BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS
The invention will be described for illustrative but not limitative purpose according to its preferred embodiments with particular reference to the enclosed drawings, wherein:
FIG. 1A shows a front view of the bollard with connecting mechanism according to a first embodiment of the invention in a first configuration;
FIG. 1B shows a side view of the bollard in FIG. 1A;
FIG. 1C shows a top view of the bollard in FIG. 1A;
FIG. 1D shows a sectional view of the bollard in FIG. 1C taken along line A-A;
FIG. 2A shows a front view of the bollard with connecting mechanism according to the first embodiment of the invention in a second configuration;
FIG. 2B shows a side view of the bollard in FIG. 2A;
FIG. 2C shows a top view of the bollard in FIG. 2A;
FIG. 2D shows a sectional view of the bollard in FIG. 2C taken along line A-A;
FIG. 3A shows a front view of the bollard body of the bollard with connecting mechanism according to the first embodiment of the invention, without any connector;
FIG. 3B shows a side view of the bollard body in FIG. 3A;
FIG. 3C shows a top view of the bollard body in FIG. 3A;
FIG. 3D shows a sectional view of the bollard body in FIG. 3C taken along line A-A;
FIG. 4A shows a perspective view of the connector of the bollard with connecting mechanism according to the first embodiment of the invention;
FIG. 4B shows a front view of the connector in FIG. 4A;
FIG. 4C shows a side view of the connector in FIG. 4A;
FIG. 4D shows a top view of the connector in FIG. 4A;
FIG. 4E shows a sectional view of the connector in FIG. 4D taken along line A-A;
FIG. 5A shows a sectional view of the bollard with connecting mechanism according to a second embodiment of the invention in a first configuration;
FIG. 5B shows a sectional view of the bollard with connecting mechanism according to the second embodiment of the invention in a second configuration;
FIG. 5C shows a sectional view of the solid bollard body in FIG. 5A;
FIG. 6A shows a sectional view of the bollard with connecting mechanism according to a third embodiment of the invention in a first configuration;
FIG. 6B shows a sectional view of the bollard with connecting mechanism according to the third embodiment of the invention in a second configuration;
FIG. 6C shows a sectional view of the solid bollard body in FIG. 6A.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
The first preferred embodiment with hollow bollard is described in detail with reference to the drawings.
Refer now to FIG. 1A to 1D and FIG. 2A to 1D. FIG. 1A to 1D show a first configuration of the bollard with connecting mechanism according to the first embodiment of the invention. FIG. 2A to 2D show a second configuration of the bollard with connecting mechanism according to the first embodiment of the invention.
As seen from FIG. 1A to 1D and FIG. 2A to 2D, a bollard with connecting mechanism according to the invention comprises a hollow bollard body 1 and two pairs of connectors 2. The bollard body 1 is provided with two pairs of receiving parts 11, each pair concave inwardly on each of opposite surfaces thereof. The two pairs of connectors 2 can be mounted into the receiving parts 11 in the two configurations.
Refer now to FIG. 3A to 3D. FIG. 3A to 3D show the bollard body 1 of the bollard with connecting mechanism according to the invention. As seen from FIG. 3A to 3D, the bollard body 1 is a hollow post with a square cross-section. Obviously the cross-section of the bollard body is not only bounded as square, and can be in any other symmetric form, e.g., circular, rectangular, hexagonal, octagonal, etc. Receiving parts 11 are formed on the bollard body 1 in pairs at the same height. The receiving part 11 is cubiform-shaped recess formed by a concave portion of wall of the hollow post and has two inserting holes 12. The inserting hole 12 is a through hole which communicates with the cavity of the hollow bollard body 1. A first fixing hole 13 is formed on the wall of the receiving part 11.
