Highway Guardrail Post

Abstract

A highway guardrail post comprises an elongated one-piece roll-formed metal body including a front wall defining an attachment face, a pair of opposing side walls orthogonal to the front wall, a first pair of inverted corners respectively connecting the pair of side walls to the front wall, and a second pair of inverted corners respectively extending from the pair of side walls and terminating in a pair of spaced rear edges to define a rear access opening opposite the front wall. The guardrail posts may be manufactured by roll-forming a metal sheet or coil and cutting the roll-formed metal sheet or coil into lengths.

1 . A guardrail post comprising an elongated one-piece roll-formed metal body including a front wall defining an attachment face, a pair of opposing side walls orthogonal to the front wall, a first pair of inverted corners respectively connecting the pair of side walls to the front wall, and a second pair of inverted corners respectively extending from the pair of side walls and terminating in a pair of spaced rear edges to define a rear access opening opposite the front wall. 
     
     
         2 . The guardrail post according to  claim 1 , wherein the front wall includes a through-hole for receiving a fastener. 
     
     
         3 . The guardrail post according to  claim 1 , wherein a distance between the attachment face and a plane containing the pair of rear edges is equal to a distance between respective external faces of the pair of side walls. 
     
     
         4 . The guardrail post according to  claim 3 , wherein each of the pair of side walls is wider than the front wall. 
     
     
         5 . The guardrail post according to  claim 4 , wherein the rear access opening is equal in width to the front wall. 
     
     
         6 . A guardrail assembly comprising:
 first and second vertical guardrail posts spaced from one another, each guardrail post comprising an elongated one-piece roll-formed metal body including a front wall defining an attachment face, a pair of opposing side walls orthogonal to the front wall, a first pair of inverted corners respectively connecting the pair of side walls to the front wall, and a second pair of inverted corners respectively extending from the pair of side walls to define a rear access opening opposite the front wall; and   a horizontal rail connected to the front wall of each of the first and second guardrail posts.   
     
     
         7 . The guardrail assembly according to  claim 6 , wherein the horizontal rail is a substantially rigid section fastened directly against the attachment face of at least one of the vertical guardrail posts. 
     
     
         8 . The guardrail assembly according to  claim 6 , wherein the horizontal rail is a flexible cable connected to the front wall of each of the first and second guardrail posts by a respective U-bolt or eye-bolt. 
     
     
         9 . The guardrail assembly according to  claim 6 , further comprising a spacer block fastened directly against the attachment face of at least one of the first and second guardrail posts, wherein the horizontal rail is connected to the front wall of the at least one guardrail post by way of the spacer block. 
     
     
         10 . The guardrail assembly according to  claim 9 , wherein the horizontal rail is a substantially rigid section fastened directly against a surface of the spacer block. 
     
     
         11 . The guardrail assembly according to  claim 9 , wherein the horizontal rail includes a flexible cable connected to the spacer block by a U-bolt or an eye-bolt. 
     
     
         12 . A method of making a plurality of guardrail posts comprising the steps of:
 providing an elongated rectangular sheet or coil of metal having a longitudinal central axis and a pair of lateral edges parallel to and equidistant from the central axis;   feeding the sheet or coil of metal lengthwise into a roll-forming machine, wherein the roll-forming machine is configured to form a plurality of right-angle bend pairs, each bend pair being arranged symmetrically about the central axis, wherein the plurality of bend pairs includes, in order of progression from the central axis toward the pair of lateral edges, a first pair of internal bends, a first pair of external bends, a second pair of internal bends, a third pair of internal bends, and a second pair of external bends; and   cutting the roll-formed sheet or coil of metal into lengths.   
     
     
         13 . The method according to  claim 12 , further comprising the step of forming a plurality of holes through the sheet or coil of metal at spaced locations along the length of the sheet or coil, wherein each of the plurality of holes is between the first pair of internal bends. 
     
     
         14 . The method according to  claim 12 , wherein the sheet or coil of metal is hot rolled steel coil. 
     
     
         15 . The method according to  claim 14 , wherein the hot rolled steel coil is provided as galvanized hot rolled steel coil.