Abstract:
An attachment module for a safety cone permitting a variety of safety enhancing devices to be easily attached to the cone. The attachment module comprising a top ring and a bottom ring joined together to form an assembly. The top ring and bottom ring sized to conform to a predefined safety cone angle or range of angles, the assembly having an attachment arm for attaching a safety-enhancing device. Examples of safety enhancing devices include, but are not limited to a flag, a sign, a safety tape holder, a light, or other safety-enhancing device. The assembly may be placed over a safety cone and is held secure by gravity and the wedge of the cone angle. Safety enhancing devices may then be attached to the module and thus to the cone to improve the effectiveness of the cone.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention pertains generally to the field of traffic safety, more particularly to systems for attaching safety enhancing devices to a safety cone. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Safety cones are typically used to mark a hazard or to delineate a safe or orderly path of travel, to mark a parking space, to regulate traffic, or other purpose. The cones are made of a highly visible material or painted a highly visible color, typically daylight fluorescent orange “safety orange”. The cones come in a full range of sizes, large sizes the size of an oil drum to small sizes easily stowed in a trunk. Safety cones are a convenient shape that lends itself to efficient stacking for storage, allowing several cones to be stored in a car trunk, or allowing many cones to be easily deployed and retrieved from a single vehicle. In addition to safety cones, additional safety devices such as signs, flags, tapes, and lights are often deployed in conjunction with safety cones to further clarify the message and reason for the deployment of the safety cones. Thus, the art of safety marking and management is in constant need for improvements in effectiveness, cost effectiveness, convenience and capability. 
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention relates to an attachment module for a safety cone permitting a variety of safety enhancing devices to be easily attached to the cone. The attachment module comprises a top ring and a bottom ring joined together to form an assembly. The top ring and bottom ring are sized to conform to a predefined safety cone angle or range of angles. The assembly includes an attachment arm for attaching a safety-enhancing device. Examples of safety enhancing devices include, but are not limited to a flag, a sign, a safety tape holder, a light, or other safety-enhancing device. The assembly may be placed over a safety cone and is held secure by gravity and the wedge of the cone angle. Safety enhancing devices may then be attached to the module and thus to the cone to improve the effectiveness of the cone. 
     In one embodiment, the connecting structure is attached to the upper ring and attached to the lower ring, the connecting structure providing a separation distance between the first ring and the second ring in accordance with the first diameter and the second diameter and the predetermined cone angle. 
     In one embodiment, an attachment arm is attached to the connecting structure, the attachment arm is capable of receiving a rod shaped attachment feature from the safety enhancement device for mounting the safety enhancement device on the attachment module. 
     In one embodiment, the attachment arm has a mounting hole having a mounting hole axis, the mounting hole axis having a vertical directional component. 
     In a further embodiment, the attachment arm is capable of providing rotational stability relative to the mounting hole axis. 
     In a further embodiment, the attachment arm requires no fasteners to attach the safety enhancing device. 
     In a further embodiment, the ring may form a round, a triangle, a square, a hexagon, or a polygon shape. 
     In other embodiments, the invention may include a safety enhancing device having a rod shaped mounting feature attached to the safety enhancing device for mounting the safety enhancing device on the attachment module. 
     In further embodiments, the safety enhancing device may include at least one flange attached to the safety enhancing device, the flange disposed parallel to the rod shaped mounting feature, the flange configured to be close fitting to the mounting arm to establish a unique orientation of the safety enhancing device when mounted on the attachment module. 
     In a further embodiment, the at least one flange forms part of a channel shaped mounting feature, the channel shaped mounting feature configured to be close fitting to the mounting arm to establish a unique orientation of the safety enhancing device when mounted on the attachment module. 
     These and further benefits and features of the present invention are herein described in detail with reference to exemplary embodiments in accordance with the invention. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES 
       The present invention is described with reference to the accompanying drawings. In the drawings, like reference numbers indicate identical or functionally similar elements. Additionally, the left-most digit(s) of a reference number identifies the drawing in which the reference number first appears. 
