FR2654756A1 - DEVICE FOR REMOVABLE ANCHORING OF A POST IN THE GROUND, BASE AND POST INCORPORATING SUCH A DEVICE AND UNLOCKING INSTRUMENT. - Google Patents

Abstract

Device for detachable anchorage of a pole in the ground, characterised in that it comprises a base (13), intended to be sealed into the ground (14), comprising a housing (16) of a shape which at least partially complements that of the outer section of an anchorage portion of the said pole, such that this portion can be fitted therein; a first bearing surface (19), arranged inside the housing (16); a second bearing surface (24, 25), arranged in the said anchorage portion of the pole, opposite the first bearing surface (19) when the anchorage portion (11) is fitted into the housing, the two bearing surfaces then defining, at least partially, an upwardly open conical volume suitable for the engagement of a locking piece (52) comprising a locking portion (53) of a shape which at least partially complements the locking piece, comprising, moreover, a holding point (grip) (26) adapted to interact with the action end of an unlocking lever.

Description

The present invention relates in particular to a

  removable anchoring device for a pole in the ground.

  It also relates to a base and a post incorporating such a device as well as an instrument for unlocking the device. The present invention aims to solve a technical problem which has always arisen in roads: the easy replacement of posts (for example posts carrying signs) anchored in the ground by

  concreting or directly in the bitumen.

  Indeed, the only known and used technique to fix such posts in the ground consists in making in one way or another an orifice intended to receive an anchoring portion of the post, to introduce this anchoring portion into it and pour in the remaining space either cement, bitumen or any other commonly used material

used on roads.

  This procedure has the major drawback that when it is necessary to replace the post, for example as a result of deterioration or rupture of the post, it is then necessary to transplant the concrete or the bitumen. However, such an operation is difficult and costly in time and in material (use of a jackhammer, which in addition generates

significant noise pollution).

  The present invention therefore relates to a removable anchoring device for a pole in the ground

free from these drawbacks.

  By "soil" should be understood the firm ground or any surface covered with a material in which the fixing of a post should be done by taking and hardening of the material around the anchoring portion of the post On the day of the deposit of the present application, it is here essentially referred to cement, asphalt and bitumen However other materials are obviously

  possible without departing from the scope of this invention

  tion. By "pole" is generally meant a tubular element, a portion of which is intended to be anchored in the ground. This tubular element can be used to carry signage, in which case it is a signpost. ; the tubular element can also be used, in conjunction with other elements of the same kind to carry a structure (for example a shelter, a kiosk, a complex structure such

than scaffolding etc).

  The "posts" thus defined have the charac-

  téristique commun that in the prior art their only method of fixing in the "soil" was sealing, for example

  by concreting, with the drawbacks noted above.

  The present invention therefore relates to a removable anchoring device which must meet the following specifications. The device must be simple in order to be easily assimilated in its operation by the people having to anchor a pole in the

  floor and, if necessary, remove the post.

  The device must have, if possible, a low energy cost, or even zero during assembly and during

dismantling of the post.

  Finally, the structure of the device must be such that the cost price of a pole anchored in the ground

  is not increased too much compared to the prior art.

  The invention meets these specifications because, in fact, the removable anchoring device is characterized in that it comprises a base intended to be sealed in the ground comprising a housing of shape, at least partially complementary to that the external section of an anchoring portion of the post so that this portion can fit therein; a first bearing surface arranged inside the housing; a second bearing surface arranged in said anchoring portion of the post, facing the first bearing surface when the anchoring portion is fitted into the housing, the two bearing surfaces then partially define the less, a conical volume open upwards conducive to the engagement of a locking piece comprising a locking portion of at least partially complementary shape, the locking piece comprising another socket adapted to

  cooperate with the action end of a release lever

  rusting. Thanks to these provisions, the invention achieves its objectives In fact, by its extremely simple structure, it is easy to implement, both from the point of view of the manufacture of the device and of its use in the field. in the field is indeed extremely simplified by the very nature of the invention which implements a method already known per se, in other fields, namely the use of a locking piece in the form of a "wedge "It can therefore be easily assimilated. Furthermore, once the post is anchored in the base by means of the wedge, it is easy

  use the lever to disengage the wedge.

  Another object of the present invention relates to the safety of use of such a device, so that the dismantling of a pole cannot be done.

by unauthorized persons.

