Highway guardrail

Jan. 14, 1941

K. F. DAILEY

HIGHWAY GUARDRAIL

Filed April 26, 1939

2,228,652

Sheets-Sheet 1

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Jan. 14, 1941. κ. _F. _DAiley 2,228,652

HIGHWAY GUARDRAIL Filed April 26, 1939 2 Sheets-Sheet 2

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Patented Jan. 14, 1941

2,228,652

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE

2,228,652 HIGHWAY GUARDRAIL Karl F. Dailey, Columbus, Ohio Application April 26,1939, Serial No. 270,172 12 Claims. (Cl. 256—13.1)

This invention relates to guardrails of the type generally employed at the side edges of highways in the vicinity of curves, embankments and other dangerous sections. Primarily, the invention is directed to the provision of a guardrail which will be mounted on supporting posts and disposed at about the same elevation as the center of gravity of the average vehicle, the rail having a longitudinally extending shoulder portion which projects toward the road to a greater degree than the remaining portions of the rail for the purpose of engaging the wheels of a vehicle coming in contact therewith, above the center of the hubs and preventing any tendency of the vehicle to climb the guard or overturn.

It is desired also to so form the rail that the portion thereof immediately below the abovementioned shoulder will recede or slope away from the shoulder to provide a smooth, continuous, wedge-like surface for a vehicle to engage and slide along after coming into contact with the rail, the sloping part of the rail serving to exert a downward force on the vehicle and prevent it from raising up after engaging the rail.

An object resides in forming the rail portion of the guard from elongated strips of metal which have been rolled or stamped to provide a channel-shaped cross section, making the rail relatively inflexible though manufactured from comparatively light gage material.

Another object of the invention is to provide improved means for resiliently mounting the guardrail on the supporting posts in order to absorb shocks transmitted to the rail by a vehicle coining into forceful contact therewith.

For a further understanding of the invention, reference is to be had to the following description and the accompanying drawings in which the invention has been illustrated in several of its modified forms.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a portion of a highway provided with a guardrail formed in accordance with the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional view taken through the rail at one of the supporting posts;

Fig. 3 is a horizontal sectional view taken on the plane indicated by the line III—ΠΪ of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a front elevational view of the rail at a supporting post and showing a joint between a plurality of the sections of which the rail is composed;

Fig. 5 is a vertical longitudinal sectional view taken on the plane indicated by the line V—V of Fig. 2;

Fig. 6 is a perspective view of a bracket employed in securing the rail portion of the guard to a supporting post;

Fig. 7 is a similar view of one end of the rail portion of the guard;

Fig. 8 is a vertical transverse sectional view of a highway at a curve where the highway is banked and is provided with a modified form of guard;

Fig. 9 is a vertical transverse sectional view 5 of the modified form of guard shown in Fig. 8;

Figs. 10, 11 and 12 are vertical transverse sectional views of modified forms of rail sections;

Fig. 13 is a perspective view partly in section illustrating a slightly different method of sup- 10 porting the rails.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, the numeral I designates the highway guard in its entirety. This guard is supported adjacent, the side edge of a highway 2 by posts 3 which 15 are embedded in the shoulders of the highway. Each post is provided with a transversely extending opening through which a bolt 4 extends for the purpose of securing a resilient bracket 5 thereto. In the preferred form of the invention, 20 the bracket includes a strip having a body portion 6, the center of which is bowed as at 7, the bowed portion being provided with an opening through which the bolt 4 extends. The end portions of the body 6 are bent as at 8 to provide 25 legs 9 which extend toward one another and away from the post at a slight angle. The ends of the legs are bent to provide laterally directed extensions 10. The latter members are formed with elongated openings 11 for the reception of 30 shoulder screws 12 employed in securing the longitudinally extending rails 13 to the brackets.

In the preferred form of the invention, as illustrated in Fig. 2, the extensions 10 are spaced and extend away from the posts at substantially 35 right angles, the upper extension being slightly greater in length than the lower one. The rail 13 is formed from a plurality of elongated sections of metallic strips which are bent longitudinally to provide rearwardly directed flanges 40 14 and 15 at the upper and lower edges thereof, the former being wider than the latter and each having elongated openings formed adjacent its ends. The openings in the flanges are spaced to conform to the spacing between the openings 11 45 in the extensions on the brackets 5. The openings are elongated to permit of expansion and contraction of the rails when they are connected with the supporting posts.

