Patent Description:
More specifically, the scopes of the present invention are a device and a method for modifying barrier elements of known types, so as to zero, or at least reduce, their dangerousness in case of fall.

Movable barrier elements formed of a vertical parapet featuring a substantially rectangular shape, resting on at least two bases, each of which is shaped as an overturned "V", are of general use for a long time in order to regulate the passage of persons in otherwise open areas.

Every base comprises two inclined feet, which project transversally and whose ends touch the ground; a vertical axis hole is present in the central portion of the base of these barrier elements, suitable for slidingly receiving internally thereto a respective vertical pin which protrudes below from the vertical parapet.

Often, but not always, this pin is nothing but an extension of the vertical side edge of the parapet; usually it is a tubular element featuring a circular cross section, less often it features a polygonal cross section.

The parapet of these barrier elements is usually made from a metal, with a tubular perimetric edge and several elements internal to the edge, the purpose of the latter being that of rendering the parapet impervious to persons; typically there are a plurality of vertical elements internally to the rectangular perimetric edge, their ends being integrally connected to the upper horizontal edge and to the lower horizontal edge respectively.

The connection of the pin internally to the hole of the stand is a reversible one and makes it possible to easily remove the bases from the parapets, for example in order to make transportation and storage of the barrier elements easier. Usually the barrier elements of this type include longitudinal connection means which reversibly join them to each other, in order to form a continuous line of barrier elements suitable for delimiting longer sections of the longitudinal development of a single barrier element; usually the means used to longitudinally connect the barrier elements are located in correspondence with the side edges of the vertical parapets.

This kind of barrier elements of known types is easy to transport, but it resulted to be very dangerous for people should a barrier element overturn and fall to the ground under the thrust of pedestrians.

As a matter of fact, the ends of the tubular elements that form its two feet are cut obliquely with respect to their longitudinal axis in order to improve the stability of each individual base. In other words, the feet are inclined with respect to the ground and their ends are cut according to a horizontal plane, parallel to the ground; it follows that the ends of the base are pointed, with an angled cut, a socalled salami slice or flute beak cut.

This configuration which, on one hand, improves the stability of the barrier element, is very dangerous should it fall down because, whenever the parapet touches the ground, the end of a foot of every base is unavoidably facing upwards and might cause major injuries to a pedestrian, should he/she fall thereon; this latter circumstance is very likely to occur in the case of crush, when the crowd throngs and pushes against the barrier element up to making it fall down.

The problem related to the dangerousness of barrier elements upon overturning was dealt with in <CIT>, which proposes base feet featuring rounded points, which do not terminate in a cut, but rather in a closed hemisphere. It is a solution featuring a number of evident disadvantages, including, amongst others, the increased cost deriving from being obliged to perform a cut orthogonal to the axis of the tubular body that forms the tooth, to realize a metal hemisphere and finally to weld the edge of the hemisphere to the perimeter of the cutting section of the ends of the foot. Also, should the barrier element fall down, the end of the foot of the base is anyway facing upwards and, even though it does not end in a sharp point, it is nonetheless a point that is harmful, should anybody fall thereon.

International patent application <CIT> discloses a barrier element featuring foldable legs; each leg comprises three portions which can change from a compact configuration, wherein the different portions are substantially flattened one against the other, to a triangular raised position, which provides a greater stability. It is evidently a very complex and intricate configuration, expensive to implement and much subject to stopping dead during its operation; also, it is a solution aiming at implementing a barrier element that an operator can fold and close to reduce space occupation during transportation and storage, but it is not a barrier having the purpose of automatically closing in case of fall, whichever is the direction from which a thrust comes.

patent application <CIT> describes a barrier element with bases capable of partially rotating about the pin; every base comprises a tubular central body, from which two feet project. The tubular central body enters the inside of the pin of the barrier element which it is coupled with, thanks to a bolt passing through a slot present in the central body itself, whose ends are shaped in such a way as to prevent the through bolt from rotating once the latter reaches the end of its rotation. In particular, the cross section of said slots is greater at the ends, so that the bolt goes down and reaches a lower position, thus causing a corresponding vertical displacement of the pin of the barrier element, hence the barrier element shall be lifted first in order for it to rotate in the reverse sense.

The conformation described in <CIT> is therefore intended to prevent unintentional rotation of the base with respect to the pin that protrudes below the barrier. However, in case the crowd presses on the barrier to the point of causing it to overturn, this conformation inevitably entails two negative and dangerous consequences: the first is that the barrier does not automatically flatten to the ground, but remains partially raised because the bases cannot rotate automatically as the bolt is retained at the end of the slot; the second negative and dangerous consequence is that the ends of the bases become fearsome spikes pointing upwards, capable of causing very serious injuries to those who would fall on them.

The base for barrier elements and the method according to the present invention aim at providing a system for rendering the known barrier elements of the described type harmless, should they be brought down to the ground; in particular, an object of the present invention is to automatically prevent the presence of harmful points facing upwards in the case of an overturning, which might cause very severe injuries to those people who might fall thereon.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a base that can be installed under the parapets of barrier elements already in use, and a method for performing a simple replacement of a traditional base with a base that is capable of changing from an open working configuration to a closed idle configuration, thanks to the movement of a very limited number of component parts and simultaneously makes the barrier element little bulky during transportation and storage.

A no less important object of the present invention is to provide a base that allows for a barrier element to be safely brought down under the action of thrusts exerted on any of the side of the parapet.

A further object of the barrier element according to the present invention is to provide a method that allows to quickly modify barrier elements of known types, so as to make them harmless in case of overturning.

