Concrete block

Claim 1

In a non-anchored barrier to be used on the ground surface along a roadway adjacent a lane thereof for partially consuming momentum of a vehicle driven against it while deflecting the vehicle back into the lane and causing it thereafter to be confined within a path generally parallel to the barrier and generally within the lane, the combination of: a plurality of elongate concrete blocks arranged along a path defining the barrier, each block being of generally triangular configuration in cross-section to define, on at least that side thereof exposed to traffic and in the lowermost region of that side, a substantially flat, inwardly inclined threshold surface means having a height extending above the ground surface and an inclination sufficient for resisting climbing of a vehicle front wheel over said threshold surface means while turning the front wheels of a vehicle in a direction parallel with the barrier when a vehicle front wheel strikes the block at a small angle or low speed, upper surface means including a concave arcuate surface smoothly joining said inwardly inclined threshold surface means for further consuming momentum of the vehicle and allowing a rear wheel to follow the striking front wheel onto said upper surface means when a vehicle front wheel strikes the block in a fashion sufficient to climb over said inwardly inclined threshold surface means; and means for coupling the blocks into a chain capable of flexure to consume a still further amount of momentum of the vehicle through lateral weight displacement of adjacent blocks along the chain particularly when the vehicle climbs said inwardly inclined threshold surface means; said blocks being disposed in end-to-end relation with adjacent blocks having substantially contiguous end surfaces, said end surfaces being vertically grooved from adjacent a bottom portion of an associated block to adjacent a top portion of an associated block so that said end surfaces define a cylindrical channel of substantially circular cross-section, said means for coupling comprising tube means received in said channels for preventing relative movement between blocks while effecting transmission of lateral and rotational forces from one block to the next, pin means received in a bottom end of each of said tube means for resisting longitudinal separation between said bottom portions of the blocks, and means joining adjacent blocks at the top portions thereof for resisting longitudinal separation between said top portions of the blocks and for blocking an upper end of each channel to retain said tube means longitudinally within its associated channel.