  So first of all, in an embodiment

  tion of the invention, the lever and the socket provided on the locking piece have a particular geometry, so that only a lever having predetermined characteristics can be used to

unlock the device.

  In addition, generally according to this aspect of the invention, there are provided sealing means.

  preventing access to the locking part.

  In a preferred embodiment, the first bearing surface is formed on a boss of predetermined width arranged on the internal surface of said housing, while the second bearing surface is formed inside a notch arranged in the anchoring portion, of width similar to the boss, a closing part of the notch being provided, the respective geometries of the closing part and the notch being such that the closing part can slide the

  along the indentation without being able to escape sideways-

  is lying. Thanks to these provisions, access to the locking piece is protected because to access it can not release laterally the sealing piece Only the

  sliding up this piece is possible.

  However, to obtain such sliding, it is necessary, as the case may be, to disassemble a means of holding the closure piece or in another embodiment, proceed to sawing the post so that one can sliding said closure piece upwards: these operations are not easy for people not provided with adequate equipment, on the other hand they become easy in the opposite case The present invention therefore achieves here particularly advantageously these objectives: to allow a easy removal of the anchor portion of the pole, while preventing this removal by

unauthorized persons.

  In the preferred embodiment of the present invention, the closure piece is produced by means of two closure profiles adapted to slide on

  ribs that comprise said advantageous notch-

  ment, means are provided for mounting the

  shutter profiles by clipping.

  The present invention also relates on the one hand, to a post comprising an anchoring portion and on the other

  hand, a base with the succinct characteristics-

mentioned above.

  The characteristics and advantages of the invention

  tion will also emerge from the description which goes

  follow next to the attached drawings in which:

  Figure 1 is a schematic view il-

  buffing a sign post comprising a device

anchor according to the invention.

  Figure 2 is an exploded perspective view with partial cutaway of the anchoring device shown schematically in Figure 1, Figure 3 is a partial sectional view of the device, Figure 3a is a view similar to Figure 3, the device being assembled, an unlocking tool being partially illustrated, in the working position, FIG. 4 is a cross section along the line IV-IV of FIG. 3, FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the locking piece used in the mode of achievement

illustrated in figures 2 and 3.

  Figure 6 illustrates in cross section

a shutter profile.

  Figure 6a illustrates in cross section the mounting of two closure sections in the anchoring portion of the post, Figure 7 is a perspective view of the tool used to unlock the device according to the present invention, Figure 8 is an elevational view of the device illustrated in FIG. 6 in FIG. 9 is a perspective view of the

base illustrated in Figures 1 to 3.

  According to the embodiment chosen and shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, the anchoring device, which has the general reference 10, comprises on the one hand, an anchoring portion 11 of a post 12 and on the other hand, a base 13 intended to be sealed in the ground 14 The post 12 is here a sign post and carries for this purpose

a panel 15.

  As noted above, this

  invention is in no way limited to sign posts

  tion, although the latter is a privileged application

  In addition, in this embodiment, the post has over its entire length an identical section: in other applications, this will not be the case and in what follows we will essentially refer

  to the anchoring portion of any post.

  The anchoring base 13 is constituted by a metal piece intended to be sealed in the ground and to

  receiving the anchoring portion 11 of the post.

  In accordance with a characteristic of the invention

  tion, the base comprises for this purpose a housing 16 of shape partially complementary to that of the external section

of the anchoring portion 11.

  In the embodiment chosen and shown

  felt the base, which is visible in perspective in Figure 9, is in the form of a well The housing 16 of shape complementary to that of the anchoring portion 11 extends over the entire height of the base The housing is open on an upper face 33 of the base and, at its opposite end, the well formed by the housing 16 is closed by a wall 62 acting as a stop for the lower part 63 of the anchoring portion 11 In

  Following the description, other characteristics will be specified.

  housing characteristics 16. Referring to FIG. 9, the anchoring base

  13 has a generally parallelepiped external shape.

  that including in particular four vertical extension faces 61, and the housing bottom abutment wall 62 Four fins 64 are formed on the edges 65 forming the junction of the vertical extension faces 61 It is also observed that, in the vicinity of its end upper part, the part forming the base flares substantially so as to form a rim 66 formed at the upper periphery of the

base 13.

