DESCRIPTION

The present invention concerns an anti- f lood barrier . In particular, the present invention refers to an anti- flood barrier provided with two hinged bulkheads . In further detail , the present invention refers to an anti- flood barrier provided with two hinged bulkheads and designed for coupling at the sides and at the base of an opening of a room to isolate it from the water .

DESCRIPTION OF THE STATE OF THE ART

When a building is located in areas at risk of flooding by watercourses or canals , the openings of the rooms on the ground floor are normally provided with guides for movable barriers , normally rectangular-shaped, which are positioned between the guides in preparation for a possible ingression of water . Obviously the mass of the barrier and the type of coupling with the guides and with the floor portion arranged between the guides determines the qual ity of the hydraulic seal of the barrier . The greater the contact pressure of the sides of the barrier with the guides and with the floor portion, the greater the hydraul ic seal ensured by said bulkhead .

Barriers are known with width approximating by defect the width of the opening and are installed by rotation after hooking them to pins applied to the guides . Articulated barriers are also known provided with a first bulkhead and a second bulkhead hinged around a longitudinal rotation axis located near an outer face of the two bulkheads . The antiflood condition of the barriers is obtained when the outer edges of the bulkheads , provided with normally prism-shaped lateral seals , and in particular provided with a parallelepiped portion, designed to be contained inside longitudinal profiles of the bulkheads open on the side , and delimited externally by a semi-cylindrical shaped longitudinal portion, come into contact with the opposite faces of the sides of the openings to be closed and are subsequently pushed against these faces by rotating the bulkheads of the barriers in opposite directions until reaching the position of use , in which said bulkheads are substantially coplanar . In this way, the seals are compressed transversely and pushed into hermetic contact with the sides , making the anti- flood barrier operational at the sides . Naturally, the barrier must be hermetic also in contact with the floor . For this purpose , the barrier is provided at the bottom with a continuous seal which extends between the outer sides of the two bulkheads , and therefore measures longitudinally the sum of the widths of the two bulkheads and the thickness of the seal s that engage vertically elongated seats of profiles having ( longitudinal ) H-shaped cross section, open on the side of the two bulkheads . The longitudinal seal performs its function in use i f pressed against the floor ; for this purpose it is connected to the bulkheads starting from the respective sides . Obviously at the hinge point between the bulkheads , the seal is stressed in di f ferent ways and in di f ferent proportions on the respective inner and outer faces . The inner face will be subj ect to compressive stress and, being nearer to the rotation axis , will be subj ect to lower loads due to the shorter distance from the axis , while the outer face , farther away and subj ect to tensile stress , will be more stressed . This circumstance determines a more rapid local deterioration of the portion of the seal around its outer face ; the deterioration frequently determines loss of the structural continuity of at least the more stressed face of the seal , accompanied by infiltrations of liquid into the environment to be isolated . To prevent this from happening, the seal has to be replaced even i f one of the respective faces is still in good condition .

Furthermore , it may be useful to speci fy that when bulkheads hinged on one of the outer edges are positioned between two sides to be sealed, they rotate around the hinge axis which is contained inside the ideal triangle of which, in plan, the two bulkheads form the catheti and the hypotenuse is determined by the distance between said sides . As the two bulkheads are pushed so as to stretch the angle between the catheti of the ideal triangle described above to 180 ° , the contact between the lateral seals moves from the edge of the seal to the central portion . In this condition, the barrier has the two bulkheads aligned with each other and, therefore , arranged according to the hypotenuse of the above ideal triangle , the hinge between the bulkheads is arranged in an eccentric position relative to the above-mentioned hypotenuse and the thrust on the lateral seals is substantially distributed throughout the respective width . Obviously the thrust to be exerted on the bulkheads to bring the barrier to this position is maximum when the hinge axis crosses the line traced by the hypotenuse , frequently accompanied by a sort of "click" . In this situation the pressure on the seals is maximum but is reduced when the hinge is in the respective position of use , beyond the hypotenuse of the ideal triangle and the bul kheads are al igned . Therefore , when operating, the barrier maintains the position with the bulkheads aligned due solely to the reciprocal thrust of said bulkheads .

