EP0492024B1 - Installation for permitting and denying access with a retractable barrier - Google Patents

Description

The invention relates to an installation for authorizing and prohibiting access comprising a retractable bollard, retractable into the ground.

An installation according to the preamble of claim 1 is described in document FR-A-1246051.

Installations are already known for controlling vehicles in an area that must be totally or partially isolated, such as a private entrance, a port area, a pedestrian walkway, etc.

These installations, gate, barrier, chain, fixed or manually removable terminal, for example, have drawbacks limiting their use.

Thus, a barrier intended to prevent only the passage of certain vehicles can cause a certain psychological and physical discomfort for walkers, in particular the disabled or people pushing a pram; the chains are of questionable aesthetics; the terminals are generally fragile or heavy and difficult to maneuver.

Also, we have created retractable bollards in the ground, which we tried to make easy and quick to put on or off, by various means, and which are capable of leaving easy access to pedestrians, prams, vehicles for the disabled, etc., operated by pneumatic or hydraulic cylinders.

Such terminals, whose aesthetics, size and solidity can be adapted to the environment and the desired function, on the other hand impose a difficult, "heavy" and expensive arrangement; more specifically, the installation requires the implementation of a compressor, its reservoir and its drive motor, as well as a system of pneumatic and control valves such as solenoid valves which are often not of sufficient reliability for this type of installation, the assembly having to be connected to the electrical network; this installation therefore requires a technical room and connecting pipes from the technical room to the terminal, and so it cannot be installed in any location. In addition, in the case of pneumatic terminals, if the terminal slides badly, the rise in air pressure can cause the terminal to suddenly exit, which constitutes a potential danger. This drawback does not exist in the case of hydraulic terminals, but they are more expensive and can only be justified with regard to large dimensions.

The object of the invention is to remedy these drawbacks and to create a streamlined installation of simple, efficient, aesthetic technique, having a large autonomy (no separate technical room), great ease of installation, good solidity and resistance. shock and corrosion, perfect tightness and almost absolute safety even in the event that the bollard is, however, submerged and in the event of a destructive shock, allowing easy maintenance, "all weather" operation, particularly in freezing weather, varied control systems, and low set-up and maintenance costs, so that its use is aimed at both individuals (co-ownerships for example) and more affluent communities.

To this end, the invention relates to an installation for authorizing and prohibiting access, as defined in claim 1.

As the drive means are not pneumatic or hydraulic, but include an electric motor, it is not necessary to provide fluid pipes whose implementation is problematic. In addition, as the motor and the actuating device are enclosed in an envelope, which can also contain an electronic control unit, the whole being in a preferably sealed box, the electrical safety can be made almost total.

Thanks to this structure, according to advantageous features of the invention, the installation may include an electronic control device housed inside a box itself housed in the envelope, allowing it to be controlled remotely. by magnetic card, key, clock, and thus giving it great flexibility of use; an electrically powered brake, such as an electromagnet, can cause the motor to lock up when it is powered and release it in the absence of power, which avoids any dangerous prohibition of access in the event of an electrical failure ; an electric heating device can avoid blockages of the installation due to frost, and a discharge valve can also help to avoid this drawback as well as the drowning of the installation; operating shocks occurring when the terminal comes into abutment can be absorbed by elastic means such as springs or the presence of suitable material; the attachment of the envelope to the box can be achieved by means of a quick-action device, allowing easy replacement of the envelope.

Other characteristics and advantages of the invention will emerge from the description which follows of a preferred embodiment of this invention given by way of nonlimiting example and represented in the single attached drawing which is a section thereof. schematic longitudinal.

The installation for authorization and prohibition of access shown in the drawing essentially comprises a box 1 intended to be housed in the ground and a terminal 21 movable in longitudinal translation from an extended position in which it is at least partially ( here almost completely) out of the box and it prohibits access to a retracted position, in which it is at least in large part in the box (here its side wall is in the box while its upper face constitutes the cover of it) and authorizes access.

More specifically, the box 1 is in the form of a mushroom formed by a body 11 intended to be buried in the ground, a head 12 and a bottom 13. The body 11 is a cylinder of revolution with a circular cross section; the head 12 comprises, at the upper end of the cylinder, a ring 121 welded to the outside of the body 11 and flush with the upper end of the latter, and a ring 122 covering the ring 121 and having a circular shape plane in its part extending outside the body perpendicular to it and in a domed spherical cap towards the outside of the body in its part extending inside the circular outline thereof; the crown 122 is fixed to the ring 121 by screws and extends downwards inside the body 1 by a centering foot 123 which will be described more precisely below. The seal between the body 11 and the head 12 is ensured by an O-ring 124 housed at the upper end of the body; this plate 122 in the form of a circular crown is provided for flush with the surface of the ground; the bottom 13 of the box, at its lower end, is a disc welded to the latter.

