FR3041366A1 - PASSIVE SAFETY SIGNALING POSITION SUPPORT - Google Patents

Abstract

The present invention relates to a support (1) passive safety arranged to be fixed on the ground (2) and support a pole (3) characterized in that it comprises a base (10 arranged to be anchored to the ground (2, an upper flange (11) disposed above said base (10), gripping means (12) fixed on said upper flange (11) and adapted to cooperate with the lower end of the pole (3) to fix the latter on said upper flange (11), and connecting rods (13) connecting the base (10) and the upper flange (11) to each other, each of the connecting rods (13) being assembled, on the one hand, to its lower end on said base (10) by a detachable connection or not and, on the other hand, at its upper end on said upper flange (11) by a ball joint.

Description

Technical area

The present invention relates to the general field of signaling and more particularly to a support for the fixing of a signal pole. The invention finds a preferred but non-limiting application in road signs.

Prior art

In the field of signaling including road, are well known signs consisting of a metal plate of any shape, triangular or round for example, providing a substrate receiving on the front a decor such as a symbol or pictogram showing road signs, for example. This type of sign is conventionally associated with a vertical post-type upright, preferably tubular, anchored in the ground or secured to a support fixed on the ground. This assembly thus formed is disposed at the immediate edge of a traffic lane and allows to clearly indicate a direction or a place, for example.

However, this type of assembly represents a danger to the safety of passengers on board a vehicle during an impact of the latter on said assembly. Indeed, the majority of bodily accidents are related to inappropriate behavior during a collision of lateral obstacles, such as trees, slides or poles, located at the immediate edge of a traffic lane.

To overcome this disadvantage, there are several solutions.

The first solution is to install the pole and sign assemblies out of the danger zones, that is to say 4 or 5 meters from the edge of the taxiway. However, this solution, which is easy to implement, makes the signaling inefficient because not very legible insofar as it removes the panels of the taxiway and its users.

The second solution is to install the post and signal panel assemblies behind a guardrail positioned along the taxiway. This solution is very effective but requires the implementation of a particularly expensive safety slide and a real danger for drivers of 2 wheels in case of road exit.

Finally, there is also a third solution consisting of the establishment of the signal post on a passive safety support (SSP), also called "fuses". This solution is also authorized by the decree of 9 April 2015, published in the Official Journal of 18 April 2015, which marks in particular the end in France of administrative procedures for road managers and insists on the need to install fuse holders throughout the French road network in order to combat road safety and minimize the severity of accidents. The objective of the SSP is to absorb the energy generated by a shock with a vehicle so as to break, deform or eject during the shock so as not to constitute an obstacle for the vehicle: the latter being more stopped in its race and the consequences in terms of impact for the occupants of the vehicle being then greatly reduced. SSPs are classified according to at least the following three criteria: the maximum impact speed, the maximum amount of energy absorbed and the direction of impact.

Thus, an SSP is already known comprising a mast provided with a fusible lower part, in the form of an aluminum lattice structure, anchored to the ground and able to deform and to yield during an impact. This mast, which flexes to absorb energy and then cuts off at its base, is not projected and falls back to the crash site ensuring the safety of the passengers of the accident vehicle and cars circulating around the accident. However, this type of SSP is particularly expensive to produce and bulky in height, the trellis structure measuring about two meters high.

Presentation of the invention

The present invention aims to overcome the drawbacks of the prior art and aims to provide an alternative to the passive safety support for known signpost, simple and compact design, easy to implement and to ensure a perfect visualization signaling. In this regard, the subject of the present invention is a passive safety support arranged to be fixed on the ground and to support a remarkable post in that it comprises a base arranged to be anchored to the ground, an upper flange disposed above said base, gripping means fixed on said upper flange and adapted to cooperate with the lower end of the post to fix the latter on said upper flange, and connecting rods connecting the base and the upper flange between them, each connecting rods being assembled, on the one hand, at its lower end on said base by a detachable or non-removable connection and, on the other hand, at its upper end on said upper flange by a ball joint. The base and the upper flange respectively have preferably the same number of second orifices passing therethrough, said second orifices being adapted to cooperate with the connecting rods to allow their attachment to said base and the second orifices being adapted to cooperate with connecting members to allow the connecting rods to be secured to said upper flange and thus ensure the connection between the latter and the base.

