CZ202395A3 - Cover, particularly for hydrant maintenance hole - Google Patents

Abstract

The cover (6) is surrounded by a supporting frame (4) with guide rails (8) along two opposite side walls. The cover has upper (58) and lower (56) lugs on each side to engage with the guide rails, mounted on supporting legs (52) extending from the cover's lower surface and perpendicular to it. Each leg has a flat section (59) which prevents any pivoting of the cover as it is raised or closed. Each guide rail has a rear section (28C) which frees the cover, while each of the frame's opposite side walls has a locking rib (36) which is situated at least partially above the upper lug forming a chicane for the lugs to pass through.

Description

The invention relates to a hatch, in particular for a technical opening of a hydrant, comprising a supporting frame restricting the passage and a removable closing lid.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

It is often necessary to provide passages in the soil surface, such as the road surface, to allow access to technical openings.

These technical openings can be formed, for example, by drainage wells or sewer manholes provided in the roadway, or by spaces formed in the ground and adapted to accommodate fire extinguisher valves or water wells or to clean cable blocks.

Such hatches generally comprise a frame whose walls define the passage and are provided with a circumferential support rib in their upper part on which the lids rest in the closed position.

The lid is typically provided with an opening for receiving the lid withdrawal tool.

After insertion of the tool, the lid can be removed by lifting it and possibly sliding along the circumferential rib to lay it flat on the ground next to the frame.

Such devices have various disadvantages.

In fact, the lid can be placed somewhere after it has been removed, or it can be maliciously removed from the frame.

In addition, if the support frame does not have a symmetrical circumference, it is difficult to determine the correct fit of the lid on the frame when refitted.

In other cases, the rotation of the lid may become a necessity due to the fact that within the hatch the individual members are positioned arbitrarily and may interfere with the lid if incorrectly fitted.

The purpose of the invention is to overcome these drawbacks by providing a hatch in which a lid opening that is removable is possible even if it is integral with the support frame when operating the hatch.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

To this end, the present invention provides a hatch of the above-mentioned type which comprises a guide rail on each of its two side walls and laterally includes two guide rail supports on each side of which the upper abutment slides on the upper side of the rail. and the lower support is adapted to abut the underside of the rail when the lid is raised to its at least partially open position.

According to particular embodiments of the invention, the hatch may exhibit one or more of the following features:

- the abutments are provided on support legs running under the lower surface of the lid and perpendicular thereto, laterally on each side,

- the support legs have a planar section extending longitudinally opposite the guide rails in order to prevent any further rotation of the lid,

- each guide rail has a rear end for releasing the lid, and each side wall comprises at the rear a locking rib located at least partially above the upper abutment when the abutment is outside the lid release end, the releasing end and the locking rib defining a lid for the lid supports,

- the locking rib has an elongated shape and is inclined downwards and forward in the direction of said release or free end,

- the lid comprises in its front part a lock for securing the lid in a closed position with respect to the frame, the latch bolt adapted to cooperate with a retaining surface provided in the frame wall,

- each guide rail comprises a front rectilinear section parallel to the plane of the lid in the closing position and a rear portion inclined downwards and backwards from the rectilinear section to the free end for releasing the lid,

- the abutments are at least partially behind the end for releasing the lid when the lid is in the closing position,

- each guide rail comprises a lid support surface when in the closing position,

- the lid comprises, at each lateral edge of its lower side, an inclined abutment surface adapted to cooperate with the upper side of the macronized section of the guide rail forming the support surface,

- each upper abutment is located at a distance from the top of the lid which is less than the sum of the maximum lid thickness and the distance between the upper side of the front of the guide rail and the road surface surrounding the support frame; a distance greater than the sum of the maximum lid thickness and the distance between the bottom of the front of the guide rail and said road surface, so that the lid can rest on that surface in the maximum opening position,

- the lid has an arched area on the front of its lower part,

- the abutments are located near the rear end of the lid in terms of its opening,

- the lid and the supporting frame are made in one piece by a separation process.

The invention also relates to a frame and a lid for a hatch according to the invention.

The invention will now be explained by way of example with reference to the drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Giant. 1 is a front elevational view of a lid according to the invention, with the lid half shown in the closing position and half in the open position.

Fig. 2 is a cross-sectional view along line II-II in Fig. 1 where the lid is in the closing position.