         FIG. 1  illustrates an isometric view of an exemplary safety cone attachment module in accordance with the present invention. 
         FIG. 2  illustrates the safety cone attachment module used with flags for increasing the visibility of the cone. 
         FIG. 3  illustrates an exemplary detachable sign in position on the attachment module in accordance with the present invention. 
         FIG. 4  illustrates a detail isometric view of the attachment arm of  FIG. 3 . 
         FIG. 5   a  illustrates a front view of the exemplary safety cone attachment module of  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 5   b  illustrates a side view of the exemplary safety cone attachment module of  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 5   c  illustrates a top view of the exemplary safety cone attachment module of  FIG. 1 . 
         FIGS. 6   a  and  6   b  illustrate a cross section through the attachment arm structure of  FIG. 5   a.    
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
       FIG. 1  illustrates an isometric view of an exemplary safety cone attachment module in accordance with the present invention. Referring to  FIG. 1 , the attachment module  100  comprises a base comprising an upper ring  102  and a lower ring  104  spaced by a spacing structure  106 . An attachment arm  110  is mounted on the spacing structure  106 . The attachment arm  110  is adapted to receive mounting features of a safety enhancing device. 
     More generally, the attachment module  100  comprises a structure having a base conformal to a nominal safety cone and providing stability from tipping vertically front to back or side to side. The base rests on the cone held in place by gravity and friction between the cone and the contact surface of the base with the cone. The base allows rotation around the vertical axis of the cone for positioning the attachment module. 
     The exemplary base of  FIG. 1  comprises two rings, a top ring  102  and a bottom ring  104 , each having a radius corresponding to an upper and lower elevation cross section of the cone. The top and bottom rings  102 ,  104  are separated by at least one and preferably two spacing structures  106 . Any number of spacing structures  106  may be used. The rings are shown to have additional flanges  120  for added strength and support. Alternatively, the flanges may be extended to fill the entire space between the two rings, forming a conformal conical segment having the same cone angle as the traffic cone. The attachment module  100  further comprises one or more attachment arms  110  attached to the spacing structures  106 . The attachment arms provide attachment features for attaching safety devices to the attachment module and thus to the safety cone, when the attachment module is installed on the safety cone. 
     The exemplary rings  102 ,  104  provide contact with the cone at an upper and lower point on opposite sides of the cone for lateral stability and provide contact at an upper and lower point on both sides of the cone front and back for forward/backward tilt stability. The rings further provide contact all around the cone at two levels to achieve front to back, and side to side tilt stability. The rings shown are round, alternatively, the rings may form squares, triangles, hexagons, octagons, or other polygons to provide the desired contact that yields the desired front/back and side to side stability. Further, the rings  102 ,  104  may be flexible, such as rubber bands, allowing compressed storage and variable cone angle. The rings may be molded with the spacing structure  106  as one unitary body, or may be fabricated separately from the spacing structure  106  and attached to the spacing structure  106 . 
     As shown, the spacing structures  106  have mounting protrusions  110  (alternatively referred to as mounting arms or arms) capable of providing vertical, lateral, and rotational stability for items attached thereto. The mounting arms  110  are typically used to attach safety enhancing items including but not limited to flags, signs, lights, tape holders, and other devices. The mounting arms  110  are fixedly attached to the spacing structures  106  (alternatively referred to as spacing flanges) and may be molded with the structures  106  to form a single unitary assembly. The mounting arms  110  comprise a body  114  extending outwardly from the mounting flange  106  forming a generally triangular vertical cross section. The arms have vertical flat sides  116 . The arms  110  have a mounting hole  112  for receiving a mounting feature of a safety device. The sides  116  and bottom surface  118  may be formed parallel to the mounting hole  112  for cooperation with parallel mounting flanges of the safety device. The hole  112  center axis (see  502   FIG. 5   a ) and mounting arm bottom surface  118  are shown at a predetermined mounting angle. The predetermined mounting angle may be a desired angle for mounting a flag pole directly in the mounting hole. The mounting hole  112  opens at a mounting hole face surface  122 , typically perpendicular to the mounting hole axis. 