The terminal 21 is constituted by the upper part of a cover 2 in two parts 21, 22 in the form of cylinders of revolution with circular cross section (the diameter of the terminal being a little larger than that of the other part), arranged almost end to end (with slight overlap) along the same axis central which is none other than the central axis of the box 1, connected by an annular connection 23; the cylinder constituting the terminal 21 is closed at its upper end by a closure plate 211 in the form of a spherical cap domed outwards, with the same radius of curvature as the annular cap constituting the head 12 of the box, and of slightly outer diameter smaller than the inside diameter thereof, so that the assembly forms a practically continuous spherical cap. The annular connection fitting 23 is arranged in the overlapping area of the two cylindrical parts 21, 22; it has a centering zone 231 welded around the cylindrical part of smaller diameter and housed inside the cylindrical part of larger diameter, to which it is linked by screws, extended, outside the overlapping zone, around the part of smaller diameter, by a base 232 in the form of a circular crown, the outer contour of which is arranged opposite the internal wall of the body of the casing 1, in the immediate vicinity thereof. Under the base 23, is fixed by screws a plate 25 which supports a pinched seal 26 between the base 23 and the plate 25; the shape and dimensions of the seal 26 allow, when the terminal is mounted, a slight clearance with respect to the wall of the body 1 such that the water possibly seeping on the internal wall of the body is not discharged towards the top, but on the other hand that during the descent of the terminal, it is pushed back down from where it will then be evacuated as will be described later.

The extended limit position of the terminal 21 is delimited by an upper annular seat 14 produced in the centering foot 123 fitted at the top of the internal wall of the body; preferably, the upper seat 14 has a frustoconical central opening which widens downwards, while the base 232 of the cover supports a lining 24 provided with a flange carrying a frustoconical body substantially of the same diameters as the opening of the seat 14 and also widening downwards, so that when the terminal 21 is in the high position, the upper face of the flange of the lining 24 is in abutment against the lower face of the upper seat 14, and that the peripheral zone of the frustoconical body of this lining is in abutment against the frustoconical central opening of the seat; the centering foot 123 of the box 1, advantageously, can also have, above its frustoconical opening, a determining internal shoulder, with the underside of the annular cap constituting the head 12 of the box, a cavity for housing a gasket tightness leaving no gap between the head 12 of the box and the terminal 21 at the upper seat 14 and thus preventing any entry of liquid (for example water) or dust inside the box whatever the position of terminal.