Fig. 3 is a cross-sectional view taken along line III-III in Fig. 3;

2, and FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view along line II-II in FIG. 1 with the lid in the open position.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The hatch 2 shown in the drawings is an entry box for a hydrant. It includes a supporting frame 4 and a closing lid 6.

The supporting frame 4, made in one piece by casting, comprises two side walls 8, 10, approximately vertical and parallel, which each extend on one side of the median longitudinal plane P. These side walls 8, 10 are connected to each other by two walls 12, 14 extending The walls 12 and 14 form a front wall or a rear wall, taking into account the opening direction FI shown in FIGS. 1 and 2.

The height of the walls 8 to 14 is defined as a function of the use of the hatch, which walls may be dimensioned to protect the mechanical device, for example a valve marked K, as schematically indicated in Fig. 2.

As also seen in FIGS. 2 to 4, the walls 8 to 14 are extended at their lower part by an outwardly circumferential flange 18. This circumferential flange 18 comprises elongate-shaped sealing openings 20 distributed over the entire periphery of the frame.

The stiffeners 22 connect the upper surface of the flange 18 to the side walls 8-14.

The inner sides of the walls 12, 14, within the passage 16, bear on their upper part support ribs 24 and 26, respectively, made of the same material and extending along the length of each wall. The front rib 24 is extended on the side walls 8 and 10 by guide rails identical to each other, designated 28. The rib 24 also has two identical grooves 24A at each of its ends extended by guide rails 28.

The guide rails 28 have the same thickness as the rib

24. Beyond the rib 24, they comprise a first forward rectilinear portion 28A that extends parallel to the lid plane when in the closed position and is extended by a portion 28B tilted backwards and downwards. These inclined sections terminate in a free end 28C which is spaced from the wall 14.

The rear rib 26 is similarly extended on each of the side walls 8 and 10 by short identical rib sections 32, elongated by two identical locking ribs 36, inclined downward and forward in the direction of the free ends 280, but terminating at a small distance therefrom.

In addition, the rear rib 26 is provided with two identical recesses 26A at each of its ends, extended by the rib sections 32. These recesses 26A face the recesses 24A of the front rib 24.

The lid 6, shown in all figures, is made in one piece by a casting process and has an outer periphery which fits into the passage 16 with little circumferential clearance. It has a flat top surface 40 on which the anti-skid pickling 42 and the marks 44 are located. for example, they may indicate the nature of the members which are located under the hatch and the like.

Along the edges of its underside, the bag 6 is provided with a circumferential abutment surface 46 that extends parallel to the top surface 40.

At its lateral edges extending on both sides of the plane P, the lid 6 is provided with inclined abutment surfaces 48 supported by triangular ribs 50 extending perpendicular to the plane of the closure lid 6 near its rear end. These abutment surfaces 48 have a slope equal to the inclination of the inclined guide rail sections 28B.

In addition to the triangular ribs 50, support legs 52 are provided rearwardly at the rear of the lid, which extend longitudinally, i.e. parallel to the P plane on each side and below the lid 6 along the circumferential support surface 46. These support legs 52 carry corner elevators 54 on their inner side. connected to the bottom surface of the lid.

On its outside, each support post 52 comprises a lower stop abutment 56 at its lower end as well as an upper sliding abutment 58 provided above and spaced from the stop abutment 56. An elongated planar section 59 having a height greater than the thickness of the guide rails and having a longitudinal dimension at least four times that height is longitudinally disposed between the two supports and is sufficient to prevent the lid from being pulled away when the lid is at least partially open.

The two rows of reinforcing ribs, designated generally by reference numeral 60, extend perpendicular to each other on the lower surface of the lid 6. Some of the longitudinal ribs have rounded dorsal surfaces 62 at their forward end having a curved profile and extending almost on a quadrant with a large radius of curvature.

A lid grip opening 64 is provided in this front portion of the lid.

In Fig. 2, the lid is shown in its closed position.

In this position, the lid support surfaces 46 rest on the upper sides of the support ribs 24 and 26 as well as on the upper sides of the rectilinear guide rail sections 28A, thus forming the support surfaces. Likewise, the inclined abutment surfaces 48 rest on the upper sides of the inclined guide rail sections 28B forming the support surfaces.

The lid 6 is thus able to withstand the considerable stresses caused, for example, by the passage of heavy vehicles in the closed position.

