Patent Abstract:
A sign stand assembly having a message panel and a mast. A mast clamp is coupled to the lower end of the mast and a clevis is coupled to the mast clamp. A resilient support assembly includes a coil spring and a spring mounting adapter threadingly engaged with the upper end of the coil spring. A keyed portion including a mounting surface and a pair of key members upwardly protruding therefrom, comprising a concave socket for receiving the clevis with a close tolerance fit preventing rotation of the clevis.

Full Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     The present invention pertains to flexible sign panel assemblies. 
     2. Description of the Related Art 
     Roadside warning signs are required for temporary worksite activities such as utility repair and accident investigation. With increased traffic speeds and higher volumes of vehicle and pedestrian traffic temporary warning signs are employed in greater numbers. Accordingly, work crews carry larger numbers of lightweight temporary warning signs for ready deployment upon arrival at a worksite. It is important that the temporary warning signs of this type be lightweight and afford compact storage. Today, temporary warning signs typically employ message panels made of a flexible fabric such as a plastic mesh of polyethylene or vinyl material. The sign panels are typically reinforced by flexible ribs of lightweight material, such as glass fiber composition. In use, the flexible sign panels are stretched taut to maintain a generally flat message display position. Wind gusts and traffic induced wind bursts put substantial strain on the flexible panel and it is important that these applied forces be resolved by a sign panel support. It is important that the sign panel support be configurable for compact storage, to complement the compact storage of the sign panel. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     It is an object of the present invention to provide a support base for a message panel, particularly message panels of the flexible type employed, for example, to provide roadside warnings. 
     Another object of the present invention is to provide a sign stand assembly with a support base which can be collapsed into a compact package for storage. 
     Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a support base having one or more upright coil springs adapted for flexural loading. 
     These and other objects according to principles of the present invention are provided in a resilient support assembly for use in assign stand assembly to support a mast which carries a message panel and which has a lower end extending below the message panel, the resilient support assembly comprising: 
     a coil spring; 
     an upper spring mounting adapter; 
     a lower spring mounting adapter; 
     the upper spring mounting adapter having external threads threadingly engaged with the upper end of the coil spring; 
     the upper spring mounting adapter including a lower threaded end carrying the external threads and an upper end having a keyed portion; 
     the keyed portion including a mounting surface and a pair of key members upwardly protruding therefrom, the key members located on either side of a threaded bore, with the key members and mounting surface together comprising a concave socket for support receiving a support for the mast with a close tolerance fit preventing rotation of the support with respect to the resilient support assembly and the threaded bore for maintaining the support in engagement with the mounting surface, in keyed engagement with the keyed portion of the spring mounting adapter; 
     the lower spring mounting adapter having external threads threadingly engaged with the lower end of the coil spring; 
     the lower spring mounting adapter including an upper threaded end carrying the external threads and a lower end having a mounting surface, the lower end defining a threaded bore and a pin receiving hole extending from the mounting surface; 
     a threaded fastener engaging the threaded bore to maintain the leg mount in engagement with the mounting surface; and 
     a pin received in the pin-receiving hole for engaging apparatus supporting the resilient support assembly to prevent rotation relative thereto. 
     Other objects according to principles of the present invention are provided in a sign stand assembly comprising: 
     a message panel; 
     a panel support including a cross rib supporting the panel; 
     a mast connected to the cross rib and having a lower end extending below the message panel; 
     a support base including a clevis having a bight portion, a resilient support assembly and a leg mount, with the resilient support assembly connected to the leg mount; 
     a mast clamp coupled to the lower end of the mast to provide support therefor; 
     the clevis coupled to the lower end of the mast to provide support therefor; 
     ground-engaging members coupled to the leg mount to provide support therefor; 
     the resilient support assembly including a coil spring and a spring mounting adapter having external threads threadingly engaged with the upper end of the coil spring; and 
     the spring mounting adapter including a lower threaded end carrying the external threads and an upper end having a keyed portion including a mounting surface and a pair of key members upwardly protruding therefrom, the key members located on either side of a threaded bore, with the key members and mounting surface together comprising a concave socket for receiving the bight portion with a close tolerance fit preventing rotation of the bight portion with respect to the resilient support assembly and a threaded fastener engaging the threaded bore to maintain the bight portion in engagement with the mounting surface, in keyed engagement with the keyed portion of the spring mounting adapter. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 is an elevational view of a sign stand assembly; 
     FIG. 2 is a fragmentary view of a lower portion of the sign stand assembly; 
     FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the support base thereof; 
     FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a leg mount assembly thereof; 
     FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the spring mount adapter thereof; 
     FIG. 6 is a another perspective view thereof; 
     FIG. 7 is bottom plan view thereof; 
     FIG. 8 is a top plan view thereof; 
     FIG. 9 is a side-elevational view thereof; 
     FIG. 10 is cross-sectional view taken along the line  10 — 10  of FIG. 8; 
     FIG. 11 is a side elevational view similar to that of FIG. 9 showing the tapered construction thereof; 
     FIG. 12 is a cross-sectional view similar to that of FIG. 10, showing engagement with spring coils; 
     FIGS. 13 and 14 are perspective views of the resilient support assembly; 
     FIG. 15 is a perspective view of a leg mount; 
     FIG. 16 is a top plan view of an alternative arrangement of support base components; 
     FIG. 17 is a cross-sectional view taken along the line  17 — 17  of FIG. 16; 
     FIG. 18 is a fragmentary bottom plan view of an alternative sign stand assembly; and 
     FIG. 19 is a perspective view of another embodiment of a sign stand assembly. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
     Turning now to FIGS. 1-15 and initially to FIG. 1 a first embodiment of a sign stand assembly is generally indicated at  10 . Included is a message panel assembly generally indicated at  12  having a flexible message panel  14  made of any suitable material such as a plastic mesh of polyethylene or vinyl plastic. As will be seen herein, panel  14  is supported by a plurality of interconnected ribs. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, a conventional fiberglass cross member  16  is pinned at  18  to an upright fiberglass member or mast  24 . The lower end of mast  24  is clamped in a mast coupler assembly  30  illustrated, in FIG.  2 . Mast coupler assembly  30  is of conventional construction and includes a rigid metallic body  32  and a clamp member  34 . Mast  24 , which as mentioned, preferably comprises a fiberglass rib is inserted downwardly past clamp member  34  to the bottom of the mast coupler assembly. The lower end of the mast coupler assembly is secured to a clevis  36  using conventional bolt fasteners passing through apertures  38 . 
     Referring to FIG. 3, a bottom portion  42  of the sign stand assembly is illustrated. Included is the clevis  36  secured by a bolt fastener  46  to a resilient support assembly generally indicated at  50 . The resilient support assembly is in turn mounted to a leg mount  52  which is illustrated in FIG.  15 . Leg mount  52  includes a pair of side plates  54  joined to a saddle or center member  56 . Center member  56  includes an upper surface  58  recessed below the top of the side plates  54 . An aperture  60  is formed in center member  56  to receive a bolt fastener similar to bolt fastener  46 . Side plates  54  provide mounting for legs  64  in a conventional manner (see FIGS.  1  and  18 ). 
     Referring to FIGS. 13 and 14, resilient support assembly  50  includes a coil spring  64 . Spring  64  is of conventional helical wound wire design having cut ends  66  as can be seen for example in FIG.  14 . Resilient support assembly  50  includes one or more spring mount adapters generally indicated at  70 . 
     Referring to FIGS. 5-12 and initially to FIG. 5, spring mount adapter  70  includes a threaded body portion  72  and an enlarged end portion  74  including a keyed portion  78  and an extension portion  80 . The keyed portion  78  includes upstanding key members or protrusions  82 ,  84 . As illustrated in FIG. 5, protrusions  82 ,  84  are located on either side of a threaded bore  88  which receives the bolt fastener  46  mentioned above with reference to FIG.  3 . 
     When the spring mounting adapter  70  is employed at the bottom of the resilient support assembly, as illustrated in FIGS. 13 and 14, a bolt fastener, similar to bolt fastener  46  is passed through aperture  60  in leg mount  52  to engage threaded bore  88 , thereby securing the bottom of the resilient support assembly. The upper surface  58  of the leg mount of this first embodiment shown in FIGS. 1-15 engages the upper surface of end portion  74  located between keyed portions  82 ,  84 . Generally flat sides  92  of the spring mounting adapter  70  (see FIG. 5) engage both portions of side plates  54  which protrude above surface  58  (see FIG.  15 ). Thus, with the flats  92  of the spring mounting adapter engaging side plates  54  and with the protrusions  82 ,  84  engaging opposed sides of center member  56  the spring mounting adapter  70  is securely interlocked or keyed with the leg mount  52 . Surface  58  and the upper portions of the side plates  54  can be seen to cooperate to form a socket for receiving the spring mount adapter. Further, the surface  78  and protrusions  82 ,  84  can be seen to comprise a socket for receiving the saddle or middle portion  58  of the leg mount  52 . 
     Referring again to FIGS. 3 and 5, the central portion of clevis  36  engages the keyed portion  78  with edges of the clevis being located immediately adjacent to or alternatively engaging, protrusions  82 ,  84  to provide a secured well-defined angular alignment between the clevis and the resilient support assembly, and in turn the leg mount  52  and supporting legs  64  (see FIG.  1 ). With the arrangement illustrated in FIG. 3, it is generally preferred that identical spring mounting adapters  70  be used at each end of the resilient support assembly. 
     Referring again to FIG. 2, the mast coupler assembly  30  includes a rectangular cross-section body portion  32  which provides rotationally-defined keyed interlocking with clevis  36 . A defined rotational orientation is thereby provided between the mast coupler assembly and the leg mount and support legs. As will be seen, the relative angular or rotational positioning of the sign panel is defined with respect to the lower portion of the sign stand assembly. 