Obviously i f the hinge is arranged on the side opposite to the face of the barrier lapped by the water to be contained, then the barrier seal will be guaranteed within the limits of physical resistance of the barrier . When the barriers of the type described above become particularly extended (width- and/or height-wise ) the need to exert a greater thrust than the one occurring between the bul kheads during operation in order to perform installation and deinstallation requires particular strength on the part of the users . Obviously this can make it impossible for persons who are not particularly strong to " switch" the state of the barrier from and towards the condition of use , and users could find themselves in a situation in which they are unable to install the barrier due to lack of physical strength .

The patent documents EP 3 599 337 Al , GB 2 356 420 A, GB 2 359 844 A, DE 202 19 996 Ul , GB 2 459 940 A contain teachings for the construction of barriers in which the floor seal is subj ect to this type of deterioration due to the positioning of the rotation axis between the bulkheads of said barriers . The problem of providing an articulated anti- flood barrier which is hydraulically ef fective and practical to use and in which the deterioration of the floor seal occurs in a uni form manner is therefore currently unresolved, and represents an interesting challenge for the applicant . In view of the situation described above it would be desirable to have an anti- flood barrier designed to limit and i f pos sible overcome the drawbacks typical of the above illustrated state of the art which can be easily installable at the base of every opening exposed to the risk of water ingression, which is inexpensive , reliable and requires limited maintenance , to de fine a new standard for these types of barriers .

SUMMARY OF THE PRESENT INVENTION

The present invention concerns an anti- f lood barrier . In particular, the present invention refers to an anti- flood barrier provided with two hinged bulkheads . In further detail , the present invention refers to an anti- flood barrier provided with two hinged bulkheads and designed to couple at the sides and at the base of an opening of a room to isolate it from the water .

The above problems are solved by the present invention according to at least one of the following claims .

According to some embodiments of the present invention an anti- flood barrier is provided of the type that can be used to close an opening of a room; said barrier comprising a first bulkhead that develops around a first median plane ; a second bulkhead that develops around a second median plane ; said first and second bulkheads being provided with respective first and second adj acent sides and coupled by hinge means in a pivotable manner around a longitudinal axis so that they are movable from and towards a position of use in which said first plane and said second plane are inclined by a first angle with width between 150 ° and 180 ° ; said hinge means comprising a first guide of the rotary motion and a second guide of the rotary motion both concentric to said longitudinal axis .

According to one embodiment , said first guide of the rotary motion comprises a first cylindrical longitudinal seat , obtained in said one first side and open towards said second bulkhead; and a first elongated member carried by said second side and housed inside said first seat ; said second guide of the rotary motion comprising a second cylindrical longitudinal seat obtained in said second side and a second protruding elongated member carried by said first side and housed inside said second seat .

According to one embodiment , said second member is delimited at the rear by a cylindrical convex surface concentric with said longitudinal axis and peripherally delimited by a longitudinal tooth; said second seat being delimited internally by a cylindrical concave surface concentric with said longitudinal axis and tangent to said tooth; said second seat being peripherally delimited by a longitudinal stop shaped to act as an angular abutment for said tooth and tangent to said convex surface .

According to one embodiment , said first elongated member is carried by said second side by means of a support having substantially parallelepiped in shape and oriented radially relative to said longitudinal axis ; said first side having a third member external to said first seat for said support delimited by a radial face centred on said longitudinal axis . According to one embodiment , around said axis , said hinge means comprise a first stop member associated with said first side and a second stop member associated with said second side between which a longitudinally elongated abutment member is arranged designed to act as an angular abutment for said first and second bulkheads .

According to one embodiment , said second bulkhead is boxshaped and has a front face provided with two opposite L- shaped ribs that define a longitudinal C-shaped guide shaped to house in a slidable or selectively fixed manner a handle provided with an elongated manoeuvring portion .

According to one embodiment , said handle has a base provided with a hooking portion provided with two parallel grooves , each shaped for shape coupling with one of said two ribs , and a base portion .