As shown in Fig. 5, the screws 12 have rec- 50 t angular shanks which extend through the openings in the flanges of the rails and the extensions of the brackets and serve to resist turning movement of the bolts when the nuts 16 are applied to the threaded shanks IT of the bolts. 55 Between the flanges 14 and 15 of the rails, the body is also longitudinally bent to give the rail section a substantially V-shaped cross section between the flanges. As the lower flange is shorter than the upper one, the upper portion of the 60

2,228,852 rail will be disposed at. a greater distance from the supporting posts and will provide the rail with an overhanging portion which will be disposed slightly above the hubs of the wheels of 5 the average motor vehicle.

The body of the rail inclines or slopes downwardly away from the overhanging portion to provide a wedge-like surface for engagement with the vehicle wheel hubs and prevent up¹⁰ ward motion after the wheels have once engaged the rail. The body portions of the rail sections are also provided adjacent their ends with slotted openings through which shouldered screws extend to connect the sections of the rail to form ¹⁵ a continuous strip between the supporting posts. The extent the upper portion of the rail overhangs the lower portion is indicated in Fig. 2 by the letter X.

A modified form of rail is illustrated in Figs. ²⁰ 8 and 9, the former figure being a transverse section of a highway at a curve where the highway is banked and the guardrail is arranged between the edge of the highway and an embankment. In this form, while the highway surface is in²⁵ clined, the supporting posts are vertically arranged. The bracket members 6α have laterally directed extensions which are parallel but extend away from the supporting posts at a downwardly inclined angle. The upper extension 18 ³θ is considerably longer than the lower extension and serves to project the upper portion of the rail a greater distance beyond the lower portion as indicated by the letter Y in Fig. 9. Both forms of the brackets 6 and 6α have the resilient ³⁵ legs 9 which serve when the rail is engaged by a vehicle to absorb the shock and permit a slight movement of the rail toward the supporting posts. After the rail is moved a sufficient distance toward the posts, the inner ends of the 40 extensions 10 and 18 will engage the posts and resist further movement of the rail. The rail sections in the forms of the invention just described are substantially identical, the difference in the forms being entirely in the brackets.

In Fig. 10, a further modification is shown wherein the rail is substantially M-shaped in cross section, the flanges 19 being of equal width. This type of rail is adapted for use only with the brackets 6α which have the longer upper exten50 sions 18. Due to the longer extension, the upper portion of the rail will overhang the lower portion as in the preferred form even though the flanges of the rail portions are of equal width.

Further modified forms of rail sections are 55 shown in Figs. 11 and 12. In Fig. 11, the body portion of the rail section 20 is provided with transversely spaced offset portions 21 and 22. The former is disposed at the top of the rail and overhangs the latter portion when the rail 60 is installed. In this form, the upper flange is also considerably wider than the lower flange. This section of rail is adapted for use with either form of brackets above described.

The rail shown in Fig. 12 is similar to the rail 65 first described but the body of the rail is formed with parallel offset portions. The center of the rail is positioned rearwardly with respect to the edge portions and the upper edge portion is disposed slightly in advance of the lower portion. 70 This rail also has a wider flange at its upper longitudinal edge.

It will be noted that in all the forms of rails described above, the upper portion of the rail overhangs the lower portion when the rail is in75 stalled. As mentioned previously, this is done to provide the rails with a continuous portion which will engage the wheels of a vehicle slightly above the center to prevent the wheels from bouncing or otherwise raising up while the vehicle is in engagement with the former. 5

Both forms of brackets have the body provided with a curved portion through which the bolts used for securing the brackets to the supporting posts extend. By this arrangement, when the rail is engaged by a vehicle and the extensions to 1θ which the rail is secured move toward the bracket, the end portions of the body in engagement with the posts will be free to move longitudinally of the posts to compensate for the difference in length caused by the legs 9 moving into a position ¹⁵parallel with the body portion. When thisjnovement occurs, the curved portion of the rail will tend to- flatten out and also absorb some of the shock caused by the vehicle engaging the rail.

In certain instances, it may be found desirable ²θ to rigidly connect the ends of the rail sections to form a continuous rail. When mounting such a rail, it cannot be rigidly anchored to the supporting posts because variations in length due to expansion or contraction must be permitted. One ²⁵method of mounting a continuous rail is shown in Fig. 13 wherein a usual bracket 6 has its leg portions 9 provided with openings in registration with the outer surfaces of the rail flanges. Retaining strips 23 extend through the openings ³⁰and have their inner ends bent to engage the inner surfaces of the bracket extensions. The outer ends of the strips 23 are bent around the rail at the upper and lower edges to retain it in position on the bracket. By employing this ³⁵method of mounting, the rails have no positive connection with the brackets and may move in response to temperature changes without resistance.