ALBINSON, John (BAA Limited, Belgrave HouseBuckingham Palace Road, London SW1W 9TQ, GB)
CLAIMS
1. Apparatus for mounting street furniture on a surface, the apparatus comprising: a substantially rigid inner portion configured to be attached to a piece of street furniture; a substantially rigid outer portion receivable in the surface, wherein the outer portion at least partially surrounds the inner portion to define a space between the inner portion and the outer portion; and a resilient portion located substantially within the space for resiliently opposing movement of the inner portion relative to the outer portion.
2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the resilient portion comprises a resilient material which substantially fills the space between the inner portion and the outer portion.
3. The apparatus of claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the resilient portion comprises polyurethane.
4. The apparatus of any preceding claim, wherein the resilient portion comprises a material having a hardness in the range 75 to 90 Shore A.
5. The apparatus of any preceding claim, wherein the resilient portion extends along substantially the full length of the space between the inner portion and the outer portion.
6. The apparatus of any preceding claim, wherein the substantially rigid inner portion comprises an opening in which a corresponding portion of a piece of street furniture can be received.
7. The apparatus of any preceding claim, wherein the substantially rigid inner portion comprises a tab with an opening alignable with a corresponding opening in a piece of street furniture, for releasably fixing the piece of street furniture to the inner portion.
8. The apparatus of any preceding claim, receivable within a hole in said surface.
9. The apparatus of claim 8, wherein the outer portion comprises a plurality of tabs configured to removeably receive jack screws.
10. The apparatus of any preceding claim, wherein the inner portion and the outer portion are substantially co-axial.
11. The apparatus of any preceding claim, wherein the inner portion and outer portions are substantially tubular.
12. The apparatus of claim 11, comprising a blanking plate closing off a lower face of the tubular inner and outer portions.
13. The apparatus of claim 11 or claim 12, wherein the inner portion is configured to extend farther out from the surface than the outer portion.
14. The apparatus of any preceding claim comprising at least one further said substantially rigid inner portion.
15. The apparatus of any preceding claim and a piece of street furniture attached to the substantially rigid inner portion.
16. A method for mounting street furniture on a surface using the apparatus of any preceding claim, the method comprising: receiving the substantially rigid outer portion in the surface; and attaching a piece of street furniture to the substantially rigid inner portion.
17. Apparatus for mounting street furniture, the apparatus being substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.
18. A method for mounting street furniture, the method being substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings. |
APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR MOUNTING STREET FURNITURE
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to mounting street furniture.
Street furniture is typically mounted by inserting a post, which extends from the street furniture, into a hole in the ground. The surface into which the post is inserted may, for example, include concrete or other kinds of rigid, robust material.
A problem with mounting street furniture into solid surfaces is that during a collision of, for example, a vehicle with the street furniture, the fact the street furniture is rigidly fixed means that a relatively large amount of damage can occur to the vehicle, to the street furniture and to the surface itself.
Mounting apparatus and methods which allow some degree of movement of the street furniture are known. These arrangements aim to mitigate the damage caused in collisions by allowing the street furniture to recoil in the direction of impact, thereby lessening the forces involved in the collision. Arrangements of this kind are disclosed in DE4414794, US5379716, US3193059 and WO2002090663. Many of these arrangements are somewhat complicated in their construction and therefore costly to manufacture and relatively time consuming to install.
A further problem involved with mounting street furniture is that known apparatus and methods do not provide a mounting which is swift to install and which provides a robust attachment of the mounting components with both the street furniture itself and the mounting surface also.
Further kinds of mountings (but not necessarily suitable for mounting street furniture) are described in DE10015723, DE10012487, DE3811401, EP1256658,
EP0102803, FR2630169, GB2397586, GB2353808, GB2324321, GB2151677,
GB2037398, GB2027769, GB1047817, GB621355, GB591730, GB1909/16360, JP2005/145330, JP2003/232143, US6435760, US5625988, US5492429, US3166871, US2679911, US1857489, and WO220007844.