According to one embodiment , said second bulkhead has internally a longitudinal cavity with polygonal cross section shaped to house said base portion in a slidable manner .

According to one embodiment , said first side has a first elongated body having a first partition shaped symmetrically relative to said first median plane ; said first partition being provided with said first seat and being delimited by two parallel wings symmetrical to said first median plane which extend on sides opposite to said support to create a C- shaped housing, the concavity of which faces towards a side opposite to said first seat ; said housing being engaged by a plurality of overlapping slats ; said second side having a second partition which is arranged transversely to said second plane and comprises said second seat .

According to one embodiment , said first partition is provided at the bottom with a plurality o f first housings aligned transversely to said first plane and arranged between said two wings ; said second partition being provided at the bottom with a plurality of second housings aligned transversely to said first plane ; said first housings and said second housings being engaged by elongated members to connect an elastic member, having constant section and extension equal to a sum of the width of said first bulkhead and the width of said second bulkhead, to said f irst partition and to said second partition, respectively .

According to one embodiment , said elastic member has ends connected to the ends of said first side of said first bulkhead and said second side of said second bulkhead in a permanent but selectively releasable manner .

According to one embodiment , said first bulkhead comprises a second elongated body opposite to said first body and provided with a further C-shaped housing to longitudinally retain said slats .

According to one embodiment , said barrier comprises a locking device provided with a lever hinged to said first face of said first bulkhead and provided with a manoeuvring portion and a hook-shaped hooking portion; said locking device comprising a stop associated with said second bulkhead on the same side as said lever and shaped to selectively couple with said hook-shaped hooking portion when, in use , said first bulkhead and said second bulkhead are arranged with said first plane and second plane inclined by said angle . BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

Further characteristics and advantages of the anti- flood barrier according to the present invention wi ll appear clearer from the following description, with reference to the attached figures which illustrate at least a non-limiting embodiment thereof , in which identical or corresponding parts of said barrier are identi fied by the same reference numbers . In particular :

- figure 1 is a front elevation view of a barrier according to the present invention in a first operating position;

- figure 2 is a plan view of figure 1 on an enlarged scale where some parts have not been i llustrated for the sake of clarity;

- figure 3 shows the barrier of figure 1 in a second operating position on a reduced scale ;

- figure 4 is a three-dimensional schematic view of a lateral portion of figure 1 on an enlarged scale where some parts have not been illustrated for the sake of clarity;

- figure 5 is a view from below of a detail of figure 4 on an enlarged scale with parts not i llustrated for the sake of clarity;

- figure 6 is a view from above of a detail of figure 4 on an enlarged scale where some parts have not been illustrated for the sake of clarity;

- figure 7 is a lateral elevation view of a detail of figure

3 on an enlarged scale ;

- figure 8 is a lateral elevation view of a detail of figure

4 on an enlarged scale ;

- figure 9 is a schematic three-dimensional view from below of figure 1 on a reduced scale where some parts have not been illustrated for the sake of economy of drawing; figures 10a and 10b are a schematic perspective view of a detail taken from figure 10 on an enlarged scale and a portion of figure I la on an enlarged scale respectively;

- figure 11 shows figure 10 without the detail of figures 10a and 10b ; and

- figure 12 is a view on an enlarged scale of figure 11 from a di f ferent viewpoint , where some parts have not been il lustrated for the sake of clarity .

DETAILED DISCLOSURE OF THE PRESENT INVENTION

In figure 1 the number 1 indicates , overall , an anti- flood barrier of the type that can be used to close a rectangular opening A of a room V of a building laterally delimited by vertical sides F and delimited at the bottom by a hori zontal floor portion T . Naturally, the barrier 1 can be modi fied to close openings of di f ferent shape from the one described above and taken as a reference without thereby departing from the scope of the present invention .

