Panic barrier for modular fences

A panic barrier for containing pedestrians on the occasion of big events. Said barrier is such as not to overturn whenever the crowd presses against the parapet, thanks to the presence of a fulcrum element integral with the lower portion of the parapet on the side opposite to that of the footboard on which pedestrians walk. Advantageously numerous variants of modular fences can be created by combining a plurality of panic barriers with each other.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention belongs to the sector of road barriers for temporarily delimiting spaces, in particular to the sector of modular fences for containing pedestrians. More specifically, this invention concerns a road barrier comprised of one or several movable barriers of an innovative type, used for temporarily delimiting areas, set roads and escape paths on the occasion of events that draw a large audience, such as recitals and open-air events, road races, and the like.

The movable barrier according to the present patent application features specific safety and roll-over characteristics, which make it particularly suitable for containing the crowd even in the case the latter presses against the containment barriers.

PRESENT STATUS OF THE ART

Different types of movable barriers are known or are used aiming at closing the traffic of pedestrians; in almost all cases, they are barriers that rest on the ground by way of feet or a base and, thanks to the friction developing between the ground and the base of the barrier, it is difficult to displace them by exerting a horizontal thrust thereon. Friction is proportional to the weight of the barrier and to a coefficient which depends both on the paving type and on the characteristics of the base of the barrier.

An important drawback of this type of barriers consists in that, if the horizontal thrust exerted by the crowd exceeds the resistance offered by friction, the barrier begins scraping against the ground and displacing and, if it finds an obstacle in its path, it easily overturns, just because of the horizontal thrust which develops an overturning moment whose extent exceeds that of the stabilizing moment developed by the weight of the barrier itself about the center of rotation.

Therefore, when using traditional barriers, it is necessary to increase the weight of the object in order to get stability; however, an increased weight means increasing costs, greatly reducing the capability of easily handling the barrier, and making its transportation and storage difficult because a means of transport, such as for example a lift truck, is often necessary.

In particular, heavy barriers, such as for instance the “new jersey” ones, cannot be displaced quickly, which results in a major drawback in the case of accidents whereby it is necessary to quickly modify the arrangement of the barriers, for instance whenever it is necessary to create a passage and allow for the transit of rescue vehicles.

GB 2271 584 (A) discloses a pedestrian barrier equipped with a vertical parapet, with each side of which a person supporting footboard and a platform for the rescue personnel are associated respectively, the latter being at a higher level than the table. The footboard is a rectangular platform, whose short sides are orthogonal to the vertical parapet; the footboard is inclined and rests on the ground, the long side being more far away from the vertical parapet.

WO 201268593 (A2) discloses a movable barrier wherein the parapet is not perfectly vertical, but is inclined on the side opposed to the crowd.

DE 202016100217 (U1) discloses a panic barrier which complements a footboard resting on the ground.

The barrier according to the present patent application, on the contrary, comprises a footboard shaped like an inclined platform, with limited areas where to rest on the ground, and consequently concentrates the loads on extremely limited portions of the ground, which fosters load concentration and enhances the effect of friction, thus rendering it more difficult to make the barrier scrape against the ground and displace it.

Elements made from a non-slip material, such as for instance rubber, can be interposed between the barrier and the ground in order to improve friction.

OBJECTS AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A first object of the present invention is thus to provide a movable barrier, suitable for implementing modular fences, particularly safe and such as not to easily displace and overturn whenever the crowd presses against it.

A second object of the invention is to provide a movable barrier that is lightweight and simultaneously is easy to position and little bulky to transport.

A further object of the invention is to implement a movable barrier that, in case of need, can be displaced manually, without any need for using means of transport.

A last but not least object of the present invention is to implement a barrier that is easily stackable as well as difficult to overturn and easy to displace on the ground. Advantageously the barrier according to the present patent application comprises a footboard, suitable for resting on the ground, and a parapet which raises off on an edge of said footboard. The footboard is comprised of an elongate table, which includes two edges parallel to the plane defined by the parapet which the innermost edge is integrally connected to.