     As mentioned, the upright mast  24  is preferably comprised of a fiberglass rib of conventional construction. Such ribs typically have a rectangular cross-sectional configuration. The sign stand support according to principles of the present invention provides further alignment features while protecting the lower end of mast  24 . Mast  24  (see FIG. 1) is passed between clamp  34  and body  32  of the mast coupler assembly (see FIG. 2) and is lowered until contact is made with the upper surface of extension portion  80 . This arrangement provides a ready visual cue for the assembly operation and if preferred desired alignment can be accomplished with a tactile indication by gently lower the mast  24  into engagement with extension portion  80 . As can be seen in FIG.  5  and the other figures extension portion  80  is generally flat and with reference to FIG. 2 is readily aligned at a 90° angle to the longitudinal axis of the mast  24  which is clamped against body portion  32 . The present invention thereby provides improved protection against splitting the bottom end of the fiberglass rib comprising mast  24 . Assuming the bottom end of mast  24  is trimmed at a right angle to the mast longitudinal axis substantially all of the free end of the mast engages extension  80  at the moment of contact. 
     Referring to FIG. 19, mast  24  can be replaced by a metallic flat bar or more preferably, can comprise rigid, hollow metallic tubing  224  of the type employed for the base  32  of mast coupler assembly  30  (see FIG.  2 ). Engagement between the bottom of rigid metallic tubing  224  and the clevis are as described above with reference to FIG.  2 . Preferably, the spring mounting adapter  70  with a socket defined by surface  58  and protrusions  82 ,  84  is employed to provide angular locking with the clevis, to provide a defined rotational or angular orientation between the mast (and hence the message panel) and the lower portion of the sign stand assembly. As shown in FIG. 19 a cross coupler  218  joins the upper end of mast  224  to panel supports  216 . 
     Referring now to FIGS. 5-12 and initially to FIG. 10, the spring mounting adapter preferably comprises a casting having a hollow bottom portion disposed beneath the solid keyed portion  78 . Threaded portion  88  may be formed directly in the casting or may comprise an insert of steel or other material. Cavities  102  (see FIG. 10) extend from the bottom of the spring mounting adapter upwardly to surround the threaded portion, and to thin out or reduce the mass of the outer wall of the casting. 
     As can be seen in FIGS. 9-12, spring mounting adapter  70  includes an outer wall with a helical cavity defining threads  104 . As can be seen in FIGS. 5 and 11, for example, the threads  104  are broken by flat surface portions  108 . As indicated in FIG. 12, it is generally preferred that the coils of spring  64  are fully seated or at least substantially seated in the root depressions formed between teeth  104 . With reference to FIG. 11, it is generally preferred that the threaded outer wall of the spring mounting adapter be tapered with an angle a ranging between 4 and 5°. The spring mounting adapters are screwed or threaded into the open ends of coil springs  64 . Preferably, with reference to FIG. 12, the coils engaged with the spring mounting adapter are progressively opened or enlarged in diameter such that the resulting frictional engagement effectively prevents unintentional “back-out” of the spring mounting adapter. 
     Turning now to FIGS. 16-18, in an alternative embodiment, the lower spring mounting adapter  70  is replaced by a spring mounting adapter  120  having a smooth surface  122 . The leg mount  52  of the preceding embodiment is replaced with a leg mount  126  having a saddle or center portion  128  disposed at the top of side plates  130 . Hence, the recess illustrated in FIG. 15 is lacking in the leg mount  126  which has a flush or generally planar upper surface (see FIG.  17 ). As with the preceding embodiment, a threaded fastener  46  is inserted through an aperture  134  so as to engage the internal threaded bore  136  of spring mounting adapter  120 . When assembled, the smooth surface  122  is allowed free rotational movement about the upper surface of spring mounting adapter  126 . This allows the ready angular or rotational positioning of the upper spring mounting adapter as desired. A hole  138  is formed in the spring mounting adapter  126  preferably at the time of manufacture. When the desired rotational alignment of the upper spring mounting adapter is attained, a reference mark is made in the surface  122  and a hole is drilled to allow fitting of a pin  142 . Upon reassembly, the pin  142  is inserted in hole  138  to lock the members  120 ,  126  in desired rotational alignment. Other assembly options are possible. For example, a hole  143  formed in surface  122  of mounting adapter  120  is formed according to a reference mark relating to the predefined positioning of pin  142  received in hole  138  of the spring mounting adaptor. As a further option, pin  142  can be struck from the center portion  128  of the spring mounting adapter so as to protrude beyond its upper surface. The struck-out pin is then received in hole  143  formed in spring mounting adapter  120 . 
     The drawings and the foregoing descriptions are not intended to represent the only forms of the invention in regard to the details of its construction and manner of operation. Changes in form and in the proportion of parts, as well as the substitution of equivalents, are contemplated as circumstances may suggest or render expedient; and although specific terms have been employed, they are intended in a generic and descriptive sense only and not for the purposes of limitation, the scope of the invention being delineated by the following claims.

Technology Classification (CPC): 4