This invention has been made in consideration of at least some of the problems indicated above.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Particular and preferred aspects of the invention are set out in the accompanying independent and dependent claims. Combinations of features from the dependent claims may be combined with features of the independent claims as appropriate and not merely as explicitly set out in the claims.
Aspects of the invention are defined in the accompanying claims.
According to an aspect of the invention there can be provided an apparatus for mounting street furniture on a surface. The apparatus includes a substantially rigid inner portion which is configured to be attached to a piece of street furniture. The apparatus also includes a substantially rigid outer portion which is receivable in the surface. The outer portion at least partially surrounds the inner portion to define a space between the inner portion and the outer portion. The apparatus further includes a resilient portion which is located substantially within the space for resiliently opposing movement of the inner portion relative to the outer portion.
The apparatus can provide for the mounting of street furniture in a manner that allows for some degree of movement of the street furniture. This can reduce the amount of damage which occurs when the street furniture is hit by, for example a vehicle.
Furthermore, the arrangement of inner and outer portions provides for a robust attachment of the street furniture to the apparatus and of the apparatus to the surface.
During a collision, buckling of the inner and outer portions is minimised due to their substantially rigid configuration, and it is the resilient portion which bears the majority of the collision force.
The resilient portion can include a resilient material which can substantially fill the space between the inner portion and the outer portion. This is a simple yet effective arrangement which minimises costs with respect to, for example, more complicated sprung arrangements. The resilient portion can include, for example, polyurethane or
rubber. The resilient portion can include a material having a hardness in the range 75 to 90 Shore A. The resilient portion can extend along substantially the full length of the space between the inner portion and the outer portion.
The substantially rigid inner portion can include an opening in which a corresponding portion of a piece of street furniture can be received. This plug-and-socket type arrangement provides for the swift and convenient mounting of street furniture.
The substantially rigid inner portion can include a tab with an opening which is alignable with a corresponding opening in a piece of street furniture, for releasably fixing the piece of street furniture to the inner portion. The openings can be locked together using, for example, a padlock.
The apparatus can be receivable within a hole in the surface. The outer portion can include a plurality of tabs which are configured to removeably receive jack screws which can be used when lowering the apparatus into the hole.
The inner portion and the outer portion can be substantially co-axial and/or substantially tubular, thereby to provide an equal degree is resiliency in each possible direction of collision.
The apparatus can include a blanking plate for closing off a lower face of the tubular inner and outer portions. This can prevent material such as grouting in the hole from entering, for example, the inner portion and interfering with the attachment of the street furniture to the inner portion, and/or from entering the space between the inner and outer portions. The inner portion can be configured to extend farther out from the surface than the outer portion, again to aid in preventing material such as grouting from entering the inner portion during installation of the apparatus in the surface.
One or more further substantially rigid inner portions can be provided, and the their number and relative positions within the outer portion can be tailored as appropriate for a particular piece of street furniture.
According to another aspect of the invention, there can be provided a method for mounting street furniture on a surface using the apparatus described above. The method includes receiving the substantially rigid outer portion in the surface. The method also includes attaching a piece of street furniture to the substantially rigid inner portion.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
For a better understanding of the invention and to show how the same may be carried into effect reference is now made by way of example only to the accompanying drawings in which like reference signs relate to like elements and in which:
Figure 1 shows a schematic side view of a mounting bush;
Figure 2 shows a schematic cross section view of the mounting bush shown in Figure l; and Figure 3 shows a schematic three dimensional cut-away view of the mounting bush shown in Figures 1 and 2.
While the invention is susceptible to various modifications and alternative forms, specific embodiments are shown by way of example in the drawings and are herein described in detail. It should be understood, however, that drawings and detailed description thereto are not intended to limit the invention to the particular form disclosed, but on the contrary, the invention is to cover all modifications, equivalents and alternatives falling within the spirit and scope of the present invention as defined by the appended claims.
