Patent ID: 8261806

Claim:
A barrier for the control of people comprising: a stand; a housing for a flexible band extensible therefrom, said the housing being supported by the stand and having a side wall, an open upper end and a slot in the side wall; a spool rotatably received in the housing and carrying a flexible band extensible from the housing through said slot, the spool and band being removable through the open upper end of the housing; and a tensioning cassette for the spool, said cassette having an outer wall, a drive member rotatably mounted within the cassette, and a spring tensioner acting between the outer wall and the drive member and arranged to be charged by relative rotation between the outer wall and the drive member, the cassette being provided as a unit engageable with and removable from said open upper end of the housing, and the arrangement of the housing and cassette being such that on fitting the cassette to the housing, the drive member is engageable with the spool while the outer wall of the cassette remains free of the housing so that rotation of the outer wall tensions the spring tensioner, whereafter the outer wall of the cassette is engaged with the housing.