Again, according to figures 1-3 , the barrier 1 comprises a first substantially parallelepiped box-shaped bulkhead 10 with constant thickness which develops along a first median plane Ml ; a second substantially parallelepiped box-shaped bulkhead 12 , having constant thickness approximating the thickness of the first bulkhead 10 , without said speci fication being interpreted as a limitation of the present invention, and develops along a second median plane M2 ( figure 2 ) . I f deemed useful , the barrier 1 can be provided at least with a known handle not illustrated screw- coupled to the upper edge of the first bulkhead 10 to easily raise the barrier 1 and facilitate the transport thereof , as in the patent application for Italian uti lity model no . 202019000002415 , the teachings of which are considered incorporated here for the sake of practicality .

With particular reference to figure 2 , the first bulkhead 10 and the second bulkhead 12 are provided respectively with a first side 10 ' and a second side 12 ' which are adj acent and coupled in a pivotable manner around a longitudinal axis AL by hinge members 20 at the intersection of the first plane Ml and the second plane M2 . The axis AL is therefore the rotation axis between the first bulkhead 10 and the second bulkhead 12 .

With particular reference to figures 2 , 5 and 6 , the first plane Ml and the second plane M2 cut in two lengthwise the first bulkhead 10 and the second bulkhead 12 respectively in a median position . Therefore each of these planes is a plane of longitudinal symmetry for the corresponding bulkhead and, consequently, these planes geometrically coincide when the first bulkhead 10 and the second bulkhead 12 are al igned, as in figures 5 and 6 . Based on this geometric characteristic of the bulkheads composing the barrier 1 , the axis AL is arranged centrally for the barrier 1 since it lies at the intersection of the planes of symmetry of the first bulkhead 11 and the second bulkhead 12 , which are the first plane Ml and the second plane M2 respectively .

When the barrier 1 is in place as in figures 1 and 2 , the longitudinal axis AL is vertical , therefore parallel to the sides F of the opening A and the barrier 1 is arranged in a position of use P in which the first plane Ml is inclined relative to the second plane M2 by an angle a (measured between the first plane Ml and the second plane M2 or, i f preferred, between the first bulkhead 10 and the second bulkhead 12 given the parallelepiped box shape ) the width of which is in the range of 150 ° - 180 ° . Without limiting the scope of the present invention, in figure 2 , when the barrier 1 is in place , it partially closes height-wise the opening A, and the angle centred on the axis AL between the first plane Ml and the second plane M2 is 178 ° . In this description, and also in the following claims , the use of the terms " inner" and "rear" and all other terms with corresponding meaning is reserved for components and faces of the bulkheads 10 and 12 which are contained in the area that can be covered by the second bulkhead 12 and for all the components of the barrier 1 that face this area, detaching from the first plane Ml and second plane M2 ; the use of the terms "outer" and " front" and all other terms with corresponding meaning is reserved for components and faces of the bulkheads 10 and 12 and for all the components of the barrier 1 that face the area opposite the one that can be covered by the second bul khead 12 relative to the first bulkhead 10 cons idered fixed .

With particular reference to figures 5 and 6 , the f irst side 10 ' has a first elongated body 11 , which comprises a first partition 221 shaped symmetrically relative to the first median plane Ml and is provided with a first cyl indrical longitudinal seat 220 concentric to the axis AL open towards the second bulkhead 12 . On the s ide opposite to the first seat 220 the first partition 221 carries two wings 223 and 223 ' parallel and symmetrical relative to the first plane Ml which form with the first partition 221 a C-shaped housing 2230 which houses a plurality of overlapping slats D, the concavity of which faces the side opposite to the f irst seat 220 . The slats D can be variable in number in relation to the height desired for the barrier 1 and the relative width . With particular reference to figures 2 , 3 and 4 , the first bulkhead 10 further comprises a second elongated body 15 opposite to the first body 11 which, therefore , laterally delimits the first bulkhead 10 on the side oppos ite to the second bulkhead 12 . The second body 15 has a further C-shaped housing 2231 which longitudinally retains the slats D contained ( on the opposite side ) in the housing 2230 . Again, with reference to figures 3 and 4 , the second bulkhead 12 is laterally delimited by a C-shaped portion 16 which will be better described below .

