fixed in each bunker has a sleeve for rotational and axial movement. Shock absorbers are mounted on each sleeve. A net extends across the road and is attached to the opposite ends of the shock absorbers. Collision of an automobile with the net creates tensile forces in the net. The shock absorbers expand while rotating about the pipe's axis in response to tensile forces from the net that meet or exceed a minimum threshold. Forces from the net pass through the axis of the steel pipe. The net is stored in a pit transverse the roadway parallel to the railroad tracks and is raised and lowered as appropriate. The net includes a cable that extends across the road in a wave pattern, having peaks, valleys and midpoints, wherein tangents of the wave midpoints are at least 90 degrees from tangents of the peaks and valleys.Type: ApplicationFiled: February 6, 2003Publication date: January 5, 2006Inventors: Joseph Vellozzi, Matthew Gelfand, John Paner, Norman Mackenzie, Shubin ruan, D. Lance Bullard, Dean Alberson
-
Publication number: 20050224776Abstract: According to one embodiment, a cable anchor system for an end terminal includes a cable anchor bracket configured to couple to a guardrail, in which the cable anchor bracket includes a flat plate having an aperture formed therein and a plurality of protrusions extending from a plane containing the aperture. The protrusions are configured to releasably engage the guardrail.Type: ApplicationFiled: April 7, 2004Publication date: October 13, 2005Inventors: Dean Alberson, Roger Bligh, D. Bullard, C. Buth, Hayes Ross, Stephen Brown
-
Publication number: 20050211520Abstract: According to one embodiment of the invention, an energy-absorbing device includes a section of material having a plurality of crush zones along a longitudinal length thereof, a first crush zone of the plurality of crush zones including a pair of opposed first bends formed in a first side and a second side of the section, a pair of opposed second bends formed in a third side and a fourth side of the section, and a first set of notches spaced around a perimeter of the section at a longitudinal location corresponding to the first bends and second bends. The first bends project in a direction that is one of inward and outward and the second bends project in a direction opposite that of the first bends. At least one of the other crush zones includes a second set of notches spaced around the perimeter of the section.Type: ApplicationFiled: March 28, 2005Publication date: September 29, 2005Inventors: Akram Abu-Odeh, Roger Bligh, Dean Alberson, Jacob Ness
-
Publication number: 20050084328Abstract: An energy absorbing terminal is described that is made up of a plurality of cells partially defined by cambered panels made of thermoplastic or another suitable material. The panels are supported upon rectangular frames. The cambered portion of the panels provides a predetermined point of flexure for each panel and, thus, allows for energy dissipation during a collision. The stiffness of the crash cushion may be varied by altering material thicknesses and diaphragm spacing. In operation, a vehicle colliding in an end-on manner with the upstream end of the energy absorbing terminal will cause each of the cambered panels to bend angularly at its point of flexure and, thus, cause the cells to collapse axially. The use of thermoplastic, such as polyethylene results in a reversible, self-restoring collapse for the terminal, meaning that the terminal is reusable after most collisions.Type: ApplicationFiled: October 18, 2004Publication date: April 21, 2005Inventors: Dean Alberson, D. Bullard, Christopher Karpathy, John Carney
-
Patent number: D917323Type: GrantFiled: April 4, 2019Date of Patent: April 27, 2021Assignee: Vandorf MB1 Inc.Inventors: Mohammad Ghuman, Benjamin Powell, Dean Alberson