GB2210089A

GB2210089A - Portable vehicle barrier

Info

Publication number: GB2210089A
Application number: GB8821782A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Harold John Clements
Original assignee: MPE Ltd
Current assignee: MPE Ltd
Priority date: 1987-09-16
Filing date: 1988-09-16
Publication date: 1989-06-01
Also published as: GB8721786D0; US20010048845A1; GB8821782D0

Abstract

Apparatus for providing a vehicle barrier, comprising a portable unit adapted to be emplaced on or in the ground, the unit having an operative condition in which at least one part (4) thereof is elevated to form a barrier against the passage of a vehicle in at least one direction, and an inoperative condition in which the or each said barrier part is retracted so as to permit vehicular passage, and actuating means (7) for selectively elevating and retracting the or each said barrier part, said actuating means being operable from a location remote from the unit. The actuating means suitably comprises a pneumatically inflatable sac. <IMAGE>

Description

"Vehicle barrier" This invention relates to vehicle barriers, and to systems incorporating the same.

Viewed from one aspect the invention provides apparatus for providing a vehicle barrier, comprising a portable unit adapted to be emplaced on or in the ground, the unit having an operative condition in which at least one part thereof is elevated to form a barrier against the passage of a vehicle in at least one direction, and an inoperative condition in which the or each said barrier part is retracted so as to permit vehicular passage, and actuating means for selectively elevating and retracting the or each said barrier part, said actuating means being operable from a location remote from the unit.

Thus the invention provides portable vehicle barrier apparatus which may be positioned at any desired location and thereafter operated remotely to erect a barrier when desired.

Preferably the unit is formed with inwardly sloping opposite side walls, in the manner of a ramp, to permit passage of a vehicle over the unit when in its inoperative condition, but this is not essential as such walls can be vertical if the unit is made sufficiently shallow, e.g. of about the height of a typical kerb, to enable a vehicle to be driven over it at a slow speed without damage. Furthermore a unit according to the invention may be located in a recess in the ground so as not to protrude above ground level when in its inoperative condition, in which circumstances the configuration of the opposite sides of the unit is no longer significant.

Preferably the or each said barrier part comprises an elongate plate forming at least part of a substantially flat top surface of the unit when retracted, and pivotally movable between its elevated and retracted positions. In one embodiment a single such plate is provided whose pivotal axis extends along one side of the unit, whilst in another embodiment a pair of such plates have their pivotal axes located side by side and centrally of the unit and are acted upon in concert by a single central actuating means so as to be elevated towards one another.

In one form of the invention an angled extension of such a barrier plate on the other side of its pivotal axis is acted upon by the said actuating means to pivot the plate in the manner of a bell crank. In a modification a second freely mounted plate is itself acted upon by the actuating means to lift its associated barrier plate by sliding engagement of its free edge with the angled extension of the latter. If the actuating means is such as positively to retract the barrier plate or plates such a second plate may be arranged to be elevated to a position perpendicular to the plane of its associated barrier plate so as to form a mechanical strut in the operative condition without the continued aid of the actuating means.If however the barrier plate is intended to be retracted by gravity when the actuating means is deenergised, the said second plate should not be elevated as far as such a perpendicular position, so as to ensure automatic retraction.

Preferably the unit is of hollow elongate box-like construction with the said plate or plates forming the roof of the box and pivotally connected to its side walls or to a central supporting structure, the base of the box being engageable with, and if desired securable to, the ground. One or more supports may be provided within the box, secured to the floor, for the or each barrier plate to rest on when retracted.

The actuating means of the apparatus may take various forms, the minimum requirements being that it should be operable from a remote location to positively elevate the or each barrier part and to remove the elevating force to enable gravity to bring about retraction. A particularly convenient form of actuating mechanism which meets these basic requirements comprises an pneumatically inflatable sac acting directly or indirectly on the or each barrier part to elevate the same, deflation of the sac permitting retraction under gravity as 3ust mentioned. If positive retraction is required then a double-acting pneumatic system, providing alternate positive pressure and vacuum depression, may conveniently be employed.

Portable barrier apparatus according to the invention may be usefully employed in very many different circumstances where a selectively erectable and retractable vehicle barrier is needed such as, purely by way of example, at security gates and entrances, at car park entrances, and at military checkpoints on roadways. One particular and novel use which is envisaged is as a security system in a self-service petrol filling station to prevent customers from leaving without paying for petrol taken.In such an application, barrier apparatus acording to the invention may be provided at each fuelling position, of which there are normally two at opposite sides of each pump, and suitably controlled by the attendant, for example by arranging for the barrier to be automatically elevated simultaneously with the attendant freeing the pump mechanism for petrol delivery and only retracted, under the control of the attendant, when payment has been made. The barrier apparatus would be so arranged as to entrap a vehicle at the fuelling position when elevated, either by providing a uni-directional barrier at each end of such position or by providing a bi-directional barrier centrally thereof of a kind adapted to be elevated beneath a stationary vehicle to an extent sufficient to prevent passage of the wheels if an attempt is made to drive the vehicle away.

