Barrier connection system and method thereof

Abstract

A barrier having first and second spaced posts interconnected by a rail, wherein the rail and posts are not inserted within one another. In the exemplary embodiments, the parts are hollow in at least the region of the intended interconnection. Each post is connected to the rail by a coupling. Each coupling includes a connector that extends inside the hollow region of the post and rail. The post includes an aperture wherein when assembled the connector extends through the aperture. The connecter includes an abutment that abuts an inside of the post to prevent movement of the connector through the aperture. The connector is moveable further into one of the hollow sections of the post or rail to withdraw the connector from the other of the post or rail. This allows the rail to be disconnected from the post without increasing the distance between the two spaced posts.

Claims

1. A barrier assembled from parts, the parts comprising: first and second spaced posts; and a rail interconnecting said first and second posts, wherein the rail is not inserted within the posts; wherein the first post, the second post, and the rail are hollow in at least a hollow region of the intended interconnection and each post includes an aperture and is connected to the rail by a coupling, wherein the coupling includes a connector; the connector is arranged to extend through the aperture so that a first portion of the connector is arranged inside the hollow region of the post and a second portion of the connector is arranged inside the hollow region of the rail, the first portion and the second portion being a single piece; a width of the first portion is smaller than a width of the second portion such that the second portion is configured to abut the post and cannot extend through the aperture into the hollow region of the post; and the connector includes an abutment that is able to be arranged to prevent movement of the connector through the aperture in use while the second portion abuts the post and includes a second abutment arranged to act through an aperture within the rail; wherein the connector comprises a main body and a moveable first fixing, the first fixing is removable from the main body; and the first fixing is arranged from an abutment position to a free position, and in the abutment position, the moveable first fixing forms the abutment; and the connector is moveable relative to the rail so that, when the abutment is removed from the main body of the connector, the connector is able to move through the aperture in a direction to withdraw the first portion into only the hollow region of the rail while being fixed by the hollow region of the rail in all directions perpendicular to the direction so that the rail can subsequently be disassembled from the posts without increasing the distance between the two spaced posts, and when the abutment is in the abutment position and the second abutment is fixed to the rail, the connector is moveable relative to the hollow region of the rail to extend from the rail.

2. The barrier as claimed in claim 1, wherein the abutment of the connector is arranged within the post.

3. The barrier as claimed in claim 2, wherein the abutment is arranged to contact the inside of the post.

4. The barrier as claimed in claim 2, wherein the abutment is in removable contact with the inside of the post.

5. The barrier as claimed in claim 4, wherein the abutment is arranged to restrict in size in order to pass through the aperture.

6. The barrier as claimed in claim 1, wherein the first fixing is an elongate pin.

7. The barrier as claimed in claim 1, wherein the second portion of the coupling has a length great enough that the second portion of the coupling is configured to remain retained within the rail upon impact of an object with the barrier.

8. The barrier as claimed in claim 1, wherein the aperture through the post is smaller than an inner dimension in the rail, the inner dimension being arranged to enclose the second portion of the coupling.

9. The barrier as claimed in claim 1, wherein the second abutment is removable.

10. The barrier as claimed in claim 1, further comprising a collar arranged to fit against the rail to one side and the post to the other.

11. The barrier as claimed in claim 1, the first fixing is within the hollow region of the post when the first fixing is in the abutment position.

12. The barrier as claimed in claim 1, the connector comprises a slot through which the second abutment extends when fixed to the rail, the slot allowing the connector to move relative to the second abutment and the hollow region of the rail.

13. A method of assembling and disassembling a barrier from parts, the method of assembly comprising: providing a connector having a first portion and a second portion, the first portion and the second portion being a single piece, and a width of the first portion being smaller than a width of the second portion; interconnecting a rail to a first post and a second post, wherein the rail is not inserted within the posts, wherein the first post, the second post, and the rail are hollow in at least a hollow region of the intended interconnection and each post includes an aperture; the method of interconnection comprising: coupling each post to the rail by the connector; arranging the connector through the aperture so that the first portion of the connector is arranged inside the hollow region of the post and the second portion of the connector is arranged inside the hollow region of the rail, such that the second portion is configured to abut the post and cannot extend through the aperture into the hollow region of the post; preventing movement of the connector through the aperture by an abutment arranged on the connector while the second portion abuts the post and simultaneously allowing the connector to move relative to the hollow region of the rail to extend from the rail; and wherein the connector comprises a main body and a moveable first fixing, the first fixing is removable from the main body; the first fixing is arranged from an abutment position to a free position, and in the abutment position, the moveable first fixing forms the abutment; and a second fixing extends through the connector and the rail and is fixed to the rail to form a second abutment for the connector; the method of disassembly comprising: disassembling the rail from each post by removing the abutment from the main body of the connector and allowing movement of the connector through the aperture in a direction to withdraw the first portion into only the hollow region of the rail while being fixed by the hollow region of the rail in all directions perpendicular to the direction such that the rail can be disassembled from the posts without increasing a distance between the two posts.

