GB2367085A

GB2367085A - A security system

Info

Publication number: GB2367085A
Application number: GB0124581A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Derek W Grace; Olly J H Hulf
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2001-10-12
Filing date: 2001-10-12
Publication date: 2002-03-27
Anticipated expiration: 2021-10-12
Also published as: GB0124581D0; GB2367085B

Abstract

A security system operating to deter theft from a premises comprises a substantially conventional burglar alarm providing intruder detection, a barrier 3 capable of stopping or immobilising a vehicle V and a signalling unit responding to the detection of an intruder, which signals the barrier to close so the vehicle cannot exit the premises via the drive 1. The barrier consists of projections 4 which are normally below the surface and permit a driver to drive over them and are projected above the surface when the barrier is closed. The projections may be spring loaded or may be actuated by electric or fluid pressure.

Description

Title A Security System The present invention is concerned with preventing a vehicle leaving after theft from premises having a drive access from a public road.

Conventional security systems consist of passive devices such as barriers, e. g., doors, windows, fences, gates, walls and trenches to deter unauthorised entrance to a premise. For these purposes premise means either a secure building and/or a plot of land. Active security devices are mainly alarm systems designed to detect when

passive security barriers have been breached by an unauthorised person (an intruder),

and produce an alarm signal. The alarm signal is commonly transmitted to a security r).) central station via digital communication (Redcaretacnet or similar) and the central

station in turn alerting the police and keyholder of the premises in the hopes that the police will attend the incident in time to capture a burglar. However, it is not unusual for the security service to be delayed by many minutes and occasionally hours before attending the premises. A burglar being aware of this and having established a lookout will frequently escape with substantial amounts of loot from the premises despite the security systems having worked faultlessly. In many cases of theft a getaway vehicle is used and where the loot consists of large artworks or furniture it is essential.

Statement of Invention The present invention aims to present a barrier to the thieves escaping with the loot and accordingly there is provided a security system to deter theft from a premise comprising: an intruder detection apparatus and a barrier capable of stopping and/or immobilising a vehicle adapted to be deployed in a drive exit from the premises in a normally open condition, and a signalling unit responsive to the detection of an intruder to signal the barrier and the barrier responding to the signal to close the drive exit.

Usually the intruder detection apparatus will be deployed in a building on the premises and will commonly consist of a substantially conventional burglar alarm with an additional signaling unit to communicate with the barrier. The barrier itself will preferably be disposed in a trench in the drive so that it is normally flush with the surface of the drive and so presents no inconvenience to the legitimate users of the premise. The barrier preferably consists of at least one and preferably several projections supported by a projecting mechanism able, when actuated, to close the barrier to project the projections above the surface so obstructing the drive and hence preventing a vehicle from leaving the premise and possibly immobilising the vehicle. Preferably a lock mechanism is provided to prevent the projections being forcibly retracted from above the road. The projecting mechanism may be powered via electric motors, hydraulics or pneumatic mechanisms, but for reasons of reliability, cost, safety, ease of maintenance and installation it is preferred that the projecting mechanism is powered by stored energy which may be provided via spring means, gravity or compressed gas. The barrier may comprise a trapdoor which exposes a trench, although if only a trench is used it may readily be overcome by means of ramps so that this arrangement is preferred in combination with projections.

It is preferable that the presence of the barrier is secret to alleviate the risk of a burglar making provision to disable the barrier. Thus the surface of the barrier flush with the drive may be camouflaged to correspond to the drive surface, this is also aesthetically more acceptable to the users of the premises.

Further according to the present invention there is provided a method of securing a premises comprising the steps of : providing an intruder detection apparatus In

a building on the premises with a signaling unit, deploying a barrier in an open condition across a drive exit from the premises and connected to said signaling unit to respond to the detection of an intruder by the detection apparatus by closing the barrier to prevent a vehicle exiting the premises.

It will be appreciated that the security system and method does not prevent a burglar from entering a premises but is intended to delay or prevent the burglar from leaving with his vehicle and the loot without placing the burglar at risk of personal injury or trapping the burglar.

