GB2429449A

GB2429449A - A pillar for use with a flexible barrier system

Info

Publication number: GB2429449A
Application number: GB0517525A
Authority: GB
Inventors: David Gregory Field
Original assignee: ADVANCED Manufacturing CORP Ltd
Current assignee: ADVANCED Manufacturing CORP Ltd
Priority date: 2005-08-27
Filing date: 2005-08-27
Publication date: 2007-02-28
Also published as: GB0517525D0

Abstract

A pillar for use in a barrier system comprises a housing 12, a cassette including a reel 23 carrying a length of elongate flexible webbing which can be unwound from and rewound onto the reel and an exit guide for the webbing 15. The reel may be disposed in the lower part of the housing. The webbing may extend through the pillar before passing out of the exit guide which is a v-shaped slot. There may be a base platform 20 in the lower part of the pillar with the cassette being located above the base platform and surrounded by a c-shaped ballast block. Alternatively, a guide may change the direction of the webbing from vertical to horizontal with the housing being mounted at the top of the pillar. The pillar may have two reels 23,24 and two exit guides. The housing may be frusto-pyramidal in shape. The pillar may have a removable handle 16. In use, the pillar is more stable and less liable to topple over than conventional designs.

Description

-i- 2429449

BARRIER SYSTEMS AND PILLARS FOR FLEXIBLE BARRIERS

This invention relates to barrier systems composed of pillars which each include a reel of flexible webbing which can be unwound from the reel so as to extend from the pillar to another pillar. The reel is usually part of a cassette or other assembly which allows deployment of the webbing under tension and which by means of spring loading or otherwise retracts the webbing onto the reel when a free end of the webbing is released from an anchorage point such as another pillar Various proposals exist for such barrier systems. in general, they suffer from one or more serious disadvantages. They may be awkward to deploy; they may, for reasons of stability only have a reel which accommodates a rather short length, such as three or four metres, of webbing, and they may be difficult to allow conformation to the user's preferred shape or style.

Such barrier systems are commonly used to provide temporary or selectable barriers defining walkways for queues, .4emarcation of prohibited areas, and other purposes, in public buildings such as museums, airports concourses and so on The state of the art is exemplified by published US application US2004/0060499-Al, which illustrates a frusto-pyramid pillar having near its top an external cassette including a reel of which the axis is vertical A principal disadvantage of the arrangement is the comparatively small length of reel that can be accommodated in the cassette less the pillar become unstable Another proposal is described in W02004/016858-A1. This describes a trolley having external reel cassettes one above the other A third example of the state of the art is described in published application GB- 2360995 This describes a pillar which has a small, egg-shaped housing for a cassette containing a reel, particularly disposed at the top of the narrow pillar The present invention is particularly concerned with an improved pillar in which the reel cassette is disposed within a housing and near the base thereof so that the reel can accommodate a much greater length of webbing and have a correspondingly large cassette mechanism without prejudice to the stability of the pillar. For such a configuration of the cassette, the webbing exiting the reel must travel upwardly inside the pillar and be able to exit the pillar in a generally horizontal direction. However, for deployment, the webbing has to extend from the top of the pillar in a generally horizontal direction.

Thus the webbing has to undergo both a change in its longitudinal direction and a change in its plane.

The present invention in one aspect concerns a new form of guide assembly in conjunction with pulleys, which can provide the required changes of direction in an adjustable manner A exit guide defines a V-shaped slot of which the arms each correspond in length to the width of the webbing The deployment of the webbing at any desired angle to one side or the other of the pillar can be facilitated by moving the webbing from one arm of a V round the apex to the other arm of the V Another aspect of the invention concerns the improvement of the stability of the pillar and in this aspect of the invention the pillar comprises a removable ballast block which is shaped to fit around a reel cassette assembly in the base of the pillar.

A further aspect of the invention concerns a modular assembly for the top of the pillar The present invention provides in this aspect a module which can fit over the tops of the side walls and includes at least one internal guide for the webbing near the top of the pillar, .a removable handle generally in the shape of a discus and an extension arm depending from the discus into a releasable locking mechanism

Brief Description of the Drawings

Figure 1 is an external side view of one embodiment of a pillar.

