Patent Application
20120134745
The present invention generally relates to traffic control barriers, and more specifically to an improved self-contained automatic pop-up bollard system.
Traffic control devices are well known. There are numerous examples in the prior art of various devices to control or limit traffic access to restricted areas. Recent terrorist attacks have presented numerous problems for controlling traffic access to highly secured areas. Local, state and federal governments have elevated concerns for securing areas from the threats of terrorists. The military has elevated concerns for securing military bases as well.
Terrorist attacks on embassies, and other sites of foreign governments or corporations have become commonplace. Some of the more notorious attacks have involved terrorists driving large trucks laden with explosives through the gates of an embassy or other secured sites and detonating the explosives. In response to these attacks, many such sites have installed a variety of barriers in front of their gates. However, the barriers installed at these installations also obstruct the passage of authorized vehicles.
Examples of some pertinent prior art patents are listed and discussed below:
U.S. Pat. No. 4,624,600, issued on Nov. 25, 1986 to R. H. Wagner, et al, and entitled ANTI-TERRORIST VEHICLE IMPALER. This patent discloses a barrier device disposed in a trench in a roadway with an impaler arm that pivots into an oncoming vehicle when released by an explosive charge. The impaler arm is secured in place by a trigger that releases by the explosive charge, and a counter weight on the opposite end of the impaler arm. The counterweight is of sufficient mass so that the pivoting impaler arm turns about the pivot under the force of gravity, thereby thrusting the impaler arm above the surface of the roadway. The impaler arm projects at an angle toward a vehicle to be stopped, which is impaled by the arms.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,705,426, issued on Nov. 10, 1987 to B. A. Perea entitled SECURITY AND DEFENSE BARRIER discloses a vault buried within and transverse to the roadway. The vault has within a latched plurality of barrier arms that may be raised by any powered means, or manually, and raised barrier arms are positioned within the vault so that impact forces are transmitted directly to the vault and to a foundation, and little or no load is supported by a pivoting mechanism. The raised barrier arms have a hook on the end so that the speeding vehicle attacking the barrier will be snagged and prevented from inadvertently or intentionally vaulting the barrier.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,248,215 issued, Sep. 28, 1993, to M. Fladung entitled ROAD BARRICADE. This patent discloses a car park barricade that is fastened to the road surface with a barricade element optionally positioned parallel to the road surface or in a position at an angle thereto. The barricade element is swiveled upwards about an axis parallel to the road surface and vertical to the blocking direction by means of a drive mechanism comprising a spindle element.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,702,512 B1, issued Mar. 9, 2004 to G. S. Reale entitled VEHICLE ARRESTING INSTALLATION. This patent discloses a barrier for blocking the passage of a vehicle wherein the barrier has a bollard post positioned to obstruct a vehicle path. The post is coupled to piercing bars or pikes that are normally kept in a compact stand-by state in a recessed housing bordering the vehicle path. The bars deploy pivotally when the vehicle strikes and pivots back the post. The bars or pikes impale the body of the vehicle and break away in an assembly together with the barrier post, to interfere with continued or powered driving of the vehicle.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,997,638 B2, issued Feb. 14, 2006 to C. J. Hensley, et al entitled ANTI-TERRORIST ROAD BLOCK. This patent discloses a road block having an extendible bollard that is manually or electronically actuated by a powerful spring force for slow extension, and by both the spring and a power lift for rapid expansion.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,118,304 B2, issued Oct. 10, 2006 to R. R. Turpin and Joey W. Blair (the inventor hereof) entitled AUTOMATIC SELF CONTAINED COLLAPSIBLE TRAFFIC BARRIER BOLLARD SYSTEM. This patent discloses a collapsible traffic barrier located in a steel vault. A rod is rotatably mounted to support members inside the vault, wherein the rod extends across the vault from end to end. A plurality of bollards are secured to the rod near the first end thereof, whereby rotation of the rod rotates the bollards upward at an angle above the roadway and into the direction of an oncoming vehicle.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,641,416 B2, issued Jan. 5, 2010 to G. D. Miracle entitled VEHICLE BARRIER DEPLOYMENT SYSTEM. This patent discloses a system having at least two lifting members, at least one barrier member, and an actuation assembly. The lifting members are pivotally secured to a base member, and are operable to be selectively raised and lowered in a vertical direction relative to the base member. The barrier member is in communication with the lifting members, and is configured to stop a moving vehicle when the lifting members are in a raised position. The actuation assembly is in communication with lifting members, and is operable to selectively raise and lower the lifting members by moving at least a portion of each of the lifting members in a direction transverse to the traffic lane.
