CABLE SAFETY FENCE WITH NOISE ABSORBING PANEL

Abstract

A cable road safety fence for installation at a lateral or median side of a road has a series of spaced apart upright posts, and a plurality of tensioned cables provided at different levels on and supported by said posts. At least one noise absorbing panel is mounted onto the cables with at least two mounting points, said points being at different levels.

Claims

1. A cable road safety fence for installation at a lateral or median side of a road, comprising: a series of spaced apart upright posts, and a plurality of tensioned cables provided at different levels on and supported by said posts; at least one noise absorbing panel mounted onto the cables with at least two mounting points, said mounting points being at different levels.

2. The cable safety fence according to claim 1, wherein said noise absorbing panel comprises a noise absorbing material which is encased in an energy absorbing material provided with openings.

3. The cable safety fence according to claim 2, wherein the noise absorbing material is a mineral wool fibre material preferably provided as a board, foam material, integrated or partial rubber material, integrated or partial plastic material, or other noise absorbing material resistant in regard to weather conditions and wear effects next to traffic ways.

4. The cable safety fence according to claim 2, wherein said energy absorbing material provided with openings comprises a mesh, a grid or a perforated material.

5. The cable safety fence according to claim 2, wherein the energy absorbing material is a stretch-metal netting encasing said noise absorbing material.

6. The cable safety fence according to claim 5, wherein the stretch-metal is a ductile metal capable of absorbing energy while being plastically deformed, preferably being galvanised steel.

7. The cable safety fence according to claim 2, wherein the energy absorbing material is a perforated metal sheet, a plastic netting or the like and/or a combination thereof, encasing said noise absorbing material.

8. The cable safety fence according to claim 2, wherein the encasing is a panel which encloses at least the main sides and the top side of the noise absorbing material.

9. The cable safety fence according to claim 2, wherein the encasing is made from stretch-metal netting panel which is bent into the box-like shape around the noise absorbing material board.

10. The cable safety fence according to claim 1, wherein a plurality of noise absorbing panels is provided in succession wherein neighbouring noise absorbing panels are abutting each other.

11. The cable safety fence according to claim 10, wherein the abutting neighbouring noise absorbing panels are secured to each other.

12. The cable safety fence according to claim 1, wherein the mounting points between the noise absorbing panel(s) and the cables are laterally off-set from mounting points between the cables and the upright posts.

13. The cable safety fence according to claim 1, wherein the at least one noise absorbing panel comprises a first mineral wool fibre board and a second mineral wool fibre board each having an interior surface and an exterior surface such that the interior surfaces of said first and second boards abut each other and said boards are secured at the at least two cables.

14. The cable safety fence according to claim 13, wherein each of the first mineral wool fibre board and second mineral wool board is secured independently to the cable.

15. The cable safety fence according to claim 13, wherein said boards are secured to each other around the at least two of the plurality of cables.

16. The cable safety fence according to claim 13, wherein the first mineral wool fibre board and/or the second mineral wool fibre board is/are provided with grooves for receiving and accommodating the cables.

17. The cable safety fence according to claim 13, wherein the first mineral wool fibre board and the second mineral wool fibre board are secured to each other by adhesion and/or bolted together, such as using through-going tension bolts.

18. The cable safety fence according to claim 13, wherein the exterior surfaces of the first mineral wool fibre board and the second mineral wool fibre board are provided with a protective exterior energy absorbing cover, such as a perforated metal panel, a stretch-metal panel or the like.

19. The cable safety fence according to claim 1, wherein the at least one noise absorbing panel is provided as a material surrounding at least two of the plurality of cables enclosing said cables, and preferably provided with a protective outer energy absorbing cover.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0026] In the following the invention is described in more detail with reference to the drawings, in which:

[0027] FIG. 1 is a schematic perspective view of a cable road safety fence according to an embodiment of the invention;

[0028] FIG. 2 is a schematic side view of same;

[0029] FIGS. 3 and 4 are two schematic side views of different embodiments of a cable road safety fence according to an embodiment of the invention;

[0030] FIG. 5 is a schematic top view of a cable road safety fence according to an embodiment of the invention;

[0031] FIGS. 6 to 8 are schematic side views of three embodiments according to a second series of embodiments, and

[0032] FIG. 9 is a schematic side view of a further embodiment of a cable road safety fence according to the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0033] With reference to FIGS. 1 to 5, a cable road safety fence according to an embodiment of the invention is shown, which is installed at a lateral or median side of a road 10. The cable safety fence comprises a series of spaced apart upright posts 1 with a plurality of tensioned cables 2 provided at different levels on and supported by said posts 1. On the side facing away from the road 10, a number of noise absorbing panels 3 are mounted onto the cables 2 with mounting points 4 at different levels, such that each noise absorbing panel 3 is mounted to at least two cables 2. The mounting points 4 may be such that the noise absorbing panels 3 are loosely mounted to the cables 2.

[0034] In FIGS. 2, 3 and 4 different configurations of the positioning of the cables 2 on the posts 1 are shown. These figures illustrate that the cables 2 may all be on the road facing side of the safety fence or only some of the cables are on the road facing side. Although the illustrated embodiments show three cables 2 and that the noise absorbing panel 3 is mounted to all three cables, it is realised by the invention that it may suffice to mount the noise absorbing panels to two of the cables 2, and that the number of cables may be chosen under the circumstances when designing the cable road safety fence.