DESCRIPTION OF PARTICULAR EMBODIMENTS
Particular embodiments will now be described by way of example only in the following with reference to the accompanying drawings.
Figures 1 to 3 show various views of an apparatus for mounting street furniture on a surface in accordance with an example of an embodiment of this invention. In the present example the invention takes the form of a mounting bush 10.
As is shown in Figures 1 and 2, the mounting bush 10 can be received in a hole 18 made in a surface 40, typically the ground. The hole in this example can be made by a coring process, although any other processes suitable for making a hole can also be used. The material into which the cored hole 18 is made can, for example, be concrete, tarmac, earth or combinations of such materials in different layers.
The mounting bush 10 can receive a piece of street furniture 30 to provide support for the street furniture 30 in a manner which is quick and easy to install and which allows a degree of resilient movement of the street furniture 30 in the case of, for example, a collision with the street furniture 30. In the present example, the portion of the street furniture 30 which is received in the mounting bush 10 comprises a tubular post - this is most clearly shown in Figures 2 and 3. The tubular post may extend from the remainder of the piece of street furniture 30. Examples of street furniture include a bollard, a bench, a post such as a lamp post or a supporting post for a shelter. Typical dimensions for the diameter of the post of the street furniture 30 are 5 to 30 cm.
With reference to Figures 2 and 3, it can be seen that the post of the street furniture 30 can be received within an opening in an inner portion 16 of the mounting bush 10. In this example, the inner portion is substantially cylindrical, as is the post of the street furniture 30 and the post can be coaxially received within the inner portion 16. In other examples, different cross sections could be used for example, a square, oblong or hexagonal cross section. In this regard, the cross sectional configuration of the inner
portion 16 of the mounting bush 10 can be tailored to receive an appropriately shaped portion of a piece of street furniture 30 for providing a mounting therefore.
The mounting bush 10 also includes an outer portion 12. The outer portion substantially surrounds the inner portion. As is described in more detail below, a resilient portion is located substantially within the space between the inner portion 16 and the outer portion 12.
In this example, and as is most clearly shown in Figures 2 and 3, the outer portion 12 is substantially cylindrical and the inner portion 16 and the post of the street furniture 30 are coaxially arranged within the outer portion 12. The same considerations as described above with relation to the cross sectional configuration of the inner portion 16 apply to the cross sectional configuration of the outer portion 12. Thus, the cross section of the outer portion 12 in the example shown in Figures 1 to 3 is substantially circular but could, in other examples be, for example, triangular, square, oblong or hexagonal. Although in the present example the inner portion 16 is coaxially arranged with the outer portion 12, it will be understood that this configuration is not essential to the present invention. Thus, although a coaxial arrangement as shown in the figures is beneficial in the sense that it provides for a homogenous degree of resiliency for collisions with the street furniture 30 in any direction in other examples, a non-coaxial arrangement may allow for a greater degree of resiliency in a particular direction. Accordingly, anticipated directions of collisions can be provided with an appropriate degree of resilient recoilability for the street furniture 30 and directions of collisions which are anticipated as being likely can be provided with a relatively low degree of resilient recoilability for the street furniture 30.
In the present example, the mounting bush 10 includes only a single inner portion.
However, it is envisaged that in other examples the outer portion could substantially surround more than one inner portion. In this way, a piece of furniture could be mounted by attachment to a plurality of inner portions such as inner portion 16, wherein the inner portions are all arranged within and substantially surrounded by a single outer portion.
Also as shown in Figures 2 and 3, the mounting bush 10 includes a resilient portion 14. The resilient portion is located in a space which is defined between the inner portion 16 and the outer portion 12. The resilient portion can taken any appropriate form for providing a degree of resistance to movement of the inner portion 16 relative to the outer portion 12.