In the closed position shown in the side view of FIG. 2, the support legs 52 overlap with the free ends 28C of the guide rails 28 and the locking ribs 36. In particular, on each side there is a sliding support 58 partially below the lower end of the locking rib 36 and partially above the free or release end 28C, while the stop abutment 56 is partially below each of these members.

In order to open the lid, the operator introduces a suitable tool into the withdrawal opening 64 to allow the end of the lid 6 provided with this opening to be released from the support frame 4 until the stiffening ribs 60 surrounding the protruding portions of the valve K are above it. This release of the front part of the lid 6 results in the stop abutments 56 engaging under the guide rails 28, so that the sliding abutments 58 engage under the upper side of the guide rails.

After this release, the pull on the lid 6 in the sense of the arrow FI shown in FIG. 2 and corresponding to the opening direction allows the lid 6 to slide relative to the support frame 4. The slide supports 58 rest on the upper sides of the inclined guide rail sections 28B. lifting the lid 6 relative to the support frame 4. When the sliding abutments 58 reach the rectilinear guide rail portions 28A, the abutments slide further along the upper sides of the rectilinear portions until the lid 6 is in the maximum opening position shown in Fig. 4. the opening is the front end of the support uprights 52 in the recesses 24A formed in the rib 24, which allows a considerable opening of the lid.

In the exemplary embodiment shown in the drawings, the distance between the lower portion of the slide support 58 and the top 40 of the lid 6 is less than the sum of the maximum lid thickness and the distance between the upper surface of the front rail and the road surface surrounding the support frame. flush with the top surface of the frame. In addition, the distance between the top of the stopper 56 and the top of the lid is greater than the sum of the maximum lid thickness and the distance between the lower surface of the front of the guide rail and the road surface S surrounding the support frame.

In this way, the lid can be laid flat on the road surface S as shown in Fig. 4.

It should be noted that once the stop abutments 56 are engaged under the guide rails 28, 30, it is impossible to pull the closure lid 6 away from the support frame 4. When attempting to lift the lid 6 to pull it off, the lower stop abutments 56 strike the underside of the guide rails. rails and towing out. Furthermore, when attempting to rotate the lid 6 about a vertical axis to release the rail supports from engagement, the planar sections 59 of the support legs 52 come into contact with the inner edges of the rails, preventing any major rotation and preventing the lid from being pulled away.

From the beginning of the hatch opening it is thus impossible to pull off the closure lid and thus prevent its loss or theft.

To close the lid again, it is sufficient to move them back, in the sense opposite to the arrow F1, for example by pushing parallel to the road surface of the worker's feet.

As a result of this push, the slide supports 58 of the upper side of the guide rails 28 until the lid is in the locked position as shown in FIG. 2. The rear end of the support legs 52 is thus partially in the recesses 26A of the ribs 26.

In this closing phase, the release surface 62 having a large radius of curvature ensures that the road will not be damaged when the lid slips over its surface, the relocation of the lid in place is facilitated by the easy passage of the release surface 62 above the frame and support rib 24. at the end of closing, a sufficiently inclined position of the lid to prevent contact between the fins 60 and the upper portions of the valve K.

Removal of the removable lid 6 is made more difficult by persons who are inexperienced or not equipped with the locking rib 36. If someone tries to lift the lid while in the closing position, the upper sliding struts will strike the lower end of the inclined locking ribs 36 which with the free ends 280 of the guide rails constitute an obstacle to the supports 56 and 58.

To remove the lid 6, it is necessary to lift the lid by introducing a suitable tool into the removal opening 64, then loosen the lid slightly in the sense of arrow F1, and then introduce a second suitable removal tool such as a screwdriver under the rear support surface 46 opposite the opening 64. the tool allows to lift the part of the lid closer to the abutments.

Thus, by simultaneously lifting both ends of the lid, it is possible to release the slide supports 58 from the upper surfaces of the inclined sections 28B of the guide rails 28 and then slide the lid in the opposite direction to arrow F1 to move the slide supports 58 over the locking ribs 36.

Thus, by further lifting the lid 6 and moving it again in the sense of the arrow F1, it is possible to extend the stopper support 56 over the inclined sections 28B of the guide rails. The lid 6 can thus be completely pulled away from the support frame 4.

Obviously, pulling the lid off the support frame is relatively difficult as it requires two tools and takes different steps, which requires a good knowledge of the entire device.

