EP1918460B1

EP1918460B1 - Improved system for contention of lateral vehicle impact, with a high capacity of contention and of energy absorption

Info

Publication number: EP1918460B1
Application number: EP07380104A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Antonio Amengual Pericas
Original assignee: Hierros y Aplanaciones SA
Current assignee: Hierros y Aplanaciones SA
Priority date: 2006-10-31
Filing date: 2007-04-13
Publication date: 2010-11-17
Anticipated expiration: 2027-04-13
Also published as: ATE488643T1; WO2008053054A1; CL2007000879A1; PL1918460T3; EP1918460A1; CY1111255T1; DE602007010568D1; DK1918460T3; PT1918460E; SI1918460T1

Abstract

Improved system for contention of lateral vehicle impact with a high capacity of contention and of energy absorption, characterized by comprising a vertical post (2) that has a fold or acute dihedral angle (15) placed at a given height in such a manner that its lower segment is vertical and its upper segment, which is an extension of the lower segment, is tilted towards the front, advancing the rail forward towards traffic, and also characterized by having a continuous horizontal non-stressed tie (4) to prevent the post (2) from being released from the system in case of impact, and because it incorporates, between the lower rail (1) and the post (2), an spacer-shock absorbing element (3) comprising a rigid part (19) and a deformable part (20), all of it intended to attain a high capacity to absorb the energy resulting from a vehicle colliding against it, to redirect the vehicle, to decrease the deceleration levels, to gain control over the vehicle during and after impact, and also to decrease the possibility of non-desired post-impact reactions of the vehicle, as well as endowing the system with a high capacity to control the dissipation of the absorbed energy and with a certain ability to deform similarly after each impact of a vehicle.

Description

OBJECT OF THE INVENTION

The present invention refers to a series of structural features added to a system for lateral contention of vehicle impact, with a high capacity of contention and energy absorption applicable as a road safety measure such as the safety barriers and side rails, that are used at the edges and median strips of roads.