These objects and others, which will be apparent to those skilled in the art upon looking at the figures and reading the following text, are achieved by using a base as defined in claim <NUM>, comprising among others a central body (<NUM>), from which at least two feet (<NUM>, <NUM>) protrude, and comprising internally thereto a vertical axis cavity (<NUM>), shaped in such a way as to slidingly receive internally thereto a corresponding vertical pin (B), of a type projecting below from the parapet of barrier elements of known types (A); in particular, the base for movable barrier elements according to the present invention comprises rotational coupling means suitable for driving the feet (<NUM>, <NUM>) into rotation between a first projecting working position and a second flattened idle position, which takes place whenever the barrier element falls down to the ground. In the latter position, the movable barrier element of a known type, after being modified according to the present teaching, will not present any longer sharp ends of feet facing upwards, which are very harmful for a person who falls thereon, but the ends of the teeth will lay in a horizontal plane parallel to the ground, without creating harmful situations and reducing space occupation as much as possible. The scope of protection of the present invention also comprises a method as defined in claim <NUM> that allows to transform barrier elements of known types into security barrier elements, by removing their base of a traditional type with a base as described in this document.

The principle of the invention summarized above can be implemented according to different embodiments, depending on the specific characteristics of the barrier element of a known type to be modified.

If the pins (B) that project below from the parapet (A) of the barrier element of a known type features a circular cross section, then, in a simple and practical embodiment, the central body (<NUM>) of the base defines a cylindrical cavity (<NUM>), internally to which the pin (B) is slidingly engaged according to a vertical axis and retains the capability of rotating about said axis.

In this embodiment, two feet (<NUM>, <NUM>) diametrically go out from the central body of the base, and are integrally connected to the central body itself.

In the first projecting working position, the base is placed in such a way that the feet (<NUM>, <NUM>) are transversal with respect to the vertical plane of the parapet, so that, should the barrier element fall down, it will be the weight of the latter to provoke a rotation of the base until the feet reach the second flattened idle position and will lay on the ground, without creating any elements that are harmful for those who fall down to the ground above the fallen down barrier element, because of the crush.

Reversible retention means are adopted to be able to rise the barrier element without making the bases disconnect from the parapet (A), which prevent the base from slipping off, while allowing a partial reciprocal rotation thereof.

<FIG>, <FIG>, <FIG>, <FIG> show a configuration wherein said anti-slip-off means comprise a longitudinal element as a bolt, not shown in the figures, the screw of which crosses both the pin (B) of the barrier element and two circumferential slots (<NUM>) defined on the central body (<NUM>) of the base for one quarter of the circumference and diametrically opposed to each other, so as to allow for a partial rotation of the base about the pin (B), but not its slipping off.

In a particularly effective embodiment, the slots (<NUM>) are defined for an angle less than one quarter of the circumference, for example for an angle ranging from one quarter to one sixth; the latter configuration is shown in <FIG> and facilitates the rotation of the base should the barrier element fall down, thus preventing the risk of stopping dead.

Conversely, if the pins (B) of the parapet (A) are of a polygonal cross section type, it is necessary to adopt a second embodiment not corresponding to the invention wherein the vertical cavity (<NUM>) defined internally to the central body (<NUM>) of the base also features a polygonal internal cross section, so as to receive the pin (B) internally thereto, but not such as to allow the latter to rotate about its own vertical longitudinal axis.

In this second embodiment of the security base according to the present invention, the two feet (<NUM>, <NUM>) are hinged to the central body (<NUM>), according to a horizontal longitudinal axis, and rotate in a vertical plane orthogonal to the vertical plane defined by the parapet (A).

In the simplest embodiment, the rotation of the feet between the two extreme positions takes place independently and is completely free; however, other embodiments are possible wherein, in order to make the feet change from the working position to the idle position, it is necessary to overcome the resistance offered by appropriate retention means such as, for example, one or more magnets.

In this second embodiment too, perforations are provided in the central body (<NUM>) of the base to receive a screw, the function of which is to prevent the pin protruding below from the parapet from accidentally sliding and to prevent it from slipping off the cavity defined in the central body (<NUM>).

For this purpose, it is possible to use a through screw, which crosses both the central portion of the base and the pivot received by it internally thereto; a threaded nut makes then it impossible for the screw to slip off; the screw and the nut are shown in <FIG>.

Claim 1:
A base for pedestrian barrier elements comprising a central body (<NUM>), from which at least two feet (<NUM>, <NUM>) transversally protrude and internally to which a vertical axis cylindrical cavity (<NUM>) is defined, shaped in such a way as to slidingly receive internally thereto a corresponding vertical pin (B) of a type projecting below from the vertical parapet (A) of barrier elements of known types, while leaving it free to rotate about its own vertical axis, so that said feet (<NUM>, <NUM>) are rotationally movable between a first projecting work position and a second flattened idle position, further comprising anti-slip-off means which prevent said pin (B) from longitudinally sliding internally to said cavity (<NUM>); characterized in that said anti-slip-off means comprise two slots (<NUM>) defined in said central body (<NUM>) according to a substantially circumferential pattern and diametrically opposed to each other, associated with a longitudinal element of circular cross section suitable to cross both said slots (<NUM>) and said pin (B), thus preventing the latter from slipping off and simultaneously allowing for a free rotation internally to said cavity (<NUM>) about a vertical axis, said slots (<NUM>) being shaped with an intermediate portion of constant width and two opposite end portions each having a semicircular shape in which the diameter of the semicircle is equal to the width of the slot in said intermediate portion, in such a way as to never prevent said longitudinal element from rotating about the vertical axis.