       FIG. 2  illustrates the safety cone attachment module used with flags for increasing the visibility of the cone. Referring to  FIG. 2 ,  FIG. 2  shows the attachment module  100  used for attaching safety flags  202  to a safety cone  208 . The safety flags comprise a flag pole  204  and a flag  206 . The safety cone comprises a cone body  208  and a base  210 . The attachment module  100  is placed on the cone  208  and the flags  202  are inserted into the mounting hole  112  of the attachment arms  110  of the attachment module. For the flag embodiment, the mounting hole center axis may be selected as the desired angle for mounting the flag pole  204 . The mounting hole angle may be any angle suitable for mounting a flag pole. The exemplary angle shown is 45 degrees relative to the vertical axis of the cone. The flag pole axis is typically oriented in a plane through the center axis of the cone. A flag pole inserted into the flag pole mounting hole  112  does not usually need to be stabilized for rotation. Thus, a round hole is sufficient for the flag pole. Alternative hole shapes, such as triangular, square, hexagonal, spline, or other shape may also be used; however, a round hole is typically the simplest to fabricate and results in lowest cost. 
       FIG. 3  illustrates an exemplary detachable sign in position on the attachment module in accordance with the present invention. Typical signs that may be provided may include “Reserved,” “Caution,” “Hazard,” “Help,” or other message that may clarify the reason for the cone. The mounting arms have flat sides  116  that may be used to stabilize and fix the vertical axis of devices mounted thereon. For various devices, for example a traffic or information sign, the mounting may need to be stabilized (prevented from rotating around the mounting axis) for best legibility and clear intent. (Rotation would permit the sign to hang at undesirable tilt angles.) An exemplary sign holder is shown in  FIG. 3  that takes advantage of the flag mounting hole in combination with the associated flat sides to ensure vertical and horizontally stable and rigid mounting for the sign. The mounting of the sign, as with the mounting of the flag, does not depend on fasteners. Gravity along with incidental or, in one embodiment, intentional friction is sufficient to hold the sign in the attachment arm. 
     Referring to  FIG. 3 ,  FIG. 3  shows two signs  302  mounted on the attachment arms  110  of the attachment module  100  (The upper ring  102  and lower ring  104  are visible.) The rear sign  302  shows mounting flanges  304  coupled to the mounting arm  110  to fix the position of the sign. 
     Also in  FIG. 3 , the cone  208  is shown for reference, the center axis  308  of the cone is shown along with an extension line following an edge of the cone. A cone angle  306  is shown as being measured between the side of the cone  208  and the center line axis of symmetry  308  of the cone. A typical cone angle  306  may be, for example, ten degrees. Most traffic cones are built within a narrow range of angles  306  such that a base designed for matching a nominal cone angle will likely work for a significant number of different traffic cones. 
       FIG. 4  illustrates greater detail with respect to the coupling of the sign to the attachment arm of  FIG. 3 .  FIG. 4  shows the sign and mounting features adapted for mounting the sign on the mounting arm of the attachment module. The sign mounting features comprise a mounting rod  402  that fits in the mounting hole  112  of the mounting arm  110  and alignment flanges  304  that cooperate with the sides of the mounting arm  110  to ensure a unique orientation of the sign  302  when mounted on the mounting arm  110 . The alignment flanges  304  contact or nearly contact the associated sides of the mounting arm  110  to restrict any rotation of the sign  302  that may be permitted by the mounting rod  402  alone. Two alignment flanges  304  are visible in the drawing. (The alignment flanges  304  may be alternatively referred to as strips.) A third flange behind the rod  402  in the view of  FIG. 4  and joining the two visible alignment flanges  304  may also be provided. One flange may be sufficient, two would increase the stability. All three flanges joined together into a channel will provide the greatest strength and stability. The flanges  304  are fixedly attached to the sign and optionally may be molded with the sign as a unitary assembly. 
