INFORMATION BOARD, PARTICULARLY FOR ROAD USERS

Abstract: An information board, particularly intended for road users, comprises a plane sheet (10), the front side of which is provided with the necessary information, and at least one supporting post (17) to which the sheet (10) is attached. The sheet has a lower horizontal edge which is flanged to form a flange (10a) projecting from the back of the sheet substantially perpendicularly to the plane of the sheet. The plane sheet (10) is on its back provided with a profiled plate (18) resting on the projecting flange (10a) and covering substantially the whole back of the sheet, thus reinforcing and stiffening the information sheet.

Description: Information board, particularly for road users Technical Field 7 The present invention is related to an information % board which is particularly intended to be set up on roads and trafic places to provide the road users with informa- 5 tion and directions. Background Art A large number of trafic signs and directive boards for the road users are set up along the roads. These signs and boards have to be set up close to the roads and should 10 be comparatively large, so that the road users easily can perceive the given information. Due to their position and their size the signs and boards are frequently exposed to heavy strains and loads, particularly in connection with snow-clearance work, especially snow-ploughing. Therefore, 15 it is highly desirable that the signs and boards are made very solid, so that expensive repairs and maintenance can be avoided as much as possible. It is previously known to provide road signs and road boards with flanged edges, forming projecting flanges on 20 the back, to make the signs and boards more resistant. How¬ ever, this kind of reinforcement will only give a satisfac¬ tory result on small signs and boards. It is therefore com¬ mon to provide large signs and boards with rails or frames of wood on their backs. Such constructions, however, are 25 heavy and cumbrous, because the rails and frames have to be attached to the signs and boards during their manufacturing to give the desired effect. This will make it more diffi- g cult and more expensive to set up the signs and boards. Furthermore, these reinforcements will only give a satis- * 30 factory strength along the edges of the signs and boards. The central areas of the signs and boards can therefore easily be damaged. Disclosure of Invention The main object of the invention is to provide an information board which is more resistant than the signs and boards now in use and which is easy to transport and to set up. According to the invention, ' this object can be ob¬ tained by providing an information board having the charac¬ terizing features set forth in the claims. Due to the fact that the plane sheet carrying the in¬ formation is provided on its back with a profiled plate covering substantially the whole back of the sheet, a rein¬ forcement and stiffening of the sheet carrying the informa¬ tion is obtained over its whole area. This reinforcement can be provided when t board is set up at the place where the board shall be positioned. Particularly, by the use of trapezoidal aluminium sheet as profiled plate a light and cheap standard element is used which only has to be cut to the right size. Thus, the increase of cost for the informa¬ tion board will be very moderate. Brief Description of the Drawing One embodiment of the information board according to the invention will now be described more in detail with reference to the accompanying drawing. Figure 1 shows a perspective view, seen from behind, of a portion of an information board according to the in- vention. Figure 2 shows a side view of the board shown in Figu¬ re 1. Best Mode for Carrying Out the Invention The information board shown in Figures 1 and 2 compri- ses a plane sheet 10 the front of which is provided with the information to be given. The horizontal edges of the sheet are flanged to form two flanges 10a,10b projecting from the back of the plane sheet substantially perpendicu¬ larly to the plane of the sheet. These flanges are provided partly for stiffening the sheet and partly for attaching brackets 11,12 for fastening the plane sheet 10. The brack¬ ets 11,12 consist of angular assembling means attached to the flanges 10a,10b by means of rivets 13,14. Each bracket 11,12 is provided with a locking strap 15 and 16, respecti¬ vely. The locking straps are designed to surround a verti¬ cal post 17 to which the information sheet 10 is to be fas- tened, as clearly shown in Figure 2. The Figures only show one post 17, but normally two or more posts fixed in the ground are used for larger information boards. A profiled plate 18 is interposed between the plane sheet 10 and the post 17. This plate has substantially the same size as the plane sheet 10 and consists of a trapezoi¬ dal aluminium sheet having a number of parallel ridges 19 with plane top surfaces. The plane top surfaces of the rid¬ ges abut the back of the sheet 10 and have a height which is equal to or slightly larger than the width of the flang- es 10a, 10b, so that the profiled plate is rigidly braced between the sheet 10 and the post or posts 17, the profiled plate resting with its lower edge on the lower flange 10a of the plane sheet. Thus, the post or posts 17 will press the profiled plate 18 against the sheet 10, so that the profiled plate will support and stiffen the information sheet 10 over its whole area. When the information board is to be set up, the post or posts 17 are first erected by digging a hole in the ground for one end of each post and casting the end, if necessary. The information sheet is than loosely attached to the posts, and after that the profiled plate is pushed into the space between the information sheet and the post or posts. In this operation the lower edge of the profiled plate slides on the lower flange of the information sheet. The information sheet is than finally attached by tighte¬ ning the locking straps, and at the same time the profiled plate is squeezed between the sheet and the post or posts. The size of the profiled plate has been adjusted to the information sheet in advance. While only one embodiment of the information board according to the invention has been described and shown, it is evident that several modifications and variations are O.ΛPL possible within the scope of the invention. The information sheet, for example, must not necessarily be rectangular, as shown in the Figures, but can have any shape. However, the rectangular shape is normally best suited. Furthermore, the sheet can have only a lower horizontal flange. The ridges of the profiled plates can have any other shape than the trapezoidal shape, for example be waved. To give the best effect, the ridges of the profiled plate should run sub¬ stantially perpendicularly to the carrying posts or bars, but the posts or bars may alternatively be positioned hori¬ zontally. The information sheet and the profiled plate can also be attached in many different ' ways.

Claims: Claims * 1. Information board, particularly for road users, com- prising a plane sheet (10) the front side of which being provided with the necessary information, the sheet having at least one lower horizontal edge which is flanged to form 5 a flange (10a) projecting from the back of the sheet sub¬ stantially perpendicularly to the plane of the sheet, and at least one supporting post (17) to which the plane sheet (10) is attached, characterized in that the plane sheet (10) on its back is provided with a profiled plate (18) 10 covering substantially the whole back of the plane sheet. 2. Information board according to claim 1, characterized in that the ridges (19) of the profiled plate (18) abut the plane sheet (10) and that the lower edge of the profiled plate (18) rests upon the flange (10a) of the plane sheet. 15 3. Information board according to claim 2, characterized in that the ridges (19) of the profiled plate (18) run substantially perpendicularly to the supporting post (17) to which the plane sheet (10) is attached. 4. Information board according to claim 3, in which the 20 plane sheet (10) is rectangular and has also an upper hori¬ zontal edge flanged to form a backwards projecting flange (10b), the flanges (10a,10b) being provided with fastening means (11,15;12,16) for attaching the sheet (10) to the supporting post (17), characterized in that the ridges of 25 the profiled plate (18) have a height which is at least equal to the width of the projecting flanges (10a,10b), so that the profiled plate (18) is squeezed between the back ^ of the plane, sheet (10) and the supporting post (17), when the plane sheet (10) is attached to the supporting post by 30 means of its fastening means (11 ,15; 12,16) . 5. Information board according to any of the preceding claims, characterized in that the profiled plate (18) con¬ sists of an aluminium sheet having trapezoidal ridges (19).

Inventors: GAORDMAN ROGER STEN IVAR, GAORDMAN, ROGER, STEN, IVAR
Applicants: GRAENGES ALUMINIUM AB, GRAENGES ALUMINIUM AKTIEBOLAG
Application year: 1984
Main classification: E01F9
IPC codes: G09F7