Such a concept need not necessarily involve the use of the particular vehicle barrier apparatus described above. Thus viewed from another aspect the invention provides, in a petrol filling station, means for selectively entrapping a vehicle at a fuelling position, comprising vehicle barrier means arranged to entrap a vehicle at said position, and means under the remote control of an attendant for selectively activating and deactivating said vehicle barrier means.

Some embodiments of the invention will now be described by way of example and with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a transverse cross-sectional view of a first embodiment of a vehicle barrier apparatus according to the invention, in its inoperative position; Figure 2 shows the apparatus of Figure 1 in its operative position; Figures 3 and 4 are diagrammatic illustrations of the manner in which the apparatus of Figures 1 and 2 can be used as a security system in a petrol filling station; Figures 5 and 6 are views similar to Figures 1 and 2 but of a second embodiment; and Figures 7 and 8 are partial cross-sectional views of a third embodiment which is a modification of the embodiment of Figures 1 and 2.

The vehicle barrier apparatus of Figures 1 and 2 comprises a hollow box-section structure of optionally variable length, about 40 cm wide, and about 7.5 cm in depth in its inoperative condition as shown in Figure 1. The apparatus is in the form of a portable unit, securable to a ground surfae by suitable bolts at location B. The unit is formed of sheet steel and comprises a floor 1, side-wall sections 2, a Z-section member 3 solidly connected to floor plate 1, a barrier 4 pivotally supported by Z member 3 at 5, and provided with an extension 6 to form a bell crank lever, and actuating means in the form of a pneumatically inflatable tubular sac 7, with inlet/outlet means 8 for inflation and deflation. Resilient pads 9 may be provided under floor 1 to provide security against sliding if the unit is not bolted down in use.

To elevate the barrier plate 4 the sac 7 is pneumatically inflated so as to pivot the plate 4 clockwise, thus lifting the plate to the elevated, barrier-forming, position illustrated in Figure 2. Suitable stops (not shown) limit the upward movement of the plate. In this condition passage of a vehicle past the apparatus in the direction of the arrow X is prevented. If desired a warning notice such as "STOP" can be applied to the face of the plate 4.

It will be noted that in the inoperative condition of Figure 1 the unit has the general form of a ramp with sloping sides 2 to enable a vehicle to be driven over it without danger of damage, so long as its speed is low.

Referring now to Figures 3 and 4, two units 10 and 11, of the kind illustrated in Figures 1 and 2, are positioned across the ends of a fuelling position adjacent a petrol pump 12. The pneumatic actuating means 8 of each of the units is connected by suitable conduits 13 to a compressed air supply source via a solenoid valve 14 having two positions A and C. The solenoid valve is actuable from an attendant's position at the petrol station via a control line D for providing an electrical signal to the solenoid. In use the attendant will actuate the solenoid to position C once a vehicle has arrived at the fuelling position, conveniently as an automatic action when, as is customary, the attendant operates a control to free the pump for delivery of petrol.

Then, once the customer has paid for his petrol the attendant will actuate the solenoid to condition A to vent the sacs 8 to atmosphere and thus retract the barrier plates 4 to enable the customer to drive away.

Figures 5 and 6 show an embodiment of vehicle barrier apparatus according to the invention which operates to prevent movement of a vehicle in either direction across it when in its operative condition shown in Figure 6. The unit is again portable and optionally securable to the ground and comprises a floor 15 with formed-section sides 16, a central support 17, and two barrier plates 18 formed with inner end flanges 19 between which an inflatable sac 20 is located. The barrier plates are pivotable about the edges of a top aperture 21 in the central support 17 at the roots of their flanges 19. Resilient anti-sliding pads 22 may be provided in units not fixed to ground.

Upon inflation of the sac 20 as shown in Figure 6 the barrier plates 18 are elevated to barrier-forming positions to prevent movement of a vehicle in either direction across the apparatus.

The apparatus of this embodiment can be located centrally of the fuelling position shown in Figure 4 so as, when actuated, to prevent movement of a vehicle forwardly or rearwardly out of the fuelling position. The manner of operation of the apparatus under the control of the attendant will then be identical to that described about in connection with Figures 3 and 4.

Referring now to Figures 7 and 8, these illustrate a modification of the embodiment of Figures 1 and 2. Two additional members, plate 23 and rightangle section 24, are provided. Plate 23 comprises a simple flat member, remaining free for movement in angular displacement with respect to the member 24 which is secured to the unit base 1. Both of these members extend the full length of the unit section. All of the other parts in Figures 7 and 8 have the same notation and function as described with respect to Figures 1 and 2. it will be seen that, in the arrangement as depicted, the sac 7 will when inflated impinge on the flat plate member 23 to produce angular displacement thereof with respect to the fulcrum provided by member 24, thereby causing a corresponding displacement of the barrier plate member 4.It will be noted that this arrangement provides for a considerable economy in the volume of fluid required to inflate the sac and to cause erection of the barrier plate, as compared with the arrangement of Figures 1 and 2.