Refer now to the FIG. 4A to 4E. FIG. 4A to 4E show the connector 2 of the bollard according to the invention. The connector 2 is an integral part which has a base 21 and an ear 22. The base 21 is a flat and approximately cubiform board in a shape corresponding to the receiving part 11, such that it can be mounted into the receiving part 11 perfectly. The ear 22 is a flat and semi-elliptic board perpendicularly extending from one side of the base 21, in which a connecting hole 24 is formed for connecting the railing onto it. The width and thickness of the ear 22 correspond to the dimension of the inserting hole 12, and the length of the ear 22 is shorter than or equal to the width of the inner cavity of the hollow bollard body 1, such that the ear 22 can be inserted into the inner cavity through the inserting hole 12. A second fixing hole 23 is formed in the base 21 at a position corresponding to that of the first fixing hole 13 of the receiving part 11 such that the connector 2 can be fixed into the receiving parts 11 by nut and bolt. A recess is bored at each end of the fixing hole 23 such that it is better to house washer, nuts and/or bolt-head. Preferably, the first fixing hole 13 is formed on the centre of the receiving part 11 and the second fixing hole 23 is form on the centre of the base 21 such that the positions of holes 13 and 23 allow a higher flexibility for the base 21 to be accommodated in the receiving part 11. This flexibility allows the ears 22 of the connectors 2 on two opposite sides of the bollard 1 in different heights in order for a more flexible connection to the railings.
Then refer back to FIG. 1A to 1D. The first configuration is a state that no railing needs to be connected to the bollard. In the first configuration, the connectors 2 are completely mounted in the bollard body, with the ear 22 inserted through the inserting holes 12 and then into the inner cavities of the hollow bollard body 1 and the bases 21 accommodated in the receiving parts 11. Therefore, no any protruding parts remain when no railing needs to be connected to the bollard. It can be seen from FIG. 1D that the ears 22 of the connectors 2 in pair are mounted up and down such that the dimension of the bollard body 1 can be reduced.
Then refer back to FIG. 2A to 2D. The second configuration is a state ready for connecting the railing to the bollard. In the second configuration, the connectors 2 are rotated 180 degree and partly mounted in the bollard body 1, with the bases 21 accommodated in the receiving parts 11 and the ears 22 facing outward. It is preferable that a fixing mean such as a bolt passes through the fixing holes 13 and 23 to securely fix the connector 2 to the bollard body 1. Preferably, the connecting hole 24 is slot-shaped for providing flexibility to the connection between the railing and the bollard.
It is flexible to have a mixed configuration; that is, the first and second configurations can be existed at the same time. In other words, a connector 2 is partly mounted in the bollard body 1, with the base 21 accommodated in the receiving part 11 and the ear 22 facing outward. While at the same time another connector 2 at the opposite side is completely mounted in the bollard body 1, with the base 21 accommodated in the receiving part 11 and the ear 22 inserted in the inserting hole 12.
The second preferred embodiment with solid bollard is described in detail with reference to the drawings.
Please refer to FIG. 5A to 5C. In the second embodiment, the connector 2 is same as that in the first embodiment. The bollard body 1 is solid post with a square cross-section, in which two pairs of receiving parts 11 are formed. Obviously the cross-section of the bollard body 1 is not only bounded as square, and can be in any other symmetric form, e.g., circular, rectangular, hexagonal, octagonal, etc. The receiving part 11 is cubiform-shaped recess formed by a concave portion of wall of the post and has one inserting hole 12. The inserting hole 12 of the receiving part 11 on one of the opposite surfaces is formed through the solid bollard body 1 and communicates with the receiving part 12 on the other of the opposite surfaces. The first fixing hole 13 is also through hole communicating with both the pair of receiving parts 11 on the opposite sides.
The third preferred embodiment with solid bollard is described in detail with reference to the drawings.
Please refer to FIG. 6A to 6C. In the third embodiment, the connector 2 is same as that in the first embodiment. The bollard body 1 is the solid post same as that in the second embodiment, in which two pairs of receiving parts 11 are formed. The receiving part 11 is cubiform-shaped recess formed by a concave portion of wall of the post and has one inserting holes 12. The inserting hole 12 is blind hole formed inside the solid bollard body 1. In this embodiment, the inserting hole 12 of the receiving part 11 on one of the opposite surfaces is at a height different from the inserting hole 12 of the receiving part 11 on the other of the opposite surfaces such that the dimension of the solid bollard body 1 can be reduced. Obviously, the inserting hole 12 of the receiving part 11 on one of the opposite surfaces may be as high as the inserting hole 12 of the receiving part 11 on the other of the opposite surfaces.
Patent Application
20080075530