As is described below, the resilient portion may comprise a plastics material, although other resilient materials may also be used. In accordance with an embodiment of the invention, the hardness of the material used to make the resilient portion can be chosen according to the size of the substantially rigid inner and outer portions. In particular, the material can have a hardness in the range 75 to 90 Shore A. Materials having a hardness in this range provide a robust support for the street furniture. Moreover, an overly flexible material would not provide effective protection in the event of a collision (this is because it would fail to effectively resist movement of the inner portion 16 relative to the outer portion 12 as described herein, and would give way too easily). A resilient portion comprising a material having a hardness in the range 75 to 90 Shore A does not suffer from this problem.
The inner portion 12 and the outer portion 16 are both relatively rigid compared to the resilient portion 14. Accordingly, when the outer portion of the mounting bush 10 is received in a cored hole 18 in a surface 40, and when a piece of street furniture 30 is received within the substantially rigid inner portion 16, movement of the inner portion 16 caused by movement of the street furniture 30 to which the inner portion 16 is attached can be resiliency opposed by the resilient portion 14.
In the present example, the resilient portion 14 comprises one or more annular rings of a plastics material (for example, polyurethane), which are located substantially between the inner portion 16 and outer portion 12). From Figures 2 and 3, it is clear that if a lateral force is applied for example, in the direction shown in Figure 2 by the arrow labelled A, this will cause a rotation of the inner portion 16 relative to the outer portion
12 as well as a degree of linear movement of the inner portion 16 in the direction of the collision. The direction of rotation is shown by the arch labelled B in Figure 2. This rotation will tend to compress the resilient portion 14 at the areas labelled 32 in Figure 2. Conversely the areas labelled 34 in Figure 2 will tend not be compressed by the rotation.
hi this way, the resilient portion 14 is able to bear the brunt of the collision force, thereby reducing the forces operating between the object involved in the collision and the street furniture 30 this can reduce the amount of damage caused to the object (vehicle) and street furniture 30 caused by the collision.
While the use of a resilient portion is known in the art for providing a degree of resilient bendability for a piece of street furniture, it is not known to provide a resilient portion which is located between two substantially rigid portions. The provision of the two rigid portions, one of which substantially surrounds the other allows for a stable, robust and secure attachment to both the street furniture 30 to the cored hole 18 of the surface 30. Furthermore, this arrangement is simple to construct and easy to install. In contrast, in the absence of a rigid inner portion or a rigid outer portion it is more difficult to achieve a good robust attachment to a surface, while other known arrangements are somewhat complicated in their construction.
In accordance with an embodiment of the invention, the resilient portion 14 is not in a pre-compressed state between the inner portion 16 and the outer portion 12. In such embodiments, compression of the resilient portion 14 occurs only in the event of a collision. This simplifies the installation/manufacture of the apparatus since no compression step is required to install the inner portion or to mount the street furniture.
As is shown in Figure 2, an end plate 20 can be provided at an end of the mounting bush 10, which is at a lower end of the mounting bush 10 when the mounting bush 10 is received in a cored hole 18. The purpose of the end plate 20 is to close off certain areas of the mounting bush 10 from the bottom of the cored hole 18. hi the example shown in Figure 2, the end plate 20 serves to close of the space between the
inner portion 16 and the outer portion 12, although in other examples, the end plate 20 can also extend towards the middle of the mounting bush 10 thereby to close off the bottom of the mounting bush 10 and shield the received portion of the street furniture 30 from material which is accumulated at the bottom of the cored hole 18. hi particular, when mounting a mounting bush 10 in a surface 40, the mounting bush 10 is typically placed into a cored hole 18 following the pouring of a certain amount of grouting into the cored hole 18. This grouting, when hardened provides a secure connection between the sides of the cored hole 18 and the outer portion 12. However, if grouting were allowed to enter into the space between the inner portion 16 and the outer portion 14 and/or the interior of the inner portion 16 this may affect the working of the mounting bush, for example by inhibiting attachment between the inner portion 16 and the received portion of the street furniture 30.
