Ground Post

This invention relates to a post, for use particularly, but not exclusively with vehicle and pedestrian barriers, to prevent access to a designated area, for example, outside of a car storage site, to prevent theft of vehicles whilst they are parked, or outside a football stadium to control a pedestrianised area, or even outside of a building to prevent a vehicle ram-raid, to protect assets or persons from this modern criminal phenomena.

Known bollards comprise a base or portion set into the ground, and a post or bollard that moves telescopically up or down within the base portion, such that the inner post can be utilised as a barrier to prevent persons or vehicles from passing through or the post is dropped into the base portion, to rest below ground in a storage position, allowing persons or vehicles to pass over the post site without restriction.

In one embodiment of the prior art ,the bollards/posts are designed to be raised or lowered by hydraulic oil means, and the pressurised oil is utilised to lock the bollard in a raised position, and release of the hydraulic oil pressure allows the post to lower back into the ground such that a person or vehicle can pass over it, without obstruction, to allow access in this discreet position.

In an alternative embodiment, as taught in the patent no. GB 2339586 to Heithus in 2000 ,the bollards or posts have no source of automation, but simply rely on a key to be inserted by the operator, and a twist of the key will unlock the post to be raised manually, and then another twist of the key can lock the post in a raised position, also to prevent access to persons or vehicles, in this raised position.

Further embodiments of the prior art can be fixed at ground level such that the post can lie down when not in-use, and the same post can be pivotally raised and then locked into a raised upright position to be in-use.

This particular design is above the ground level, and is a potential tripping hazard when pedestrians pass-by when the post is not in-use. Motor vehicles inadvertently run over the post and pivot mechanism, causing damage and potential failure of the mechanism.

Automatic bollards of the prior art can be raised and lowered at the push of a button or the twist of a key, or by radio-controlled signal from a device or even using infra-red beams to activate the bollard to raise or lower as and when required. These known posts suffer from a

number of drawbacks. The means to raise and lower by hydraulic oil methods can be costly, and the working parts can be complicated and unreliable.

In addition, the bollard/post relies on the hydraulic oil pressure to be provided by a device to enable the post to remain fixed in a solid position, the release of the hydraulic oil pressure by the device will allow the post to be lowered. The device requires another portion set into and below the ground level, so persons or vehicles are to pass over said post when the post is lowered to the discreet position. The device may be relatively bulky, so require large amounts of additional work below ground level.

The prior art system that is fully automatic utilises hydraulic actuators and electronical devices and sensors, to action the post to be raised or lowered as required. A problem that exists with this particular device is that it has to rely on the actuators when the post is fully raised out of the ground and loss of pressure can result in the post lowering back into the ground, and so the post can be overcome by unauthorised persons with relative ease, by simply tapping into the weakest part of this particular design.

Therefore, according to the present invention, a security post comprises a base portion, further described as an outer post, positioned below the ground, and an inner post that is telescopically mounted inside the base portion such that the inner post can be settled inside of the ground based portion, and also adapted to allow the inner portion to be raised up into a working position, to act as a post device to prevent persons or vehicles from passing a boundary.

Further, according to the present invention, a security post comprises an upper post portion and a lower post portion telescopically mounted therein, in which the upper post is adapted to move from a lowered storage position to an in-use position, the security post further comprising locking means operable to lock the upper post portion relative to the lower post portion in the in-use position by abutting a lower portion of the upper post portion.

Suitably, the post may be manually raised from the ground based position, to the raised and locked position further utilising a locking means to hold the post up in the raised position, or to hold the post down in the ground based storage position, and the post may lower to the storage position by gravity.

Suitably, the inner and outer post portions may be constructed with steel box section such as Hybox 355,that may be 5mm in thickness, or alternatively, the inner and outer post portions could be constructed from tubular steel that may be other than 5mm thickness, to provide a suitably strong .telescopic arrangement for the posts.

Suitably, the post may be moved from one position to another by means of a pneumatic actuator, adapted to allow the inner portion to move between a fully-extended position, where the actuator rod is at the full extent and the post is raised and in-use, and a fully-retracted position, where the actuator rod has moved into the body of the actuator and the post is lowered into a storage position, resting below the ground within the base portion.