According to figures 5 and 6 the second bulkhead 12 has internally a longitudinal cavity 126 having polygonal cross section which is delimited by a front face 122 provided with two opposite L-shaped ribs 1222 and 1222 ' . Said ribs 1222 and 1222 ' define a C-shaped guide 124 which develops parallel to the axis AL, therefore longitudinally .

The first partition 221 has at the bottom a plurality of first housings 225 aligned transversely to the first plane Ml and arranged between the two wings 223 and 223 ' .

With particular reference to figure 6 , the second side 12 ' has a second partition 241 which is arranged transversely to the second plane M2 facing the first partition 221 and comprises a second seat 240 concentric to the axis AL and delimited by a cylindrical concave surface 2400 concentric to the axis AL . The second partition 241 is provided at the bottom with a plurality of second housings 245 aligned transversely to the first plane Ml . Each housing 225 and each housing 245 is formed of a cylindrical hole without thereby limiting the scope of the present invention .

The second body 15 has a longitudinal seat 101 the concavity of which faces outwards and which extends throughout the height of the barrier 1 ; the C-shaped portion 16 has an elongated seat 121 also facing outwards and extending throughout the height of the barrier 1 . The seats 101 and 121 are designed to respectively house seals 34 and 34 ' which are designed to expand on the respective sides once frontally pushed into contact with the sides F of the opening A, fully engaging the respective seats 101 and 121 when, in use , the barrier 1 is installed between the sides F stretching the angle a to 180 ° . It may be useful to speci fy that , in this situation, the concavity of the barrier 1 pre ferably faces the inside of the room V .

With particular reference to figure 12 , the barrier 1 has at the bottom a continuous elastic floor member 30 having longitudinal extension that approximates by excess the longitudinal extension of said barrier 1 , has a constant section with the function of a hydraulic seal and i s arranged below the first bulkhead 10 and second bulkhead 12 to determine a hydraulic floor seal . Said elastic member 30 is delimited by two head portions 32 , provided with a prismatic central body 31 and, laterally, a pri smatic lip 33 which protrudes from the prismatic central body 31 on the outside of the barrier 1 . The longitudinal extension of the elastic member 30 approximates by excess a sum of the width of said first bulkhead 10 and the width of said second bulkhead 12 , so as to approximate the width of the opening A to be closed . Said elastic member 30 has the aim of isolating the barrier 1 from the floor portion T which delimits at the bottom the opening A, therefore of determining the hydraulic seal of the barrier 1 at floor level and o f laterally determining on the sides the hydraulic seal of the barrier 1 through the respective head portions 32 .

Always with reference to figure 12 , it is useful to speci fy that the first bulkhead 10 has at the bottom a seat 10 ' ’ which, for example but without limitation, could be obtained in the lower slat D or in the panel known and not i llustrated which could replace the slats . Said seat 10 ' ’ houses the elastic member 30 which is si zed in length so that each of the respective head portions 32 touches the side F of the opening A of the room V in order to ensure a complete hydraulic seal . Furthermore , the second bulkhead 12 houses the seal 30 in the seat 126 similarly to the seat 10 ' ’ .

Each seal 34 and 34 ' has a suf ficient extension to butt couple with the head portions 32 of the elastic member 30 . Naturally, the present invention also includes the technically equivalent version in which the first bulkhead 10 has an entire panel , which is known and not i llustrated in the attached f igures for the sake of economy of drawing, instead of the plurality of slats D; the aim of the panel is to make the first bulkhead 10 lighter and improve the hydraulic seal thereof with respect to the version described here with the slats D . Di f ferently, the second bulkhead 12 is obtained by extrusion .

The elastic member 30 is coupled to the first side 10 ' and to the second side 12 ' around the axis AL ( therefore also to the first bul khead 10 and to the second bulkhead 12 around the relative j oint ) through elongated cylindrical needles 247 , which engage the first and second housings 225 and 245 having a diameter that approximates that of the housings 225 and 245 with an appropriate tolerance to keep them in place , and longitudinal extension suf ficient to engage the first and second housings 225 and 245 and the elastic member 30 approximately by the respective thickness .