Figure 2 is a sectional side view of that embodiment of a pillar.

Figure 3 is a top view of one embodiment of a pillar.

Figure 4 is a perspective view of a reel assembly.

Figure 5 is a perspective view of a top module.

Figure 6 is a side view of the module shown in Figure 5.

Figure 7 is a view from below of the module shown in Figure 5 Figure 8 is a sectional side view of the module.

Figure 9 is a sectional view of an exit guide plate.

Figure 10 is a front view of the exit guide plate

Detailed Description

Figure 1 is a side view of a pillar according to one embodiment of a pillar 10 according to the invention The pillar has a frusto-pyramidshaped housing 12 comprising four similar elongate trapezoidal sides 13 each of which has a central vertical groove 14 which may be employed for the affixing of signs advertising matter or caver plates to enable conformation of the barrier pillar to a users preferences for colour or style Near the top of each groove is a plate 15 which includes in this embodiment at least one and preferably two v-shaped exit slots whose purpose and function will be described in more detail later. Protruding from the top of the pillar is a removable handle 16 composed principally of a discus-shaped handle 16 having broad faces, of which one is shown at 17, and an arcuate slot 18 which may be employed for carrying the handle and manoeuvring the pillar.

As is shown in Figure 2, the pillar has at its base a platform 20 with inserted blocks 21 to which the sides 12 of thepillar are fitted The block accommodates an axle, not shown, for the mounting of ground wheels 22 by which the pillar can be trundled from place to place Within the pillar and very preferably disposed in the lower half thereof is at least one reel cassette and in this embodiment two reel cassettes 23 and 24. In this embodiment the cassettes are mounted one above the other but slightly offset. From each reel, as will be described later, there extends a length of flexible webbing, made for example of a synthetic plastic and typically 5 to 8 cms wide. These lengths of webbing, not shown in Figure 2, extend upwardly and inside the pillar to a respective pulley just below the top of the pulley and can exit from slots in the guide plate 15. At the top of the pillar is a module assembly, to be described in more detail later, including a downwardly depending frame 25 for mounting two pulleys 26 and 27, the webbing from the cassettes extending round the pulleys and out of an exit slot in the plate 15.

As is shown in Figure 2, the cassette is mounted on the base platform and is surrounded on three sides by a rectangular C-shaped ballast block of steel, concrete or other suitable material Such a block can be easily positioned during assembly of the pillar Figure 4 illustrates one of the reel cassettes 23 It basically comprises a reel 40 carrying a spiral winding of webbing (not shown) and mounted for rotation about a horizontal axis, being able to rotate, to pay of the webbing, against the return force exerted by a spiral spring assembly 41 mounted on a support plate 42.

Not shown in the drawings is a bi-directional centrifugal brake which can stop unwinding or rewinding of the web if the reel should rotate more quickly than a rate corresponding to, for example, an ordinary walking speed The brake may comprise a disc which has a radial slot containing a bar shaped sprag which can move outwardly in response to a centrifugal force The disc rotates within an aperture which has two regions of which the radius increases from substantially that of the disc to terminate in an abutment shoulder Rotation of the disc at a speed more rapid than a predetermined speed will cause the sprag to move outwardly against the resistance of a spring clip held by the sprag against its radial slot so that the outer part of the sprag protrudes from the disc and is arrested by one or other of the shoulders depending upon the direction of rotation of the disc and therefore of the reel.

Otherwise, the reel assembly may be in known form wherein unwinding of the stored energy in a spring to provide a return rewind movement if the distal end of the webbing is released, for example by the user or from an anchorage point.

Figures 5 to 8 illustrate a modular assembly for the handle and the top reels. The assembly comprises a plate 16. The assembly comprises a top plate 60 and an underp late 61 secured to the plate 60. From the bottom of plate 61 extends a U-frame in which are mounted two flanged pulleys 26 and 27 each with a horizontal axis aligned parallel, in this embodiment, to the rotary axes of the reels in the cassettes 23 and 24.

