FR2532679A1 - Safety and protection shelter - Google Patents

Abstract

This shelter with walls resistant to shocks and impacts comprises, in combinations: a door which is held open by an appropriate means, a floor which is retractable under the effect of a specific weight and allowing the door to be brought into the closed position, an electrical power source S, a first means D1 for detecting a size or a volume after closure of contacts 6-9, a second means D2 for detecting a movement, electromechanical means R-A-13-14-15-P for locking the door and emitting at least one distress signal G and an electromechanical means of manual unlocking B with timing T-T1.

Description

 The present invention relates to a safety and protection cabin-refuge.

 The multiple assaults of people circulating in urban agglomerations pose the problem of protecting citizens.

 One of the possible solutions to solve this problem resides in the construction of enclosures or premises inside which the threatened person (s) and / or prosecuted could take refuge in safety while awaiting help while remaining at the shelter from attacks by weapons, projectiles or other types of aggression.

Such enclosures, hereinafter called cabin refuges, must however meet a certain number of conditions, the main ones being: that these cabin refuges are of easy access;
. that they allow a person entering it to lock themselves in without the possibility of outside intervention unless they have a special means to do so;
they are made of impact and impact resistant materials, in particular proof against all projectiles including firearms projectiles;
that they are provided with means for transmitting at least one distress signal intended to allow
Rescue intervention;
; that they can fulfill the above conditions in all circumstances independently;
that they allow the person who has taken refuge there to possibly free themselves from themselves once the danger has arisen '
that they cannot be easily put "out of service" by acts or phenomena tending to neutralize or disturb the function or functions of the elements or devices involved in their realization; and
that they play their role fully only in the case where at least one natural person has actually entered it, to the exclusion of any object that may be placed there or of any animal that may enter it.

However, these main conditions and others which will emerge from the description which follows are fulfilled by the cabin-refuge which is the subject of the present invention.
This cabin of any suitable volume, size and shape, the walls of which are made of impact and impact resistant materials and which may be totally or partially transparent, is essentially characterized by the fact that it comprises, in combination:
a door kept in a permanent position opened by any appropriate means
a floor mounted so as to be able to sink under the effect of a determined weight;
means controlled by said depression of said floor to allow the operation of said door and bring it to its closed position;
. a source of electrical energy;
a first means connected to said source of electrical energy under the effect of the depression of said floor and known to detect the presence in the cabin of a body corresponding to a given volume and X or to given dimensions of height and X or width and / or thickness ;;
second means connected to said first detection means and designed to detect whether the body already detected by the first means is or is not animated, thus confirming the presence of a human being;
electro-mechanical means connected to said second detection means controlling the locking of the door closing and at least the emission of a distress signal; and
at least one electro-mechanical means allowing the manual control of unlocking and opening of said door.

According to an advantageous embodiment:
the floor, in normal position, itself constitutes the means for maintaining the door in the permanent open position by mounting in abutment against this door and for allowing, by its depression and its retraction, the free closing of the latter;
a means of the calibrated spring type is provided to allow the erasure of the floor only from a given weight;
, the first detection means comprises a system of the type with photoelectric cells suitably arranged so as to detect only a body having at least a given volume and / or dimension;
the second detection means comprises a system of the movement-sensitive type controlling the electro-mechanical means for locking the door closing and transmitting a signal only if on the one hand at least one pulse is received from the first means of detection and if, on the other hand, movement occurs in the cabin; . the electro-mechanical manual control means for unlocking and opening the door is connected to a delay circuit itself supplied by said second detection means.

Other characteristics and advantages of the invention will emerge more clearly from the description which follows, given with reference to the appended drawings in which:
Figure 1 is an elivation-sectional view of the floor of a cabin according to the invention and a portion of its door;
. FIG. 2 is a corresponding plan view thereof; and
. Figure 3 is a schematic view of the electrical and electro-mechanical circuit with which a cabin according to the invention is fitted.