These needles 247 can be seen in figure 5 where , for the sake of simplicity of drawing, they have been conventionally shown as cylinders with reduced diameter extracted from the respective first and second hous ings 225 and 245 , and in figures 10a and 10b, where they engage the elastic member 30 through a portion of their own comprising a tip known and not illustrated facing said elastic member 30 ( top portion of the needles 247 in figure 12 ) .

It may be useful to speci fy that any member that is shaped to couple the elastic member 30 to the first bulkhead 10 and/or to the second bulkhead 12 so as to lock it and that can be housed inside the body of the elastic member 30 by exerting pressure or in a conj ugate manner inside appropriately shaped holes previously obtained in the elastic member 30 to determine shape coupling with the first bulkhead 10 and/or the second bulkhead 12 is considered a technical equivalent of the needles 247 and, therefore , forms part of the present invention .

With reference to figure 12 , the second body 15 and the C- shaped portion 16 have , respectively, housings 225 ' and 245 ' identical to the first and second housings 225 and 245 in the respective lower portions in an end position to house further needles 247 which transversely engage the head portions 32 of the elongated member 30 in a permanent but selectively releasable manner .

The fact of having coupled the elastic member 30 to the first bulkhead 10 and to the second bulkhead 12 locally by means of needles 247 which engage the housings 225 in the first side 10 ' and the housings 245 in the second side 12 ' around the axis AL and of having coupled the head portions 32 of the elastic member 30 to the hous ings 225 ' and 245 ' obtained respectively in the second body 15 and at the end o f the C- shaped portion 16 by means of further needles 247 , allows location of the position and deformation of the elastic member 30 in three areas of the barrier 1 in which the hydraulic seal is ensured . In particular, these three areas are located at the j oint/axis AL between the first bulkhead 10 and the second bulkhead 12 ( for coupling with the floor portion T ) and at the lateral ends of the first bulkhead 10 and of the second bulkhead 12 , therefore of the barrier 1 , facing the sides F of the opening A.

Since the first bulkhead 10 and the second bulkhead 12 are j ointed/coupled in a pivotable manner around the axis AL, the constraint determined transversely by the needles 247 on the elastic member 30 on the opposite sides of the axis AL as described above prevents the elastic member 30 from as suming any positions other than the position of alignment with the lower profile of the barrier 1 when the latter is in place , thus limiting the hydraulic sealing action of the barrier 1 . For example , but without limitation, the absence of connection of the part of the elastic member 30 that corresponds , once in place , to the area around the axis AL (hinge zone between the first bulkhead 10 and the second bulkhead 12 ) through the needles 247 housed in the body of the elastic member 30 and in the housings 225 and 245 could leave the elastic member 30 free to assume a rectilinear position between the housings 225 ' and 245 ' , avoidable only by the intervention of an operator . This circumstance is avoided by the constraint provided by the needles 247 around the axis AL as described above , without requiring manual operations during installation .

In the case of the head portions 32 of the elastic member 30 the constraint determined by the combination between the needles 247 and the housings 225 ' and 245 ' concentrates , in use , the longitudinal deformation of the elastic member 30 caused by the longitudinal compression resulting from contact with the sides F only on the head portions 32 , once the seals 34 and 34 ' have been compressed . This produces a matching and laterally robust hydraulic seal between the head portions 32 of the elastic member 30 and the s ides F of the opening A. Otherwise , there would be the risk of the de formation being distributed longitudinally along the elastic member 30 and being weak at the respective head portions 32 in contact with said sides F .

Based on the above , the needles 247 and any technical equivalents can be considered to be locating members of the hydraulic seal provided by the elastic member 30 which engage the first bulkhead 10 and the second bulkhead 12 in given areas and transversely engage the elastic member 30 to maintain it locally in given longitudinal positions ( around the axis AL and the end portions of the barrier 1 ) and to locally modi fy the load behaviour thereof , in terms of positioning and/or deformation . Naturally the concentration of the hydraulic seal of the elastic member 30 can always be obtained locally but in positions of the first bulkhead 10 and second bulkhead 12 that can be defined as required by providing the first bulkhead 10 and the second bulkhead with further transverse partitions on the first plane Ml and on the second plane M2 respectively, where these partitions are provided with housings identical to the housings 225 , 225 ' , 245 and 245 ' .