To refit the lid 6 to the support frame 4, it is sufficient to place the lid in its open position, where the undersides of the lower abutments 56 rest on the upper side of the guide rails 28, and then push them in the direction opposite to the arrow F1 until the lid assumes its closing position. the supports 56 and 58 pass sequentially over the release or free ends 28C, guided by the inclined sections 28B.

It can be seen that the distance between the free end 28C and the lower end of the locking rib 36 is set to allow the gradual passage of the abutments 56 and 58 with very slight play, almost straight along the path determined. Furthermore, due to the orientation of the locking ribs 36 and the inclined portions 28B, it is virtually impossible to remove the lid by attempting to reposition the abutments along the same path but in the opposite direction. The lid weight and poor visibility make this procedure very difficult.

Therefore, to remove the lid, it is necessary to proceed as above and to make reciprocating movements while lifting the lid.

According to the embodiment not shown in the drawings, it is possible to mount a locking lock below the removal opening 64, the latch of which is adapted to cooperate with the underside of the support rib 24 forming the retaining surface.

Such a lock makes it possible to lock the lid 4 on the support frame 4 and thus prevent the lid from being opened and removed when the lock is locked.

Claims (16)

Hatch, in particular for a technical opening of a hydrant, comprising a supporting frame (4) limiting the passage (16) and a removable closing lid (6), characterized in that the frame (4) comprises on each of its two upper walls (8) 10) a guide rail (28), and that the lid (6) comprises laterally on each side two supports (56, 58) for the guide rail (28), of which the upper abutment (58) slides on the upper side of the rail during sliding movements forwards and during closing movements by sliding backwards against the lid (6), and the lower abutment (56) is adapted to abut the underside of the rail when the lid (6) is raised to its at least partially open position. Manhole according to claim 1, characterized in that the abutments (56, 58) are provided on support legs (52) running below the bottom surface of the lid (6) and perpendicular thereto laterally on each side. Manhole cover according to claim 2, characterized in that the support legs (52) have a planar section (59) extending longitudinally against the guide rails (28) in order to prevent any major rotation of the lid (6). ' Manhole cover according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that each guide rail has a rear end (28C) for releasing the lid (6), and that each side wall (8, 10) comprises at the rear a locking rib (36) positioned at least partially above the upper abutment (58) when the abutment is outside the lid release end (28C), the release end (28C) and the locking rib (36) defining a passageway for the lid abutments (56, 58). A hatch according to claim 4, characterized in that the locking rib (36) has an elongated shape and is inclined down and forward in the direction of said release free end (28C). Manhole according to claim 4 or 5, characterized in that the lid (6) comprises a lock in its front part for securing the lid (6) in a closed position with respect to the frame (4), the lock latch adapted to cooperate with a retaining surface (24) provided in the wall of the frame (4). A hatch according to any one of claims 4 to 6, characterized in that each guide rail (28) comprises a front rectilinear section (28A) parallel to the lid plane in the closing position, and a rear portion (28B) inclined downwards and backwards from a rectilinear section (28A) to a free end (28C) to release the lid. A hatch according to any one of claims 4 to 7, characterized in that the abutments (56, 58) are at least partially behind the end (28C) for releasing the lid when the lid is. in the closing position. A hatch according to any one of claims 1 to 8, characterized in that each guide rail (28) comprises a bearing surface for the lid (6) when the lid is in the closing position. A hatch according to claims 7 and 9, characterized in that the lid (6) comprises, at each lateral edge of its lower side, an inclined abutment surface (48) adapted to cooperate with the upper side of the inclined guide rail section (28B) forming bearing surface. A hatch according to any one of claims 1 to 10, wherein each upper abutment (58) is spaced from the top of the lid at a distance that is less than the sum of the maximum lid thickness and the distance between the top of the front of the guide rail and between the road surface surrounding the support frame (4) and in that the lower abutment (56) is located from the upper side of the lid (6) at a distance greater than the sum of the maximum lid thickness and the distance between the lower side of the front of the guide rail ( 28) and said road surface so that the lid can rest on this surface in the maximum opening position. Manhole according to claim 1, characterized in that the cover (6) has an arched release surface (62) on the front side of its lower part. Manhole according to any one of the claims, characterized in that the abutments (56, 58) are located near the rear end of the lid (6) in terms of its opening. Manhole cover according to any one of the claims, characterized in that the lid (6) and the supporting frame (4) are made in one piece by casting. A hatch frame according to any one of claims 1 to 14 A lid for a hatch according to any one of claims 1 to 14.