STATE OF THE ART

It is known the invention disclosed in EP 1 624 111 from the same applicant disclosing a system of contention of lateral vehicle impact according to the preamble of claim 1. In particular, it dicloses a side impact vehicle detention system having a high capacity of contention and energy absorption that is constituted by a post of the kind having a leg, a frontal plate and a base plate and in which said post is affixed to the terrain at regular intervals, and the system is constituted by one or more systems of continuous horizontal rails arranged longitudinally and secured to the post by means of inner clamps placed inside the rails, and also constituted by a spacing element the leg of the post comprising or being configured by two tubular profiles that face each other and are preferably welded together and to the frontal plate of the post, and in which preferably one of them is "U" shaped having its wings spread open in the vicinity of the frontal plate of the post and the other having a trapezoidal "C" section with its axis placed covertically and slightly tilted toward the area of vehicle impact and having its wings spread and affixed to the "U" shaped profile, and having in its rear face one or several mutually parallel ribs along the same plane, parallel to the longitudinal axis of the profile and along its entire length, and where the section of the "C" shaped profile is kept constant along its entire length and the other tubular profile with the "U" shaped section decreases said section along its length and along its height, in such a manner that the wings reach their longest length at the lower base, which is bigger than the upper base, where the wings are shorter.
The base plate of the post has frontal orifices, preferably four, mutually parallel and rear-side orifices, preferably two, mutually parallel and all of them transversally elongated, that is, perpendicular to the barrier, and contained in the same horizontal plane and perpendicular to the barrier. All said holes are crossed through by anchoring bolts that serve to affix the base plate of the post to the anchoring plate while leaving certain clearance to allow a relative transversal movement between the base plate of the post and the anchoring bolts. Additionally, over the base plate there is a positioning template or form that serves to fix the post and positioning it in place when is first assembled and allows for some controlled movement of the leg that enables it to move away sufficiently so as to not break upon impact. This flat bar or strap comprises a wing set at a 90° angle that has in its base one or more elongated openings, preferably having a rectangular shape through which bolts can be driven to affix the structure to the anchoring plate, and having one or more little arms or prongs, preferably two that withstand the impact of the vehicle by bending and allowing for the controlled and sufficient displacement so the structure does not to break upon impact.
The inner clamps that serve to affix the rails to the post have square openings through which spherical or round-headed screws or bolts with square stems will be pressure driven. These openings will be made, preferably, in such a manner that the side walls of each square window opening exert pressure on the side faces of the square stem of the screw or bolt that is secured with the corresponding nut and washer through the post.
In the system described in EP 1 624 111 , the spacing element placed between the post and the rail is a high capacity shock absorbing set capable of absorbing high energy and that comprises one or several hollow tubular elements having, preferably, a square or rectangular section of equal length, which axis are preferably oriented horizontally and perpendicular to the system, preferably with the horizontal axis of their bases aligned and placed approximately at the same height that the horizontal axis that runs through the middle of the rail, with said hollow tubular element or elements affixed to their corresponding flat bar or to the inner or external part, preferably to both, of their corresponding "U", "C" or "sigma" shaped profiles, that are preferably opened, to serve as common base, and are also provided with affixing elements to secure them to other third elements, the whole set up arranged as a sandwich and in turn secured in its entirety between the vertical support element that also serves as affixing element, or post, and to the shock absorbing element or rail. The flat bar has openings - "windows"- that are preferably square or rectangularly shaped that match the inner part of each of the hollow tubular elements, an arrangement that allows access, through the hollow internal part of the tubular elements, to the point where the shock absorber is joined to the post through the other flat bar, that has several holes of preferably square section drilled into it. The hollow tubular elements have on the surface notches or slots having triangular, trapezoidal or semicircular section, that are preferably mutually parallel and positioned perpendicular to the axis of the tubular element, facing the inner or outer side, or in an alternating sequence, in order to facilitate and guide the folding of the hollow tubular element in case of it sustaining an impact from a vehicle and thus to lessen the effects of said impact on the vehicle itself.
