Road safety marker assembly

Abstract

A road safety marker assembly having a road safety marker and a drive wheel supporting at least a portion of the road safety marker above a road surface to permit movement of the road safety marker assembly relative to the road surface. A motor is drivingly connected to the drive wheel for driving the drive wheel to self-propel the assembly relative to the road surface. In one embodiment, the road safety marker assembly includes a receiver for receiving a control signal. The motor is electrically connected to the receiver and is responsive to the signal to drive rotation of the drive wheel to move the assembly relative to the road surface.

What is claimed is:  
     
         1 . A road safety marker assembly comprising: 
 a road safety marker;    a drive wheel supporting at least a portion of the road safety marker above a road surface to permit movement of the road safety marker assembly relative to the road surface; and    a motor drivingly connected to the drive wheel for driving said drive wheel to self-propel the assembly relative to the road surface.    
     
     
         2 . A road safety marker assembly as set forth in  claim 1  comprising at least three wheels arranged relative to each other to support the entire road safety marker above the road surface, the drive wheel constituting one of said at least three wheels.  
     
     
         3 . A road safety marker assembly as set forth in  claim 2  wherein the drive wheel is a first drive wheel constituting one of said at least three wheels, the motor being a first motor drivingly connected to the first drive wheel, the road safety marker assembly further comprising a second drive wheel constituting a second one of said at least three wheels, the second drive wheel being spaced from said first drive wheel.  
     
     
         4 . A road safety marker assembly as set forth in  claim 3  wherein the second drive wheel is free from any connection with the first motor, the assembly further comprising a second motor drivingly connected to the second drive wheel for driving said second drive wheel independently of the first motor driving the first drive wheel.  
     
     
         5 . A road safety marker assembly as set forth in  claim 3  wherein the assembly comprises exactly three wheels, the third one of said three wheels being a caster, the first drive wheel and the second drive wheel being generally coaxial on a common rotation axis, the caster being spaced from the rotation axis of the first and second drive wheels whereby said first and second drive wheels and said caster are spaced from each other to generally define a triangular configuration therebetween.  
     
     
         6 . A road safety marker assembly as set forth in  claim 5  wherein the assembly has a weight and a center of gravity, said center of gravity of the assembly being generally within the triangular configuration defined by the first and second drive wheels and the caster.  
     
     
         7 . A road safety marker assembly as set forth in  claim 1  further comprising a base adapted for receiving the road safety marker thereon to support said at least a portion of the road safety marker above the road surface, the drive wheel being mounted on the base.  
     
     
         8 . A road safety marker assembly as set forth in  claim 7  wherein the road safety marker is free of any fixed connection with the base such that the marker may be removed from the base.  
     
     
         9 . A road safety marker assembly as set forth in  claim 8  wherein the road safety marker is free of any releasable connection with the base.  
     
     
         10 . A road safety marker assembly as set forth in  claim 9  wherein the road safety marker is generally barrel-shaped and has an open lower end adapted for seating on the base, the base having a positioning member for positioning the lower end of the road safety marker on the base.  
     
     
         11 . A road safety marker assembly as set forth in  claim 10  wherein the lower end of the road safety marker is generally circular, said base also being generally circular, the positioning member extending up from the base generally radially inward of the periphery of the base whereby the positioning member and the base together define a generally annular shoulder for positioning the lower end of the road safety marker on the base.  
     
     
         12 . A road safety marker assembly as set forth in  claim 1  further comprising a base adapted for receiving the road safety marker thereon to support said at least a portion of the road safety marker above the road surface, the motor being mounted on the base.  
     
     
         13 . A road safety marker assembly as set forth in  claim 1  further comprising a base adapted for receiving the road safety marker thereon to support said at least a portion of the road safety marker above the road surface, the base and the road safety marker together defining an enclosure, the motor being disposed in the enclosure.  
     
     
         14 . A road safety marker assembly as set forth in  claim 13  wherein the road safety marker is generally barrel-shaped and has a side wall, a closed upper end and an open lower end received by the base for seating the road safety marker on the base, said road safety marker having a generally hollow interior whereby the base, the side wall of the road safety marker and the closed upper end of the road safety marker together define said enclosure.  
     
     
         15 . A road safety marker assembly as set forth in  claim 1  further comprising a receiver for receiving a control signal, said motor being electrically connected to the receiver and being responsive to the signal to drive rotation of the drive wheel to move the assembly relative to the road surface.  
     
     
         16 . A road safety marker assembly as set forth in  claim 15  wherein the drive wheel is a first drive wheel constituting one of said at least three wheels and the motor is a first motor drivingly connected to the first drive wheel, said assembly further comprising a second drive wheel constituting a second one of said at least three wheels, the second drive wheel being spaced from said first drive wheel and free of driving connection with the first motor, and a second motor drivingly connected to the second drive wheel for driving said second drive wheel independently of the first motor driving the first drive wheel, said second motor being electrically connected to the receiver and responsive to the control signal for driving the second drive wheel.  
     
     
         17 . A road safety marker assembly as set forth in  claim 15  wherein the control signal is generated remote from the receiver.  
     
     
         18 . A road safety marker assembly as set forth in  claim 17  further comprising a remote pointing device responsive to manual input by an operator and an input circuit for remotely generating the signal in response to the manual input by the operator via the remote pointing device.  
     
     
         19 . A road safety marker assembly as set forth in  claim 1  further comprising a control circuit for selectively controlling movement of the road safety marker relative to the road surface, said motor being responsive to the control circuit to move the assembly relative to the road surface.  
     