In order to actuate the cover 2 in longitudinal translation along its central axis, the latter is secured to an actuating device cooperating with motor means comprising an electric motor of the geared motor type housed in the lower part of the box 1; this motor is here of the 220 Volt single-phase type and is electrically connected to a control device which is partly integrated into the terminal, and for another part (connected to the first by suitable conductors) outside, in particular in the event of '' a remote control or external control by magnetic card, key, clock, magnetic loop with or without vehicle recognition, etc. ; on the other hand, the installation is autonomous vis-à-vis other similar neighboring terminals and does not include any other remote elements than any control members; the electrical supply connection is made only by means of an insulated cable passing through the various walls in cable glands such as that shown in the lower part of the motor housing 3. The actuating device and the motor cooperate by means of a screw-nut mechanism, for example with a ball screw, or a worm screw, operating in oil, and the motor and this mechanism are therefore enclosed in a housing. 3 waterproof; the actuating device consists of a fixed part itself also housed in a sealed housing 4, and a retractable movable part housed for the most part in the fixed part, and thus in the housing, in the retracted position ; the housing 3 of the motor and possibly of its control device supports that of the actuation device, and the whole is enclosed in an envelope 5 also sealed, which constitutes double insulation in accordance with the safety standards in force. For its attachment to the bottom of the box 1, the lower end of the casing 5, closed by a bottom plate 51 folded in the shape of a bowl, externally comprises an annular flange 52 pierced with regularly spaced holes, holes crossed by rivets 53 whose free end of the body is welded in the bottom 13 of the box; the body of the rivets 53 is surrounded by helical springs 54 bearing against the bottom of the box and the underside of the flange, with a view to absorbing the operating shocks of the terminal when the latter arrives in the stop position; moreover, the presence of these springs, combined with the fact that the holes for the rivets are oblong curved openings with a countersink at one end for the housing of the head of the rivet and a drilling of the diameter of this head at the other end , allows rapid assembly and disassembly of the enclosure and its contents, in the event of a breakdown, with a view to troubleshooting or replacement (so-called "bayonet"fixing); advantageously, the bowl is itself lined with a damping material 55 interposed between its upper face and the lower face of the housing 3 of the engine; this motor housing 3 may include superimposed cooling fins 31 extending horizontally. The housing 4 of the actuating device is fixed to the upper face 56 of the casing 5 by means of an annular plug 57 welded, force-fitted or screwed into this upper face and lined internally with a seal 58 in compression against the side wall of the housing 4; the length adjustment of the assembly in the envelope 5 is obtained by backlash washers; thus, in the retracted position, only protrudes from the housing and thus from the envelope, the top of the actuating device, with the movable part of this device, suitably sealed; the structure of the assembly is entirely coaxial, from the casing 1 (outside) to the mobile part of the actuating device (inside) passing naturally through the cover 2, the casing 5, the housings 3 , 4, as well as the motor and the fixed part (barrel containing the piston) of the electromechanical jack constituting the actuation device, and these various members have a general shape in cylinder of revolution with circular cross section; the movable part of the actuating device, which acts as a piston, is fixed to the center of the closure plate 211 of the terminal 21, which is provided for this purpose, at its lower face, of a clamp 212 receiving the upper end with interposition of a helical spring 213 damping between the bottom of the clamp 212 and the end face of the piston.

So that the cover 2 and thus the terminal 21 are correctly guided during their vertical translational movement with the piston, between the extended position in which the terminal is practically entirely outside the box 1 and the retracted position in which it is practically entirely housed in the box, the periphery of the casing 5 is provided with three longitudinal rails 59 distributed at 120 degrees, while the internal face of the lower part 22 of the cover 2 is provided with three U-shaped sections 23 also longitudinal and distributed at 120 degrees, overlapping the rails 59, fixed by screws or the like (or vice versa, the envelope is provided with U-shaped profiles and the lower part of the rail cover housed in these profiles); these members prevent any rotation of the terminal 21 in the box 1.

The structure which has just been described, comprising a terminal with a diameter of approximately 250 millimeters, and a height of 400 millimeters, is of great robustness, since, externally made of steel, it is capable of withstanding a impact of 15km / h (its weight is around 80 kg), the box being buried in a hole one meter deep and 0.80 meters in diameter.

The other characteristics which confer decisive advantages on this installation will now be described.

So that the power cuts do not cause a blocking of the terminal in the high position, it is expected that this position is maintained by the fact that the motor axis is blocked by an electromagnet then energized, this electromagnet automatic declutching in the event of a power failure therefore serving as a decoupling key; in this way, in the event of a power failure, the electromagnet, releasing the motor axis, makes the mechanism reversible, and allows, simply by pressing on the terminal or by screwing it on its axis, to make it enter its box (therefore in the ground), while in normal operation, the electronic control unit of the control device integrated into a box inside the envelope manages this electromagnet; this possibility is essential in case of need for intervention beyond the installation, for example by firefighters; this electromagnet is housed in a housing 6 disposed against the housing 3 of the motor.

In addition, still in the context of increasing operating safety, the actuation device includes a torque limiter limiting the pushing force of the terminal during its ascent; a safety device with magnetic loop and / or photocell (s) prevents the terminal from being raised in the event that, for example, a vehicle is parked above it; an audible and / or luminous alarm can also be added to the terminal.

Also advantageously, the installation comprises a zone of least resistance, due to the fixing of the centering zone 231 of the connector 23 in the cylindrical part of larger diameter 21 of the cover 2 by means of radial screws, the rupture of which, in the event violent impact on the terminal, protects the vital parts and thus limits repair costs.