 Referring to Figures 1 and 2 of these drawings, a cabin according to the invention which can have any shape and any dimension and whose walls are made of a material resistant to shocks and impacts including the test of projectiles of firearms, these walls being able to be totally or partially transparent, comprises a door (1) advantageously- permanently maintained in an open position by the bevelled edge (2) of a floor (3) mounts articulated in (4) . This floor occupies in a normal position, an inclined position so as to project from the horizontal and constitute by its edge (2) a stop for the door (1).

 Furthermore, this floor is urged upwards by at least one spring or a series of springs such as 5 working under compression. This or these springs are calibrated so as to allow the floor to be pushed in only under the action of a determined weight for the reasons which will appear below. In addition, a contact such as (6) is also provided to be actuated at the time of said insertion. The role and function of this contact will also emerge below with regard to the diagram in FIG. 3 which will be described both with regard to the constituent elements of the system shown and the operation of I1 together.

 A source of electric current (S) supplies this assembly. This source can be of any type: mains, batteries, etc. It can be associated with any auxiliary backup device in the event of a breakdown as well as with any control device not forming part of the present invention. A general switch (I) ensures the supply of current to the cabin or the interruption of this supply. A relay (AL) may be provided.

 The explanation of the diagram in FIG. 3 will be better understood assuming the introduction of a body inside the cabin.

 If this body is of sufficient weight for the floor (3) to sink by compressing the tared spring or springs (5), the contact 6 closes. The contacts (7) - and (8) being normally closed (position shown in dashed lines) the current could flow on the condition that the other contacts of the circuit described below are also closed.

 Two cases can arise: either the door is stressed under any action, towards its closed position or it is bare.

 In the second case nothing happens, the current cannot continue to flow. By cons in the first case, the door by means of an electrical contact disposed at any suitable point and shown schematically in 9 allows the passage of current by closing this contact. This current via the normally closed contact (10) (in dashed lines on the diagram) supplies the first detection circuit (D1) by supplying the general relay (R1) detection circuit can be of the photoelectric cell type. The latter are arranged in such a way that their beams are cut from a certain height and possibly from a certain width andXou of a certain thickness. The height constitutes an interesting parameter to allow in a first stage a selection between , on the one hand, any body, or even an animal which can be introduced or can be introduced into the cabin to cut said beams and, on the other hand, a person brought to 'take refuge there. The width and the thickness can complete this first selection.

 If therefore this body present in the cabin does not present the votilu parameter, the current cannot continue to flow despite the closed contacts 7, 6, 9 and 10.

On the other hand, if the parameter is satisfied, the corresponding contacts 11, 12 close and the current can cross the circuit.

 However, this initial detection and selection is not enough to ensure that it is indeed a person.

Also there is provided, according to the invention a second detection device (D2), for example-type "radar" sensitive to movement. Thus, if the body present in the cabin satisfies the size and / or volume conditions and if this body is agitated, the radar relay R is energized and closes the contact (13) so that an auxiliary power relay is supplied (A) which, thus supplied, in turn closes the contacts (14) and (15). It will be noted that once the relay (A) is supplied, it will remain so to constitute a self-supply of the corresponding circuit, the relay (R) having been used only for an initial detection.

 Thanks to the closed contact (15) and to the closed contacts 8, 16 and 17 (the role of which will be seen below), it is then possible to supply all appropriate devices such as a rotating beacon (G)! (mounted, for example, outside the cabin) a device for ventilating or ventilating the cabin (V), a tape recorder (M) giving the appropriate instructions and advice, a device for emitting a signal distress or call in connection with a first aid station (AP) and especially the electrical locking (P) of the door by action on its strike by a system of any known type not falling within the scope of the invention.

