PROTECTION DEVICE AGAINST TRUCK RAMMING ATTACKS

Abstract

An anti-ramming truck barrier element may include: an essentially horizontal arresting bar, and an essentially vertical pivot bar. The vertical pivot bar has at least three fasteners distributed along the length of each side. The arresting bar is rigidly connected to the pivot bar. Connecting bars are pivotably connected to the side of the pivot bar, and are being adapted to be cross-connected at different crossing angles to adjacent pivot bars, using the at least three fasteners distributed along the length of each side of the pivot bar.

Claims

1. An anti-ramming truck barrier element comprising: an essentially horizontal arresting bar; an essentially vertical pivot bar comprising a front side, a rear side, and two lateral sides, at least three fasteners being distributed along a length of each of the lateral sides, the arresting bar being rigidly connected to the pivot bar; and connecting bars pivotably connected to the side of the pivot bar, said connecting bars being adapted to be cross-connected in use at different crossing angles to adjacent pivot bars by means of the at least three fasteners distributed along the length of each lateral side of said pivot bar.

2. The anti-ramming truck barrier element according to claim 1 wherein a first connecting bar and a second connecting bar are preassembled on one side of the pivot bar, one of the extremity of the first connecting bar being fastened to one of the fasteners on the side of the pivot bar, and the second connecting bar being pivotably attached to the first connecting bar through an axi at the center of both connecting bars, the unconnected extremities of the connecting bars being adapted to be fastened to free side fasteners of the pivot bar or to free fasteners of adjacent pivot bars.

3. The anti-ramming truck barrier element according to claim 1, wherein the pivot bar forms, with the arresting bar, an angle of at least 100° in a vertical plane.

4. The anti-ramming truck barrier element according to claim 1, wherein the barrier element comprises an anchoring spike that is configured to penetrate the surface of the ground when the element pivots as a consequence of a truck hitting the pivot bar.

5. The anti-ramming truck barrier element according to claim 1, wherein the pivot bar forms an angle of between 100 and 135° with respect to the arresting bar.

6. The anti-ramming truck barrier element according to claim 1 wherein the arresting bar, when the element is set up on a flat horizontal surface, is slightly inclined, the pivot bars forming an angle of at least 100° with respect to the horizontal, the inclination being obtained by supports located close to a center of gravity of the barrier element.

7. The anti-ramming truck barrier element according to claim 1, wherein the arresting bar is removably fitted into a connector into which the pivot bar is removably fitted, the connector maintaining, in use, a fixed angle of greater than 100° between the arresting bars and the pivot bars.

8. The anti-ramming truck barrier element according to claim 1, wherein additional connecting bars are pivotably connected to the side of the arresting bar, the arresting bar comprising at least three fasteners distributed along the length of each side of said arresting bar, said connecting bars being adapted to be cross-connected at different crossing angles to adjacent arresting bars by means of the at least three fasteners distributed along the length of each side of said arresting bar.

9. The anti-ramming truck barrier element according to claim 8 wherein a first additional connecting bar and a second additional connecting bar are preassembled on one side of the arresting bar, one extremity of the first additional connecting bar being fastened to one of the fasteners on the side of the arresting bar, and the second additional connecting bar being pivotably attached to the first additional connecting bar through an axis at the center of both connecting bars, the unconnected extremities of the connecting bars being adapted to be fastened to free side fasteners of the arresting bar or to free fasteners of adjacent arresting bars.

10. An anti-ramming truck barrier comprising several of the anti-ramming truck barrier elements of claim 1, wherein adjacent elements are attached together by the corresponding connecting bars connected to the fasteners.

11. An anti-ramming truck barrier according to claim 10, wherein a distance between two adjacent barrier element is variable.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

[0023] FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of two exemplary anti-ramming truck barrier elements according to the present disclosure.

[0024] FIG. 2 shows a side view of an example of anti-ramming truck barrier element according to the present disclosure.

[0025] FIG. 3 shows a front view of two assembled barrier elements having their maximum separating distance.

[0026] FIG. 4 shows a front view of two assembled barrier elements having their minimum separating distance.

FIGURE KEYS

[0027] 1. anti-ramming truck barrier element [0028] 2, 3, 4, 18, 19, 20 Pivot bar fasteners for fixing connecting bars end [0029] 5. fixing stud [0030] 6, 7, 8, 21, 22, 23 arresting bar fasteners for fixing additional connecting bars end. [0031] 9. First connecting bar [0032] 10. first additional connecting bar [0033] 11. arresting bar [0034] 12. pivot bar [0035] 13. stopping spike [0036] 14. second connecting bar [0037] 15. second additional connecting bar [0038] 16. axis between first and second connecting bar [0039] 17. axis between first and second additional connecting bar [0040] 24. support and tipping spike [0041] 25. retractable wheel [0042] 26. soft arresting spike protection [0043] 27. arresting spike

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0044] As shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, the present disclosure relates to an anti-ramming truck barrier element comprising essentially horizontal arresting bars 11 fixed to pivot bars 12 (i.e. bars causing the device to pivot around a point fixed in the ground such as the stopping spike 13) forming preferably, with the arresting bars 11, an angle a of at least 100°.

