It is now well-known to provide queue management systems or customer guidance systems in post offices, banks, airport check-in desks, ski lift stations and like locations. These systems comprise plurality of posts or stanchions between which are supported either rigid rails, simple ropes or retractable webbing barries. One such retractable webbing barrier queue management system comprises a plurality of upstanding posts with heavy bases or pedestals (normally in the form of heavy thick circular disks) which support several lengths of webbing. In the upper end of each post, a cassette is located. which accommodates at least two metres of heavy duty webbing which can be withdrawn from the cassette against the bias of a spring, there being an end fitting on the free end of the webbing designed for engagement with a mating fitting on an adjacent post. Such a system is marketed by us under our TENSABARRIER trade mark.

While such queue management systems are perfectly satisfactory, they are cumbersome to move from place to place and take up a substantial amount of storage space due to the presence of the heavyweight bases or pedestals.

The present invention seeks to overcome the above disadvantages with known queue management systems and, in particular, to provide a much more portable and easily manageable post for such systems.

According to the present invention, we provide a post for a queue management system, the post having an upright portion adapted to support at least one barrier device and having at its bottom end a foot, and wherein the post is constructed so that the post can be stacked in a nesting arrangement with an adjacent post of similar construction.

Preferably, the foot has a recess in a circumferential portion thereof to receive a base portion of an upright portion of another post.

Preferably, there is a projecting hook-like tongue in the bottom of the recess, and in the said base portion, there is a groove with a profile matching that of the hook-like tongue for connection with the tongue of another post.

Preferably, the foot is formed of cast-iron base and is coated with a non-scuff textured paint, rubber or the like.

Preferably also, a roller is mounted on the foot diametrically opposite the recess, the location of which roller is such that, when the post is tilted, the post or a stack of posts can be pushed or pulled around on the roller.

In an alternative design, the foot may be formed from tubular stock and be integral with the upright portion.

In this construction, the foot is preferably generally V-shaped in plan, and has a further limb upstanding from that end of one of its arms which is not connected to the other arm of the V, said upstanding limb being inclined at a first acute angle to the horizontal (and to the arm from which it extends) and extending inwardly towards a line bisecting the angle at the apex of the V, and at a second acute angle to said arm when viewed in plan.

Preferably, the angle at the apex of the V is about 60° and the first acute angle is about 50° and the second acute angle is about 35°.

Preferably, the upright portion of the post extends vertically from that end of the upstanding limb not connected to the arm of the V, and forms an obtuse angle therewith. Preferably, the obtuse angle is about 120°.

To give stability to the post, at least that portion thereof which is designed to sit on a support surface should be sufficiently heavy to prevent the post from toppling over. If it is formed of tubular stock, it may be filled with concrete, sand or some other suitably heavy material.

Preferably, this alternative design of post is fitted with a pair of wheels so as to facilitate the movement of the posts from location to location, and in particular to enable them to be nested together. Preferably, one wheel is located on the free end of the other of the arms of the V, with its axis of rotation extending at right angles to the line bisecting the apex of the V, and the other wheel is mounted on the joint between the said one arm of the V and the upstanding limb, so that its axis of rotation is co-axial with that of the said one wheel.

In an alternative construction, the foot may be formed separately, e. g. of cast iron, and then attached to a lower end of the upright portion.

In this construction, the upright portion of the post preferably has a lower end part inclined to the upright portion at an angle of about 140°, and the bottom end thereof is secured to the foot at the apex of the V, which is preferably truncated.

Preferably, also in this construction, the post is fitted with one or more wheels, not at the free ends of the arms of the V but at the apex thereof. For this purpose, the apex is preferably formed by a short cross member from which each arm of the V extends at an angle of about 30°, and the wheel (s) is/are mounted on the cross member.

Preferably, in this construction, the posts are nested with an adjacent post by a foot of one post at least partly overlying a foot of the adjacent post.

Preferably, the wheel (s) only contact the ground when the upright portion of the post is tilted forwardly through about 20°-40°.

Preferably, this upright portion of each post is formed on front and rear faces thereof with co-operating male and female means for locking nested posts together in such a manner as to allow limited relative vertical movement between adjacent nested posts, to permit forward tilting of a set of nested posts, for transport purposes.

Preferably, at its upper end, the upright portion of the post is formed to receive the at least one barrier device. For this purpose it may be hollow so as to accept a cassette containing a spring loaded length of webbing which can be pulled out from the cassette against the load

of the spring for connection to an anchorage point. Such a cassette is sold by us and forms part of our TENSABARRIER queue management system.

A plurality of posts may be marketed as a set, either fitted with cassettes containing pull-out webbing, or in conjunction with complimentary barrier devices, and means may be sold therewith to wrap around a plurality of nested posts to hold them together. Even when so held together, the set of posts may still be moved relatively easily from one location to another, due to the rollers or wheels on the posts. Said means may comprise one or more lengths of wrap around strapping, webbing or the like, for wrapping at least once around the upright portions of the nested posts.