 In addition, a time delay device (T) is supplied to maintain the closed position, for a determined time, contact (T1) itself connected to the door locking system (P). Losing all this time, the contact T1 always remaining closed, the person in the cabin cannot be released unless the external emergency services act by means of an appropriate key on the closed contact (16). By cons, at the end of this time said.

time delay, the T1 contact opens and the person who has taken refuge in the cabin can free himself if he judges the danger averted by pressing the button controlling the B contact. This action results in the switching off of supplying the device (P) for locking the door and therefore for easy opening thereof. Likewise, if for some reason the person who has entered the cabin has a key, it may be easy for him to get out before the end of the time delay by acting on the contact 17.

 From the above we immediately realize that for the cabin to play the role of refuge and protection assigned to it, its door must not be able to lock if it is not certain that it it is indeed a person and not a foreign body or even an animal and this is established by four criteria, namely the weight acting on the depression of the floor, the closing of the door, the detection of 'volume or size -detection of a movement. The door must also be able to be locked and cannot be opened from the outside, unless an appropriate key is available. It is also necessary that aid stations are alerted and that they can intervene.

In addition, a person in the cabin must be able to free himself after a certain time once the danger has been eliminated. Of course, the cabin must be made to resist shocks, impacts and projectiles.
It is also possible to provide, in association with the circuit described above, an auxiliary backup circuit in the event of a power supply failure supplied by the main source (S).

 This auxiliary circuit may include a battery-powered circuit (W) which will supply thanks to the closed contacts (7, 8) (positions shown in solid lines) and when the contacts (6-9) corresponding to the depression are closed from the floor and when the door closes, as well as the contact 10 (in the position shown in solid lines) a circuit comprising a siren (O) and possibly a setpoint indicator panel (C) as well as a signal transmitter at the stations emergency (AC) by closing the T2 contact.

 It goes without saying that the present invention has been described for purely explanatory and in no way limitative and that any useful modification may be made thereto without departing from its scope.

Claims (6)

 1. Safety and protection cabin-refuge of all appropriate sizes and shapes, the walls of which are made of impact and impact resistant materials and which may be totally or partially transparent, essentially characterized in that it comprises, in combination  a door (1) maintained in a permanent open position by any appropriate means;  a floor (3) mounted in a hinge to be able to sink under the effect of a determined weight;  means (2) controlled by said depression of said floor to allow the operation of said door and bring it to its closed position;  . a source of electrical energy (S);  . a first means (Dl) connected to said source of electrical energy under the effect of the depression of said floor and designed to detect the presence in the cabin of a body corresponding to a given volume and / or to given dimensions of height, and / or width, and / or thickness;  second means (D2) connected to said first detection means and designed to detect whether the body already detected by the first means (D1) is or is not animated, thereby confirming the presence of a human being;  . electro-mechanical means (R-A-13-14-15-P) connected to said second detection means controlling the locking of the door closing and at least the emission of a distress signal (G); and  at least one electro-mechanical means (B) allowing the manual control of unlocking and opening of said door.  2. Cabin refuge according to claim 1, charac terized by the fact that the floor, in normal position, itself constitutes the means for maintaining the door in the permanent open position by mounting in abutment against this door and to allow, by its sinking and its flight, the free closing of the latter.  3. Cabin refuge according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that a calibrated spring type means (5) is provided to allow the erasure of the floor only from a given weight.  4. Cabin-refuge according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the first detection means (D 1) comprises a system of the type with photoelectric cells suitably arranged so as to detect only a body having at least a given volume and / or dimension  5 Cabin refuge according to any one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that the second detection means (D 2) comprises a radar type system (R) sensitive to movement controlling the electromechanical means for locking the closing the door and transmitting a signal only if on the one hand at least one pulse is reviewed from the first detection means (D 1) and if, on the other hand, a movement occurs in the cabin.  6. Cabin-refuge according to any one of claims 1- to 5, characterized in that the electro-mechanical manual control means for unlocking and opening the door is connected to a timing circuit (T - T1 ) itself supplied by said second detection means.