Between the plates 60 and 61 is a space 63 for a sliding bolt 64 urged by a compression to a position spring 65 which locks in place an extension arm 66 of the handle 16 The bolt 64 is accessible from one end and may be pushed inwardly by some suitable tool to release the arm of the handle thereby allowing a change of handles However, with the bolt urged to its end, rightward position shown in Figure 8, the handle is secured to the rest of the module The plate 60 has a peripheral vertical flange 67 defining with the plate 61 a peripheral slot 68 which fits around an upper rim formed by the tops of the sides of the pillar Thus the module comprising the plates 60 and 61 and the pulleys 26 and 27 can be removed. This arrangement facilitates the assembly of the pillars and the placement of the webbing on the guide rollers Figures 9 and 10 show in detail the exit guide plate 15 which includes two nested V- shaped slots 91 and 92 In the example shown, the V-shaped slots are nested one within the other and are disposed shown upright, the point of the V being at the bottom However, the V's may be at different angles and in particular may be inverted so that the point of each V is at the top, as shown in Figure 1 An important feature of this aspect of the invention is that the rm of each V-shaped exit guide has a length which is substantially the same as the width of the webbing which extends upwardly from the respective reel over the pulley and out through the v-shaped slot. The combination of the flanged pulley and the exit guide provides the change in direction and change in plane required for the webbing. Moreover the deployment of the webbing at any desired angle to one side or the other of the pillar can be facilitated by moving the webbing from one arm of a V round the apex to the other arm of the V. The apex 93 of each V between the two arms is rounded for this purpose In this embodiment the plate has two V-shaped exit slots, one for each webbing The pillar may have such slots in more than one side wall, and a multiplicity of cassettes within the housing.

Claims

I A pillar for use in a barrier system, comprising a housing in the lower part of which is disposed an assembly including a reel carrying a length of elongate flexible webbing which can be unwound from and rewound onto the reel, the webbing extending within the pillar; and an exit guide for the webbing, the exit guide comprising a V-shaped slot having arms each substantially corresponding in length to the width of the webbing
2. A pillar according to claim 1 in which the pillar includes an internal guide which in combination with the exit guide allows a change in the direction and the plane of the webbing within the housing
3 A pillar according to claim 2 in which the internal guide is a flanged pulley.

4. A pillar according to claim 3 wherein the flanged pulley and the reel are disposed with their axes parallel.
4. A pillar according to any foregoing claim wherein the includes two reels and two exit slots, the exit slots being nested one within the other.
5. A pillar according to any foregoing claim wherein the housing has the shape of a frusto-pyramid 6 A pillar according to any foregoing claim wherein a cassette for the mentioned reel is disposed above a base platform and a rectangular C- shaped ballast block surrounds the cassette on three sides thereof 7 A pillar according to any foregoing claim and comprising at the top of the pillar a module defining a peripheral slot for the reception of the tops of the side walls of the housing, a depending support including said internal guide and a removable upwardly extending handle 8 A pillar according to any foregoing claim wherein the housing includes two reels and two exit slots, the exit slots being nested one within the other 9 A pillar for use in a barrier system, comprising a housing in the lower part of which is disposed a base platform, a cassette including a reel carrying a length of elongate flexible webbing which can be unwound from and rewound onto the reel, and an exit guide for the webbing, wherein the cassette is mounted above the base platform and a rectangular C-shaped ballast block surrounds the cassette on three sides thereof A pillar for use in a barrier system, comprising a housing in the lower part of which is disposed a base platform; a cassette including a reel carrying a length of elongate flexible webbing which can be unwound from and rewound onto the reel, the webbing extending upwardly within the pillar, a guide for changing the direction of the webbing from substantially vertical to substantially horizontal, and an exit guide for the webbing, wherein the top of the pillar comprises a module defining a peripheral slot for the reception of the tops of the side walls of the housing, a depending support including said guide and a removable upwardly extending handle.

11 A pillar according to claim 10 in which the handle comprises a discusshaped body and a depending part and the module includes a locking bolt engageable with said depending part.