14. The method as claimed in claim 13, the first fixing is within the hollow region of the post when the first fixing is in the abutment position.

15. The method as claimed in claim 13, the connector comprises a slot through which the second fixing extends, wherein the slot allows the connector to move relative to the second fixing and the hollow region of the rail.

Description

(1) For a better understanding of the invention, and to show how embodiments of the same may be carried into effect, reference will now be made, by way of example, to the accompanying diagrammatic drawings in which:

(2) FIG. 1A shows a cross-sectional view of a barrier comprised of a rail between two posts in an assembled orientation; and FIG. 1B shows a cross-sectional view of an arrangement ready for disassembling the rail from the posts;

(3) FIG. 2A shows a cross-sectional view of an alternative barrier comprised of a rail between two posts in an assembled orientation; and FIG. 2B shows a cross-sectional view of an arrangement ready for disassembling the rail from the posts;

(4) FIG. 3 shows a cross-sectional view through an exemplary coupling between a post and rail;

(5) FIGS. 4A and 4B show a top view of FIG. 3 before and at a point of impact, respectively;

(6) FIG. 5 shows a perspective view of an exemplary fixing;

(7) FIGS. 6 and 7 show perspective views of a rod and sheath respectively for forming a further exemplary embodiment of a fixing;

(8) FIG. 8 shows a top view of a post and rail connection employing the fixing of FIG. 5;

(9) FIG. 9 shows a perspective view of an exemplary foot plate for connection to a post;

(10) FIGS. 10 and 11 show a cross-sectional view through a post connected to the foot plate of FIG. 9 and respectively before and during a point of impact; and

(11) FIG. 12 shows a side view of an exemplary barrier.

(12) Referring to FIG. 1A a barrier 100 is shown. The barrier comprises two spaced posts 120 and an interconnecting rail 130. The rail is connected to each post by a coupling 200. The rail and post are extruded tubular plastic elements and have hollow areas 131 and 121 at the intersection of the rail and posts. Each coupling 200 includes a connector 210 that extends into the hollow section of the post and the hollow section of the rail. The post therefore has a through hole into which the connector is inserted. An abutment 220 on the connector 210 abuts an inside surface of the hollow region 121 of the post. The abutment 220 is arranged to restrict the connector from moving through the through hole in the post. Consequently, when the rail is impacted during use, the rail moves away from the post but the length of the connector 210 ensures that the connector remains within the rail. During installation or if the rail or other component of the barrier requires replacement, the connector 210 is slid into only one of the hollow sections 131 or 121. For instance at one end the connector is shown in FIG. 1B as being moved into the post so that the connector no longer extends into the rail. As such, the abutment does not have to be removed from engagement and can therefore be a fixed head or glued pin. However, due to the space requirements this may restrict the length of the connector. Alternatively at the opposite end an alternative embodiment is shown wherein the abutment is removed from contacting the inside of the hollow post. This allows the connector to be slid entirely within the rail. Consequently the rail may be removed without having to uninstall the posts. A rail is installed by offering up the rail and moving the connectors back into the hollow area 131 of the rail. And the abutments brought into contact.

(13) The sliding of the connectors can be done by manually reaching into the posts from the top or by using tools. Alternatively, the connector may have a handle for using to move the connector. Or a hole may be used to walk the connector along the rail.

(14) The embodiment wherein the connector slides into the rail is advantageous as it allows the hole through the post to be sized smaller than the inside dimension of the rail. This allows a rail and post of the similar size to be utilised. However, the abutment needs to be arranged to be disengaged either by moving the abutment or by removing the abutment from the connector. As shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B, the abutment is suitably a first fixing such as an elongate pin that extends from both sides of the connector and is preferably removable from the coupling to remove the abutment from abutting the inside edges of the hollow area.

(15) FIGS. 2A and 2B show an alternative embodiment wherein a second abutment 230 on the connector also abuts the rail 130. Here both abutments need to be removed before sliding the connector out of contact with one of the parts, shown as the posts. Again, the abutment is shown as a removable fixing such as a pin 230. The pin is elongate and extends through an aperture of the connector so as to abut the rail on both sides.