  The fins 64 have the function of facilitating the maintenance of the base 13 in the bitumen or the concrete: this is why a free space 70 is left between the upper end 67 of each fin 64 and the lower face 68 of the bead 66 ( see Figure 1 and 9) In the embodiment chosen and shown, the base 13 has a height of about 22 cm, the fins 64

  spanning about half of this height.

  Figure 4 is a cross section of the anchoring portion 11 In this figure there is shown in thin dashed lines, the base 13 and more precisely the housing 16 It is observed that effectively this housing is of complementary shape on all the outskirts of

  the section of portion 11, except at the level of a notch

  re 17 to which we will return later.

  According to the invention, a first bearing surface 19 is arranged inside the housing 16. In the embodiment described here, the first bearing surface 19 is arranged on a

  boss 18 formed on the internal surface of said housing.

  In this case, it is observed that the housing 16 has, in section, a generally rectangular shape; the boss 18 is formed on one of the long sides of the rectangle. This boss extends over the major part of the height of the housing 16 (see FIG. 3). The boss 18 has a width similar to that of the longitudinal extension notch 17 formed in the anchoring portion 11, so that when the anchoring portion 11 is fitted into the housing 16, the notch 17 of the anchor portion slides from side and

on the other side of the boss 18, FIG. 4.

  The notch 17 has in cross section an overall "U" shape and has a rear face 21 (base of the "U") extending vertically and parallel to the front 45 and rear 46 surfaces, as well as two lateral faces 23,23 '(branches of the "U" in cross section) extending vertically and perpendicular to the rear face

  21 A central rib 20 extends along the axis lon-

  gitudinal of the anchoring portion of the post The cross section of the rib 20 forms a "T" This is arranged on the base of the "U" Two lateral ribs 22, 22 'are arranged on the lateral surfaces 23, 23' of the notch 17 and if we consider the cross section illustrated in Figure 4, we observe that the ribs

  side 22,22 'are arranged on the branches of the "U".

  The faces 24, 24 ′ facing the outside of the lateral ribs and the external face 25 of the "T" wing of the central rib 20 are coplanar and define a

second bearing surface.

  It is observed that this second bearing surface is located opposite the first bearing surface 19 when the anchoring portion 11 is nested in the housing

  16, as illustrated in particular in FIG. 3 a.

  It is also observed that in accordance with a characteristic of the invention, the bearing surfaces define, when the anchoring portion is fitted into the housing of the base, a conical volume open upwards. This conical volume is visible, in section

longitudinal, in Figure 3 a.

  According to the invention, the conical volume thus defined is conducive to the engagement of a piece of

  lock 52 comprising a portion called "lock"

  lage "53 of shape, at least partially complementary, to said conical volume The locking part has

  here, in fact, in longitudinal section, the same form-

  metrapezoidal than that defined, in longitudinal section by the second bearing surface formed by the surfaces

  24, 24 'and 25 and the first bearing surface 19.

  We observe in this respect that the conical volume

  thus defined presents in this case several characteristics

  ques: this is only a partial volume defined by surfaces, one of which is fragmented This conical volume is in fact materialized by the conical part 53 of the locking part which will be described below In other modes of realization the conical volume can be defined

  by a second continuous and non-fragmented bearing surface.

  However, the arrangement presently described presents

  advantages which will appear in the following description,

  the conical shape of the volume defined by the bearing surfaces or by the part 23 of the part 22 is determined by two rectangular guiding curves: upper rectangle 54 and lower rectangle 55 of the portion 53 of the locking part 52) In d ' other embodiments of other conical shapes can be

  envisaged, in particular with circular guiding curves

  The operation of the device which will be described

  below will not be changed.

  According to the invention, the locking piece further comprises a socket adapted to cooperate

  with the action end of a locking lever.

  In the embodiment chosen and represented

  tee, the locking part comprises on the one hand, the conical locking portion 53 described above and on the other hand, a socket 26 constituted by a rib 27 extending beyond the upper rectangular face 54 of the portion 53 and an unlocking rib 28 capable of cooperating with the action end 29 of a

unlocking lever 30.

  The unlocking lever 30 is visible in FIG. 7 and has been shown in thin broken lines in FIG. 3 a. It has, on the one hand, a handle 31 at one end of which the action end 29 is arranged. It is observed that the action end 29 is in the form of an edge offset relative to the axis of the handle 31 and substantially oriented upward. A support roller 32 is disposed near the action end 29. Operation of the device now goes

be described.

