Patent ID: 9074331
Filing Date: 2015-07-07
Classification: E01F

Abstract:
1. A queue barrier system comprising: multiple upright tubular stanchions, each stanchion supported by a weighted base or a floor socket, wherein each stanchion has one or more cord apertures and one or more cord connectors; within each of the stanchions, one or more cord retraction mechanisms, each cord retraction mechanism comprising one or more pairs of opposing pulleys, wherein each pair of opposing pulleys comprises a fixed pulley and a movable pulley and a constant-force spring, wherein the spring resists movement of each movable pulley toward the opposing fixed pulley with a constant retractive force; within and extendable from each of the stanchions, one or more elastic cords, each cord having a fixed proximal end within the stanchion and an extendable distal end projecting through one of the cord apertures of the stanchion, wherein each cord helically winds around one of the pairs of opposing pulleys, with the proximal end of the cord attached to the fixed pulley, such that, when the distal end of the cord is pulled, the movable pulley draws closer to the fixed pulley against the retractive force of the spring, and the cord can be extended outward from the stanchion wherein each cord has a maximum extended length and a minimum unextended length, and wherein the difference between the maximum extended length and the minimum unextended length constitutes a stretch length, and wherein the ratio of the stretch length to the minimum unextended length constitutes a stretch factor, and wherein the stretch factor of each cord is greater than ten percent (10%) and less than fifty percent (50%), such that, when each cord is at the maximum extended length, the cord exerts a balancing contractive force opposite in direction to the retractive force of the spring, so as to maintain a taut, but not rigidly unyielding, tension on the cord; and wherein a first stanchion is releasably connectable to a second stanchion and a third stanchion by extending the cord(s) of the first stanchion to engage the cord connector(s) of the second stanchion and extending the cord(s) of the third stanchion to engage the cord connector(s) of the first stanchion, such that the first, second and third stanchions form a queue barrier, which can be further extended by consecutive connections of fourth, fifth and subsequent stanchions.