Guardrail extruder terminal

Abstract

A guardrail extruder terminal for flattening a folded or W-beam guardrail and bending the guardrail to dissipate the energy of a vehicle impacting the end of the guardrail includes a feeder chute. The feeder chute is provided with an inlet in which the guardrail is positioned. The feeder chute extends into a terminal housing, and is in communication with an extruder or flattening throat. The flattening throat is of a smaller width than the feeder chute to flatten the guardrail. A bending member is also provided in the terminal to bend the guardrail in an curvilinear arc away from the impacting vehicle. Also included is a cable anchor releasably mounted on the guardrail. A cable extends from the cable anchor to a first post located at the end of the guardrail. The cable anchor includes lugs that release from the guardrail upon engagement of the extruder terminal with the cable anchor. To prevent twisting, bending or rotation of posts holding the guardrail as the extruder terminal and impacting vehicle move down the guardrail during a collision, a groundline cable extends through bores in each post. In an alternative embodiment, the extruder throat includes side walls defined by curvilinear extruder plates. The curvilinear extruder plates minimize the engagement of the guardrail with the side walls of the extruder throat during impact by a vehicle to reduce the frictional forces experienced during initiation of the flattening process.