This invention relates to a device for ensuring that a post will be highly resistant to removal, for example when used in conjunction with a device for use in the erection of a post comprising a tubular body portion in which an end portion of the pole is received, yet can be readily removed when necessary. The invention is especially useful where the pole carries any kind of assembly on the head which needs to be protected from being removed together with the pole such as a parking meter unit.

Our copending patent application publication No. EP-A-0584109 describes a device wherein a tubular body portion provides a permanent underground foundation for all types of pole or post whether or not an electrical supply is utilised for illuminating any sign or signal which may be supported by the pole and includes a resiliently deformable collar with the body portion which provides resistance to removal of the pole by the casual vandal. A tool can be used to remove the pole by mechanical means without damaging the surrounding surface or re-excavating the site. That a tool can be utilised to 'jack out' the pole achieves significance when the pole carries a cash box or other article of value at its head.

EP-A-0270988 describes a parking meter mounted on a pole, the parking meter being secured by a safety bar which is secured to the pole at one end and to a base which is embedded in the ground at the other end. It can be released by manipulation which involves lengthwise movement of the safety bar relative to the pole. The safety bar is rigid and cannot readily be bent. A problem with this is that, should the parking meter pole be bent, for example in a road accident, the safety bar will also be bent; if the bending force is sufficient it may even be torn from its securement, thereby rendering the safety bar ineffective. It is, however,

more likely that it will merely be bent but remain tightly secured at each end; thus, releasing the bent bar will be impossible because lengthwise movement of the safety bar relative to the pole will not be possible. Accordingly, the safety bar cannot then be released to remove the bent pole for replacement without excavating the base and removing that also.

One of the objects of this invention is to provide an improved system for use in resisting unauthorised removal of a hollow pole (and associated structures).

In a preferred embodiment of the present invention there is provided a special fixing as an integral part of the tubular body portion described in EP-A-0584109 (with or without use of the resilient collar of EP-A- 0584109, depending on the requirements of the system), whereby a high tensile steel rope or chain or similar flexible article of appropriate strength may be easily affixed to the body portion so as to secure it in a manner by which it can be easily released by an authorised person when required. There is further provided a special fitting at its other end whereby it can be attached to the base of the standard bolt normally used to secure a parking meter head into the pole commonly used as a support but in so doing affords protection from theft by any but the most determined thief and yet provides for convenient and simple replacement of a damaged pole by an authorised person equipped with the means of entry to the cash box or other unit at the head.

The invention provides in one aspect a system for use in resisting unauthorised removal of a hollow pole from a mounting which comprises a tubular body portion which is adapted to be firmly installed in a supporting stratum and has an open end adapted to receive a pole to be mounted, means resisting withdrawal of the pole from the tubular body

portion, and securing means comprising an elongate, flexible, substantially inextensible member having a first end portion captured in the tubular body portion and a second end portion secured to the pole at a position remote from the tubular body portion by fastening means operable from within an enclosure which is inaccessible to unauthorised persons but accessible by authorised persons whereby authorised persons may release the securing means thus to permit the pole to be withdrawn from the tubular body portion. Preferably the flexible member is a high tensile steel rope but other substantially inextensible flexible members may be used eg chains or cords. Preferably the flexible member is resistant to severing eg by a saw or other cutting means but it can be of any suitable material, depending on the requirements of the system.

In a system as set out in the last preceding paragraph, an assembly (suitably a parking meter assembly) providing the enclosure is retained on a portion of a pole eg to provide a head, remote from the tubular portion.

In a preferred system according to the invention the assembly is secured to said portion of the pole by anchor means. Conveniently, the anchor means comprises anchor members adapted to be forced into engagement with an internal wall of the pole whereby to grip the wall to militate against removal of the assembly.

Preferably the securing means is connected to the anchor means in such a manner that operation of the anchor means to release the assembly from the pole is also effective to release the securing means. Suitably the anchor means comprises a screw threaded member, rotation of which is effective to operate the anchor means, the screw threaded member being threaded into a fixing by which the second end portion of the elongated flexible member is secured.

Preferably in a system in accordance with the invention the elongated flexible member is of such a length and the first end portion of the elongated flexible member is captured in the tubular body portion in such a manner that the flexible member can move a limited distance lengthwise of the tubular body portion when the securing means is in operation, said limited distance being sufficient to permit restricted lengthwise relative movement of the pole and the tubular body portion but insufficient to allow complete withdrawal of the pole from the tubular body portion.

Conveniently, the first end portion is captured within a tubular member secured to the tubular body portion at a region remote from its open end, in such a manner that the tubular member can be received within the pole when the pole is inserted in the tubular body portion, the elongated flexible member leaving the tubular member through an opening in a closure closing the tubular member, in such a manner that the flexible member is slidable in the opening in the tubular member but the first end portion of the flexible member is unable to pas through the opening.

