Self-Fronting Spring Assembly for a Traffic Delineator

Abstract

A spring assembly for a self-uprighting delineator. The assembly has a rotationally self-aligning cam attached to a delineator post and cooperating with an upper knuckle of the delineator to rotate the post from a misaligned rotational position to a first frontally aligned position. The cam has sloping surfaces which engage and slide along complimentary sloping surfaces on the upper knuckle under compressive forces of a spring which urges the cam and upper knuckle together. When rotational forces are withdrawn, the post will return to the first frontally aligned position

1 . A spring assembly for a self-uprighting delineator, said delineator having a post with a longitudinal axis and upper and lower load cell elements, said load cell elements held in tension together by parallel, spaced apart, wire cables and a main delineator spring, said upper load cell element having an upper knuckle with an upper end and a lower end, said lower end cooperating with said lower load cell element to horizontally align said delineator when said post is moved from a first upright position to a second horizontally misaligned position, said spring assembly comprising:
 a self-aligning cam attached to said post, said cam having an upper end and an opposite lower end, said lower cam end cooperating with said upper end of said upper knuckle to rotate said post from a misaligned rotational position to a first frontally aligned position.   
     
     
         2 . The spring assembly of  claim 1 , further comprising a compression spring engaged with said upper cam end to urge said lower cam end against said upper end of said upper knuckle to rotate said post from said misaligned rotational position to said first frontally aligned position. 
     
     
         3 . The spring assembly of  claim 2 , wherein said lower cam end has sloping cam surfaces which cooperate with sloping cam surfaces on said upper end of said upper knuckle to rotate said post from said misaligned rotational position to said first frontally aligned position. 
     
     
         4 . The spring assembly of  claim 3 , wherein said lower cam end has an apex 180° opposite a cam alignment notch and said upper knuckle end has an apex 180° opposite a knuckle alignment notch, said cam apex disposed within said knuckle alignment notch when said post is in said first frontally aligned position. 
     
     
         5 . The spring assembly of  claim 4 , further comprising a self-fronting center shaft, said shaft having a receptacle portion for retaining said main delineator spring and a hollow, generally cylindrical, body section for the through passage of said wire cables, said body section extending through a central opening in said compressive spring, through a central bore in said cam, and through a central bore in said upper knuckle to maintain said cam in longitudinal alignment with said upper knuckle when said post is being rotated about said longitudinal axis.