All of the prior art devices suffer from one or more disadvantages that are overcome by the system and structure of the present invention disclosed hereinbelow. Most of the prior art devices discussed above will only stop vehicles going in one direction, unlike the system of the present invention. As a result of the structure of the present invention vehicles may be stopped in multi directions, especially both directions in a single roadway. Moreover, many of the prior art devices require a lubricant or hydraulic fluid to operate, which creates environmental problems.
The invention is explained in the following description in view of the drawings that show:
The present invention is a pop-up bollard barrier system that is to be used for restricting physical access to high security areas wherein the highest level of protection is required. The system must be capable of stopping a 15,000 pound vehicle traveling at 50 mph. Vehicle barriers of this type are currently being used in areas around the world, but they are typically incapable of mechanically functioning reliably during an extended period of time. Other systems of this type are known for their complexity and are expensive to maintain, plus they are very expensive to install.
The present invention eliminates the need for high maintenance costs, high installation costs, and mitigates environmental issues related to lubricants and hydraulic oils typically used in such devices. Moreover, the present invention provides an inexpensive way to build and operate such a pop-up bollard barrier system.
Referring now to the drawings and to
With reference now to
The bollard assembly 11 is operated with a single drive mechanism in the form of an electromechanical actuator 29 that powers the three bollards to the up and down position simultaneously. In accordance with one embodiment, one end of the actuator 29 is coupled to a pivot arm 31 and the other end thereof is coupled to frame 35 of the assembly 11. The pivot arm 31 is coupled to a single fulcrum 32 through a common shaft 33. The belt 30 (which actually comprises several belts operating in parallel) is connected to an end of the fulcrum opposite the common shaft 33, and a series of ratchets 34, which are coupled to the ends of the belts 30 at the end of the fulcrum 32, are used to tighten the belts. The ratchets 34 are standard off-the-shelf components and will not be amplified further herein. The belts 30 are guided around a series of pulleys 38 and 38A in order to raise each individual bollard 12, 14, 16. The actuator 29 operates the fulcrum 32 with the assistance of a group of springs 36 attached between the frame 35 and a pivot arm 27 coupled to the common central shaft 33. The pivot arm 27 in one embodiment is actually an extension of the pivot arm 31. That is, they comprise opposite ends of a single member pivoting about the central shaft 33.
The springs 36 may comprise any group of springs necessary to assist the lifting capability of the electromechanical actuator 29. The fulcrum design takes into consideration the need for the electromechanical actuator 29 to operate as a single drive for the three individual bollards 12, 14, and 16, and with the assistance of the spring system 36. The spring system 36 is designed to assist from the down position to the full up position of the bollards. The actuator 29 and the spring system 36 are connected to the structure using pins and devises 37 and 39, respectively, thereby allowing for free movement of motion required to deploy the bollards. In one embodiment, the actuator 29 has a 12″ stroke, or extension, but is capable of moving the bollards to full deployment (36″) based on the length of the pivot arm 31.
The actuator 29 is operated from a source of 208 single phase alternating current (AC), when activated by a signal to the AC source. Alternatively, there is a back-up battery BB if the source of AC should fail. One terminal of the battery BB is coupled to the actuator 29 and the other terminal is connected to the frame 35. Circuitry for operation of the actuator 29 is conventional in nature and will not be amplified further herein.