Said second respective orifices are arranged so that each second orifice of the base is coaxial with the corresponding second orifice of the upper flange so that the longitudinal axes of the connecting rods are parallel to each other.

Said axes of the second orifices are advantageously parallel to one another.

Preferably, said second orifices are respectively distributed on the base and on the upper flange uniformly along a second circle.

Furthermore, the base and the upper flange preferably comprise respectively a plurality of first orifices passing through them from one side, said first orifices being adapted to cooperate with anchoring members for fixing said base on the ground and said first orifices. being able to cooperate with fasteners for fixing the gripping means on said upper flange.

Said first orifices are respectively distributed on the base and on the upper flange uniformly along a first circle.

According to a preferred embodiment, the gripping means comprise two shells each provided with an internal cavity whose shape is complementary to the outer shape of said post and intended to be arranged facing each other and clamped against each other. another to grip the lower end of the pole.

Moreover, each connecting member advantageously comprises spherical washers arranged on the associated connecting rod on either side of the upper flange and clamping members holding said spherical washers in position against the upper and lower faces of the upper flange.

The upper flange is an annular plate.

The gripping means are preferably fixed below the upper flange so as to be disposed between the base and said upper flange. The base is an annular plate of the same dimensions as those of the upper flange.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES Other advantages and features will become more apparent from the following description of an alternative embodiment of a passive safety support with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: FIG. 1 is a perspective view of FIG. a pole assembly and signaling panel set up on a passive safety support according to the invention; FIG. 2 is an enlarged perspective view of the passive safety support of FIG. 1; - Figure 3 is a top view of the support of Figure 2; - Figure 4 is a sectional view of the support of Figure 2 along the axis IV-IV 'of Figure 3.

Best way to realize the technical invention

FIG. 1 shows the passive safety support 1, according to the invention, resting on the ground 2 and supporting a post 3 whose upper end receives a signaling panel 4 consisting of a plate 5, which is conventionally metallic. , providing a substrate receiving on the front face 6 a decoration 7 such as a symbol or a pictogram showing road signs, for example.

The passive safety support will be described below when used on horizontal ground. It goes without saying that the floor on which said support member 1 is arranged may also be more or less inclined, the terms vertical and / or horizontal, up and / or down will then be adapted to the inclination of said floor 2.

Referring to Figures 2 to 4, the support 1 comprises a base 10 adapted to be anchored to the ground 2, an upper flange 11 disposed above and substantially parallel to said base 10, gripping means 12 attached to said upper flange 11 and adapted to cooperate with the lower end of the pole 3 to fix the latter on said upper flange 11 (see Figure 1) to secure the latter on said upper flange 11, and connecting rods 13 connecting the base 10 and flange superior 11 between them. The base 10 is advantageously an annular plate having a plurality of first orifices 101 passing through it from one side to the other, the latter being able to cooperate with suitable anchoring members, not shown, such as, for example, chemical pins or self-expanding or anchoring butts, for securely fixing said base 10 on the ground 2 (see Figure 1). For reasons of uniform distribution of the mechanical forces, said first orifices 101 are advantageously distributed on the base 10 uniformly along a first circle El. The base 10 further comprises a plurality of second orifices 102 passing therethrough. part and being able to cooperate with the connecting rods 13 to allow their attachment to said base 10. For obvious reasons of uniform distribution of the mechanical forces, said second orifices 102 are advantageously distributed on the base 10 uniformly along a second circle E2, advantageously different from the first circle El and even more advantageously with a diameter greater than that of the first circle El.