In a preferred embodiment, the outermost edge rests on the ground whereas the innermost edge is slightly raised off the ground. This embodiment improves resistance to horizontal displacement as compared to a constructive solution wherein the footboard rests on the ground parallel to the latter.

At least one fulcrum element, which goes down to the ground, raises off on the footboard side opposed to the parapet.

A particularly functional version comprises a crossbar which runs below the inner edge of the footboard and rests on the ground, thus discharging a part of the weight to the ground, whereby the total weight is shared by this bar, the outer edge of the footboard, and the at least one fulcrum element.

In a particularly convenient and practical embodiment, the parapet is not vertical, but is rather slightly inclined on the side of the footboard.

At least one wheel is rotationally coupled with the projecting fulcrum, in order to make it easier to displace the barrier, the wheel being slightly raised off the ground whenever the barrier is in an operating position and only touches the ground after the barrier is inclined on the side opposed to the footboard; in this way, it is possible to displace the barrier easily.

The lower portion of the parapet defines at least one opening suitable for receiving the wheel of a second barrier stacked above the first one, in order to make it possible to stack several barriers one above the other. Advantageously the wheel not touching the ground when the barrier is in an operating position makes it possible to stack barriers without the wheel of an overhanging barrier getting in contact with the barrier underneath.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF AN EMBODIMENT OF THE INVENTION

The panic modular barrier according to the present patent application comprises a footboard (2) and a parapet (1); according to a preferred embodiment, the footboard (2) is inclined and the parapet (1) is also slightly inclined on the footboard (2) side, so that it is not exactly vertical. In the latter embodiment, the outer edge (21) of the footboard (2) is in contact with the ground, whereas the inner edge (22) is slightly raised off the ground and rests thereon by way of a horizontal rectilinear bar (3). The parapet (1) raises off on the inner edge (22) of the footboard (2).

In the embodiment here described, the horizontal bar (3) consists of a tubular element featuring a square cross section, whereas the remaining main parts of the barrier, such as the footboard and the parapet, are formed of properly shaped and bent metal pipes.

The footboard (2) comprises a frame formed of a metal pipe which a decking is integrally connected to, formed of a sheet-like element, usually a sheet metal with a non-slip embossing, or a metal net with sufficiently thick and sturdy meshes as to make it rigid.

The parapet (1) is formed of a metal tubular frame, having a substantially rectangular shape and wherein the top horizontal edge makes-up the upper cross member (11); the inner edge (22) of the footboard (2) also makes-up the lower horizontal edge of the parapet (1). The frame of the parapet (1) is horizontally crossed by an intermediate cross member (12) and vertically crossed by two central uprights (14,15); the side edges of the parapet make-up the two side uprights (13,16). In a particularly complete version, the intermediate cross member (12) is connected to the lower horizontal edge of the parapet by a vertical half-upright (17).

The lower portion of each of the intermediate uprights (14,15) of the parapet (1) forms a bend which projects outwards, its concavity being on the side opposite to that of the footboard (2): the two bends comprise each a rounded foot (41) and are configured, as a whole, in such a way as to form two fulcrum elements (4) which project down to touching the ground in an operating position.

Furthermore the lower portion of the parapet defines at least one opening.

In the embodiment illustrated in the figures, a wheel (5) is rotationally connected to each of the two rounded feet (41) respectively; the wheel does not touch the ground whenever the barrier is in position, whereas it touches the ground only after the barrier is slightly inclined on the side opposite to the footboard (2) one. Thanks to this arrangement, the operators in charge of positioning the barriers can easily displace them, by making them slide on the wheels, without scraping them against the ground and without being obliged to lift them.

In a particularly rich embodiment, the barrier is complemented by connection means for connecting to other identical barriers, in order to form a modular barrier; in order to perform this function, male connection means (18) and female connection means (19) are integrally connected to the two side uprights (13,16) of said parapet (1). The same connecting function might also be performed without using connection means of a fixed type, but using appropriate joints of a known type, which allow to reversibly connect the side edges of the parapets of two barriers aligned to form a fence.