SLEEVE FOR HIGHWAY SAFETY CONES

Abstract

An orange plastic sleeve that slips over a highway safety cone and protects the cone body from the base to a height of about 18 inches is provided. The plastic sleeve is designed to be disposed directly against the base of the cone and is designed to extend no higher than the reflective stripe on the highway safety cone.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims the benefit of priority of U.S. provisional application No. 61/890,084, filed Oct. 11, 2013, the contents of which are herein incorporated by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to highway safety devices and accessories for highway safety devices and, more particularly, to a sleeve that protects a lower orange area of a highway safety cone from splash of paving materials during application.

The American Traffic Safety Services Association, in a cooperative effort with the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), has established guidelines for safety cone visibility while being used on highway projects. The orange area below the reflective bands must be kept free from paving debris that would splash onto the cone while paving operations are in progress. Resolution to this problem requires either a labor intensive cleaning process or purchasing and replacing used cones with new ones.

As can be seen, there is a need for a device to keep highway safety cones clean and free from the need for a labor intensive cleaning process.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In one aspect of the present invention, a cone protecting sleeve comprises: a conical body formed of a semi-rigid to rigid material, the conical body having an outer surface and an inner surface, wherein at least the outer surface is orange, the conical body comprising a top opening and a bottom opening, wherein the conical body comprises a continuous taper from the top opening to the bottom opening, wherein the cone protective sleeve is formed to fit over a cone comprising a base, a cone body and at least one reflective strip on the cone body, wherein the conical body covers a portion of the cone body so that the bottom opening is adjacent to the base and the top opening is underneath the reflective strip.

In another aspect of the present invention, a method of protecting a cone comprises: providing a cone comprising a base, a cone body and a plurality of reflective strips attached to the cone body; providing a cone protecting sleeve comprising: a conical body formed of a semi-rigid to rigid material, the conical body having an outer surface and an inner surface, wherein at least the outer surface is orange, the conical body comprising a top opening and a bottom opening, wherein the conical body comprises a continuous taper from the top opening to the bottom opening, and placing the cone protecting sleeve over the cone body so that the bottom opening is adjacent to the base and the top opening is underneath the plurality of reflective strips.

These and other features, aspects and advantages of the present invention will become better understood with reference to the following drawings, description and claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the present invention, shown in use;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the present invention, illustrating the installation onto a cone body; and

FIG. 4 is a section view of the present invention, taken along line 4-4 in FIG. 1.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The following detailed description is of the best currently contemplated modes of carrying out exemplary embodiments of the invention. The description is not to be taken in a limiting sense, but is made merely for the purpose of illustrating the general principles of the invention, since the scope of the invention is best defined by the appended claims.

Broadly, an embodiment of the present invention provides an orange plastic sleeve that slips over a highway safety cone and protects the cone body from the base to a height of about 18 inches. The plastic sleeve is designed to be disposed directly against the base of the cone and is designed to extend no higher than the reflective stripe on the highway safety cone.

The plastic sleeve of the present invention is relative to the standards designed by the Federal Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD) in accordance with section 1A.01 applicable to Temporary Traffic Control (TTC) devices. An acceptable evaluation of the traffic safety cone, on pages 26-27 of the American Traffic Safety Services Association (ATSSA) guidelines manual, is described such that, “The conical shape should remain clearly identifiable with no significant distortion and must be free standing in its normal position. The surface is free of punctures and abrasions. The surface is also free of asphalt splatter, cement slurry or other materials and will readily respond to washing. The reflective bands, if required, have little or no loss of reflectivity, with only minor tears or scratches.”

The physical properties of a typical highway safety cone are as follows: 36 inches from base to apex; 18 inches from base to bottom of reflective band area; 32 inches circumference around the base of the cone rising to 18 inches circumference below the reflective area of the cone. The overall color of the cone is a bright orange, which is easily recognizable as a highway standard. The area between the base of the cone up to the bottom of the first reflective band, (proceeding from ground up) is the portion of the cone that the plastic sleeve of the present invention will address.

The sleeve can be made to be similar in color to the original cone. For example, the orange sleeve can be designed to closely resemble the color of orange cones. The sleeve may be pre-formed to fit snuggly at the base while maintaining equal adherence as it ends below the reflective band. The pre-formed component can be molded to create seals on either side, resistant to seam separation. Typically, the sleeve will not contain or imply on any part, instructions, directions or warnings to approaching vehicles. The sleeve can be completely text free and disposable when it becomes unacceptable as per the approved standards.

The sleeve does not need additional support for attachment to the cone (i.e., masking tape, glue or any other peripheral adhesive) and can be constructed of a heavy duty vinyl-polyester-vinyl laminate material, for example, which is extremely durable, weather resistant, and wind resistant. The sleeve, as designed, should not encroach into the reflective area which in itself would create a code violation.