As is shown in Figure 1, the inner portion 16 may be provided with one or more cut out portions 17 thereby to reduce the weight and the amount of materials required to construct the mounting bush 10.
As is shown in Figures 2 and 3, the resilient portion 14 can extend along substantially the full length of the full length of the space between the inner portion 16 and the outer portion 12. This can ensure that, in the event of a collision, the forces involved are transmitted along the full length of the mounting bush 10. The pivot point of the inner portion 16 in such examples is well below ground level, for example it may be approximately half way between ground level and a lower end of the mounting bush 10.
Another advantage of the apparatus described herein is that in the event of a serious collision leading to deformation of the inner portion 16 (for example by severe bending of the street furniture), because the inner portion 16 is substantially surrounded by flexible material (the resilient portion 14), the shape of the inner portion 16 may be reformed (by using, for example, a jack) to allow a new piece of street furniture to be installed.
Also shown in Figures 1 to 3 are features which allow for installation of the mounting bush 10 and the fixing of street furniture 30 to the mounting bush 10.
In particular, the mounting bush 10 can be provided with one or more tabs 26 which are located around the periphery of the outer portion 12. These tabs can be provided with holes into which jack screws can be inserted to facilitate installation of the bush into the cored hole 18.
The inner portion 16 may be provided with means for providing a fixed or locked attachment with the street furniture 30. For example, and as shown in Figures 2 and 3, the inner portion 16 can be provided with one or more tabs 22 which are themselves provided with holes 23. These tabs and holes can be configured to align with corresponding tabs and holes on the received portion of the street furniture 30 when the holes are aligned, such as a padlock or chain can be used to prevent removal of the street furniture 30 from the receiving area of the inner portion 16.
In the present example, the resilient portion 14 substantially fills the space between the inner portion 16 and the outer portion 12. In other examples, the resilient portion 14 may include occlusions or other cut outs again in order to reduce to amount of material required to provide a resilient portion and/or to adjust the resilient characteristics of the resilient portion 14.
With reference to Figure 2, it will be noted that the inner portion 16 is configured to extend slightly further away from the surface 40 than does the outer portion 12. The purpose of this extension is to prevent grouting from entering the receiving portion of the inner portion 16 while the mounting bush 10 is being installed.
It will be understood that the plug and socket aspect of the present example constitutes a convenient and robust mounting system for street furniture. A method for
mounting street furniture of a surface will now be described with continued reference to Figures 1 to 3.
To mount a piece of street furniture on a surface, a hole can first be cut or dug into the surface, for example the cored hole 18 in surface 40 shown in the Figures. Grout can then be poured into the hole up to a pre-defined depth. The mounting bush 10 can then be lowered into the hole to the correct depth and vertical orientation using, for example, the removable jack screws described above. Once the mounting bush 10 is correctly received, the receivable portion of the street furniture 30 can be attached to the inner portion 16 for example by inserting it into an opening in the inner portion 16 and by optionally aligning the tabs 22 and holes 23 described above with corresponding tabs and holes on the street furniture 30 and by attaching, for example, a padlock to prevent unwanted removal of the street furniture 30.
Thus there has been described an apparatus and method for mounting street furniture on a surface. The apparatus includes a substantially rigid inner portion which is configured to be attached to a piece of street furniture. The apparatus also includes a substantially rigid outer portion which is receivable in the surface. The outer portion at least partially surrounds the inner portion to define a space between the inner portion and the outer portion. The apparatus further includes a resilient portion which is located substantially within the space for resiliently opposing movement of the inner portion relative to the outer portion. A method of mounting street furniture on a surface using the described apparatus includes receiving the substantially rigid outer portion in the surface and attaching a piece of street furniture to the substantially rigid inner portion.