Highway signs are generally used for promoting the safe passage of motor vehicles and/or pedestrians by advising of, for example, approaching unsafe driving conditions. These highway signs are generally provided with various highway legends, and are generally configured to flex in response to prevailing winds and wind gusts created by motor vehicles and the like.
Conventional highway signs are generally colored brightly to attract the attention of passersby. Additionally, these highway signs are commonly provided with warning flags secured thereto for flapping in the wind and for drawing additional attention of motorists to the legend on the highway sign.
A flexible, lightweight highway sign allows for convenient transportation and storage of the sign. Such a sign may have reinforcing battens for holding the sign in a message display position. These reinforcing battens are conventionally constructed of flexible, lightweight plastic materials. U.S. Pat. No. 4,426,800 discloses structure for mounting a highway sign using reinforcing battens and a stand. Warning flags are conventionally mounted on highway signs with flag arms, which are generally constructed of lightweight, flexible plastic. These warning flags enhance the visibility of the highway signs and give advance warning to motorists at a greater distance. U.S. Pat. No. 4,980,984 discloses a clamping member for attaching flag arms to a reinforcing batten of a highway sign. The clamping member disclosed in this patent, however, while providing excellent functionality, is somewhat complex in design and relatively expensive to manufacture. A need exists in the prior art for clamping members of simple, lightweight, and inexpensive design, for efficiently securing flag arms to highway signs.
USPTO Backgrounds
USPTO Backgrounds