According to a preferred embodiment, the connecting rods 13 are threaded and the second orifices 102 are provided with threads 103 (see FIG. 4) in order to enable the lower end of each connecting rod 13 to be screwed into the base. 10.

However, the connecting rods 13 may be fixed by any other method or means for obtaining a detachable connection or not between said connecting rods 13 and the base 10. Thus, the connecting rods 13 may be fixed by welding or gluing, without departing from the scope of the present invention.

The upper flange 11 is also an annular plate having a plurality of first orifices 111 and a plurality of second orifices 112 passing therethrough. For obvious reasons of uniform distribution of the mechanical forces, said first and second orifices 111, 112 are respectively distributed on the upper flange 11 uniformly along a first and a second circle F1, F2, the second circle F2 being advantageously different from the first circle F1 and even more advantageously with a diameter greater than that of the first circle F1.

The first orifices 111 are able to cooperate with suitable fastening members 14, such as, for example, bolts, for fixing the gripping means 12 on said upper flange 11.

The second orifices 112 are capable of cooperating with connecting members 15 to enable the connecting rods 13 to be secured to said upper flange 11 and thus to provide the connection between the latter and the base 10.

Each connecting member 15 is such as to provide a connection of the ball-and-socket type between the associated connecting rod 13 and the upper flange 11. For this purpose, each connecting member 15 comprises spherical washers 151 arranged on the connecting rod 13 associated on either side of the upper flange 11 and the clamping members 152, of the nut type for example, maintaining said washers with spherical bearing 151 in position against the upper and lower faces of the upper flange 11 (see Figure 4) .

The ball joints between the associated connecting rod 13 and the upper flange 11 allow the passive safety support 1 according to the invention to bend before breaking during an impact so as to increase its mechanical strength without having to increase significantly. the dimensions of the parts constituting said support 1.

For obvious reasons of reducing manufacturing costs, the base 10 and the upper flange 11 advantageously have the same shapes and dimensions, and the first and second circles E1, E2 of the base 10 are respectively identical to the first and second circles F1, F2 of the upper flange 11. Furthermore, for the same reasons, the base 10 and the upper flange 11 obviously have the same number of respective second orifices 102, 112 and the latter will be arranged so that each second orifice 102 of the base 10 is coaxial. with the corresponding second orifice 112 of the upper flange 11. In addition, advantageously, the axes of said second orifices 102, 112 are parallel to one another.

With this advantageous configuration, the connecting rods 13 will then be arranged so as to have their longitudinal axis perpendicular to the upper face 104 of the base 10, said longitudinal axes being parallel to each other (see FIG. 4).

However without departing from the scope of the present invention, the longitudinal axes of the connecting rods 13 may be oriented differently and for example not be parallel to each other.

Thus, according to an alternative embodiment not shown, the longitudinal axes of the connecting rods 13 are inclined and converge towards a single point, the latter advantageously corresponding to the center of the wind pressure acting on the traffic sign 4. However, this variant is difficult to implement because it is not easy to accurately determine the position of said center of thrust.

In addition, the support 1 comprises gripping means 12 fixed by the fasteners 14 on the upper flange 11 and adapted to cooperate with the lower end of the pole 3 to fix it on said upper flange 11. These gripping means 12 comprise two shells 121 each provided with an internal cavity 122 whose shape is complementary to the outer shape of said post 3 and intended to be arranged facing each other and clamped together by fasteners 123 adapted (see Figure 4), such as, for example, bolts for gripping the lower end of the pole 3.

To increase the compactness of the support 1, the gripping means 12 are fixed below the upper flange 11 so as to be disposed between the base 10 and said upper flange 11.

As previously described, the connecting rods 13 are preferably threaded rods at least at their ends and advantageously over their entire length.