In one embodiment of the invention access to the enclosure is effected through a door which can be locked in a closed position, by a key- operated lock or any other securing means only operable by an authorised person, to prevent unauthorised access. The door may be in the post or where an assembly eg a parking meter assembly, is secured to the head of the post, in the assembly.

In another embodiment of the invention the pole has an opening through which access to the enclosure may be gained, the system comprising a sleeve mounted on the pole the sleeve having an opening which, by movement of the sleeve, can be moved into alignment with the opening in the pole to permit access to the enclosure, and the sleeve being lockable

in a position where the openings are not in alignment thereby preventing access to the enclosure. Conveniently, the sleeve is ratable on the post to effect the necessary movement.

In a system in accordance with the invention, the flexible member may be captured in the tubular body portion in a suitable manner; however, it is preferably captured in such a way that it is readily releasible from the tubular body portion, for example where replacement of the flexible member is necessary.

Furthermore, in a system in accordance with the invention the second end portion of the flexible member may be secured to the post in any convenient way, for example pinned or clasped, instead of the threaded fixing of the preferred embodiment, provided that the fastening means by which the second end portion of the flexible member is secured to the post can be released to release the securing means from the post.

There now follow detailed descriptions of two systems for use in resisting unauthorised removal of a post embodying the invention, to be read with reference to the accompanying drawings. It will be realised that these systems have been selected for description to illustrate the invention by way of example.

In the accompanying drawings:-

Figure 1 is a perspective view, partly in section, showing a first system embodying the invention for mounting a parking meter; and

Figure 2 is a perspective view showing an upper end portion of a second system embodying the invention, also mounting a parking meter.

A common means of securing a parking meter head unit 100 to a pole is for the head unit to be lowered into a hollow pole 7 and a bolt 1 turned in a clockwise direction, threaded through a nut 2 which carries three flukes 3, 4, 5. As the bolt 1 is tightened the flukes 3, 4, 5, are thus drawn up and over a tapered shaft 6 which forces them outwardly into tight engagement with the inner wall of the tube 7 thus firmly securing the parking meter head unit 100 to the pole 7.

In the two illustrative systems the parking meter head units 100 are secured in this way and the bolt 1 is also utilised as a fastening means to secure a second end portion of a high tensile steel rope 8 to the pole 7.

The wire rope 8 is first placed with a first end portion of the rope 8 (having an end-stop 13 attached thereto) captured in a tubular body portion 14.

The first end portion of the rope 8 is captured in the tubular body portion by means of a fixing 9 which is coaxial with the tubular body portion 14 and secured, eg by welding, to a base plate 102 of the body portion 14. In use the body portion 14 will be firmly installed in a supporting structure eg the ground as described in EP-A-0584109.

The fixing 9 is provided by a tube 9 having a plate 104 closing one end portion of the tube 9 remote from the base plate 102. A radial slot 106 is provided in the plate 104 and is so dimensioned that the rope 8 can pass through and slide in the slot 106 but that the end-stop 13 cannot pass through the slot 106. The radial slot 106 leads to a slot 109 in an end portion of the tube 9 adjacent the plate 104, having a first part leading to the slot 106 of a width sufficient to pass the rope 8 but not the end-stop 13 and a second part spaced from the end plate 104 by the first part,

which is sufficiently wide and long for the end-stop 13 to pass through the second part.

The first end portion of the rope 8 is thus placed in the position in which it is shown in Figure 1 by passing the end-stop 13 through the second part of the slot 109 and the rope 8 through the first part into the slot 106.

The rope 8 is thus held from moving upwards by the end-stop 13 but able to move freely in a vertical direction within the tube 9 of the fixing. The rope 8 is then passed through the pole or pole 7 which is introduced into the collar 11. There is, in fact, sufficient space between the tube 9 and the pole 7 for the end-stop 13 to freely slide between the tube 9 and pole 7.

The second end portion of the rope 8 is provided with a second end-stop 13a. A fixing 12 has a slotted wall 1 10 through which the rope 8 may pass but not the end-stop 13a. The fixing 12 has a lengthwise threaded bore of a diameter sufficient to slidingly receive the end-stop 13a. Thus the fixing 12 is passed over the rope 8 where it is prevented from moving downwards by the end-stop 13a engaging a rebate within the lower end of the fixing 12. The upper end of the bore of the fixing 12 is threaded internally and is screwed over the bolt 1 (or in other embodiments of the invention, may be otherwise attached to secure the rope to the parking meter unit).