[0045] Essentially horizontal is to be understood as meaning that these bars are intended to be laid on the ground, one of the two ends being laid on the ground and the other end being either laid on the ground or slightly raised.

[0046] The barrier elements 1 of the present disclosure are adapted to be assembled together with connecting bars 9,10,14,15. Those connecting bars are adapted to be cross connected at different angles between adjacent barrier elements, so that the distance between elements can be varied.

[0047] One advantage of such distance variability is that the mounted barrier can be adapted to different threat levels (i.e. truck weight and speed), the barrier being stronger when the distance is minimum and weaker when the distance is maximum.

[0048] A further advantage of the present disclosure is that by varying the distance between adjacent elements, the strength of the barrier can be fine-tuned for example by alternating wide and narrow distance between elements.

[0049] Another advantage is that the mounted barrier width can be adapted to the way width easily. As a further advantage, the strength of the barrier can be varied along the width of the barrier: for example, three elements in the middle of the barrier are assembled at minimum distance, and the elements on the side are assembled at maximum distance so as to cover the entire available width.

[0050] The most important connecting bars are those fastening the pivot bars 12, as they also help stabilizing the vertical position of each element in a barrier. These are the connecting bars 9,10 affixed to at least one lateral side of the pivot bar of each element as seen in FIG. 1. Preferably, as represented in FIG. 1, when dismounted, the barrier elements have two connecting bars preassembled on one side of the pivot bar 11, the bars being rotatably fixed together by an axis 16 passing through their centers. One of the preassembled bars is then rotatably fixed to a fastener 4.

[0051] In order to vary the angle between cross-connected connecting bars, each side of the pivot bars comprises a plurality (at least 3) of fasteners 2,3,4,18,19,20 wherein the extremity of the connecting bars 9,10 can be secured.

[0052] As shown in the FIGS. 1-3, the same cross-connection system can be applied between the arresting bars 11.

[0053] In contrast with some prior art that seeks to produce a vertical barrier that is held in that position by the weight of a vehicle on a base of the barrier, or that seeks to lift up the vehicle by means of a rotational movement of the barrier, preferred embodiments of the barrier elements of the present disclosure aims to use arresting bars 11 as stakes or spearheads that are on the one hand lodged in the ground by a spike 13 that penetrates the surface of the ground, and on the other hand lodged in the underside of the body of the vehicle by the impact of the vehicle with the elements of the device of the present disclosure.

[0054] Indeed, in the case of a heavy goods vehicle, it is ridiculous to suggest that the hinge of the devices of the prior art can have sufficient mechanical strength to stop a truck travelling at full speed. By contrast, a stake lodged in the underside of the body, rather than lifting up the truck, allows the greatest possible amount of kinetic energy to be absorbed, and the truck to be stopped more efficiently. It is then clear that the more horizontal the stake (opposite the direction of movement) during the arresting phase, the more effective the system.

[0055] In order to arrive at this result, the device of the present disclosure seeks to facilitate pivoting of each element of the barrier. To that end, rather than using a vertical barrier, the pivot bars 12 are fixed to the arresting bars 11 at an angle of at least 100°, that is to say at least 10° greater than the angle of the prior art barriers. This angle is preferably between 100 and 135°. This inclination has two consequences. First, this inclination moves the center of gravity of the assembly backward, thus facilitating pivoting of the device; second, this angle makes it possible to increase the torque of rotation applied by the front of the truck on the system.

[0056] Advantageously, anchoring means comprising a spike 13 that is able to penetrate the surface of the ground when the device pivots as a consequence of a truck hitting the barrier are arranged at the end of or in line with the arresting bars in order to improve the stake effect thereof.

[0057] Advantageously, the arresting bars 11, when the device is set up on a flat horizontal surface, are slightly inclined, the pivot bars 12 forming an angle of at least 100° with respect to the horizontal, this inclination being preferably obtained by means of supports 24,25 located slightly forward of the center of gravity of the arresting bar 11/pivot bar 12 assembly or assemblies so as to facilitate pivoting of the assemblies.

[0058] The said supports can be in the form of small wheels 25 facilitating the displacement of the barrier. In that case, the position of those wheels 25 are critical and should be very close to the vertical position of the center of gravity of the barrier elements, so that the rotation is easily obtained by the inertial behavior of the barrier when hit by a fast vehicle.

[0059] Preferably, the said wheels 25 can be retracted and leave the arresting bar resting on a spike 24 protruding from the bottom side of the arresting bar 11. In that case, the position of the spike 24 is less critical, as the friction forces between the spike and the ground would help the rotation movement.

[0060] In addition to those aspects of the device making it effective in terms of stopping ability, the device of the present disclosure must also be easy to set up and dismantle by a limited number of persons. To that end, the device can preferably be dismantled, the arresting bars 11 being removably fitted into connectors 6 into which the pivot bars 12 are removably fitted, the connectors maintaining a fixed angle of greater than 100° between the arresting bars 11 and the pivot bars 12.