Sleeve for highway safety cones

Abstract

An orange plastic sleeve that slips over a highway safety cone and protects the cone body from the base to a height of about 18 inches is provided. The plastic sleeve is designed to be disposed directly against the base of the cone and is designed to extend no higher than the reflective stripe on the highway safety cone.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A cone protecting sleeve comprising:
 a conical body formed of a semi-rigid to rigid material, the conical body having an outer surface and an inner surface, wherein at least the outer surface is orange, the conical body comprising a top opening and a bottom opening, wherein the conical body comprises a continuous taper from the top opening to the bottom opening,   wherein the cone protective sleeve is formed to fit over a cone comprising a base, a cone body and at least one reflective strip on the cone body, wherein the conical body covers a portion of the cone body so that the bottom opening is adjacent to the base and the top opening is underneath the reflective strip.   
     
     
         2 . The cone protective sleeve of  claim 1 , wherein the semi-rigid to rigid material is a polymer. 
     
     
         3 . The cone protective sleeve of  claim 1 , wherein the polymer is vinyl-polyester-vinyl laminate material. 
     
     
         4 . The cone protective sleeve of  claim 1 , wherein the inner surface and the outer surface are orange. 
     
     
         5 . A method of protecting a cone comprising:
 providing a cone comprising a base, a cone body and a plurality of reflective strips attached to the cone body;   providing a cone protecting sleeve comprising:
 a conical body formed of a semi-rigid to rigid material, the conical body having an outer surface and an inner surface, wherein at least the outer surface is orange, the conical body comprising a top opening and a bottom opening, wherein the conical body comprises a continuous taper from the top opening to the bottom opening, and 
   placing the cone protecting sleeve over the cone body so that the bottom opening is adjacent to the base and the top opening is underneath the plurality of reflective strips.   
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 5 , wherein the cone protective sleeve is placed over the cone body of a clean cone prior to a paving operation. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 5 , wherein the cone protective sleeve is placed over the cone body of a dirty cone. 
     
     
         8 . The cone protective sleeve of  claim 5 , wherein the semi-rigid to rigid material is a polymer. 
     
     
         9 . The cone protective sleeve of  claim 5 , wherein the polymer is vinyl-polyester-vinyl laminate material. 
     
     
         10 . The cone protective sleeve of  claim 5 , wherein the inner surface and the outer surface are orange.