The section of the hollow tubular elements is, preferably, square, rectangular or circular and said elements are arranged between the vertical support element that also serves as affixing element or post and the horizontal impact sustaining element or rail, with the centers of their respective axis preferably aligned, although they can also be placed in the same manner but non-aligned, with rotated on their own axis.
The system described in EP 1 624 111 has a safety cable system to keep the post joined to one or several of the rails. This safety cable system has two grommets in each end with coupling sleeves or sockets to secure and tighten it, that serve to join, preferably, the upper clamp and the post, in such a manner that the cable is fixed to the post through one of the grommets that fits over and through a bolt, having preferably an spherical or rounded head with its corresponding nut and washer, and into the oval holes, with the major axis running vertically, that has been placed in the flat side of the post. The affixing to the clamp is done with the grommet at the other end, that is also formed by a coupling sleeve and washer, in such a manner that the grommet fits over and trhough the bolt, nut and washer, and the cylindrical socket with conical head is introduced trhough the oval hole of the clamp, that has its major axis running horizontally precisely so that the socket can be inserted in that sense and then when rotated it abuts against the walls of the oval hole and the washer acts as abutting end, securing the socket firmly in place.
On the other hand, the frontal plate of the post, and consequently, also in the wings of the "U" shaped profile of the leg of the post that are affixed to it, and at the level of the first, or lower, rail, is tapered, preferably forming a trapezoidal shape, that serves to house the shock absorbing kit, while also serving to reduce the distance between the lower rail and the other rails, and the vertical of the post, and therefore, the space made available to contain the deformation of the shock absorber.
EP1566486 describes a barrier with an upper rail above a base rail and integrated with support a unit, slightly inclined toward the traffic side, which is adapted to be connected, with breaking capability under the effect of an impact, to an upper end of a connection arm which is notably inclined away from the traffic side. This arm is adapted to be engaged in an internal section of a support post and it is displaced upwards under the effect of the impact. The disclosed device does not foresee the inclusion of intermediate rails between the upper and the lower rail.
US6595715 aims to disclose a post to be used in road barriers which does not make use of spacer blocks to join said post and a rail. The document states that "spacer blocks [between the posts and the rails] have a number of inherent disadvantages including the requirement of a separate mounting step and hardware to secure the block to the post before the guiderail can be secured thereto". This document describes an integral one-piece metallic guiderail post comprising a contoured leg portion and vertically offset upper end portion onto which a guiderail can be selectively secured. The contoured upper end portion has a vertically oriented rail-mounting surface with an angularly inclined front surface extending therefrom. Elongated support flanges extend from the contoured leg and vertically offset portions in spaced parallel relation to one another. The vertical offset rail engagement portion partially overlies the leg portion effectively transferring vertical impact load on the vertical offset rail portion to the leg portion for ground mounting engagement.
The use of shock absorbers combining a rigid element and a deformable structure in systems of contention of lateral vehicle impact between the rail and the posts is known from EP1693518 that discloses a spacer shock absorber incorporating a rigid element located between a deformable structure and the post and the rigid element being fixed to the post and the deformable structure being fixed to the rail. However, DE 10326414 discloses a spacer shock absorber with a rigid element located between a deformable structure and the rail.
EP1693518 and FR2660677 disclose a tie fixed to the posts of a system of contention of vehicle impact. In FR2660677 , the tie has to be fixed to the front face of each post.
JP 2001234515(A ) provides a support of a guard fence for a roadway, in which plastic deformation in the case of the collision of an automobile is conducted smoothly at all times and to which a design corresponding to a landscape at the place of installation can be applied easily and which can also be installed at a medial strip held by roadways. It is described a support of the guard fence which has a base disposed in upright on a felloe guard along the roadway and fixed onto the ground cover by anchor bolts, and a support body being integrally formed on the base and having supporting sections for cross beams on the roadway side while the base is plastically deformed so that the whole is tilted to the reverse side to the roadway without depending upon the buckling deformation of the support body when the automobile collides with the cross beams.

DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The present invention refers to a series of structural features added to a system for lateral contention of vehicle impact of the kind comprising rails and vertical posts.
It details structural improvements made to the aforementioned system to contain lateral impacts of moving vehicles and having a high contention and shock absorbing capacity, or high energy absorption capacity that can incorporate the following structural elements:

A post in the barrier designed in that its frontal side or face (the one facing the traffic and that is parallel to the system) has two vertical segments. The first vertical segment (or slightly tilted towards the area of impact) arising from the base of the post or from the nose of the base of the post up to a certain height; and a second segment - immediately following the first- that forms an acute dihedral angle facing the traffic, that is, having a slight tilt towards the front that brings the upper part or head of the post slightly towards the lane where vehicles circulate.
In EP1566486 and US6595715 cited above it is the post itself which has two segments separated by a fold. In the present invention it is preferably a frontal plate engaged in the post which has two segments separated by a fold.
This arrangement provides a better impact control for rigid and articulated trucks. The upper part that is tilted towards traffic allows the upper rail to be positioned ahead or before the lower rails (except for the lower rail that is intended to receive the impact of light vehicles. When a heavier vehicle impacts it, the wheels of said vehicles roll over it, otherwise it moves towards the post upon deformation of the spacing element without offering resistance to the impacting vehicle) in such a manner that the first rigid impact of both the lateral chassis of the truck's cabin in the first contact against the system, and the truck's bed in the second contact or whiplash, occurs against the upper rail before the lower rails, designed to contain the aggressive impact of the front wheel of the truck, are impacted. This sequence allows taking control of the vehicle and redirecting it before the vehicle impacts the essential part of the system, while also allowing to control the contact and guide the vehicle through surfaces that ensure a better traction, stability and transmission of deformations and forces, such as are the vertical flat surface of the lower part of the truck's bed or trailer or the flat side of the body of the tractor head and the frontal face of the upper rail. This forward facing arrangement also serves to prevent to a large extent events such as the elements or parts of the truck that are below the height of the platform to become abruptly hooked to the lower rails and the posts of the barrier (such as the oil sump, fuel tanks, etc.)
A shock absorbing spacer element placed horizontally and perpendicular to the system and composed, by two consecutive parts or areas that are well differentiated by their behavior, either rigid or deformable, when impacted by a light vehicle or passenger car, that are called respectively Rigid part and Deformable part. The Deformable part comprises the shock absorber-spacer element described in patent EP 1 624 111 and the Rigid part, that functions as a rigid element in the manner of a distancing element, comprises a rigid metal profile, preferably tubular, whose section can be either square or rectangularly shaped. The rigid part is joined, rigidly, to the deformable part on one side and on the other is directly joined to the post or the rail and the deformable part, rigidly joined to the rigid part on one side and on the other, and through a plate or a profile to the rail or the post respectively. The tubular elements of the Deformable part deforms axially by collapsing when impacted by a light vehicle, while the tubular element of the Rigid part remains without practically any deformation at all during the impact of the light vehicle, staying between the rail and the post once the tubular elements of the Deformable part have collapsed. Since the center of gravity of the light or passenger vehicle is higher than the set comprised by the lower rail and the spacer element, the reaction of the Rigid part during impact causes the vehicle to oscillate slightly or to gyrate around the horizontal rotation axis that is parallel to the system, more or less controlled, once the Deformable part has collapsed a slight oscillation in the vehicle. This slight oscillatory movement lessens the effect of the impact of the frontal pillar of the side of the passenger car that sustains the impact, that is the pillar that joins the lateral chassis to the roof of the car, against the rail located above the lower rail, making it less aggressive than if the vehicle was fully supported by all four wheels, without oscillation or swinging. It must be taken into account that when there is no deformable spacing element placed between a rail and the post, the contact between the light vehicle against said rail is very rigid and causes strong deceleration peaks. That is the reason of having included a deformable spacing element between the lower rail and the post, although it is not possible to do the same between the upper rails because, although such action would improve the contact against the light vehicle, it would severely diminish the retention capacity of the frontal wheel of the heavy vehicle, making the rail less stable and resistant during deformation.
A continuous, non-stressed, longitudinal horizontal tie having a flat or slightly curved section serving as a strap or flange plate, that can be located either at the front and adhered to the frontal face of the post or behind the frontal face, and preferably adhered to it, and fully going through the successive posts of the system by passing through a hole drilled into the post to that effect. This non-stressed tying element ensures that in the event of a very aggressive impact that may break the fixed points that join the posts to the rails, and also break the points where the post has been anchored to the ground (i.e., such as at a bridge platform), the post remains secured by at least the tie, and thus avoid the situation where it can be wrenched from the fixed anchoring or securing points and be forcefully ejected. Since the flat or slightly curved tie is not a rigid element and, having a small moment of inertia, it easily deforms elastically, or otherwise bends or buckles, does not tend to break in the same manner than the elements of fixed joining points (where the means of union are usually bolts and nuts) that are more rigid, and once the forces sustained overcome the limits of resistance of the points of joining, they break, releasing the elements thus joined together. The rails transmit, rigidly, a significant amount of the forces they receive during impact against a heavy vehicle to the points where they are joined to the post, and therefore, said joints are susceptible to break and release the post. The non-stressed flat or slightly curved tie, on the contrary, deforms easily and hardly transmits forces to the points by which it is joined to the post. The tie is not horizontal stressed, and therefore it does not receive forces before the rails are released from the post or break, which ensures that if the elements joining the rails to the post and the post to the anchoring plate do break, the posts would continue to be linked together by the tie and would not be completely released or separated from the system, provided that some posts have not been released from their anchoring points.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Figure 1 . Shows the anterior side view facing the direction of traffic of a segment of the system showing several rails, the tie and the posts.
Figure 2 . Shows the posterior side view facing in the opposite direction of the flow of traffic the direction of traffic of a segment of the system showing several rails, the tie and the posts.
Figure 3 . Shows a Straight Segment of the system in the post.
Figure 4a . Perspective view of the spacer-shock absorber that shows the tubes, the plate and the system used to secure the parts to the posts and rail, with the deformable part adjacent to the rail.
Figure 4b . Perspective view of the spacer-shock absorber that shows the tubes, the plate and the system used to secure parts to the posts and rail, with the deformable part adjacent to the post.
Figure 5a . Perspective view of the tie that shows how it is secured to the post, and shows the tie going behind the frontal face of the post and adhered to it.
Figure 5b . Perspective view of the tie that shows how it is secured to the post, and shows the tie before the rear face of the post and adhered to it.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION

Figure 1 and 2 show a side impact vehicle detention system with great detention and energetic absorption capacity having a plurality of vertical posts (2), at least two levels of rails (1) (1') (1"), a spacer- shock absorber element (3) and a tie element(4).
As disclosed in figure 3, the post (2) is preferably configured by a frontal plate (11), a base plate (18) and a leg or posterior support (12) that in turn may be configured by one or more elements that, due to how they are conceived and arranged, absorb and transmit well the traction and bending forces, and their sveltness serves to attain a smaller working width (this width results from adding to the greater transversal deformation of the system during the vehicle impact the width of the system itself), which is considered as a favorable circumstance in what regards impacts, since the forces are transmitted from the upper part to the lower part, or in other words, the loads are better transmitted to the base (18) and from the base to the ground (16) to which the post is anchored, resulting in a highly efficacious elastoplastic behavior.
The post (2) is configured in such a manner that the frontal face or frontal plate (11) of the post (2) forms dihedral angle or fold (15) at a certain height, preferably at mid-height, oriented towards the side facing traffic, so as to divide the face or frontal plate (11) of the posts is two segments, a lower vertical segment that is slightly tilted towards the area of impact, and the other an upper tilted segment continuous to the previous segment. The first lower segment arises either from the base (18) or from the nose of the base, and is vertical up to the height of the fold (15) and , from that point on and until it reaches the upper segment or top of the post(2), the second segment or upper segment of the frontal face (11) forms an acute angle (15) with the vertical plane causing the frontal face (11) to be closer to the traffic side as the tilt angle increases to the head of the post, which is then the point closer to the traffic (2).
The leg, or element over which the post is assembled (12) of the post (2) is configured in a manner coherent with the presence of the fold or dihedral angle(15) of the frontal face or plate (11) of the post, said leg (12) may itself comprise one or several assembled parts in such a manner that in case of it being made in one piece, said sole piece must adopt the same fold or acute dihedral angle (15) as the frontal face (11), where said frontal face may be a solidarious part of the leg or support (12) and, if the leg or support (12) comprises two or more parts, the whole of it must adapt to the arrangement and placement of the frontal plate (11) in what pertains to the position of the dihedral angle (15) at a certain height.
It can be observed in figure 3 that the spacer- shock absorber element (3) is placed, in the manner of the filling of a sandwich, between one external and independent horizontal element intended to receive impacts, such as the rail or profile, preferably the lower one (1), and another external and independent vertical element intended to serve as support and retention, such as the post (2).
Figures 4a and 4b show in more detail two different configurations of the parts of the spacer-shock absorber (3) which comprises, in the horizontal direction that is perpendicular to the system, by two differentiated parts: the rigid part (19) and the deformable part (20). The rigid part (19) comprises a metal element or profile bar, preferably tubular and hollow (7) having its longitudinal horizontal axis parallel to the system, and having, preferably, a square or rectangular section, with one of its vertical faces resting completely on the frontal face or plate (11) of the post (2), and to that effect, said face of the tubular element (7) has had holes (9) drilled on its surface to provide a through passage for the screw that will secure it to the frontal face (11) of the post (2) and having the other vertical face, opposing the previous face, solidly joined to the tubular elements (5) that comprise the deformable part (20). The deformable part (20) is comprised by one or several hollow metal tubular elements (5) having the same length. The section of the hollow metal tubular elements (5) is, preferably, square, rectangular or circular and the elements are arranged with their axis mutually parallel, perpendicular to the system and having their upper and lower faces parallel to the horizontal plane, showing on said faces notches or taperings (8) preferably oriented towards the outside, the inside or alternating the outside and inside orientations on the tubular element, and joined together by their anterior part, preferably by a metal plate or flat rectangular bar (6), or by a metal profile shaped as a "U", "C" or "sigma", or by a hollow metal tubular profile with drill holes (10) on its surface that will serve as through passages for the screw that will bolt it to the rail (1), and the tubular elements (5) are joined together by its anterior part by means of a lateral vertical face of the metal element that is preferably tubular (7) and is the rigid part (19) of the spacer-shock absorber element (3), to which these elements are solidly affixed, preferably by having welded them.
