Portable Speed Bump Assembly

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The disclosure relates to speed bump devices and more particularly pertains to a new speed bump device for temporarily deploying a speed bump on a roadway. The device includes a dolly and a spool that is removably attached to the dolly. The device includes a speed bump unit that is wrapped around the spool which can be deployed across a roadway for slowing traffic on the roadway. The device includes a drive unit integrated into the dolly which rotates the spool in a first direction or a second direction for either playing the speed bump unit off of the spool or wrapping the speed bump unit around the spool.

The prior art relates to speed bump devices including a variety of portable speed bump devices that each at least includes a chain of hinged sections which can be laid across a roadway and a motorized speed bump device for automatically deploying or storing a speed bump on a roadway which is recessed into the roadway. In no instance does the prior art disclose a dolly and a spool attached to the dolly and a drive unit for rotating the spool and a speed bump unit that is wrapped around the spool which can be deployed across a roadway.

An embodiment of the disclosure meets the needs presented above by generally comprising a dolly and a spool that is rotatably attached to the dolly. A speed bump unit is rolled around the spool and the speed bump unit is played outwardly from the spool when the spool is rotated in a second direction to laid the speed bump unit across a roadway. The speed bump unit compels traffic on the roadway to slow down while driving over the speed bump unit thereby reducing the average speed of the traffic. The speed bump unit is rolled around the spool when the spool is rotated in the first direction for storing the speed bump unit. A drive unit is attached to the dolly and the drive unit is in mechanical communication with the spool for rotating the spool in either the first direction or the second direction.

There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, the more important features of the disclosure in order that the detailed description thereof that follows may be better understood, and in order that the present contribution to the art may be better appreciated. There are additional features of the disclosure that will be described hereinafter and which will form the subject matter of the claims appended hereto.

The objects of the disclosure, along with the various features of novelty which characterize the disclosure, are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this disclosure.

With reference now to the drawings, and in particular tothereof, a new speed bump device embodying the principles and concepts of an embodiment of the disclosure and generally designated by the reference numeralwill be described.

As best illustrated in, the portable speed bump assemblygenerally comprises a dollythat has a spoolwhich is rotatably attached to the dollyand the spoolis rotatable in a first direction or a second direction. The dollyincludes a push handleand a pair of rollerswhich can be rolled along a support surfacefor transporting the dolly. The dollyincludes a framewhich comprises a pair of end memberseach extending between and being perpendicularly oriented with a pair of outward memberssuch that the framedefines a rectangular shape. The pair of end membersincludes a front memberand a rear memberand the front memberhas a front surfacewhich curves forwardly between a top edgeof the front memberand a bottom surfaceof the front member. Additionally, the bottom surfaceis spaced downwardly from a bottom surfaceof each of the pair of outward membersand the front memberhas a rear surfacewhich intersects the bottom surfaceof each of the pair of outward members.

Each of the pair of rollersis rotatably attached to an outwardly facing surfaceof a respective one of the pair of outward membersat a point which is aligned with the rear member. Each of the pair of rollersand the bottom surfaceof the front memberrests on the support surfacewhile the dollyis stationary. Conversely, the dollyis tipped such that the bottom surfaceof the front memberis lifted from the support surfacewhen the dollyis being rolled along the support surface. The push handlehas a central memberextending between and being perpendicularly oriented with a pair of uprights. A cushionis positioned around the central memberand the cushionis comprised of a resiliently compressible material, including but not being limited to rubber or silicone, for enhancing comfort when gripping the central member.

A distal endof each of the pair of uprightsis attached to a top surfaceof a respective one of the pair of outward membersof the frameat a point located adjacent to the rear memberof the frame. Each of the uprightsis oriented to angle rearwardly away from the framesuch that the central membercan be gripped for rolling the dolly. The frameincludes a support panelextending upwardly from the top surfaceof a respective one of the pair of outward membersof the frame. The support panelhas an upper endwhich is rounded and a first lateral surfaceand a second lateral surface.

A speed bump unitprovided and the speed bump unitis rolled around the spool. The speed bump unitis played outwardly from the spoolwhen the spoolis rotated in the second direction such that the speed bump unitcan be laid across a roadway. The roadwaymay be a city road, a country road, a highway or any other type of paved public roadway. The speed bump unithas an exposed surfacewhich is rounded such that the speed bump unitdefined a Quonset shape when the speed bump unitis deployed. In this way the speed bump unitcan compel trafficon the roadwayto slow down while driving over the speed bump unitthereby reducing the average speed of the traffic. Additionally, the speed bump unitis rolled around the spoolwhen the spoolis rotated in the first direction for storing the speed bump unit.

The speed bump unitcomprises a stripwhich has a first end, a second endand a top surfaceextending between the first endand the second end. The stripis elongated between the first endand the second endto a length of at least 7.3 meters thereby facilitating the stripto be extended across the full width of a typical two lane public roadway. The striphas a holeextending through the top surfaceand a bottom surfaceof the stripand the holeis located adjacent to the first end. Additionally, the stripis comprised of a resilient and flexible material, including but not being limited to poly-para-phenylene terephthalamide or carbon fiber, such that the stripcan resist being damaged by repeated contact with the surface of the roadway.

The speed bump unitincludes a plurality of humpswhich each has a front surface, a back surface, a bottom surfaceand a top surfaceand the bottom surfaceof each of the plurality of humpsis attached to the top surfaceof the strip. In this way each of the plurality of humpsis exposed when the stripis rolled off of the spooland positioned to extend across the roadway. The humpsare evenly spaced apart from each other and are distributed between the holeand the second endof the striphaving the front surfaceand the back surfaceof each of the plurality of humpsbeing spaced apart from an adjacent hump. The top surfaceof each of the humpscurves upwardly from the bottom surfaceof the humpssuch that each of the plurality of humpshas a Quonset shape.

