PRE-FILLED ADHESIVE PAVEMENT MARKERS

Abstract

A method, comprising: providing a pre-filled adhesive pavement marker having a body with downwardly facing openings that are pre-filled with an adhesive; providing an adhesive pad of the adhesive on a surface of a pavement; attaching the pre-filled adhesive pavement marker to the adhesive pad to thereby adhere the pre-filled pavement marker to the surface of the pavement.

Claims

1. A method, comprising: providing a pre-filled adhesive pavement marker having a body with downwardly facing openings that are pre-filled with an adhesive; providing an adhesive pad of the adhesive on a surface of a pavement; attaching the pre-filled adhesive pavement marker to the adhesive pad to thereby adhere the pre-filled pavement marker to the surface of the pavement.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the adhesive used to the pre-fill the pre-filled adhesive pavement marker and the adhesive used in the adhesive pad comprises the same adhesive so that like-for-like adhesion is provided between the pre-filled adhesive pavement marker and the surface of the pavement.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the adhesive comprises bitumen or epoxy.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein, when the adhesive comprises bitumen, the adhesive pad is heated before attachment of the pre-filled adhesive pavement marker.

5. The method of claim 3, wherein, when the adhesive is bitumen, the bitumen used to pre-fill the pre-filled adhesive pavement marker comprises a low softening point bitumen, and the bitumen used in the adhesive pad comprises a high softening point bitumen.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the pre-filled adhesive pavement marker is be pre-filled with the low softening point bitumen heated to a temperature between around 250 C. and around 270 C.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the temperature is around 260 C.

8. The method of claim 5, wherein the adhesive pad comprises the high softening point bitumen heated to a temperature between around 210 C. and around 220 C.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the temperature is around 215 C.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the pre-filled adhesive pavement marker comprises any one of a raised pavement marking, a raised reflective pavement marking, and a road stud.

11. A pre-filled adhesive pavement marker having a body with downwardly facing openings that are pre-filled with an adhesive.

12. The pre-filled adhesive pavement marker of claim 11, wherein the adhesive comprises bitumen or epoxy.

13. The pre-filled adhesive pavement marker of claim 11, wherein the downwardly facing openings have a depth no greater than so as to allow the downwardly facing openings to completely pre-fill with the adhesive before the pre-filled adhesive pavement marker is adhered to a surface of a pavement.

14. The pre-filled adhesive pavement marker of claim 11, wherein the downwardly facing openings are defined by downwardly projecting ribs formed inside the body.

15. The pre-filled adhesive pavement marker of claim 14, wherein the downwardly projecting ribs are formed in any one of a cross-hatch pattern, a mesh pattern, and a waffle pattern.

16. The pre-filled adhesive pavement marker of claim 14, wherein the body comprises downwardly projecting peripheral portions, and wherein the downwardly projecting ribs project downwardly between the downwardly projecting peripheral portions.

17. The pre-filled adhesive pavement marker of claim 16, wherein the downwardly projecting ribs have a depth less than the depth of the downwardly projecting peripheral portions.

18. The pre-filled adhesive pavement marker of claim 11, wherein the body and the downwardly facing openings are formed as a moulding of a resilient plastics material.

19. The pre-filled adhesive pavement marker of claim 18, wherein the downwardly facing openings are pre-filled with the adhesive after moulding and before the pre-filled adhesive pavement marker is adhered to an adhesive pad on a surface of a pavement.

20. A surface of a pavement comprising a pavement marker adhered thereto by the method of claim 1.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

[0031] Embodiments of the invention will now be described by way of example only with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

[0032] FIG. 1 is a schematic flow diagram of a method of adhering a pre-filled adhesive pavement marker to a surface of a pavement or roadway according to an embodiment of the present invention;

[0033] FIG. 2 is a photographic bottom view of a pre-filled adhesive pavement marker according to an embodiment of the present invention showing the open cavities that will be filled with bitumen adhesive prior to installation;

[0034] FIGS. 3 and 4 are photographic cross-sectional views of the pre-filled adhesive pavement marker; FIG. 5 is a photograph of pre-filled adhesive pavement markers adhered to a roadway surface;

[0035] FIG. 6 is a photograph of a hydraulic ram used to separate the pre-filled adhesive pavement markers and conventional solid, unfilled pavement markers from the roadway surface; and

[0036] FIGS. 7 and 8 are photographs of the pre-filled adhesive pavement markers and conventional pavement markers, respectively, after separation from the roadway surface.

DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

[0037] FIG. 1 is a schematic flow diagram of a method 10 of adhering a pre-filled adhesive pavement marker 20 to a surface 32 of a pavement or roadway 34 according to an embodiment of the present invention. The method 10 starts at step 12 by providing the pre-filled adhesive pavement marker 20 having a body 22 with downwardly facing openings 24 that are pre-filled with an adhesive 26. The pre-filled adhesive pavement marker 20 may comprise any one of a raised pavement marking, a raised reflective pavement marking, and a road stud.

[0038] Next, at step 14, an adhesive pad 28 of the adhesive 26 is provided on a surface 32 of a pavement or roadway 34. The adhesive 26 used to the pre-fill the pre-filled adhesive pavement marker 20 and the adhesive 26 used in the adhesive pad 28 may comprise the same adhesive 26 so that like-for-like adhesion is provided between the pre-filled adhesive pavement marker and the surface of the pavement. The adhesive 26 may, for example, comprise bitumen or epoxy. When the adhesive 26 comprises bitumen, the like-for-like adhesion is provided between the pre-filled adhesive pavement marker and the surface of the pavement may advantageously be at least partially flexible and/or movable in response to varying climatic and impact conditions.

[0039] When the adhesive 26 comprises bitumen 26, the adhesive pad 28 may be heated before attachment of the pre-filled adhesive pavement marker 20. For example, the adhesive pad 28 may, for example, comprise a bitumen block 28 that is melted in a hot melt kettle and poured onto the surface 32, or bitumen sheet 28 that is blowtorched onto the surface 32.

[0040] A bitumen based adhesive is used as an anchoring point to the road surface to produce a flexible connection point that is compatible with the bitumous emulsion in the road. The adhesive bitumen pad is designed to behave in concert with the road and has the flexibility to harden and soften and expand and contract in conjunction with the road surface with climatic variations and changes.

[0041] When the adhesive 26 comprises bitumen, the bitumen 26 used to pre-fill the pre-filled adhesive pavement marker 20 may comprise a low softening point bitumen 26a, and the bitumen 26 used in the adhesive pad may comprise a high softening point bitumen 26b. For example, the pre-filled adhesive pavement marker 20 may be pre-filled with the low softening point bitumen 26a heated to a temperature between around 250 C. and around 270 C., for example, around 260 C. The adhesive pad 28 may comprise the high softening point bitumen 26b heated to a temperature between around 210 C. and around 220 C., for example, around 215 C.

[0042] The method 10 ends at step 16 by attaching the pre-filled pavement marker 20 to the adhesive pad 28 to thereby adhere the pre-filled pavement marker 20 to the surface 32 of the pavement or roadway 34.

[0043] Referring to FIGS. 2 to 4, a pre-filled adhesive pavement marker 20 according to one embodiment of the present invention comprises a body 22 with downwardly facing openings 24 that are pre-filled with an adhesive 26. The adhesive 26 may comprise bitumen.

[0044] The downwardly facing openings 24 may have a depth no greater than so as to allow the downwardly facing openings 24 to completely pre-fill with the adhesive 26 before the pre-filled adhesive pavement marker 20 is adhered to the surface 32 of the pavement or roadway 34.

[0045] The downwardly facing openings 24 may be defined by downwardly projecting ribs 36 formed inside the body 22. The downwardly projecting ribs 36 may be formed in any one of a cross-hatch pattern, a mesh pattern, and a waffle pattern.

[0046] The body 22 may comprise downwardly projecting peripheral portions 38, and the downwardly projecting ribs 36 may project downwardly between the downwardly projecting peripheral portions 38. The downwardly projecting ribs 36 may have a depth less than the depth of the downwardly projecting peripheral portions 38. The downwardly projecting peripheral portions 38 may define a generally rectangular recess. The adhesive 26 may pre-fill the generally rectangular recess up to and including the corners of generally rectangular recess to form a pre-filled base pad of the adhesive below the pre-filled downwardly facing openings 24. Semi-circular and linear grooves 40 may be formed in the downwardly projecting peripheral portions 38 to provide locating surfaces for the adhesive pad 28.

[0047] The body 22 and the downwardly facing openings 24 may be formed as a moulding of a resilient plastics material. The downwardly facing openings 24 may be pre-filled with the adhesive 26 after moulding and before the pre-filled adhesive pavement marker 20 is adhered to the surface 32 of the pavement or roadway 34.