Suitably, a locking means is provided to lock the post up in the raised position, and also to lock the post in the lowered position, further utilising another pneumatic actuator such as a pneumatic actuator to move the locking means from one position to another, where the locking means is in position when the actuator rod is fully extended, and the retraction of the actuator rod upon actuation, will move the locking means to an un-locked position, such that the locking means is un-locked to allow the post to move from one position to another to be raised or lowered in-use.

Suitably, the locking means may comprise a locking pin, and corresponding pin-slots can be provided at a top end of the outer portion, and a bottom end of the inner portion, which slots can be aligned to lock the post in a raised position, where the pin is passing through the outer portion, and to lock the post in a lowered position, where the pin is passing through both the outer portion and the inner portion, to prevent the inner post from extending.

Suitably, the locking pin may be a steel pin, for example of a 30 millimetre diameter. The locking pin is moveable along a path that is substantially transverse to the telescopic arrangement of the inner and outer post portions. The locking pin can be re-enforced. Suitably, the slots on the outer and inner posts may also be re-enforced.

Suitably, the locking means may be utilised to move from a locked position, where the pin is passing through the slots of both portions, to an un-locked position, where the pin is moved and dis-engaged from the slots of both portions such that the inner post can move upwards to be in-use or the pin can lock the inner post down in the storage position.

Suitably, the pin may move back to the locked position, where the pin release actuator is at the full extension of the rod-member, and can lock the portions in both of the operating positions, i.e., up or down.

Suitably, the locking pin is mounted to an actuator, operable to move the locking pin between an extended position, where the pin is engaged in the pin-slots of the inner and outer portions, and a retracted position where the pin is dis-engaged from the pin-slots.

In example embodiments, it is not possible to lower the inner post into the ground, until it has been raised slightly, for example 20 millimetres, and a catch/latch inside the inner post has been freed from the pin-shaft.

For example a groove in the pin-shaft is in contact with the catch to prevent the pin from moving until the post has raised slightly, to free the catch from the grooved pin-shaft methods to unlock the pin include raising the post by activating the raise and lower actuator.

In another preferred embodiment, it is not possible to raise the post until it has been raised, or lowered slightly, for example by 20 millimetres, and another catch inside the inner post portion has been freed from the grooved pin-shaft. Methods to unlock the pin are to raise or lower the post by activating the raise and lower actuator.

The actuator to raise and lower the post may be single or double-acting. A single acting actuator can be utilised to raise the post upwards into position, and the post can drop under its own weight. A double acting actuator can be utilised to raise the post upwards, and to assist the post to drop with exhaustive port control measures.

The actuator provided to lock and unlock the locking means may also be single or double acting. A single acting actuator may be utilised to unlock the locking means, and a spring may be employed to return the locking means back to the locked position.

A double acting actuator may be utilised to lock and unlock the locking means by utilising a pilot-valve.

The pilot-valve to move the pin may be controlled independently from a pilot- valve that raises and lowers the inner post. Alternatively, instead of a push-button operated pilot-valve, an electronic control unit may command the actuators individually or uniformly.

In an alternative embodiment a post comprises an inner section and an outer section, where the outer portion is moved upwards and downwards and the inner portion remains below the ground level, with the components described previously can be fitted in appropriate alternative positions.

Embodiments of the present invention aims to provide a less complicated actuator system, which actuators can be powered by pressurised air; fluid; or gas, to provide an alternative security post without complicated parts. For example the means to power the actuators may be compressed air, thus creating a pneumatic system, or alternatively, the power can be water mains pressure taken from a convenient source near to the control system, such that the pressured water can operate the system to raise and lower, and to lock and unlock, with similar operation to the pneumatic system.

Security posts of the present invention are controllable one post at a time, or alternatively, a number of posts can be raised or lowered at the same time by utilising one control system to direct air or other pressured fluid or gas, to the actuators, by connecting pipes from the first post and onwards to the last post.

Therefore, according to the present invention, a number of posts can be fitted into the ground next to one another, and one pilot-valve can action the raise and lower actuators to move, and another pilot-valve can action the pin release actuators to move, and can be raised and locked to be in-use, or the posts can be dropped and locked in a storage position, below the ground, to allow un-restricted passover in this discreet position.

To operate a single post or e.g. a row of ten posts for example, then the operator must mount the control box unit, mounted in a convenient position near to one end or the other end of the row of posts, for example.