The speed bump unitincludes a plurality of reflectorsand each of the reflectorsis attached to the top surfaceof a respective one of the plurality of humps. In this way each of the plurality of reflectorsis exposed when the stripis rolled off of the spooland positioned to extend across the roadway. Each of the plurality of reflectorsis comprised of a light reflecting material to reflect light from headlights of the trafficthereby enhancing visibility of the plurality of humpsduring darkened hours. The plurality of reflectorsincludes a set of first reflectorsand a set of second reflectors. Each of the first reflectorsis aligned with a first lateral sideof the respective humpand each the second reflectorsis aligned with a second lateral sideof the respective hump.

The spoolhas a central hubwhich extends between a pair of wheelsand the spoolhas a shaft openingwhich extends through each of the wheelsand the central hub. The shaft openinghas a bounding surfaceand the bounding surfacehas a keywayextending between each of the pair of wheels. The spoolhas a prominenceextending outwardly from an outside surfaceof the central huband the prominenceis elongated to extend substantially between the pair of wheels. Furthermore, the prominenceextends through the holein the stripwhen the stripis initially attached to the spoolthereby facilitating the stripto be wrapped around the central hubwhen the spoolis rotated in the first direction.

A drive unitis provided and the drive unitis attached to the dolly. The drive unitis in mechanical communication with the spoolfor rotating the spoolin either the first direction or the second direction. The drive unitcomprises a motorthat is attached to the second lateral surfaceof the support panelat a point which is located closer to the upper endof the support panelthan the frame. Additionally, the motoris actuatable to rotate in a first direction or a second direction and the motormay comprise a two direction electric motor or the like.

The drive unitincludes a drive shaftthat is coupled to the motorand extends through the panel having the drive shaftextending beyond the first lateral surfaceof the support panelsuch that the drive shaftis perpendicularly oriented with the first lateral surface. The drive shafthas an outer surfaceand a distal endwith respect to the first lateral surfaceof the support panel. Additionally, the drive shafthas a keywhich is disposed on the outer surfaceand the keyextends from the first lateral surfaceof the support paneltoward the distal endof the drive shaft. The drive shaftis rotated in either a first direction or a second direction depending upon the directional rotation of the motor. Additionally, the drive shaftextends through the shaft openingin the spoolhaving the keyextending through the keywayin the bounding surfaceof the shaft openingthereby securing the spoolon the drive shaft.

The drive unitincludes a lockthat is movably integrated into the outer surfaceof the drive shaft. The lockis positioned between the keyand the distal endof the drive shaft. The lockis biased to extend away from the outer surfaceand the lockis urgeable to recess into the outer surface. The lockmay comprise a ball and a biasing member which biases the ball to extend outwardly from the outer surfaceof the drive shaft. The drive unitincludes a capwhich is attachable to the distal endof the drive shaftwhen the drive shaftis extended through the shaft openingin the spool. The capabuts a respective one of the pair of wheelsof the spoolthereby retaining the spoolon the drive shaft. Additionally, the caphas a holewhich insertably receives the lockwhen the capis seated on the drive shaftfor securing the capto the drive shaft.

The drive unitincludes an extend buttonthat is movably integrated into the support paneland the extend buttonis electrically coupled to the motor. The motoris actuated to rotate in the second direction when the extend buttonis depressed. The drive unitincludes a retract buttonthat is movably integrated into the support paneland the retract buttonis electrically coupled to the motor. The motoris actuated to rotate in the first direction when the retract buttonis depressed.

The drive unitincludes a power supplythat is integrated into the support paneland the power supplyis electrically coupled to the motor. The power supplycomprises a rechargeable batterythat is integrated into the support paneland the rechargeable batteryis electrically coupled to the motor. The power supplyincludes a charge portwhich is recessed into the support panelto insertably receive a charge cord. Additionally, the charge portis electrically coupled to the rechargeable batteryfor charging the rechargeable battery. The charge portmay comprise a micro universal serial bus port or other similar type of charge port. In an alternative embodimentas is shown in, the drive unitmay comprise a hand crankthat is rotatably integrated into the support panelfor manually rotating the drive shaft.

In use, the spoolis slid onto the drive shaftand the capis attached to the drive shaftto retain the spoolon the drive shaft. The dollyis transported to a location on a roadwaythat requires a temporary speed bump for traffic control, such as road construction site for example. The extend buttonis depressed to rotate the spoolin the first direction to unroll the speed bump unitfrom the spoolthereby facilitating the speed bump unitto be extended across the roadway. In this way trafficon the roadwayis compelled to slow down to drive over the speed bump unitthereby reducing the average speed of the traffic. The holein the stripis aligned with the prominenceon the central hubof the spooland the retract buttonis depressed to rotate the spoolin the second direction. In this way the speed bump unitis wrapped around the spoolfor subsequent transportation and storage. As is most clearly shown in, a plurality of the spoolsis provided and a plurality of speed bump unitsis each wrapped around a respective spoolto facilitate multiple speed bump unitsto be deployed at various locations.

With respect to the above description then, it is to be realized that the optimum dimensional relationships for the parts of an embodiment enabled by the disclosure, to include variations in size, materials, shape, form, function and manner of operation, assembly and use, are deemed readily apparent and obvious to one skilled in the art, and all equivalent relationships to those illustrated in the drawings and described in the specification are intended to be encompassed by an embodiment of the disclosure.

Therefore, the foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the disclosure. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the disclosure to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the disclosure. In this patent document, the word “comprising” is used in its non-limiting sense to mean that items following the word are included, but items not specifically mentioned are not excluded. A reference to an element by the indefinite article “a” does not exclude the possibility that more than one of the element is present, unless the context clearly requires that there be only one of the elements.