The bolt commonly supplied by manufacturers of parking meter heads has been found to be too short to satisfactorily allow attachment of the fixing 12 and the bolt 1 supplied in the first illustrative system is of appropriate length to secure the fixing 1. The head unit 100 can then be lowered onto the pole 7 with the flukes 3, 4, 5 inside the pole 7 and is secured to it by

including the bolt in the usual manner.

Should an unauthorised attempt be made to remove the pole 7 together with any associated structure attached - for example by attempting to 'jack-out' the pole - complete removal will be prevented by the end-stop 13 being held within the fixing 9 before the lower end of the pole 7 has left the body portion 14. This first illustrative system also resists attempts to sever a pole by the use of pipe-cutting or disc-cutting equipment, as in its normal position the securing rope 8 is not under tension and renders such equipment would be much more difficult to use effectively. As the pole 7 is captured within the body portion 14 the rope 8 is not accessible to bolt or wire cutting equipment and is thus safeguarded from unauthorised removal.

Thus, apart from replacement of the bolt 1 , the system uses a commonly available parking meter head unit 100 and standard pole 7. The head unit 100 provides a secure enclosure accessible only to authorised persons via the lockable door through which access to the inside of the head unit 100 is normally achieved to tighten the bolt and secure the unit 100 to the pole 7 in commonly available parking meter heads, as discussed above. The bolt 1 may be rotated from within the enclosure to unscrew it from the fixing 12, thereby releasing the securing means and permitting the pole 7 be withdrawn from the body portion 14.

The rope is shorter than the pole 7 but of such a length that the rope permits limited lengthwise movement of the pole (although as mentioned above, sufficiently short to prevent the pole 7 being completely withdrawn from the body portion). Thus, should the pole 7 be bent (for example by impact of a vehicle in a road accident) the rope 8 will still not be pulled taut but slide within the fixing 9. The system is therefore still secure but

allows the pole 7 to be readily withdrawn (after release of the fixing 12 as discussed above) even if bent in an accident because the flexible rope can readily slide within the bent pole as it is withdrawn from the body portion 14.

The second illustrative system is generally similar to the first except as described hereinafter and like numbers represent like parts.

The second illustrative system comprises a parking meter head unit 100 secured to a pole 7 by flukes 3, 4, 5 operated by a bolt 1 as described above. The second illustrative system further comprises a rope 8 similar to the rope of the first system having its first end portion (not shown) captured in a tubular body portion (not shown) as described above with reference to the first illustrative system.

However, instead of the fixing 12 a modified fixing 12a is provided into which the end-stop 13a can be introduced through an enlarged portion 112 of the slot 110 (in a manner similar to introduction of the end-stop 13 into the fixing 9).

The fixing 12a is positioned in its secured position (with the pole 7 secured in place in the body portion 14) in alignment with an opening 114 in an upper end portion of the pole 7.

The pole 7 is provided with an outer sleeve, a lower portion 116 of which is freely rotatable about the pole 7. This free rotation of the lower portion 116 is intended to prevent efficient operation of a disc-cutter, to inhibit cutting through the pole 7 and steal the parking meter.

An upper portion 118 of the sleeve (separate from the lower portion 116)

is also rotatable about the pole 7. The upper portion 1 18 has an opening 120 which can be aligned with the opening 1 14 in the pole 7 by rotating the upper portion 118, thereby permitting access to the fixing 12a. The fixing 12a can thus be manipulated (unscrewed if necessary) so that the end-stop can be withdrawn through the slot portion 112 to release the rope 8 from the pole 7. The pole 7 can then be removed from the tubular body portion 14, still with the head unit securely fixed in place.

A new head unit 100/pole 7 could then be put in place, the rope 8 being caught by a hook or other suitable means and lifted up within the pole for introduction (using long-nosed pliers) of the end-stop 13a into the fixing

12a through the slot 112, and the fixing 12a then tightened, if necessary.

The upper body portion 120 may be rotated about the pole 7 to the position in which it is shown in Figure 2 where the openings 114, 120 are out of alignment and secured against rotation by any suitable means which can only be released by authorised persons. The rope 8 is thus secured to the pole 7 by means operable from within an enclosure which is inaccessible to unauthorised persons but accessible by authorised persons.

In the present instance the upper portion 118 is secured by a security bolt 122 received in aligned holes in the upper portion 118 and pole 7 and threaded into the pole 7. The bolt 122 can only be rotated by a persons having a unique operating key and not by unauthorised persons without an operating key. However, instead of the bolt 122 a suitable key or combination operated lock, may be used.

The second illustrative system is of especial use where the persons responsible for meter installation and replacement are not permitted access to within the head unit 100 (where collected coins are stored).