The mechanical properties of the hollow metal elements, preferably tubular (7) that comprise the rigid part, and the hollow metal tubular elements (5) of the deformable part comprising the spacer- shock absorber element (3), relative to the wall thickness or relative to their mechanical resistance, are considerable different, and therefore their behavior under a given force is also different. The wall of the tubular elements (5) of the deformable part (20) is thinner and/or is configured by a material having less resistance than the hollow element, preferably tubular (7) that comprises the rigid part (19), and therefore, when a light or passenger vehicle impacts against the rail (1) the rail transmits the forces sustained to the spacer- shock absorber element (3) and the hollow tubular elements (5) of the deformable part (20) fold over themselves and collapse, and the metal rigid element, preferably tubular (7) of the rigid part (19) stays without having deformed at all, or very slightly, son in essence it works as a distancing element.
In this manner, the spacer- shock absorber element (3) is then configured by a rigid element that is preferably tubular and hollow (7), one or several metal tubular deformable or collapsible elements (5) provided with notches (8) and a metal plate or flat bar (6) that is preferably rectangular.
In an alternative embodiment, the spacer- shock absorber element (3) can be configured in the system, according to the direction perpendicular to the system in a manner opposite as the one described above, by alternating the rigid parts (19) and the deformable parts (20) (see Figure 4a), so the metal plate or flat bar (6) of the deformable part (20) is actually the part affixed to and completely supported by the vertical post (2) and one of the side faces of the metal rigid element, preferably tubular and hollow (7) of the rigid part (19) will be affixed to the horizontal rail (1) (see Figure 4b).
When a light vehicle or passenger car impacts the system, the tubular elements (5) of the deformable part (20) act as absorption pivots, adding a greater area of absorption to the contention system as well as adding greater capacity to channel and distribute the energy absorbed by the structure of the absorbing element (3). During impact, the tubular elements (5) of the deformable part (20) of the spacer- shock absorber element (3) fold exactly by the notches or taperings (8), like an accordion, endowing the contention system with a certain capacity of deforming in a similar manner with each impact of a vehicle, and thus avoiding unforeseen behaviors, and facilitating the function of redirectioning the vehicle, while also lengthening the life of the remaining elements that comprise the contention system. The rigid part, preferably tubular and hollow (7) of the rigid part (19) remains undeformed or only slightly deformed during the impact of a light vehicle.
During impacts involving a heavy vehicle, in addition to the collapsible system comprising the tubular elements (5) of the deformable part (20) of the spacer- shock absorber element (3), folding like an accordion, the other phenomenon that occurs is that the rigid element, preferably tubular and hollow (7) of the rigid part (19) of the spacer- shock absorber element (3), is totally or partially crushed in a rhomboidal or parallelogram shape, depending if the section of the tubular element (7) is respectively square or rectangular. In case of impact against a heavy vehicle, both parts of the spacer element (the rigid and the deformable part) may be deformed and collapse.
In order to avoid that during impact against a heavy vehicle the post (2) may be severed from the system and ejected if the points anchoring it to the terrain (16) and to all the rails (1; 1'; 1"), are cut as a result of all the forces transmitted by the heavy vehicle to the system, a continuous, non-stressed horizontal tie (4) has been incorporated. This tie (4) is shaped as a strip or flange plate having a section, preferably constant, flat or slightly curved and affixed to the frontal face or plate (11) of the post (2) preferably by nuts and bolts (13) that pass through successive holes (14) made to that effect on the surface of the frontal face or plate (11) of the post and through the corresponding holes (21) made on the tie or strap (4). The tie (4) can be placed behind the frontal face or plate (11) of the post, in direct, or very near contact to it by making the tie (4) go through completely through a hole or hollow (17) at the leg or support structure (12) of the post, made to that precise effect (see Figure 3 and Figure 5a). The tie (4) can also be placed from the frontal side and be in direct contact with the frontal face or plate (11) of the post (see Figure 5b).
If the severity of the impact of a heavy vehicle is above certain level of kinetic energy, as determined by the mass of the vehicle and the speed and angularity of the collision, since the post (2) transmits rigidly part of the forces caused by the collision to the elements that anchor the system to the ground or substrate (16) located at the base (18) of the post and the rails (1; 1': 1") also transmit rigidly part of said forces to the elements that join them together and to the post, and both joining elements, those joining the post to the anchoring plate and those joining the post to the rails may fall or break apart. In this case, and since the tie (4) is not stressed and its section module is very small, since is a flat, or only very slightly curved strap, the tie (4) does deform easily, buckling or holding, but without transmitting rigidly the forces sustained to the joining elements (13) securing the tie (4) to the frontal plate (11) of the post (2), and therefore these joining elements (13) do not break, and the posts (2) remain attached to the system by said ties (4), even when the joining elements of rails and anchoring have given out and been released. In this manner, knowing that the impact from a heavy vehicle may break the anchoring joints of only a specific number of posts, the posts that are released are still secured to the tie (4) and this tie (4) is secured to the terrain (16) by the posts that have not been released.