Several embodiments of post for a queue management system according to the present invention are now described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of a first embodiment of post; FIGURE 2 is a perspective view showing three posts of the embodiment of Figure 1 being stacked together; FIGURE 3 is a side elevation to a smaller scale showing the three nest posts of Figure 2 and a fourth post being wheeled to the nested stack to join the latter; FIGURE 4 is a perspective view of an alternative embodiment of post; FIGURES 5a to 5f show different views of a modified version of the embodiment shown in Figures 1-3; FIGURE 6 is a side elevation of a third embodiment of post; FIGURE 7 is a plan view of the post of Figure 6;

FIGURE 8 is a side elevation showing two of the posts of Figures 6 and 7 nested together; FIGURE 9 is a scrap view showing how two of the posts could be held in engagement with one another in such a way as to allow limited relative vertical sliding movement; FIGURE 10 is a perspective view of a preferred embodiment of post; FIGURE 11 is a plan view of the post of Figure 10; FIGURE 12 is a partly sectional side elevation of the post of Figure 10 with the top of an upright portion broken away; and FIGURE 13 is a side elevation showing several of the posts of Figures 10-12 stacked together and tilted for transporting the posts from one location to another.

Referring first to Figure 1, a post for a queue management system is shown generally at 1, the post comprising an upright portion 3 having at its bottom end a foot 5, and the post is constructed so that the post can be stacked in a nesting arrangement with adjacent posts of similar construction as shown in Figure 2. As shown, each of the posts is formed from tubular stock, preferably of circular cross-section, which is bent into the configuration shown from a single length of stock. The foot 5 is generally V-shaped in plan having a first arm 7 and a second arm 9 meeting at an apex 11 of the V. That end of the second arm 9 not connected to the arm 7 has an upstanding limb 13 connected thereto, the limb 13 extending upwardly and inwardly away from the arm 9 towards a line 15 bisecting the apex 11 of the V. The arm 13 subtends an angle in the range of 30° to 40° to the arm 9 when viewed in plan, preferably an angle of about 35°, and subtending an angle in the range of 45° to 55° and preferably of about 50° to the horizontal. The length of the limb 13 is such that the junction 17 between the arm 13 and the upright portion 3 of the post is located above the line 15 at such a location along the line 15 as to provide maximum stability for the post.

Preferably, the angle at the apex 11 of the V is in the range of 50° to 70°, preferably about

60° and the upright portion 3 of the post forms an obtuse angle with the limb 13 of about 120°.

As can be seen from Figure 2, the construction of the foot 5 of the post and the arrangement of the limb 13 relative to the foot are such that several such posts can be nested together to form a compact stack.

Because the posts are designed to support barrier devices to form a queue management system, they must be stable and hence the foot 5 of the post must be sufficiently heavy to keep the post upright when the upper end portions of the upright portions 3 of the post are subjected to forces tending to topple over the posts. For this purpose, the foot 5 must be made of sufficiently heavy material or alternatively if it is formed of hollow tubular material should be filled with a sufficiently dense material such as sand, concrete or the like, to provide the necessary stability. This of course means that each post is fairly heavy: preferably, therefore, each post is fitted with a pair of wheels 19. As it clearly apparent from Figure 1, one of the wheels 19 is welded or otherwise secured to the free end of the first arm 7 of the foot so that the rotational axis of the wheel 19 extends normal to the line 15 whereas the other wheel 19 is welded or otherwise secured to the foot at the junction between the other arm 9 and the limb 13 so that its rotational axis is co-axial with that of the first wheel 19. The wheels 19 may be of any proprietary construction such as those now commonly fitted to suitcases or the like.

At its upper end, the upright portion 3 of the post 1 is formed to receive at least one barrier device. In the construction shown, the tubular post end is formed with two slots 21 therein extending parallel to the longitudinal axis of the post and diametrically opposed to each other to accommodate a cassette 23 containing a coiled length of webbing 25 on a spool and withdrawable from the cassette under the control of a spring such as a TENSATOR (registered trade mark) spring. (Alternatively, four slots 21 may be provided, arranged at 90° spacing around the circumference of the upper end of the upright portion of the post.) The cassettes are a proprietary item and accommodate at least 2 metres of webbing, one end of which is connected to the spool and the other end of which has a special fitting or clip 27 thereon. The clip 27 has a special shaped groove 29 therein adapted to form a quick connect coupling with an appropriate fitting on the cassette 23 (not shown) but extending

outwardly therefrom diametrically opposite the webbing 25 and adapted to project through the second slot 21 (which is not shown) in the top end of the upright portion 3 of the post 1.

Such a fitting is shown schematically at 31 in Figure 1, this fitting being located on an outer face of the upright portion 3 of the post 1 midway between the two diametrically opposed slots 21.

Instead of fitting a cassette incorporating a length of webbing 25 to the post 1, several alternative types of barrier device may be provided. For example, upper end portions of the upright portion 3 of the post 1 may be fitted with hooks, eyes, grooves or the like, to which lengths of chain or rope may be connected or, alternatively, to which solid barrier bars or beams may be connected. Furthermore, the posts may be provided some way from the top end thereof with further fittings to enable one or more additional barriers to be fitted to the posts.