The control box unit may suitably house two pilot-valves and two push-buttons utilised to operate and control the pilot-valves, by manual intervention.

The two buttons may be colour coded to identify a raise and lower switch from a pin unlock switch, for example one could be green and one could be red. Alternative colours or black and white buttons could also be used, providing a means is provided to distinguish the separate operations to raise and lower and to lock and unlock the system, as mentioned.

To raise a single post or e.g. row of ten posts can be done in a special sequence, such that the two buttons are pushed and pulled in the following manner from an on position to an off position, which sequence of pushing buttons will cause the system to act to lower posts down into the storage position from a raised and in-use position, as follows:

1. Pull raise/lower button and all ten posts will raise upwards, e.g. by around 20mm.

2. Pull pins release button and all ten pins will move to unlock.

3. Push raise/lower button and all ten posts will drop into the ground.

4. Push pins release button and all ten pins will move to lock. A reversal of this operation will allow the posts to be raised upwards from the storage position to be in-use, by performing the operation as follows:

5. Pull pins release button and all ten pins will move to unlock.

6. Pull raise/lower button and all ten posts will raise upwards.

7. Push pins release button and all ten pins will move to lock.

8. Push raise/lower button and all ten posts will drop slightly and lock.

According to the above-mentioned example sequence of button operations, the posts are all up and in-use and it is impossible to accidentally drop the posts because the posts must raise

upwards to free the pins to move to un-lock, thus a post is created that provides a strong post that is resting on a strong pin, and thus the actuators are not relied upon to hold the posts in the extended position, but merely to move the post upwards or downwards, further utilising the locking means to provide a secure post that will function with less working parts than an automatic post of the prior art.

Therefore, with example embodiments of the present invention, by pushing the buttons in a special sequence, it is possible to control the raise and lower operation in conjunction with the pin-shaft groove and catch type of locking system provided such that the posts will not drop and lock until the posts have been raised slightly, thus deactivating the internal locking mechanism that prevents pin movement unless the sequence of operation is performed correctly by the operator.

Further, with example embodiments of the present invention the actuators to raise and lower drop the posts with air-cushioning everytime, to reduce the risk of damage to the body of the actuator if the post was to drop down in an un-controlled fashion (i.e.:without air-cushioning) because the pins cannot move until the post has been raised slightly to unlock the catch and to allow the post to lower controllably, everytime.

According to the present invention there is provided an apparatus and method as set forth in the appended claims. Preferred features of the invention will be apparent from the dependent claims, and the description which follows.

The invention will now be described by way of an example embodiments, and with reference to the following figures :

Figure 1 is a security post in a fully extended position.

Figure 2 is a security post in a fully retracted position.

Figure 3 is a diagram of a pilot valve system indicating ports and fittings of one embodiment of the present invention.

Figure 4 shows a locking pin arrange suitable for use in example embodiments of the invention.

Referring to figure 1 an automatic bollard system comprises a security post including a lower post position (referred to herein as an outer portion) (22) and an upper post portion (referred to herein as an inner portion) (11) which is telescopically mounted inside of the outer portion. (22).

The outer portion (22) is fixed into the ground and the inner portion(1 1) is adapted to move upwards from within the confines of the outer portion(22).

An actuator (33) is mounted inside the outer portion(22) and a rod (44) connected to a point at a top end of the inner post(46) is extended from out of the body(33) of the actuator(33), thus in use able to raise the inner post (11)to a fully-extended position.

A pin(77) is located between slots (24,28) of the outer portion(22),and an actuator(55) is mounted on a crossrail (56) with an extendible rod(66) connected to the pin(77) by a suitable fixing (67).

The pin (77) will move from the slots (24,28) of the outer portion(22),upon activation of the actuator (55),whereby the rod (66) will retract into the body of the actuator (55), and the pin (77)will then be dis-engaged from the pin-slots (24,28) and will rest to allow the inner portion (11) to move from one position to another, in the directions shown by the arrows.

Slots provided(14) at a top end of the inner portion(11) allow the pin(77) to pass through both portions (11 ,22) to lock the inner portion(11) relative to the outer portion(22),in a ground engaged position, also known as a storage position.

According to figure 1 the raise and lower actuator rod (44) is at a full extent.