Claims

Side impact vehicle detention system with great detention and energetic absorption capacity, comprising:
- at least two levels of horizontal, continuous longitudinally placed rails (1, 1', 1"), and

- vertical support posts (2), placed at regular intervals,
said vertical support posts (2) further comprising:
- a frontal plate (11),

- a base plate (18),

- and a foot formed by a first and second tubular profile (12) wherein the first tubular profile has a constant cross-section along all its length and is attached to the second tubular profile which presents a decreasing cross-section from top to bottom, this second profile being attached to the front plate (11),
characterized in that, said frontal plate (11) forms a fold or dihedal angle (15) in a way that said frontal plate (11) is configured in a lower segment attached to said second profile and an upper segment attached to said first profile (12) so that a rail (1 ") fixed to said upper segment is placed closer to the traffic ahead of the rest of the side impact vehicle detention system, except for the lowest rail (1).
Side impact vehicle detention system with great detention and energetic absorption capacity according to claim 1, characterized in that, a spacer-shock absorber element (3) made of a rigid metal profile placed between said post (2) and said lowest rail (1) comprises a rigid part (19) which acts as a distancing element when impacted by a light vehicle and a deformable part (20), wherein said rigid part (19) and said deformable part (20) can be placed in two positions between said post (2) and said rail (1), either said rigid part (19) is on the side of said rail (1), or said deformable part (20) is on the side of said rail (1); said rigid part and said deformable part being placed one after the other in the horizontal direction perpendicular to the system and solidariously joined together by suitable joining means, and the set comprised by said rigid and said deformable parts being joined on one side to the lowest rail (1) and on the other to the post (2).
Side impact vehicle detention system with great detention and energetic absorption capacity, according to the preceding claim, characterized in that, said rigid part (19) comprises a rigid, tubular and hollow bar or metal profile (7), said rigid bar having its horizontal axis placed parallel to the longitudinal direction of the system, and a rectangular cross section that has holes (9) on one of its vertical faces to serve as through passages for it to be affixed to either said rail (1), directly or through an inner clamp, or to said frontal plate (11) of said post (2) by joining means in such a manner that the opposite vertical face is solidariously joined to said deformable part (20) by welding.
Side impact vehicle detention system with great detention and energetic absorption capacity, according to any of the previous claims, characterized in that the detention system incorporates a continuous non stressed horizontal tie (4) which has a constant section in the manner of a strap or flange plate that joins the posts (2) together, and which is affixed to the frontal plate (11) and goes behind said frontal plate (11) and through the successive posts (2) by passing through holes drilled to that effect on the posts (2).
Side impact vehicle detention system with great detention and energetic absorption capacity, according to any of the claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the detention system incorporates a continuous non stressed horizontal tie (4) which has a constant section in the manner of a strap or flange plate that joins the posts (2) together and in that it is affixed to the frontal plate (11) of the post (2) before said frontal face and adhered to it , by means of joining elements (13).