The effectiveness of the sleeve of the present invention may apply to conditions that require simultaneous traffic flow through a work area while paving operations are ongoing, where the potential for distorting the visibility of the cone are most commonly found.

The sleeve of the present invention may be intended to create an easy solution to a very unpopular scenario and, at the same time, reduce operating expenses for paving contractors. Paving contractors are routinely faced with the task of adhering to the guidelines of MUTCD standards when cones become targeted by local inspectors as unacceptable. To date, the only two acceptable means of complying with inspection results are either to invest in new cones or assign associates of the company the task of manually cleaning the stains from the cones. Neither has proven to be cost effective so far, which strongly suggests continued use of the cone sleeve of the present invention will increase profitability on multiple levels.

Referring to FIGS. 1 through 4, the present invention includes a cone protective sleeve 10. The cone protective sleeve 10 includes a conical body formed of a semi-rigid to rigid material. The conical body has an outer surface and an inner surface. At least the outer surface of the conical body may match the color of a cone, such as orange. In certain embodiments, both the inner and outer surfaces may be orange. The conical body includes a top opening and a bottom opening and a continuous taper from the top opening to the bottom opening. The conical body is formed to fit over a cone. The cone includes a cone base 20 and a cone body 14. At least one reflective strip 18, such as two reflective strips 16, 18 may be near the top of the cone body 14. The cone protective sleeve 10 covers a portion of the cone body 14 so that the bottom opening is adjacent to the base 20 and the top opening is underneath the reflective strip 18.

The cone protective sleeve 10 may be made of a polymer, such as vinyl-polyester-vinyl laminate material. The cone protective sleeve 10 may be made by cutting the material into flat sheets. The flat sheets may be rolled into the conical body and the edges of the flat sheets may be attached at a seam 12. The seam 12 may be created by applying heat to the edges. The cone protective sleeve 10 may be around 18 inches in height to fill the gap between the base 20 and the reflective strips 18, 16.

A method of protecting a cone includes the following: providing a cone comprising a base, a cone body and a plurality of reflective strips attached to the cone body; providing a cone protecting sleeve comprising: a conical body formed of a semi-rigid to rigid material, the conical body having an outer surface and an inner surface, wherein at least the outer surface is orange, the conical body comprising a top opening and a bottom opening, wherein the conical body comprises a continuous taper from the top opening to the bottom opening, and placing the cone protecting sleeve over the cone body so that the bottom opening is adjacent to the base and the top opening is underneath the plurality of reflective strips. The cone protective sleeve may be placed over the cone body of a clean cone prior to a paving operation or over a dirty cone so that the dirty cone complies with regulations.

It should be understood, of course, that the foregoing relates to exemplary embodiments of the invention and that modifications may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the following claims.

Claims

1. A cone protecting sleeve comprising:

a conical body formed of a semi-rigid to rigid material, the conical body having an outer surface and an inner surface, wherein at least the outer surface is orange, the conical body comprising a top opening and a bottom opening, wherein the conical body comprises a continuous taper from the top opening to the bottom opening,

wherein the cone protective sleeve is formed to fit over a cone comprising a base, a cone body and at least one reflective strip on the cone body, wherein the conical body covers a portion of the cone body so that the bottom opening is adjacent to the base and the top opening is underneath the reflective strip.

2. The cone protective sleeve of claim 1, wherein the semi-rigid to rigid material is a polymer.

3. The cone protective sleeve of claim 1, wherein the polymer is vinyl-polyester-vinyl laminate material.

4. The cone protective sleeve of claim 1, wherein the inner surface and the outer surface are orange.

5. A method of protecting a cone comprising:

providing a cone comprising a base, a cone body and a plurality of reflective strips attached to the cone body;

providing a cone protecting sleeve comprising: a conical body formed of a semi-rigid to rigid material, the conical body having an outer surface and an inner surface, wherein at least the outer surface is orange, the conical body comprising a top opening and a bottom opening, wherein the conical body comprises a continuous taper from the top opening to the bottom opening, and

placing the cone protecting sleeve over the cone body so that the bottom opening is adjacent to the base and the top opening is underneath the plurality of reflective strips.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the cone protective sleeve is placed over the cone body of a clean cone prior to a paving operation.

7. The method of claim 5, wherein the cone protective sleeve is placed over the cone body of a dirty cone.

8. The cone protective sleeve of claim 5, wherein the semi-rigid to rigid material is a polymer.

9. The cone protective sleeve of claim 5, wherein the polymer is vinyl-polyester-vinyl laminate material.

10. The cone protective sleeve of claim 5, wherein the inner surface and the outer surface are orange.