Brief Description of the Drawings Embodiments of a security system and a method of securing a premises will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which : Figures 1A and 1 B diagrammatically illustrate an installation and show its operation, Figure 2 is a perspective view of one embodiment of a barrier for the system, Figures 3A and 3B are sectional elevations of the first embodiment of the barrier showing the projecting, locking and actuating mechanisms, Figures 4A and 4B are sectional elevations of a second embodiment of the barrier.

Detailed Description of the Drawings.

Figure 1 shows a premise consisting of a plot of land including a perimeter fence and a drive 1 providing access to building 2. The building 2 is equipped with an intruder detection apparatus (not shown) which is essentially a conventional burglar alarm system provided with conventional sensors to detect the opening of doors or windows and the movement of an intruder within the building. The control station is modified by the inclusion of a signalling unit (not shown) capable of communicating with a barrier 3 which is deployed in a trench dug in the drive 1. The signalling unit may communicate with the barrier via wire or wireless means which are well known in the art.

Normally the barrier is in the open state shown, i. e., the barrier presents no obstruction to a vehicle V entering or departing the premise via the drive. However, in the event that an intruder breaks into the building setting of the alarm system as shown in figure 1 B the

barrier is closed so that It obstructs the passage of any vehicle departing the premise.

In the'case of the barrier in this embodiment the barrier IS closed by raising three projections 4. The security system thus prevents a burglar who has successfully entered the building from making a quick escape with the getaway vehicle and most importantly with any large items of loot, but does not trap the burglar and so does not place the proprietor at risk of litigation for injuring the burglar.

Almost any kind of barrier capable of preventing the escape of the getaway vehicle may be used however, the system is more likely to succeed if the burglar is not aware of and hence not prepared to disable or circumvent the barrier. For this reason it is preferred that the barrier is hidden and the preferred way to achieve this is to hide the barrier in the drive. This is also aesthetically more pleasing. The barrier shown in perspective in figure 2 and in section in figure 3 is particularly adapted for this purpose and consists of a housing 5, which in this case has a base panel 6 upstanding opposing side walls 7 and 8 upstanding end walls 9 and 10 and a fixed cover 11. The cover 11 may be provided with a conventional security lock (not shown) to prevent tampering but can be opened to allow access for installation, inspection and maintenance. Slots 12 are formed in the cover 11 to closely complement the section of the projections 4 and prevent access to the interior of the housing 5. The top of each projection may be provided with a lip or flange 13 which engages the sides of the slot or the top of the cover 11 when the projections are retracted to prevent fouling and deter tampering by the insertion of a wedge. Seals may be incorporated in the slots or under the flange 13 to further deter the ingress of fouling or water which might damage the mechanism housed inside.

Anchors consisting of laterally extending beams 14 project from the sides of the housing 5 to be buried by the foundations surrounding the housing when the trench is backfilled during installation. The anchors prevent the barrier being pulled up out of the

installation trench. The exposed top of the housing and projections may be covered by a camouflage layer corresponding to the drive, for example tarmac or stone.

The projecting mechanism is shown in figure 3 and consists of an elongate rod 15 a coil spring 16, a lock 17 and an actuating mechanism 18. The arrangements for each projection are generally similar.

The rod 15 passes through a hole in the projection and is secured into the housing end walls and by means of brackets (not shown) as required to provide a pivot for the projection 4. The coil spring 16 is sleeved onto the rod 15 and has one free end engaging the side wall 8 while the other bears against an abutment 19 extending from the side of the projection. When the barrier is in the retracted state shown in figure 3A the coil spring 16 is compressed with sufficient force to project the projection as shown in figure 3B.

The lock 17 is provided by a mechanism consisting of a bar 20 which is secured by means of a pivot 21 to swing freely from the projection 4 so that as the projection rises the pivot rises and the bar 20 swings from a horizontal position when the barrier is open to a vertical position when the barrier is closed. In consequence the barrier cannot be opened by simply pushing the projection down. To ensure the action of the lock also includes a spring 22 acting in tension between the bar 20 and the side wall 7. To retain the projection in the retracted condition the actuator 18 consists of a solenoid driven pin 23 biased to engage in a recess 24 formed in the projection 4 when the projection 4 is retracted. A wedge surface may be formed on either or each of the projection or on the pin 23 so that engagement of the projection 4 with the pin 23 as the projection is being retracted automatically retracts the pin 23 to allow it to engage in the recess. The actuator further consists of a receiver (not shown) tuned to receive a signal from the signalling unit. For various reasons the signal will preferably be encoded so that only a signal from the legitimate signal unit will trigger the actuator into releasing the projection by retracting the pin 23 from the recess.