     
         20 . A road safety marker assembly as set forth in  claim 19  wherein the control circuit monitors movement of the assembly relative to the road surface.  
     
     
         21 . A road safety marker assembly as set forth in  claim 20  further comprising an encoder associated with the motor for generating an encoded signal representative of a rotary position of the motor, said control circuit receiving and being responsive to the encoder signal for determining the position the assembly.  
     
     
         22 . A road safety marker assembly as set forth in  claim 19  further comprising a receiver for receiving a control signal, said motor being electrically connected to the receiver and being responsive to the signal to move the assembly relative to the road surface.  
     
     
         23 . A road safety marker assembly as set forth in  claim 22  wherein the control signal is a radio frequency (RF) signal and the receiver is a RF receiver.  
     
     
         24 . A road safety marker assembly as set forth in  claim 22  wherein the control circuit is responsive to the control signal received by the receiver for selectively determining movement of the assembly relative to the road surface.  
     
     
         25 . A road safety marker assembly as set forth in  claim 19  wherein the movement of the assembly generally comprises a left and right element, a forward and reverse element, a braking element, and a velocity element.  
     
     
         26 . A road safety marker assembly as set forth in  claim 19  wherein the control circuit transmits information representative of a current orientation, a current position, and a current velocity of the assembly relative to the road surface.  
     
     
         27 . A road safety marker assembly as set forth in  claim 19  further comprising a computer readable medium storing computer executable instructions for controlling the movement of the assembly, said control circuit executing the instructions to control operation of the motor for driving the drive wheel.  
     
     
         28 . A road safety marker assembly as set forth in  claim 27  wherein the computer readable medium stores instructions for determining movement of the assembly according to a predetermined path.  
     
     
         29 . A road safety marker assembly comprising: 
 a road safety marker; and    a base adapted for receiving the road safety marker thereon and having at least three wheels mounted thereon for moving the assembly relative to the road surface, said at least three wheels being arranged relative to each other such that the base supports the entire road safety marker above the road surface.    
     
     
         30 . A road safety marker assembly as set forth in  claim 29  wherein the road safety marker is free of any fixed connection with the base such that the marker may be removed from the base.  
     
     
         31 . A road safety marker assembly as set forth in  claim 30  wherein the road safety marker is free of any releasable connection with the base.  
     
     
         32 . A road safety marker assembly as set forth in  claim 31  wherein the road safety marker has a lower end adapted for seating on the base, the base having a positioning member for positioning the lower end of the marker on the base.  
     
     
         33 . A road safety marker assembly as set forth in  claim 32  wherein the lower end of the road safety marker is generally circular and has a central opening therein, said base also being generally circular, the positioning member extending up from the base generally radially inward of the periphery of the base whereby the positioning member and the base together define a generally annular shoulder for positioning the lower end of the road safety marker on the base with the positioning member received in the central opening of the lower end of the road safety marker.  
     
     
         34 . A road safety marker system comprising: 
 a plurality of road safety marker assemblies, each of said assemblies comprising:    a road safety marker;    a base supporting the road safety marker, said base having a drive wheel supporting the road safety marker assembly to permit movement of the assembly relative to a road surface;    a motor drivingly connected to the drive wheel for driving the wheel to self-propel the road safety marker assembly relative to said road surface; and    a control circuit for selectively controlling movement of the road safety marker assembly relative to the road surface, said motor being responsive to the control circuit to move the assembly relative to the road surface.    
     
     
         35 . A road safety marker system as set forth in  claim 34  wherein the control circuit of each assembly includes a receiver for receiving a control signal, said motor of each assembly being electrically connected to the respective receiver and being responsive to the signal to move the assembly relative to the road surface.  
     
     
         36 . A road safety marker system as set forth in  claim 35  wherein the receiver of each assembly receives the same control signal.  
     
     
         37 . A road safety marker system as set forth in  claim 35  wherein the control circuit of one of the assemblies includes a transmitter for transmitting the control signal to the receiver of at leas t one other assembly.  
     
     
         38 . A road safety marker system as set forth in  claim 34  wherein the control circuit of at least one of the assemblies includes a computer readable medium storing instructions for determining movement of the respective assembly according to a predetermined path.  
     
     
         39 . A road safety marker system as set forth in  claim 38  wherein the control circuit of said at least one of the assemblies includes a computer readable medium storing instructions for determining movement of a plurality of the assemblies according to a predetermined path.  
     
     
         40 . A method of establishing a road construction work zone comprising the steps of: 
 deploying at least one road safety marker assembly on a road surface at a first location remote from a desired location of said at least one road safety marker assembly, said desired location of said at least one road safety marker assembly corresponding to the road safety construction work zone, said road safety marker assembly comprising a road safety marker, a drive wheel supporting at least a portion of the road safety marker above the road surface to permit movement of the road safety marker assembly relative to the road surface, and a motor drivingly connected to the drive wheel for driving said drive wheel to self-propel the assembly relative to the road surface; and    instructing said at least one road safety marker assembly to move under its own power to said desired location of said at least one road safety marker assembly remote from said first location of said at least one road safety marker assembly.    
     
     
         41 . A method as set forth in claim  40  wherein the road safety marker assembly further comprises a receiver for receiving a control signal, said motor being electrically connected to the receiver and being responsive to the signal to drive said drive wheel to self-propel the assembly relative to the road surface, said step of instructing said at least one road safety marker assembly comprising transmitting a signal to the receiver of said at least one road safety marker assembly from a location remote from said at least one road safety marker assembly.