The bollard assembly is different from others on the market in that square tubing is employed, which offers a much more robust product with higher structural capabilities requiring less material. The use of this product allows for more safety signage (such as reflectors 12A, 14A and 16A) as well as less demand on the steel industry, thereby adding a savings not only to the “GREEN” concept but to cost savings for the end user as well. The bollard works over a double channel guide post 26 that will allow the bollard to slide up and down providing support and guidance for deployment. The Delrin product 28 acts as a slide attached to the guide post 26 to allow for smooth and controlled deployment of the bollards. This offers a stable position of the bollard while being deployed without the requirement of maintenance for metal products that would normally abrade and wear due to friction.
In accordance with one embodiment, two pieces of 3″×3″×½″ angle iron form a collar 40 that are fastened to two sides of the bottom of the bollards with four ¾″×4″ bolts 51 (not shown in this FIG., but illustrated in greater detail in
The collar 40 acts as a stop for the bollard post on impact with a vehicle and for security of maintaining the bollard in position at all times. The bollard rests on the collar 40, which acts as a leveling stop for the final up position of the bollards 12, 14, 16. Upon impact of the barrier system, if a bollard is damaged, it can simply be unbolted, whereupon maintenance personnel can remove the bollard pin 42 and then remove the bollard itself for replacement. The lifting belt can then be reconnected to the 1½″ pin 42, thereby allowing the product to be quickly put back into operation after a crash. The collar 40 along with the bolts 51 and the 1½″ pin 42 on each side of the bollard prevents the bollard post from being removed by vandals as well as prevents the bollard from being pulled apart from the barrier system upon impact by an errant vehicle.
The bollard assembly 11 of the present invention employs connection joints encased in an engineered thermoplastic product similar to Delrin, which is available from DuPont Corporation. Use of this product for the connection joints eliminates the need for lubrication of the moving parts, which would normally wear and require lubrication. This addition helps improve the “GREEN” concept thereby eliminating yet another possibility for an environmental issue.
In accordance with one embodiment, a belt drive was used to allow for a “no” maintenance, flexible, quiet and long lasting system. Cables, chains and other products were considered but the belts 30 turned out to be the most practical for this application. In accordance with one embodiment, the belts 30 are made of Dyneema, which is an ultra-high-molecular-weight polyethylene. The belts 30 are ⅛″ thick and 1″ wide and have a tensile strength of approximately 7,000 pounds. The lifting requirement is calculated to be 350 pounds thereby allowing for a huge safety margin. The 4 inch pulleys 38, 38A for the belt application are a manufactured product that is made for up to 1¼″ wide belt with a brass bushing, and steel with powder coat paint.
As stated hereinabove, the present invention is built in two components, the bollard assembly 11, and a vault 44 buried in the roadway 17. With reference to
Again with reference to
Referring now to
Referring now to
The present invention employs a two-part system with the vault 44 and the bollard assembly 11 as an insert, which will dramatically ease the production and maintenance of the system once installed. The system 10 incorporates a mechanism to operate multiple bollard posts simultaneously with one motor, thereby dramatically lowering the cost of the system and maintenance thereof once installed. The design of the system 10 allows one to remove the bollard assembly 11 from the vault 44, which is secured in a permanent foundation, and still have the ability to reattach the bollard assembly 11 or a replacement assembly. All of this includes the ability to stop a 15,000 pound truck traveling at 50 mph, creating 1,250,000 pounds of kinetic energy. Upon impact, a maintenance crew will have the ability to simply remove and replace only the damaged bollard if required, while leaving the vault and bollard assembly 11 in a condition that would allow for continued use after minor repairs are made, if necessary.
While various embodiments of the present invention have been shown and described herein, it will be obvious that such embodiments are provided by way of example only. Numerous variations, changes and substitutions may be made without departing from the invention herein. Accordingly, it is intended that the invention be limited only by the spirit and scope of the appended claims.