A top cap (48) covers the top end of the inner portion(11) and the rod(44) is fixed to the top cap (48) by a suitable mounting (46).

A bottom cap (12) covers the bottom end of the inner portion (11) and when the pin (77) is engaged into the slots (24,28) the bottom cap (12) prevents the inner portion (11) from retracting.

The lockpin (77) and the rod (66) are moveable into the body of the actuator (55) thus moving the pin (77) into a dis-engaged position(not shown).

The inner portion (11) can move up and down the outer portion (22) when the pin (77) is in the dis-engaged position (not shown).

When the inner portion(11) is in the fully-extended position, by full extension of the actuator(33) rod(44), then the pin(77) is free to move upon activation of the actuator(55).

When the pin (77) is engaged in the slots (24,28) of the outer portion(22), then the inner portion(11) will drop slightly when the actuator rod (44) is partially retracted upon activation of the pilot valve switch (85) (see figure 3) that will move the rod (44) when the actuator (33) is actuated.

The pin (77) will prevent the inner portion (11) from retracting by utilising the bottom cap (12) of the inner portion (22) and this position is the post in-use, fully-extended then partially retracted actuator (33) rod (44).

The bottom cap (12) will push onto the pin (77)from above, and in one preferred embodiment, the cap (12) is rubber sheeted by glue or other fixing, to provide a cushion means whenever the inner portion (11) is in this particular position.

A crossrail is provided (56) to mount the pin release actuator (55) by suitable fixings such as a weld or bolts. The crossrail can be mounted at one side or the other side of the outer portion (22) dependent on the requirement for use.

The crossrail (56) is secured to the outer portion (22) by brackets (26) with bolts and/or welds.the pin (77) entry bush (28) and the pin exit bush (24) are provided to handle the pin securely, and without erosion, and can be welded or bolted to the outer portion (22) such that a sturdy locking means is provided.

In one embodiment the pin (77) cannot move when the cap (12) is in contact with the groove in the pin (77) such that the groove (771) will be in contact with a piece of roundbar (121) welded onto the cap (12) and thus the cap pushing onto the pin provides a lock and once the cap is free by raising the inner portion (11) upwards, this allows the pin (77) to move freely, because the cap (12) and the groove (771) in the pin (77) are not in contact. This is shown in Figure 4.

Therefore, it is not possible to lower the post into the ground, until actuator (33) is primed with air and able to move the inner portion (22) upwards.

Means to move the raise and lower actuator (33) are by pilot valve (see Fig. 3).

Means to move the pin (77) to lock and unlock are by actuator (55) and also utilise pilot valve to lock and unlock said locking pins (77).

Pilot valve could be type 550 (5/2) which are manufactured by Asco-Joucomatic, based in New Jersey, USA.

Types of actuator could be pes and c-25 , both manufactured by Asco-Joucomatic, based in New Jersey, USA.

Again referring to figures 1 and 2 the actuator (33) to raise and lower the inner portion (11) is controlled by two ports. Number 1 port (1) is utilised to raise the inner portion upwards (11) and number 2 port (2) is utilised to lower the inner portion (11) downwards.

The actuator (55) to lock and unlock the pin (77) is controlled by two ports.

Number 3 port (3) is utilised to unlock the pin (77) by retraction of the rod (66) and number 4 port(4) is utilised to lock the pin (77) by full extension of the rod(66) of the actuator (55).

The pilot valves (see figure 3) are actioned to move the actuators by the push of a button (81 ,82)

The raise and lower actuator (33) is moved using pilot valve (85), which is a spring loaded button (81 , 83) and the pin is moved by actuator (55) which pilot valve (86) is not spring loaded (82, 84), in this particular embodiment.

To lower the post into the ground will require the buttons (81 ,82) to be pushed in a special sequence, as follows:

First the pilot valve (85) button (81) is pushed and air will be supplied to port 1(1) of the actuator (33) and the rod (44) will extend fully.

The pin (77) is now free to move and now the button (82) is pushed which will action pilot valve (86) to supply air to port 3 (3) to move the pin (77) to unlock. The button (81) is then depressed, and the spring (83) will move the button (81) and air will be supplied to port 2 (2) and the inner portion(11) will lower and retract into the outer portion (22) and this is the storage position.

The button (82) on pilot valve (86) is pulled once the inner post(11) is lowered.