As can be seen from Figure 3, the presence of the wheels 19 on the posts facilitates moving them between positions of use and their nested storage positions.

A plurality of posts according to the present invention may be marketed as a set and, when nested together, it may be desirable to hold the posts in this nested relationship by wrapping suitable means around the upright portion 3 of the posts. As shown in Figure 2, the webbing 25 may be used for this purpose but, alternatively, separate means such as a strap or the like could be provided.

In Figure 4, an alternative construction of nestable post is disclosed. In this construction, the post has a V-shaped foot 35 provided with two wheels 19 but, at the apex of the V- shaped foot, there is an upstanding portion 37 which extends inwardly and upwardly and overlies a line bisecting the apex of the V, that end of the upright portion 37 not connected to the foot being connected to the upright portion 3 of the post.

In Figures 5a-5f, a modified version of the posts shown in Figures 1-3 is illustrated. The preferred dimensions of these posts are shown in the drawings.

It will be apparent that many alternative constructions to those shown could be provided which would still nest together. For example, instead of the foot being V-shaped, it could be C-shaped or U-shaped, or even A-shaped with the upright portion 3 of the post extending vertically upright from the cross-bar of the A. Such a construction might not, however, nest as compactly as the constructions shown in Figures 1 to 3, or Figures 5a-5f.

In the embodiment shown in Figures 6-9, the post has a truncated V-shaped foot 41 comprising a short cross member 43 from which two arms 45,47 extend at angles of about 30°. The foot 41 is formed of a solid, heavy material, such as cast iron, and an upright portion 49 of the post is connected to an upper, central region of cross member 43 by a limb 51. The limb 51 is formed integral with the portion 49 and is preferably formed of tubular bar stock of circular cross section, with the limb 51 forming an angle of about 140° with the portion 49, and being straightened out, as shown at 53 prior to being connected, e. g. by welding to the foot 41.

A wheel or roller (or more than one) 55 is mounted to the underside of the cross member 43, perhaps in a recess 57, and the construction of the posts is such that they can be nested together, as shown in Figure 8, with the foot 41 of one post partly overlying the foot 41 of an adjacent post.

The posts are provided on their front and rear faces respectively with a male connector 59 and a female keyhole type slot 61 (see Figure 8) which interengage when two adjacent posts are nested together as shown in Figure 8, and which will allow relative vertical sliding movement between adjacent posts when a nested set are tilted forwards for transporting them as shown in Figure 8. In this mode, the weight of the nested set is supported by all the wheels 55 of the set, as illustrated.

Referring now to Figures 10-13, in which like parts bear the same reference numerals as in the drawings of the previously described embodiments, a preferred construction of post has a foot in the form of a cast-iron base 61 which is generally circular and has a recess 63 formed in a circumferential portion thereof. The recess is sized and shaped to accept a lower end of an upright portion 65 of the post. This portion is generally tubular with slots 21 in the upper end portion thereof as in the previous embodiments. At its lower end, the

upright portion 65 is connected to a generally cylindrical upstand 67 projecting from a central region of the base 61. The upstand may be integral with the base 61.

In the bottom of the recess 63, and hook-shaped tongue 69 is provided, the profile of which is apparent from Figure 12. On the face of the upstand 67 remote from the recess 63, a groove 71 is formed therein, the profile of this groove matching that of the tongue 69, as shown at 73. Effectively, therefore, the hook on the tongue 69 will mate with an inverted hook 73 on an upper face of the groove 71.

It will be appreciated that a plurality of the posts shown in Figures 10-12 may be stacked and nested together, with a tongue 69 of a lower post engaging the inverted hook 73 of a post stacked thereon, as shown in Figure 13.

To enable the posts to be wheeled around from location to location, either singly or when in a stacked relationship, the base 61 of each post is fitted with a roller 75 at a location diametrically opposed to the recess 63. The rollers 73 may be provided with an axle 77 which locates in suitable bearing apertures in the base 71, e. g. as shown schematically in Figure 11. Obviously, a recess is formed in the base 71 to accommodate the roller 75.

Alternative roller arrangements would be possible.

The location of the rolling surface of the roller 75 should be such that when the base 61 of the post is resting on a surface, the roller will be (largely) inoperative. However, when a post is tipped, as shown in Figure 13, so the roller will move into rolling engagement with the surface, thus allowing the post, and in particular a plurality of stacked posts as shown in Figure 13, to be moved easily across the surface. This makes a stack of otherwise very heavy posts very portable.

The posts are used in the manner described earlier herein. Preferably, the foot of the post at least, i. e. the base 61 and its upstand, are coated with, or may even be formed of, a non- scuff material.

The base 61 may be of inverted saucer-like construction or solid, and instead of being integral with the base 61, the upstand 67 may be connected to it with a screw 77, all as shown in Figure 12.

It will of course be understood that the present invention has been described above purely by way of example, and modifications of detail can be made within the scope of the invention.