[0048] The invention will now be described in more detail, by way of illustration only, with respect to the following example. The example is intended to serve to illustrate this invention, and should not be construed as limiting the generality of the disclosure of the description throughout this specification.

EXAMPLE

[0049] FIG. 5 illustrates pre-filled adhesive pavement markers adhered to a surface of a roadway according to the method described above in paragraphs [0026] to [0030] above with bitumen used as the common adhesive. Conventional pavement markers (not shown) with a solid base without any adhesive pre-filling were also adhered to the same roadway surface with epoxy as the adhesive.

[0050] Both the pre-filled adhesive pavement markers and the conventional solid, unfilled pavement markers were subjected to lateral shear forces from a hydraulic ram fitted with a flat plate and 20 mm chisel edge, as illustrated in FIG. 6. The lateral shear forces were applied until the pre-filled adhesive pavement markers and the conventional pavement markers separated from the roadway surface. The preparation parameters, installation parameters, and lateral forces in pounds per square inch (psi) required to separate the pre-filled adhesive pavement markers and the conventional unfilled pavement markers are set out below in Table 1 and 2 respectively.

TABLE-US-00001 TABLE 1 Adhesive Filled RRPM's (new model) RRPM to Road separation shear force test results Preparation Result Parameters Installation Parameters Shear Force Bitumen Road Ambient Bitumen Required to RRPM Adhesive Fill Temp Temp Adhesive Separate Ref# Temp ( C.) ( C.) ( C.) Temp ( C.) (PSI) 1 220.0 11.0 13.0 218.00 1320 2 225.0 11.5 13.0 218.00 1650 3 221.0 11.5 13.0 218.00 1080 4 226.0 11.5 13.0 220.00 1140 5 228.0 11.0 13.0 220.00 1050 6 230.0 11.0 13.0 220.00 1200 7 230.0 11.0 13.0 220.00 1110 8 235.0 11.0 13.0 215.00 1180 9 235.0 11.0 13.0 205.00 1400 10 238.0 11.0 13.0 220.00 1350 11 240.0 11.0 13.0 220.00 1480 12 242.0 10.5 12.0 220.00 1250 13 245.0 10.0 12.0 220.00 1350 14 250.0 10.0 12.0 220.00 1180 15 253.0 10.0 12.0 218.00 1230 16 258.0 10.0 12.0 218.00 1180 17 262.0 9.5 11.0 205.00 1050 18 273.0 9.5 11.0 218.00 950 19 275.0 9.5 11.0 218.00 1020 20 280.0 9.5 11.0 220.00 1250 1221 Avg

TABLE-US-00002 TABLE 2 Unfilled/Hard Base RRPM's (old model) RRPM to Road separation shear force test results Installation Parameters Result Bitumen Shear Force RRPM Road Ambient Adhesive Required to Ref# Temp ( C.) Temp ( C.) Temp ( C.) Separate (PSI) 21 9.5 11.0 220.00 440 22 9.5 11.0 220.00 455 23 9.5 11.0 220.00 420 24 9.0 11.0 220.00 450 25 9.0 11.0 218.00 460 26 9.0 11.0 218.00 430 27 9.0 11.0 218.00 450 28 9.0 11.0 218.00 440 29 9.0 11.0 217.00 475 30 9.0 11.0 217.00 430 31 9.0 11.0 216.00 455 32 9.0 11.0 216.00 465 33 9.0 11.0 217.00 440 34 9.0 11.0 219.00 470 35 9.0 10.0 219.00 450 36 9.0 10.0 219.00 470 37 9.0 10.0 220.00 440 38 9.0 10.0 220.00 460 39 8.0 10.0 220.00 460 40 8.0 10.0 219.00 445 450 Avg

[0051] The average lateral shear force required to separate the pre-filled adhesive pavement markers from the roadway surface was 1221 psi, whereas the average force required to separate the conventional pavement markers from the same roadway surface was 450 psi. The conventional pavement markers therefore have only 37.7% of the like-for-like adhesion of the pre-filled adhesive pavement markers of the present invention. This is visually indicated in FIGS. 7 and 8 by photographs of the pre-filled adhesive pavement markers and conventional pavement markers, respectively, after separation from the roadway surface.

[0052] Embodiments of the present invention provide pre-filled adhesive pavement markers and related methods that are useful for adhering pavement markers to pavement or roadway surfaces.

[0053] For the purpose of this specification, the word comprising means including but not limited to, and the word comprises has a corresponding meaning.

[0054] The above embodiments have been described by way of example only and modifications are possible within the scope of the claims that follow.