And the pilot valve (86) will supply air to port 4 (4) of the actuator (55) to move the pin(77) to a locked position through the slots (24,28) of the portions(11 ,22) to prevent extension of the inner portion(11) until the pin is again moved to unlock upon activation of the actuator(55).

A bottom cap (23) is provided at the bottom end of the outer portion (22) and the raise and lower actuator (33) can be fixed to the bottom cap (23) to secure the actuator (33) in a sturdy position means to secure the actuator (33) to the bottom cap include bolts through the cap (23) and into the actuator body (33).

The rod (44) of the actuator (33) can be fixed to the top end cap (48) of the inner portion (11) by a fixing (46) to connect the portion for movement up and down.

With reference to figure 2, the inner post (11) is fully retracted into the outer portion (22) and settled in a storage position, allowing pedestrians and vehicles to pass over without restriction.

The raise and lower actuator(33) is largely inside the outer portion(22),and the inner portion(11) slides into the outer portion(22) with the actuator(33) now settled inside of both portions(11 ,22).

It can be appreciated that the pin(77) can be located through the portions(11 ,22) and the actuator(33) can be mounted offset, such that the rod is not able to catch the pin(77) when the pin(77) is moved by the actuator(55).

A slot (14)is provided at a top end of the inner portion(11) and utilised as the pin(77) hole to prevent the inner portion(11) from extending upwards, until said locking pin(77) is moved to an unlocked position, where the rod (66) is largely within the body of the actuator(55) (not shown).

With reference to figure 3 , a control box unit(87) is positioned in a convenient location, and the piping (not shown) will run from the control box unit(87) and into the ground and onwards to the actuator (33,55) ports (1 ,2,3,4).

Pilot valves(85,86) are conveniently mounted inside the control box unit(87) to protect the pilot valves (85,86).

Air or any pressurised power supply is provided to port number (8) from a piped feed (88) and a T-piece (80) provides a dual airline to supply the pilot valves(85,86) utilising the ports(8) to continually provide the supply from a source.

Exhaust ports (5) are indicated in four ports of the two combination pilot valves(85,86) and the system will exhaust from one port(5) or the other(5) dependent upon the position and action of the actuators(33,55).

The pilot valves (85,86) are commonly used in many industrial applications, and the actuators(33,55) used to implement the post operation are reliable in design, and inexpensive to produce.

In other embodiments the pin (77) need not pass completely into/through the outer portion (22). Also, the cap (48) may comprise a switch or other pressure sensitive means which is arranged to retract the inner portion (11) in the event of contact with a solid body above the post.

The pneumatic actuators provide a novel method of post operation when the system utilises the locking system to provide support to the post in the raised position, and can also provide a safety feature in that the post cannot lower downwards until it has first raised slightly, providing a novel system that is safer, better and faster than common posts of the prior art. The post may be used alone, or in combination with other posts as described. Furthermore, the posts may be used with other barriers coupled therebetween, such as a rope, net or the like, to form a barrier suitable for use at e.g. level crossings.

It is also appreciated that a post could be operated to raise or lower with use of actuator(33),but without the locking system, the pull of a button can raise the post(11) and the push of the same button can lower the post into the ground, without departing from the spirit of the present invention.

A post can be locked by padlock or similar device to prevent un-authorised use, or a lock fitted to the control box unit can also prevent system use.

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.

Attention is directed to all papers and documents which are filed concurrently with or previous to this specification in connection with this application and which are open to public inspection with this specification, and the contents of all such papers and documents are incorporated herein by reference.

All of the features disclosed in this specification (including any accompanying claims, abstract and drawings), and/or all of the steps of any method or process so disclosed, may be combined in any combination, except combinations where at least some of such features and/or steps are mutually exclusive.

Each feature disclosed in this specification (including any accompanying claims, abstract and drawings) may be replaced by alternative features serving the same, equivalent or similar purpose, unless expressly stated otherwise. Thus, unless expressly stated otherwise, each feature disclosed is one example only of a generic series of equivalent or similar features.

The invention is not restricted to the details of the foregoing embodiment(s). The invention extends to any novel one, or any novel combination, of the features disclosed in this specification (including any accompanying claims, abstract and drawings), or to any novel one, or any novel combination, of the steps of any method or process so disclosed.