  When a sign post such as the one illustrated in figure 1 must be anchored in the ground, the first operation consists in sealing, by means of bitumen

  or concrete the anchoring base 13 as shown diagrammatically

  only in FIG. 1, the upper face 33 of the base 13 however being flush with the rest of the ground 14,

  so that the opening 16 is clear.

  The anchoring portion 11 of the post 12 is then engaged in the opening 16 as illustrated diagrammatically in FIG. 1 and in more detail in FIGS. 1, 2, and 3 a The locking piece 22 is then introduced into the defined conical space by the first bearing surface 19 on the one hand, the second bearing surface (faces 24, 24 'and 25) on the other hand As the shape of the locking section 1 1 53 of the part 52 is complementary to that of the conical space mentioned above, a wedging phenomenon occurs between the locking piece 52 on the one hand, and said bearing surfaces on the other hand This wedging phenomenon can be accentuated by forcing, for example by means of a hammer and a chisel, the part 52 to be penetrated

even more in conical space.

  The post is therefore firmly anchored in the ground and can only be released by a very strong pull.

  important upwards due to the wedging effect.

  When it is desired to remove the post 12, the unlocking lever is presented as illustrated in FIG. 3 a so that the action end 29, which, in this embodiment, in the form of a sharp edge, comes abut against the underside 37 of rib 28 of the locking piece 52 By exerting a downward force on the handle 31 of the lever 30, a moment of force is created allowing the piece to be easily released

  locking 22, despite the jamming of the latter.

  We can then easily clear the post 12.

  We observe that thanks to this

  invention, it is easy to install a pole, the main

  main assembly operations requiring a relatively short intervention time and which can be easily

  assimilated It is no less easy to remove

  of the post or the anchoring portion of the post, (in case

  deterioration of the latter, for example).

  We will now describe another aspect of the

  present invention relating to security.

  First, we observe, in Figure 3a, that the

  geometry of the various parts in play (locking part

  lage, support surfaces, lever) is such that only a specialized tool such as lever 30 can be used to carry out the mounting. This has an important impact in terms of safety: indeed only people equipped with such lever, or an equivalent lever can disassemble a post. We will, however, describe another aspect of the invention making it possible to protect access to the locking piece. According to this aspect of the invention, there is provided a closure piece for the notch 17, the respective geometries of the closure piece and the notch 17 being such that the closure piece can slide the

  along the indentation without being able to escape sideways-

is lying.

  In the embodiment chosen and represented

  tee, the closure piece is made by means of two closure profiles 40.40 '(Figures 6, 6a and 8) adapted to slide on the side ribs 22.22' and on the ribs 41.41 'formed by the "T" wing of the rib

central 20.

  In fact, the closure profiles 40.40 'have a generally parallelepiped shape with a "U" section, grooves 42 being formed on the external lateral faces of the profiles 40.40' More precisely, if we consider the cross section of a profile, the grooves 42 are formed on the outside of these branches of the "U", in a section 43 of said branches arranged

  substantially recessed inward.

  In addition, in cross section, Figure 6, it is observed that the section 43 has a substantially trapezoidal or triangular shape so that the closure profile has, at said ends of

  branch 43 a width substantially less than the spreader

  ment existing between the ribs 22 and 41 on the one hand, 22 'and 41' on the other hand Side orientation surfaces

oblique 49 are thus delimited.

  How this aspect of the invention works

will now be described.

  In the illustrated embodiment the sample

  slot 17 at a height such that a predetermined distance is present between the upper end 48 of the notch 17 and the surface 33 of the base when the anchoring portion 11 is fitted into the base 13 The profiles of obturation have a length corresponding to this

predetermined distance.

  Once the post mounting operations have been carried out as described above, the closure profiles 40, 40 ′ are presented opposite the notch 17. The oblique surfaces 49 respectively of the profiles, 40 ′ then abut against the edges 50 of the rib 41 and 51 of the rib 22 (respectively edges 'of the rib 41' and 51 'of the rib 22'), as illustrated in FIG. 6 By exerting a radial pressure (arrow F) on each of the obturation profiles 40 , 40 'the sections 43 of each of these profiles tend to resiliently move towards one another: these profiles are then clipped in place, the ribs 41 (41') and 22 (22 ') engaging in the longitudinal grooves 42 des

sections 43 (figure 6 a).