(16) In the embodiments described above, the fixings are held substantially fast to the connector in a direction along an axis of the rail. This creates a rigid structure that attempts to prevent any movement of the rail away from the post. However, in at least impact barriers, it is advantageous for the barrier to include some movement at the joint in order to absorb some of the forces of the impact. Consequently, as shown in FIG. 3, the connector 210 includes a slot 214. The slot is larger than the fixing (not shown) and allows the fixing to move relative to the coupling. As shown the fixing and rail 130 remain static relative to each other as the fixing is held in holes 134 on either side of the rail. The slot 214 is filled with a material 216 having a reduced resistance to deformation. For instance, the slot 214 may be filled with a compressible material such as a foam or a deformable material such as rubber. If a deformable material is used, space within the slot will need to be kept free to enable the rubber to deform.

(17) As will be appreciated, the coupling is shown in FIG. 3 as extending into the post. The first fixing (not shown) extends through aperture 212 to abut either side of the hole through which the coupling extends. Referring now to FIG. 4A, the barrier is shown in an initial rest position wherein the rail is secured to the post by the coupling comprising the connector held to the post and rail by respective fixings. As the barrier is impacted, the rail is caused to pull away from the post, as shown in FIG. 4B. The second fixing 230 is held statically relative to the rail and therefore moves with the rail. The first fixing causes an abutment with the inside of the post and therefore resists the connector from being pulled away from the post. Consequently the second fixing 230 is allowed to move by deformation of the material 216. The deformation controls the movement of the rail away from the post and the impact absorption can be changed by using different material characteristics. Once the material 216 has been fully deformed, the rail and fixing become locked together again and further movement of the rail away from the post need to be accommodated by failure or by the material characteristics of the post and rail or elsewhere in the system. If the material 216 is resilient, the barrier may return to the first state and not need replacing.

(18) It will be appreciated that although the fixing has been described as being static to the rail with the coupling including the area of reduced resistance to deformation, the parts may be reversed wherein the fixing is static to the connector and the material 216 arranged within a slot in the rail.

(19) Whilst the first fixing 220 may also be arranged to slip within one of the parts, the space within the post is often more limited. Consequently additionally or alternatively, a fixing 300 having an impact absorption feature as shown in FIG. 5 to FIG. 8, may be used as one or both of the fixings 220, 230 and separately or in addition to the slip movement feature.

(20) FIG. 5 shows a first embodiment of a fixing member 300 arranged to prevent a first part of a barrier separating from a second part of the barrier. The fixing member 300 is shown with a first side 310 and a second side 320. The first side 310 of the fixing member 300 acts against one of the parts of the barrier. The fixing member 300 has a substantially constant cross-section and is particularly elongate and shaped like a prism, particularly a triangular prism. The corners of the prism are curved in order to improve the distribution of forces acting on and through the fixing member 300 towards the impact barrier. The second side 320 of the fixing member 300 is shown to substantially occupy one face of the prism whereas the first side 310 substantially covers two faces of the prism. In this embodiment, the first side 310 and second side 320 have different locating means. For instance, the first side 310 is located within the impact barrier by the two faces of the triangular prism whereas the second side 320 is located using a corrugated surface. The first side 310 of the fixing member 300 is formed from a first area 312 and the second side 320 of the fixing member 300 is formed from a second area 322 to produce the constant cross-section of the prism shape.

(21) It can be appreciated that the fixing member 300 is composed of varying resistances to deformation to aid the absorption forces on impact. For instance, the first side 310 of the fixing member 300 has a high resistance to deformation, whereas the second side 320 has a relatively lower resistance to deformation. Therefore, it may be said that the first side 310 is rigid compared to a softer second side 320. When the fixing member 300 is slotted into position, the first side 310 of the fixing member 300 is pressed against the impact barrier which causes the softer second side 320 to compress and allow the two parts of the impact barrier to be secured.

(22) During impact, and as the first and second parts are cause to produce a shearing effect on the fixing, movement of the first face towards the second face is controlled by deformation of the softer area and thereby absorbs some of the energy from the impact.

(23) FIGS. 6 and 7 shows a second embodiment of the fixing member 300. The fixing member 300 is shown as an elongate member and is in the form of pin. The fixing member 300 is comprised of an inner core 330 and outer sheath 360. The fixing member includes varying resistances to deformation in order to improve the distribution of forces on impact. For instance, the inner core 330 has a relatively soft outer layer 340 with a low resistance to deformation and is coupled to a relatively harder inner layer 342 with a higher resistance to deformation. This varying resistances help to improve the transfer of forces through the fixing member 300. The outer layer 340 wraps around the inner layer 342 to allow the outer layer to consistently contact the impact barrier and more evenly distribute and absorb the impact forces. The outer layer 340 is shown as a mesh-like lattice structure with interconnecting cross-members and a plurality of recesses 332. These recesses 332 allow the relatively soft outer layer 340 to spread outwardly and towards each recess 332 in order to improve the deformation ability of the outer layer 340.

