CA2778672C

CA2778672C - Transportable support base

Info

Publication number: CA2778672C
Application number: CA2778672A
Authority: CA
Inventors: Alain Prescott
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2012-05-29
Filing date: 2012-05-29
Publication date: 2018-03-20
Anticipated expiration: 2032-05-29
Also published as: CA2778672A1

Abstract

A transportable support base for supporting a vertical post such as roadway sign support post in a vertical position. The transportable support base has a weighted platform having a flat bottom wall. A through slot extends from a side wall of the platform and terminates in a central region of the platform. At least a flat bottom wall has a high coefficient of friction for frictional adherence to a surface for resisting to lateral and uplifting forces applied thereto. A handle hole is disposed adjacent two opposed sides of the weighted platform and accessible from above or thereunder for manipulating the support base.

Description

TRANSPORTABLE SUPPORT BASE
TECHNICAL FIELD
The present invention relates to a transportable support base of the type typically utilized in road construction for supporting vertical posts to which are secured road signs or other members associated with road security such as barriers, rails, etc.
BACKGROUND ART
A problem that exists with transportable support bases of the above type is that these bases are usually constructed as rectangular bases with a slot extending longitudinally therein and terminating substantially at the center of the support base.
There is provided a through hole which constitutes a handle. In order to transport these weighted platforms which can weigh between 30 and 50 lbs, a worker person must grasp the platform from above the handle hole and hinge the platform outwardly with the arm triceps displaced 90 , or substantially parallel to the ground, to lift it, thus applying the weight of the platform to the triceps arm muscle and the elbow region. During a day, a worker can lift several of these support bases whereby to move them or to remove them from a construction site. Such manipulation causes muscle, bone and even back injury.
Another disadvantage of these transportable support bases is that they are usually improperly stacked particularly during transport where the stack may be subjected to all sorts of disturbances as a transport vehicle travels over rough terrain and they are usually strewn all over the surface area of the box of the vehicle carrying these support bases. Still further, when these support bases are stacked one on top of the other, a user person can only grab the handle of the uppermost support base of the stack as the handle holes of the bases under the top one are not accessible.
SUMMARY OF INVENTION
It is a feature of the present invention to provide a transportable support base.
Another feature of the present invention is to provide a transportable support base wherein, in one embodiment, handle holes are provided on opposed longitudinal sides of the support base to make it easy to lift with one or two arms without having to raise the arm high whereby the load is better distributed along the arm and wherein these bases can be carried with the arms extending downwards.
Another feature of the present invention is to provide, in one embodiment, a transportable support base wherein several bases may be stacked one on top of the other

- 2 -and resist to transverse forces during transportation in a vehicle to prevent disconnection of the stack of support bases during transportation.
Another feature of the present invention is to provide, in one embodiment, a support base having handle holes which may be grasped from under the hole when the bases are stacked one on top of the other whereby two or more of the bases can be lifted at the same time by engaging handle holes of support bases under the top support base of a stack.
Another feature of the present invention is to provide a transportable support base for supporting road signs secured to upright posts provided with foot plates.
According to the above features, from a broad aspect, the present invention provides a transportable support base, comprising: a weighted platform having a bottom wall, the platform having a plurality of interconnected side walls and a through slot extending inwardly from one of the side walls of the platform and terminating in a central region of the platform, at least the bottom wall having a high coefficient of friction for frictional adherence to a surface for resisting to forces applied thereto, and at least one handle hole disposed adjacent a corresponding one of the side walls of the weighted platform for manipulating and transporting the support base.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS
A preferred embodiment of the present invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:
FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the support base of the present invention disposed over the foot plate of a vertical post supporting a roadway sign;
FIG. 2 is a top view of the transportable support base of the present invention;
FIG. 3 is an end view of Figure 2;
FIG. 4 is a side view of Figure 1; and FIG. 5 is a side view showing a stack of transportable support bases illustrating the undercut cavity extending to the handle holes.

- 3 -DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
Referring now to the drawings and more particularly to Figure 1, there is shown generally at 10, in phantom lines, the transportable support base of the present invention for supporting a road sign 11 which is connected to a vertical support post 12 provided with a transverse foot plate 13 at a lower end thereof. The transportable support base 10 is disposed over the foot plate whereby to anchor it on a support surface 14 such as road pavement or any other support surface.
Referring now to Figures 2 to 4, there is shown the construction of the support base 10 of the present invention. As hereinshown, the support base is comprised of a weighted platform 15 constructed of rubber material, or other suitable material, and may weigh between 30 and 50 lbs. The platform is shaped as a rectangular platform having opposed longitudinal side walls 16 and opposed parallel transverse end walls 17 and 17. A through slot 18 extends mid-length of one of the end walls, here end wall 17' and disposed parallel to the opposed side walls 16.
The through slot 18 defines opposed parallel side walls 19 and 19' and a concavely shaped end wall 20. The end wall 20 is disposed substantially at the center of the transportable support base 10. Typically these support bases have a length of about 28 inches and a width of inches with the through slot having a length of about 121/2 inches and a width of 20 approximately 3% inches.
The flat bottom wall 21 has a high co-efficient of friction for frictional adherence to a surface, such as the pavement surface 14 illustrated in Figure 1, whereby to resist the lateral or uplifting forces applied thereto. These forces are usually transferred from road signs which are subjected to wind and transmitted to the bottom plate of the sign disposed under the support base, as shown in Figure 1. A
handle hole 22 is disposed adjacent two opposed sides, herein the longitudinal side walls 16 of the support base and provided for manipulating and transporting the support base by a person inserting his fingers and/or hand through the opposed handle holes 22 whereby to lift the support base upright. In a particular embodiment, the handle hole 22 is disposed along the side wall 16.
As hereinshown there is optionally provided a third handle hole 23 adjacent the end wall 17 in a mid-length region thereof. The handle holes 22 are also disposed at substantially mid-length of the two opposed longitudinal side walls 16 for weight distribution. In a particular embodiment, a cavity is defined in an inner side surface of the handle hole 22, 23 to facilitate a user to grasp the support base 10 from the top wall via the handle hole 22, 23.