According to an advantageous embodiment, the support 1 according to the invention comprises at least three, and preferably six, connecting rods 13 distributed uniformly along the circles E2 or F2 to ensure multidirectional impact resistance. The skilled person will have no difficulty in sizing the various parts constituting the support 1 according to the invention and the games necessary for the proper assembly of the latter between them and in particular the clearance between the first orifices 111 of the upper flange 11 and the fixing members 14 to allow attachment of the gripping means 12 on said upper flange 11 while allowing the post 3 to be sandwiched between the two shells 121 by tightening them against each other.

Possibility of industrial application

The passive safety support 1 according to the invention applies more particularly to the support of a post 3 whose upper end receives a road sign 4, but it can also be used for other types of signaling or other types of objects such as, for example, signaling gantries resting on either side of one or more traffic lanes.

It is understood that the examples described are only particular illustrations and in no way limiting of the invention and its fields of application. Those skilled in the art may provide arrangements of size, shape, layout and material to the particular embodiments without departing from the scope of the present invention.

Claims (12)

1 - Support (1) passive safety arranged to be fixed on the ground (2) and support a pole (3) characterized in that it comprises a base (10) arranged to be anchored to the ground (2), a upper flange (11) disposed above said base (10), gripping means (12) fixed on said upper flange (11) and adapted to cooperate with the lower end of the pole (3) to fix the latter on said upper flange (11), and connecting rods (13) connecting the base (10) and the upper flange (11) to each other, each of the connecting rods (13) being assembled, on the one hand, to its lower end on said base (10) by a detachable connection or not and, on the other hand, at its upper end on said upper flange (11) by a ball joint. 2 - Support (1) according to claim 1, characterized in that the base (10) and the upper flange (11) respectively comprise the same number of second orifices (102,112) passing right through them, said second orifices ( 102) being able to cooperate with the connecting rods (13) to allow their attachment to said base (10) and the second orifices (112) being able to cooperate with connecting members (15) to allow the fastening of the rods link (13) on said upper flange (11) and thus ensure the connection between the latter and the base (10). 3 - Support (1) according to claim 2, characterized in that said respective second ports (102, 112) are arranged so that each second orifice (102) of the base (10) is coaxial with the second orifice (112) corresponding upper flange (11) so that the longitudinal axes of the connecting rods (13) are parallel to each other. 4 - Support (1) according to claim 3, characterized in that said axes of the second orifices (102, 112) are parallel to each other. 5 - Support (1) any one of claims 3 or 4, characterized in that said second holes (102,112) are respectively distributed on the base (10) and on the upper flange (11) uniformly along a second circle (E2, F2). 6 - Support (1) any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that the base (10) and the upper flange (11) respectively comprise a plurality of first orifices (101,111) passing right through them, said first orifices (101) being adapted to cooperate with anchoring members for fixing said base (10) on the ground (2) and said first orifices (111) being able to cooperate with fastening members (14) for fixing the gripping means (12) on said upper flange (11). 7 - Support (1) according to claim 6, characterized in that said first holes (101,111) are respectively distributed on the base (10) and on the upper flange (11) uniformly along a first circle (El, fl). 8 - Support (1) according to claims 1 to 7, characterized in that the gripping means (12) comprise two shells (121) each provided with an internal cavity (122) whose shape is complementary to the outer shape of said post (3) and intended to be arranged vis-à-vis and clamped against each other to grip the lower end of the pole (3). 9 - Support (1) according to any one of claims 2 to 8, characterized in that each connecting member (15) comprises spherical washers (151) arranged on the connecting rod (13) associated with the part and other of the upper flange (11) and clamping members (152) maintaining said spherical washers (151) in position against the upper and lower faces of the upper flange (11). 10 - Support (1) according to any one of claims 1 to 9, characterized in that the upper flange (11) is an annular plate. 11 - Support (1) according to claim 10, characterized in that the gripping means (12) are fixed below the upper flange (11) so as to be disposed between the base (10) and said upper flange ( 11). 12 - Support (1) according to any one of claims 10 or 11, characterized in that the base (10) is an annular plate of the same dimensions as those of the upper flange (11).