In the following description of the second embodiment illustrated in figure 4 the components of the barrier 3 may be assumed to be similar to those of the first except where the described differences evidently require adaptaions. Some components, particularly the spring and actuator have been omitted from the drawing for the sake of clarity. The projection 4'is of hollow section as can be seen in figure 4B. A guide means is provided by a channel 25 formed in an upper edge of the projection 4'. The channel 25 serves to retain and slidably guide a projecting beam 26 received In the channel 25. A chain 27, cable or other elongate flexible member is attached to an end of the beam 26 adjacent the rod 15 and is entrained around a suitable guide member which may be provided by a pulley 28 mounted on the projection 4'near to the uppermost edge remote from the rod 15 before passing down to a securing bracket 29 fastened to a lowermost corner inside the housing 5 and approximately beneath the rod 15. When the barrier is closed by a projecting mechanism similar to that of the first embodiment the path followed by the inextensible chain 25 is lengthened. Consequently the beam 26 is extended from the end of the projection as shown in figure 4C. The barrier can thus be made to reach a sufficient height to effectively bar disable or strand vehicular traffic but can be more compact than the first embodiment.

Claims

1. A security system to deter theft from a premise comprising : an intruder detection apparatus, a barrier capable of stopping or immobilising a vehicle and adapted to be deployed in a drive exit from the premises in a normally open condition, and a signalling unit responsive to the detection of an intruder to signal the barrier and the barrier responding to the signal to close the drive exit.

2. A security system according to claim 1 wherein the intruder detection apparatus is adapted to be deployed in a building on the premises.

3. A security system according to claim 1 or claim 2 wherein the barrier is disposed in a trench in the drive.

4. A security system according to claim 4 wherein the barrier consists of projections which are normally beneath the surface of the drive to permit a vehicle to drive over them and are projected above the drive to stop a vehicle when the barrier is closed.

5. A security barrier according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the barrier is provided with a lock which allows the barrier to close quickly but prevents the barrier opening.

6. A security barrier according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the energy to close the barrier is provided by spring means within the housing.

7. A security barrier according to claim 6 having an actuating mechanism in the barrier responsive to the signalling unit to release a latch which restrains a projecting mechanism so that the barrier is closed.

8. A security barrier according to any one of claims 1 to 5 wherein a compressed gas storage cell is arranged to deliver power to a pneumatic actuator to close the barrier.

9. A security system as herein described with reference to the accompanying drawings

10 A method of securing a premises comprising the steps of : providing an intruder detection apparatus in a building on the premises with a signaling unit, deploying a barrier in an open condition across a drive exit from the premises and connected to said signalling unit to respond to the detection of an intruder by the detection apparatus by closing the barrier to prevent a vehicle exiting the premises.

11. A method according to claim 10 as herein described.

11. A method as herein described.

Amendments to the claims have been filed as follows 1. A security system to deter theft from a premise comprising : an intruder detection apparatus, a barrier capable of stopping or immobilising a vehicle and adapted to be deployed in a drive exit from the premises in a normally open condition, and a signalling unit responsive to the detection of an intruder to signal the barrier and the barrier responding to the signal to close the drive exit.

4. A security system according to claim 3 wherein the barrier consists of projections which are normally beneath the surface of the drive to permit a vehicle to drive over them and are projected above the drive to stop a vehicle when the barrier is closed.

7. A security barrier according to claim 6 having an actuating mechanism in the barrier responsive to the signaling unit to release a latch which restrains a projecting mechanism so that the barrier is closed.

9. A security system as herein described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

10. A method of securing a premises comprising the steps of: providing an intruder detection apparatus in a building on the premises with a

signalling unit, deploying a barrier in an open condition across a drive exit from the premises and connected to said signalling unit to respond to the detection of an intruder by the detection apparatus by closing the barrier to prevent a vehicle exiting the premises.