As shown in Figures 3 and 4, the handle holes 22 and 23 are all provided with an undercut cavity 22' for the handle holes 22 and 23 for the handle hole 23.
These 40 undercut permits a user person to introduce his fingers therein to grasp the

- 4 -handle hole from thereunder to lift the sign support base. This is particularly useful, as shown in Figure 5, when support bases are stacked one on top of the other.
Otherwise, only the top support base 10' may be lifted and the hand has to be introduced from the top wall 25 of the top support base 10' for grasping one support base at a time. This undercut 22' makes it possible for a worker person to lift two or more of the support bases stacked one on top of the other at the same time.
Referring again to Figures 1 to 4, it can be seen that the flat top wall 25 of the platform 10 has a projecting form 26 or plateau protruding above the top wall and recessed from the outer periphery of the support base. A cavity 27 (see Figure 4) is also provided in the flat bottom wall 21 to receive the projecting form 26 therein in close fit when two of these support bases are stacked one on top of the other to interconnect several stacked support bases to resist to lateral forces whereby to prevent the bases from falling off the stack. The projecting form 26 has a flat top surface 26' which extends parallel to the flat bottom wall 21. The cavity 27 has a depth which is greater than the thickness of the projecting form 26.
Although Figure 1 illustrates the support base as used for supporting a road sign, it may be used for supporting any post which is provided with a flat transverse foot plate or flat arm(s) at a lower end thereof such as to form barriers or a multitude of other temporary structures. The support post 12 has at least a bottom portion thereof dimensioned to be received in the through slot 18 of the support base.
It is within the ambit of the present invention to cover any other obvious modifications of the preferred embodiment as described herein, provided such modifications fall within the scope of the appended claims.

Claims

CLAIMS,

1. A transportable support base, comprising: a weighted platform having a bottom wall and an opposite top wall, the platform having a plurality of interconnected side walls including opposed parallel longitudinal walls and opposed parallel transverse end walls, the platform having a through slot extending from the top wall through the bottom wall and inwardly from one of the side walls of the platform and terminating in a central region of the platform, at least the bottom wall configured to frictionally adhere to a surface for resisting to forces applied thereto, and at least one handle hole disposed adjacent one of the longitudinal walls for manipulating and transporting the support base, the longitudinal walls having a length greater than a length of the transverse end walls.

2. The support base as claimed in claim 1, wherein the weighted platform is constructed of a rubber material.

3. The support base as claimed in claim 1 or 2, wherein the weighted platform is a rectangular platform, the through slot extending from one of the end walls mid-length to the other end wall and disposed parallel to the longitudinal walls.

4. The support base as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein the through slot has opposed parallel inner side walls and a concave end wall.

5. The support base as claimed in claim 3 or 4, wherein the at least one handle hole includes a first handle hole and a second handle hole, the first handle hole being disposed adjacent to one of the longitudinal walls, and the second handle hole being disposed adjacent to the other end wall.

6. The support base as claimed in claim 5, wherein the at least one handle hole includes a third handle hole disposed adjacent to the other longitudinal wall.

7. The support base as claimed in claim 5 or 6, wherein the second handle hole is disposed in a mid-length region between the longitudinal walls.

8. The support base as claimed in claims 6 or 7, wherein at least one of the first and third handle holes is disposed in a mid-length region between the end walls.

9. The support base as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein the platform has an undercut cavity extending inwardly from one of the side walls to the at least one handle hole to permit a user to introduce fingers therein to grasp said handle hole from thereunder to lift the support base.

10. The support base as defined in any one of claims 6 to 8, wherein the platform has an undercut cavity extending inwardly from one of the longitudinal walls to at least the first handle hole.

11. The support base as defined in claim 10, wherein the platform has two undercut cavities, each undercut cavity extending inwardly from one of the longitudinal walls to a corresponding one of the first and third handle holes.

12. The support base as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 11, wherein the weighted platform has a weight of between 30 to 50 lbs.

13. The support base as claimed in claim 3, wherein the rectangular platform has a projecting form protruding above the top wall, and a cavity in the bottom wall to receive the projecting form therein when two of the support bases are stacked one on top of another to interconnect the stacked support base to resist lateral forces.

14. The support base as claimed in claim 13, wherein the projecting form has a flat top surface extending parallel to the bottom wall, the cavity having a depth which is greater than the thickness of the projecting form.

15. The support base as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 14 in combination with a sign support post assembly, the sign support post assembly having a post mounted at a lower end on a flat transverse foot plate, and a sign securable to the post spaced above the foot plate, the post having at least a bottom portion thereof dimensioned to be received in the through slot from an open end thereof at the side wall of the platform with the foot plate disposed under the bottom wall.

16. The support base as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 15, wherein the support base is for supporting a post upright, the post having a flat transverse foot plate at a lower end thereof and an element secured thereto subjected to forces, the support base resisting to lateral and uplifting forces transferred thereto through the post.

17. The support base as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 16, wherein the at least one handle hole is disposed in a mid-length region of two opposed side walls of the weighted platform.

18. The support base as claimed in any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein the at least one handle hole has a cavity extending therethrough to permit a user to introduce fingers into the at least one handle hole from the top wall of the platform to grasp the platform.