  Thus, in accordance with a characteristic of the invention, it is no longer possible to release the profiles 40 laterally, because the grooves 42 are retained by the

ribs considered.

  On the other hand, these sections can in certain circumstances slide on the rails formed by the ribs 22,22 ', 41,41' However, after their

  put in place, these profiles abut against the upper edge

  lower 48 of notch 17: they cannot slide

to the top.

  If the post 12 is to be replaced, as a result of deterioration, it suffices to saw the post at the level of line II in FIG. 1 In this way the stop formed by the edge 48 disappears and the profiles 40, 40 ′ can then slide along the aforementioned rails as illustrated in FIG. 8 One can then clear the access to the locking piece 52 and proceed with its removal

as illustrated in figure 3 a.

  Of course, those skilled in the art will be able to provide other means allowing the sliding of

  profiles upwards, to prevent untimely disassembly

tif of the device.

  In general, the present invention has only been described by way of illustration and encompasses any variant within the reach of ordinary skill in the art. In particular, a shutter piece consisting of two sections has been provided. This closure piece can obviously be formed by a single profile. Similarly, as mentioned above, the bearing surfaces can be

fragmented or continuous.

Claims (9)

  1 anchoring device (10) removable from a post (12) in the ground, characterized in that it comprises a base (13), intended to be sealed in the ground (14), comprising a housing (16) , of form, at least partially, complementary to that of the external section of an anchoring portion of said post so that this portion can fit therein; a first bearing surface (19), arranged inside the housing (16); a second bearing surface (24, 24 ′, 25), arranged in said anchoring portion of the post, coming opposite the first bearing surface (19) when the anchoring portion (11) is fitted in the housing, the two bearing surfaces then defining, at least partially, a conical volume open upwards conducive to the engagement of a locking piece (52) comprising a locking portion (53) of form at least partially, complementary, the locking piece further comprising a socket (26) adapted to cooperate with the end   action (29) of an unlocking lever (30).   2 Device according to claim 1, characterized in that said first bearing surface is arranged on a boss (18) of predetermined width formed on the internal surface of said housing, while said anchoring portion has a notch of longitudinal extension (17) of similar width in which is   managed the second bearing surface.   3 Device according to one of the characteristics   1.2, characterized in that it comprises a sealing piece   tion (40.40 ') preventing access to the locking part (52).   4 Device according to claim 3, characterized in that the geometry of the closure piece (40.40 ') and that of the notch (17) are such that the closure piece can slide along the notch   (17) without being able to escape laterally.   Device according to any one of   claims 1 to 4, characterized in that said portion   anchoring is made in the form of a profile having a notch having, in cross section a "U" shape, a central rib (20) whose cross section forms a "T" being arranged on the base of the "U" and extending parallel to the longitudinal axis of the anchoring portion, two longitudinal lateral ribs (22,22 ') being respectively arranged on the branches of the "U", the faces (24,24') facing the outside lateral ribs and (25) and the "T" wing of the central rib being   coplanar and define said second bearing surface.   6 Device according to claim 5, characterized in that the two lateral ribs and the central rib define rails suitable for guiding closure profiles (40.40 ') having for this purpose grooves (42) of shape partially complementary to that of the lateral ribs (22,22 ') and that of the lateral portions (41,41') of the wing of the "T" of the rib central (20).   7 Device according to claim 6, characterized in that the closure profiles (40.40 ') have a generally parallelepiped shape with a "U" section, said grooves (42) being formed outside in a portion ( 43) branches of the "U", substantially inwardly set back, and at the end of said branches, distant from the base of the "U", this end being of substantially trapezoidal or triangular cross section so that the profile d the closure has, at the level of said ends of the branches, a width substantially less than the spacing existing between each lateral rib and the end of the wing of the   "T" of the central rib opposite it.   8 Pole comprising an anchoring section (11) having the characteristics defined in one   any of claims 1 to 7.   9 Base (13) having the characteristics   defined in any one of claims 1 to 7.   Base according to claim 9, characterized in that retaining fins (64) are provided on its exterior, a space (67) being left free between the upper part of the fins and the upper end (66) of the base (13).   11 Device release lever   anchor according to any one of claims 1 to 7.