(24) The sheath 360 comprises a relatively hard material that has a relatively higher resistance to deformation. On impact, the forces are absorbed through the hard outer layer 360 deforming and compressing the inner layer wherein said depression controls the movement of the first surface towards the second. The hard outer layer 360, elastically deforms in a controlled and restricted manner, which allows the fixing member 300 to compress to form an ovular, egg-like shape. The deformation or compression forces are distributed through the fixing member 300 radially and circumferentially so that the deformation is achieved more uniformly around the fixing member 300 and the force is not solely transferred through one side or face of the fixing member 300. In this embodiment, the soft inner core 350 is surrounding by the outer layer 360 which acts like a sleeve to wrap the core 350.

(25) FIG. 8 shows the fixing member 300 located within a tube 370 in order to hold the first part 380 of the impact barrier within the second part 390 of the impact barrier. Here, the fixing member 300 is slotted between the first part 380 and the tube 370 so that the first side 310 of the fixing member acts against the first part 380 of the impact barrier and the second side 320 of the fixing member 300 acts against the second part 390 of the impact barrier. On impact, the first part 380 is pulled from the second part 390 which causes the second side 320 of the fixing member 300 to deform. After the impact, if the material is resilient, the fixing member 300 returns to its original location. The second side 320 of the fixing member 300 acts longitudinally across the tube 370 so that the first part 380 and second part 390 are not easily detached from the tube 370. The fixing member 300 is press fitted so that when the impact barrier recoils after the impact, the fixing member 300 does not fall out or move away from its original position. It is appreciated that an end stop may be applied to the fixing member 300 in order to prevent any dislodging or downward movement.

(26) Referring to FIG. 9, a foot plate 400 is shown by way of example to illustrate a further exemplary embodiment. It will however be appreciated that the connection may apply equally to a post and rail connection. The foot plate 400 assembled to a post 120 is shown in FIGS. 10 and 11. A fixing such as an elongate pin secures the post to the footplate, wherein the foot plate has been inserted into the post. In the previous embodiments, the pin was in contact with an area of reduced resistance to deformation only to one side of the shear force acting on the pin. This provides good control of lateral movement, but during impact often a bending moment is also created. Whilst the previous embodiments allowed the post to pivot, the pivot point is not at a centre of the post. Consequently it is advantageous as shown to provide an area of reduced resistance to deformation on both sides of the pin. As shown, the pin therefore extends through an aperture as before in the post and maintain a static relationship with the post. The pin extends through the foot plate. Slots extend either side of the pin in which the softer material is placed as herein described. Consequently as the shearing force causes the pin to lift on one side, the same shearing force causes the other side of the pin to move downwardly. The pin therefore pivots towards a centre of the footplate 400.

(27) In the Figures the pin 220 is formed in two parts. The two parts remain connected by a ball. This allows a second pin to be inserted through the footplate at an angle but on the same plane as the first pin. Consequently, the post is able to pivot due to the compression of a soft area in two directions.

(28) Referring back to FIG. 9, the foot plate therefore comprises a body 410 including ground anchor fixing points 412 so that the foot plate can be securely fastened to the ground. The body includes a generally cylindrical part that up stands from a base and is inserted into the post. Once inserted, pins 220 are inserted through the apertures on the post, the slots in the base plate and so that parts of the pins extend between the post and base plate at four positions. Slots within the base plate are filled with a softer material so as to absorb energy during impact.

(29) As shown in FIG. 12, a predominantly plastic barrier is therefore provided having adequate strength between the footplate and post and rail and post to withstand and provide protection against impacts. The barriers are aesthetically pleasing as seamless designs can be utilised wherein the rail and posts are substantially equally sized. Here a collar is formed on the connector so that square end posts can be used without creating gaps in the seamless appearance.

(30) The foregoing embodiments have been described in relation to an impact barrier. Such barriers are designed to withstand the dynamic forces generated by an impact. Often, such barriers have to conform to specific standards set by the rules, regulations and best practices of each country. For instance, rules governing amounts of deflection acceptable from given loads. However, it will be appreciated that the barrier system described herein may also be adaptable to other barrier systems. For instance, safety barriers other than impact barriers such as balustrading that is designed to withstand static loading. Here static loading may be applied during a person leaning against the barrier. The barrier system offers a safety barrier having the advantages outlined above such as ease of assembly, ease of replacement, better force distribution, and common size post and rail giving seamless joins. Moreover, there are other barriers such as segregation barriers and partition barriers where the barrier system described herein can be adapted to produce advantageous affects.

(31) Although a few preferred embodiments have been shown and described, it will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications might be made without departing from the scope of the invention, as defined in the appended claims.