Another advantage that the invention makes it possible to obtain thanks to the double sealing design of the box, is the maintenance of the installation against freezing. In fact, inside the envelope in which the housings of the engine as well as of the control device and of the actuation device are housed, can also be housed a heating device preferably by electrical resistances with adjustment by thermostat; as the risk of frost is greater near the surface of the ground, this heating device (not shown in the drawing) is fixed near the upper end of the box 1. For greater safety, and in order to eliminate maximum water which, despite the design precautions, could have penetrated into the box (most likely between box 1 and casing 5), the base of the box is fitted with a ball valve (also not shown ) allowing an automatic evacuation in the event of water entering, by means of a drainage conduit bringing back to the surface of the ground by overpressure the water evacuated from the bottom of the box; in fact, thanks to the piston action of the seal 26 during the downward movement of the terminal, almost all of the water infiltrated between the box 1 and the casing 5 ends up being at the bottom of that -ci, from where it is therefore easily evacuated. These measures prevent water infiltrating into the installation can freeze there and thus prevent its operation.

As already mentioned, the installation is equipped with an electronic central unit allowing a certain number of operating cycles (for example four) and taking into account the different safeties (magnetic loops, photoelectric cells ...) . The different cycles and options can be selected by means of eight switches, here switches known in the art under the name of D.I.P., arranged on an electronic card; as we have seen, this electronic card is connected to the chosen electronic control system: key, magnetic card, magnetic loop with or without vehicle recognition, photoelectric cell (s), clock (s), etc. or be equipped with a coded radio frequency receiver.

The operation of the installation is therefore extremely simple, since on command by a means mentioned above (magnetic card or other), the electric motor is rotated in one direction or the other, which causes, depending on the case, the raising or lowering of the bollard guided by the rails to its opposite stop position; stopping the movement of the bollard causes the brake to be applied, which is released only in the event of reverse control or accidental interruption of the supply, in which case the bollard can be actuated manually; in the event of penetration of water, this is evacuated by the valve provided for this purpose, and in the event of a fall in temperature, the thermostat triggers the electrical supply of the frost protection resistors; if a failure occurs, the envelope and its contents can be removed and replaced, the defective envelope being brought back to the workshop for repair.

As appears from the above, the installation which has just been described has a large number of advantages, and in particular, its autonomy is linked to a great simplification with respect to existing installations, and it is likewise its reliability also due to the protection with double sealing of the vital parts, and its ease of servicing and maintenance since in the event of a breakdown of the engine module for example, it can be purely and simply replaced and then repaired in the workshop, without a highly qualified workforce is required on site. As its installation is easy in any place without obligation to provide a technical room, its full automation, and its almost total safety of use (thanks in particular to its unlocking by electro-brake acting in the event of a power failure), to a reassuring instruction manual, for costs reduced by about half compared to existing installations. With regard to its flexibility of use and its adaptability to all circumstances, it suffices to note the large number of control systems which are adaptable to it.

Of course, the invention is not limited to the embodiment described and shown above, and other forms can be provided without departing from its scope, for example lighter miniaturized installations intended more for the control of '' access to private car parks as public places, but still motorized and remotely controlled, or even only semi-automatic installations with erasing the terminal by pressing on it, for example with the foot, after unlocking, but restarted remotely from a vehicle by remote control to a channel.

Claims (3)

1. Installation for the authorization and inhibition of access, comprising a box (1) for being embedded in the ground and a lock (21) movable with the aid of driving means in the longidudinal direction from an extended position, in which it extends from the box at least in part and inhibits access, into a rectracted position, in which it is located within the box for at least the greatest part and permits access, which driving means include a gear type electric motor disposed in a housing (3) in the lower part of the box (1), and a displacement driving-means with a non-displaceable part,
   characterized in that
   the non-displaceable part of the driving means is permanently located in a housing (4) supported by the motor housing, and in that a mobile part of the displacement driving means is accommodated for at last the greatest part in the same housing in a retracted position, in that the housing (3) of the electric motor and the housing (4) of the driving means are surrounded by a shell (5), in that the upper part of the shell and the mobile part of the driving means are enclosed in a covering cap, in that the covering cap (2), whose upper part forms the lock (21), is mounted on the mobile part of said driving means, and in that the installation comprises means (54, 55, 213) for damping the shocks occurring in operation when the lock (21) abuts.
2. Installation according to patent claim 1,
   characterized in that the covering cap (2) comprises two parts (21, 22) interconnected by a mounting plate (23) to which a seal (26) is firmly connected which forms a piston within the body (11) in order to push the water which may occur between the body (11) and the covering cap (2) downward.
3. Installation according to patent claim 1,
   characterized in that the shell (5) is mounted at the bottom (51) of the box (1) by means of a flange provided at the lower end of said shell with the aid of bayonet fixing means.

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