[0035] As shown in FIGS. 1 and 5, the mounting points 4 between the noise absorbing panels 3 and the cables 2 are laterally off-set along the cable direction from the cable mounting points 5 between the cables 2 and the upright posts 1.

[0036] Each noise absorbing panel 3 comprises a noise absorbing material which is encased in an energy absorbing material provided with openings. The noise absorbing material is a mineral wool fibre material preferably provided as a board, in particular a stone wool fibre board, foam material, integrated or partial rubber material, integrated or partial plastic material, or other noise absorbing material resistant in regard to weather conditions and wear effects next to traffic ways.

[0037] The energy absorbing material provided with openings comprises a mesh, a grid or a perforated material. In a preferred embodiment, the energy absorbing material is a stretch-metal netting encasing said noise absorbing material. This is advantageous as the stretch-metal is a ductile metal capable of absorbing energy while being plastically deformed, preferably being galvanised steel. Alternatively or in addition to the stretch-metal, the energy absorbing material may be a perforated metal sheet, a plastic netting or the like and/or a combination thereof, encasing said noise absorbing material. The encasing is preferably provided as a panel which encloses at least the main sides and the top side of the noise absorbing material.

[0038] As shown in FIGS. 1 and 5, the noise absorbing panels 3 are provided in succession along the cables 2 of the safety road fence such the neighbouring noise absorbing panels are abutting each other. In a preferred embodiment, the abutting neighbouring noise absorbing panels 3 are secured to each other by suitable connecting elements 6. This ensures that the noise absorbing panels 3 cooperate in absorbing the energy of a vehicle colliding with the road safety fence as the energy can be transferred from one noise absorbing panel to the next.

[0039] Whileas shown in the FIGS. 1 to 5the noise absorbing panels 3 are provided as prefabricated panels and then mounted to the cables 2, it is realised by the invention that the noise absorbing panels 3 may also be provided as shown in the FIGS. 6 to 9 showing a second series of embodiments of the invention.

[0040] According to the embodiments of FIGS. 6 to 8, the noise absorbing panel 3 comprises a first mineral wool fibre board 31 and a second mineral wool fibre board 32 each having an interior surface and an exterior surface such that the interior surfaces of said first and second boards 31, 32 are abutting each other. The boards 31, 32 are then secured to each other around at least two cables 2, preferably all the cables 2. Accordingly, the first mineral wool fibre board 31 and the second mineral wool fibre board 32 may be secured to each other by adhesion as indicated in FIG. 6 and/or bolted together, such as using through-going tension bolts as indicated in FIG. 7. As a supplement or an alternative to this, the boards 31, 32 may also be secured to each other around the cables 2 by mounting elements 41, as indicated in the FIGS. 6 and 7.

[0041] As indicated in FIG. 6, the first mineral wool fibre board 31 and second mineral wool board 32 may also be secured independently to the cable 2 by mounting elements 42.

[0042] As indicated in FIG. 8, both the boards 31, 32 may also be secured to the cables 2 independently, where the first board 31 is secured to the cables 2 by mounting elements 41 and the second board 32 is secured to the cables 2 by the mounting elements 41a.

[0043] In order to facilitate a tight fit, the first mineral wool fibre board 31 and/or the second mineral wool fibre board 32 is/are provided with grooves thereby providing channels for receiving and accommodating the cables 2. This can ensure a relatively loose mounting of the noise absorbing panels around the cables whilst also providing a protective encasing of the cables from being exposed to the environment.

[0044] As shown in the FIGS. 6 to 8, the exterior surfaces of the first mineral wool fibre board 31 and the second mineral wool fibre board 32 are provided with a protective exterior energy absorbing cover 33. The cover 33 may be a perforated metal panel, a stretch-metal panel or the like. The covers 33 may be pre-applied to the mineral boards 31, 32, e.g. by adhesive. The covers may also be provided as separate sheets mounted to the mineral wool fibre boards 31, 32 when these are mounted around the cables. To protect the top of the noise absorbing panel a top cover 34 may also be provided. This top cover 34 may be made from a metal sheet material or a polymeric sheet material. The cover is preferably mounted to the protective side covers 33.

[0045] Lining bars 21 preferably of an elastic material, such as plastic, may be provided on the road facing surface of the noise absorbing panel as shown in FIG. 6. The lining bars 21 are preferably provided substantially parallel with the cables and extend in the direction of the road safety fence.

[0046] In FIG. 9 there is illustrated an embodiment, wherein the noise absorbing panel is provided as a mineral wool fibre material surrounding the cables 2 enclosing the cables 2, and preferably provided with a protective outer energy absorbing covers 33 on each side. In this embodiment, the noise absorbing panel may be moulded or otherwise formed on site around the cables 2 by moulding or otherwise forming a mineral wool fibre mixture, a foam material or other kinds of suitable materials. Hereby, the noise absorbing panel can be provided as a continuous body, such as a non-divided body extending in the cable direction.

[0047] Above the invention is described with reference to some currently preferred embodiment. However, it is realised that variants may be provided without departing from the scope of the invention as defined in the accompanying claims.