With particular reference to figures 5 and 6 , the hinge members 20 comprise a first guide 22 of the rotary motion and a second guide 24 of the rotary motion both concentric to the axis AL . In particular, the first guide 22 of the rotary motion comprises the first seat 220 and a first at least partially cylindrical elongated member 222 housed inside the first seat 220 in a conj ugate manner, the radius of which approximates the radius of the first seat 220 and carried by the second side 12 ' by means of a support 120 having substantially parallelepiped shape and oriented radially relative to the axis AL .

The second guide 24 of the rotary motion comprises the second longitudinal seat 240 and a second protruding member 242 which is carried by the first partition 221 of the side 10 ' and extends parallel to the axis AL ; furthermore , this second member 242 is housed inside the second seat 240 . The second elongated member 242 is delimited at the rear, and therefore on the side where the second bulkhead 12 is free to rotate around the axis AL, by a cylindrical convex surface 2420 concentric to the axis AL and on the opposite side by a radial face 2421 designed to act as an angular stop for the support 120 when, in use , the second bulkhead 12 is rotated to maximum relative to the first bulkhead 10 (minimum width o f the angle a between the first plane Ml and the second plane M2 ) . The convex surface 2420 and the face 2421 j oin up in a longitudinal tooth 2422 which protrudes from the side 10 ' and is tangent to the cylindrical concave surface 2400 . Furthermore , the second seat 240 is peripherally delimited by a longitudinal stop 2402 shaped to act as an angular abutment for the tooth 2422 and is externally tangent to the convex surface 2420 .

With particular reference to figure 6 , the hinge members 20 comprise a first stop member 100 ( defined by a shaped rib that extends longitudinally parallel to the axis AL ) as sociated with the first side 10 ' and a second stop member 100 ' defined by a further shaped rib that extends longitudinally parallel to the axis AL and associated with the second side 12 ' around the axis AL . A longitudinally elongated abutment member 1200 , made of elastic material , is arranged between the first stop member 100 and the second stop member 100 ' to act as an angular abutment for the first bulkhead 10 and the second bulkhead 12 . In particular, in figure 6 the first stop member 100 and the second stop member 100 ' terminate in two external protrusions facing each other when the barrier 1 has the respective two bulkheads 10 and 12 in the position of use P ( also in figures 2 , 4 , 5 ) . In particular, but without limiting the embodiment of the present invention, the abutment member 1200 can be contained partially within a first longitudinal groove obtained in the first member 100 , but i f the latter were delimited by a flat face facing the second member 100 ' , the abutment member 1200 could be applied directly on said face . With particular re ference to figure 7 , the guide 124 is shaped to house in a slidable and selectively fixed manner a manoeuvring handle M through a respective hooking portion PA. This handle M is shaped to be obtained by cutting through a profile which can be indi f ferently solid or provided with recesses and boxshaped elements , without altering the scope of the present invention . For this reason, the handle M has been illustrated both solid and provided with a hol low portion in figures 4 , 7 and 8 .

With particular reference to figures 7 and 8 the handle M has an elongated manoeuvring portion MA which originates in an intermediate section MI of the handle M which has the respective hooking portion PA comprising two identical grooves SC and SC' , symmetrical and shaped in a conj ugate manner to the ribs 1222 and 1222 ' . The hooking portion PA comprises , on the side opposite to the elongated portion MA relative to the intermediate section MI , a base portion MB . This base portion MB is provided with two box-shaped elements MB1 and MB2 spaced and of equal width that define the total width of the base section MB, the extension of which approximates by defect the width o f the longitudinal cavity 126 .