       FIG. 5   a  illustrates a front exploded view of the exemplary safety cone attachment module of  FIG. 1  with the exemplary flag of  FIG. 2  and sign of  FIG. 3 . Referring to  FIG. 5   a , a front view is shown of an embodiment having two attachment arms. The right arm is shown for attachment to a sign holder. The sign holder is coupled by inserting the mounting pin of the sign holder into the mounting hole of the right mounting arm. The alignment flange of the sign holder slides against the outside of the mounting arm to prevent rotation of the sign holder around the mounting arm axis. The left arm is shown for attachment to a flag by receiving a flag pole inserted into the mounting hole in the left arm. 
     A separation distance between the top ring  102  and bottom ring  104  is selected to provide the desired stability. A separation distance equal to the radius of the top ring is a good selection for many applications. Greater or lesser distances may be chosen, depending on the weight and balance loading of a given safety device to be attached. For example, long flag poles may require a longer separation distance to achieve the desired stability in windy conditions. 
     The mounting hole axis  502  is shown at a mounting hole angle  504 . The mounting hole angle is measured between the cone center line axis  308  and the mounting hole axis  502 . The mounting hole axis is typically in the plane with the cone center line. The cone center line runs through the center of the mounting surface circle defined by the upper ring  102  and lower ring  104 . The mounting angle may be typically a suitable flag pole angle. The exemplary angle shown is approximately 45 degrees. The angle is preferably between 20 degrees and 70 degrees, more preferably between 30 degrees and sixty degrees. Note that in the embodiment shown, the lower surface of the mounting arm runs parallel to the mounting hole axis. In one embodiment, the mounting angle may have an upward component to allow the safety device to be held by gravity without needing additional fastening devices. Cross section  6   a  is shown in  FIG. 6   a  for greater clarity and detail. 
       FIG. 5   b  illustrates a side view of the exemplary safety cone attachment module of  FIG. 1 .  FIG. 5   b  shows clearly the upper ring  102 , lower ring  104 , and spacing structure  106 . The end view of the mounting arm  110  shows clearly the lower surface of the mounting arm  110  and mounting hole  112 . 
       FIG. 5   c  illustrates a top view of the exemplary safety cone attachment module of  FIG. 1 . Referring to  FIG. 5   c , the upper ring  102  and lower ring  104  are connected to the spacing structure  106 . The attachment arm  110  is fixed to the spacing structure. The mounting arm upper surface and mounting hole  112  are visible in the top view. 
       FIGS. 6   a  and  6   b  illustrate a cross section through the attachment arm structure of  FIG. 5   a . Referring to  FIG. 6   a , the cross section  FIG. 6   a  is perpendicular to the mounting hole axis. In the view of  FIG. 6   a , the mounting arm  110  structure and the mounting hole  112  cross section can be seen. 
       FIG. 6   b  shows the cross section of  FIG. 6   a  with the mounting features of the sign mounted on the mounting arm  110 . Thus, the mounting rod  402  may be seen inserted into the mounting hole  112  and the mounting flanges  304  may be seen in contact with three sides of the mounting arm  110 . The mounting flanges comprise three strips joined at the edges to form a channel. The channel  304  fits closely to the mounting arm  110  to prevent rotation and to establish a unique orientation (up/down) for the sign  302  ( FIG. 3 ) or other safety feature mounted on the mounting arm  110 . 
     Variations 
     As shown, two mounting arms are provided; however, one, two, three, four, or more may be provided as desired. The mounting arms as shown provide multiple advantages and the design lends itself to low cost fabrication. However other mounting attachment schemes may be provided as are known in the art. 
     While various embodiments of the present invention have been described above, it should be understood that they have been presented by way of example only, and not limitation. Thus, the breadth and scope of the present invention should not be limited by any of the above-described exemplary embodiments, but should be defined only in accordance with the following claims and their equivalents.