Although the above described embodiments of the invention are intended to be emplaced on a ground surface so as to take the general form of an upstanding ramp, it should be clearly understood that similar apparatus according to the invention can be wholly portable for use in temporary road barriers or can be installed in a recess in the ground surface so as not to protrude above that surface in its inoperative position, but still to provide a vehicle barrier when the or each barrier plate is elevated about ground level. With such an arrangement the opposite side walls of the apparatus would not of course need to slope inwardly.

The compressed air supply for the pneumatic actuators of the apparatus may be supplied by a very small compressor such as is already provided at petrol filling station for the inflation of vehicle tyres, or alternatively from a pressurevessel supply of gas or air in a portable system.

The pneumatically inflatable sacs themselves may comprise simple tubes of flexible impermeable material such as natural or synthetic rubber or a suitable plastics having air-tight closed ends and inlet means for connection to the compressed air supply.

It will thus be seen that the invention, at least in its preferred and illustrated embodiments, provides vehicle barrier apparatus which is readily portable and of simple, cheap and robust construction, may comprise a fixed installation or may be portably emplaced at any desired location given a suitably flat ground surface, and which furthermore is substantially unaffected by ingress of dirt of water or by other substances which might preclude reliable operation in any mechanism of more intricate and complex nature.

Further it is to be understood that embodiments of the invention may be used to provide a portable system for the erection or temporary road barriers in civil or military road checkpoint operations.

It is to be clearly understood that there are no particular features of the foregoing specification, or of any claims appended hereto, which are at present regarded as being essential to the performance of the present invention, and that any one or more of such features or combinations thereof may therefore be included in, added to, omitted from or deleted from any of such claims if and when amended during the prosecution of this application or in the filing or prosecution of any divisional application based thereon. Furthermore the manner in which any of such features of the specification or claims are described or defined may be amended, broadened or otherwise modified in any manner which falls within the knowledge of a person skilled in the relevant art, for example so as to encompass, either implicitly or explicitly, equivalents or generalisations thereof.

Claims

Claims:

1. Apparatus for providing a vehicle barrier, comprising a portable unit adapted to be emplaced on or in the ground, the unit having an operative condition in which at least one part thereof is elevated to form a barrier against the passage of a vehicle in at least one direction, and an inoperative condition in which the or each said barrier part is retracted so as to permit vehicular passage, and actuating means for selectively elevating and retracting the or each said barrier part, said actuating means being operable from a location remote from the unit.

2. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1, wherein the unit is formed with inwardly sloping opposite side walls, in the manner of a ramp, to permit passage of a vehicle over the unit when in its inoperative condition,

3. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1 or 2, wherein the or each said barrier part comprises an elongate plate forming at least part of a substantially flat top surface of the unit when retracted, and pivotally movable between its elevated and retracted positions.

4. Apparatus as claimed in claim 3, wherein a single said elongate plate is provided whose pivotal axis extends along one side of the unit.

5. Apparatus as claimed in claim 3, including a pair of said plates having their pivotal axes located side by side and centrally of the unit and acted upon in concert by a single central actuating means so as to be elevated towards one another.

6. Apparatus as claimed in any of claims 3 to 5, wherein an angled extension of the or each said barrier plate on the other side of its pivotal axis is acted upon by the said actuating means to pivot the plate in the manner of a bell crank.

7. Apparatus as claimed in claim 4, including a second freely mounted plate which is itself acted upon by the actuating means to lift its associated barrier plate by sliding engagement of its free edge with the angled extension of the latter.

8. Apparatus as claimed in any of claims 3 to 7, wherein the said unit is of hollow elongate box-like construction with the said plate or plates forming the roof of the box and pivotally connected to its side walls or to a central supporting structure.

9. Apparatus as claimed in any preceding claim, wherein the said actuating means comprises an pneumatically inflatable sac acting directly or indirectly on the or each barrier part to elevate the same.

10. Apparatus as claimed in any preceding claim, which is adapted to be secured to the ground.

11. Apparatus as claimed in any of claims 1 to 9, which is adapted to rest on the ground without being secured thereto.

12. Apparatus as claimed in claim 1, substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to Figures 1 and 2, or Figures 5 and 6, or Figures 7 and 8, or the accompanying drawings.

13. A self-service petrol filling station having at least one apparatus as claimed in any of claims 1 to 12 at each fuelling position and arranged to be controlled by an attendant.

14. A self-service petrol filling station as claimed in claim 13, substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to Figures 3 and 4 of the accompanying drawings.

15. In a petrol filling station, means for selectively entrapping a vehicle at a fuelling position, comprising vehicle barrier means arranged to entrap a vehicle at said position, and means under the remote control of an attendant for selectively activating and deactivating said vehicle barrier means.

16. The invention claimed in claim 15, wherein the said barrier means comprises apparatus as claimed in any of claims 1 to 13.