FR2712903A1 - Security fence. - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a safety barrier comprising a vertical frame consisting of an upper rail (2) and two uprights, and a lower rail connected on the one hand, by its ends to the uprights of said frame, and, on the other hand, to the upper rail (2) of said frame by means of bars (5). Said lower rail is bent at its ends so as to form a central spar (6) parallel to the upper rail (2) and two side rails (7).

Description

The present invention relates to a safety barrier intended

to contain or channel a crowd.

  Currently known safety barriers such as those described in patent documents FR-A-1 363 138 or FR-A- 1 473 733 have a common structure comprising a frame formed by two horizontal rails, an upper and a lower, and two vertical uprights between which are arranged vertical bars. The frame of these safety barriers is supported by two feet of variable shape, said feet protruding from the vertical frame of the barrier. In most existing models, the feet are indeed positioned perpendicular to the plane

containing the barrier frame.

  Such barriers have many disadvantages. Thus during sports events such as marathons or cycling races, it often happens during mass starts, that athletes running or circulating too close to the barriers hit their feet, thus causing chain falls. But it is especially when arriving at the sprint of a bunch of cyclists that the falls caused by said perpendicular feet are the most serious because of the high speed of the cyclists. Similarly, the barrier feet protruding from the spectator's side are also responsible for twisted ankles or sprains when

crowd movements.

  Current barriers also have drawbacks, particularly during parades, demonstrations or concerts, because they can be easily climbed or spanned by the public. The object of the invention is to remedy the drawbacks of the

previous barriers.

  To this end, a protective barrier according to the invention comprises a vertical frame constituted by an upper beam, a lower beam, and two uprights. Said lower rail is connected on the one hand, by its ends to the uprights of said frame, and on the other hand, to the upper rail of said frame by means of bars. Said lower beam is bent at its ends to form a central spar parallel to the upper beam and two

lateral crosspieces.

  According to another characteristic of the invention, the free ends of the uprights of the safety barrier form the feet of said barrier. According to another characteristic of the invention, the stringer

  bottom is provided with at least one foot.

  According to another characteristic of the invention, the feet are

vertical or re-entrant.

  According to another characteristic of the invention, the angles

  formed by the bends of the bottom rail are obtuse angles.

  According to another characteristic of the invention, the angles of the

  elbows of the bottom rail are approximately equal to 135 degrees.

  The above mentioned features as well as others

  will appear more clearly on reading the following description

  of an exemplary embodiment, this description being made in

  relation to the accompanying drawings, among which: FIG. 1 represents an elevation view of the barrier according to the invention, and FIG. 2 shows a top view of a set of three

barriers according to the invention.

  The safety barrier shown in FIG. 1 comprises a vertical frame 1 constituted by an upper heald 2, and two vertical uprights 3. A bent lower heald 4 is connected, on the one hand, by its ends to the uprights 3 of said frame 1, and on the other hand, at the upper rail 2 of said frame 1 by means of bars 5. The bent lower rail 4 forms a central spar 6

  parallel to the top rail 2 and two lateral crosspieces 7.

  Thanks to the particular structure of the bottom rail 4, the central beam 6 of said rail 4 is offset relative to the vertical plane containing the top rail 2 and the two vertical uprights 3. The barrier then has, seen from above, a base forming a quadrilateral and, seen from the side, a triangular shape. Therefore, it is possible to maintain the barrier in a standing position by adding vertical feet 8a and 8b which will not protrude from the support polygon, thus avoiding any incident with the feet of the barrier. Among these vertical legs 8a and 8b, two 8a will advantageously be constituted by the ends of the uprights 3 of the frame 1 in order to reduce the costs and the manufacturing time. At these two vertical feet 8a, at least one vertical foot mounted on the bottom rail 4 can be added (two feet 8b are shown in Fig. 1). The embodiment with four vertical feet 8a and 8b described in FIG. 1 is particularly advantageous. In fact, it will be understood that the shape of the feet does not matter as long as they do not exceed the support polygon of the barrier. For this

  do, said feet 8a and 8b must be vertical or re-entrant.

  The width of the basic quadrilateral will be defined to be as small as possible while ensuring good stability of the barrier. In the basic quadrilateral, the angle between the central beam 6 and the lateral crosspieces 7 is an obtuse angle. Such a choice allows, when several barriers are connected linearly to each other as shown in the left part of FIG. 2, to leave a free space 9 between the barriers

  adjacent, thus allowing the insertion, on the show side, of the

  speakers or a representative of the order for example. In the embodiment shown in Figs. 1 and 2, the angle chosen is approximately 1350. It also makes it possible to form right angles between two adjacent barriers as shown in the section

right of Fig. 2.

  The connecting means between the barriers are not the subject of the present invention and will therefore not be described here. Such means are known to those skilled in the art and are for example described

  in the French patent document FR-A-1 363 138.

  The central beam 6 being offset relative to the vertical plane containing the top rail 2, the center of gravity of the barrier is shifted forward, on the show side. This results in better stability and a probability of the barrier overturning under the

  significantly lower crowd pressure.

  This same offset of the central beam 6 allows the removal of the lower horizontal rail which formed the framework of many anterior barriers. This deletion has the advantage of reducing the possibility of escalation of the safety barriers by the crowd since it is by resting on the bottom rail that the

  spectators managed to cross these barriers.

  Likewise, the presence of vertical feet or any other foot that does not come out of the support polygon prevents spectators from leaning on them and therefore makes crossing of the

barrier less easy.

  Note that the amounts 3 of frame 1 are not

necessarily vertical.

  It will also be noted that the safety barriers according to the invention can be stacked against each other without longitudinal offset from each other. During the storage of said barriers, each barrier is fitted into the preceding barrier so that the frames 1 and the bottom rails 4 of each of the stacked barriers are placed side by side. This produces rectangular stacks with a bulk

  minimum which does not exceed the width of a barrier.

Claims (5)

  1) Safety barrier comprising a vertical frame (1) consisting of an upper rail (2) and two uprights (3), and a lower rail (4) connected on the one hand, by its ends to the uprights (3) of said frame (1), and, on the other hand, to the upper rail (2) of said frame (1) by means of bars (5), characterized in that said lower rail (4) is bent at its ends in order to form a central beam (6) parallel to the rail   upper (2) and two lateral crosspieces (7).   2) Safety barrier according to claim 1, characterized in that the free ends of the uprights (3) form two feet (8a) of said barrier.   3) Safety barrier according to one of claims   previous, characterized in that the bottom rail (4) is provided with at least one foot (8b).   4) Safety barrier according to one of claims   previous, characterized in that the feet (8a and 8b) are vertical or re-entrant.   ) Safety barrier according to one of the claims   previous, characterized in that the angles formed by the elbows   of the bottom rail (4) are obtuse angles.   6) Safety barrier according to one of claims   previous, characterized in that the angles formed by the elbows of the bottom rail (4) are angles substantially equal to degrees.