In figures 7 and 8 , without limiting the scope of the present invention, the elongated manoeuvring portion MA and the intermediate section MI of the handle M delimit an internal cavity MC which makes said handle lighter, optimi zes the consumption of material and reduces the number of moulds for producing manoeuvring members for installing or uninstalling the barrier 1 . Naturally, the use of the handle M complete with the base section MB ( of figure 7 ) is possible when the height dimension of the barrier 1 does not interfere with the part that delimits the opening A at the top; otherwise , it is necessary to use the version of the handle M il lustrated in figure 8 and to use it by engaging the guide 124 .

With particular reference to figure 6 , the barrier 1 comprises a locking device 40 provided with a lever 42 hinged to the face 122 of the first bulkhead 10 and provided with a manoeuvring portion 420 and a hook-shaped hooking portion 422 . The locking device 40 further comprises a protrusion 44 that externally delimits the second stop member 100 ' of the second bulkhead 12 on the same side as the lever 42 and shaped to selectively couple with the hook-shaped hooking portion 422 when, in use , the first bulkhead 10 and the second bulkhead 12 are arranged with the respective first plane Ml and second plane M2 inclined by the angle a .

With particular reference to figures 5 and 6 , it is expedient to note that the lever 42 has a cylindrical protrusion 46 that engages in a conj ugate manner a channel 48 provided with an open cylindrical seat which the wing 223 ' carries on the respective exposed face . For this reason, the lever 42 is removable , and can be inserted or removed from the first bulkhead 10 according to requirements .

As will have been noted, the lever 42 has a limited extension measured along the axis AL . It may be useful to speci fy that in an embodiment di f ferent from the one illustrated, it may be more expedient to si ze the lever 42 with extension measured along the axis AL equal to the extension of the second bulkhead 12 so that the second stop member 100 ' as sociated with the second side 12 ' is completely hooked by the hooking portion 422 .

With particular reference to figure 6 , it will be noted that the free space between the second stop member 100 ' of the second bulkhead 12 and the rib 1222 with the barrier 1 in the position of use is greatly reduced and only j ust suf ficient to allow the hooking between the protrusion 44 of the lever 42 and the end of the second member 100 ' . This is designed to prevent inj uries to the user' s fingers during installation i f they are inadvertently resting on the rib The use of the barrier 1 is easy to understand from the above description and does not require further explanations . In particular, it should be noted that in this case the axis AL is pos itioned at the intersection of the first plane Ml and the second plane M2 . This makes a very signi ficant contribution to the duration of the elastic member 30 at the articulation of the barrier 1 on the axis AL, since the de formation to which the elastic member 30 is subj ect on the respective rear and front faces is substantially uni form and of low intensity, less than the deformation that would occur on the face of the elastic member 30 farther from the axis AL , i f the latter were positioned eccentrically relative to the intersection of the first plane Ml and the second plane M2 . This speci fic characteristic j usti fies the fact that , to further improve the hydraulic seal of the barrier 1 , the elastic member 30 is permanently connected to the respective first and second bulkheads 10 and 12 through the coupling between the needles 247 and the f irst housings 225 and second housings 245 .

In addition, it i s useful to speci fy that the elastic member 30 has the aim of sealing at the bottom the connection between the barrier 1 and the base of the opening A by squashing, where said squashing will deform the elastic member 30 by expansion on the respective rear and front sides , according to the meaning mentioned above , thus preventing water ingression .

It is also expedient to speci fy that when the first plane Ml and the second plane M2 are coplanar, the angle a between the two bulkheads assumes the value of 180 ° . When the angle is smaller than 180 ° , the barrier 1 has overall a concave face defined by the two bulkheads 10 and 12 . When the concavity of the barrier 1 faces the inside of the room of the building to be kept isolated from the water, the water presses from outside on the barrier 1 , tending to increase the width o f the angle a, therefore increasing the pressure on the seals 34 and 34 ' , and on the head portions 32 of the elastic member 30 . This gives the seal provided by the barrier 1 against the walls that laterally delimit the opening A an autoclave ef fect which tends to increase as the water level press ing externally on the barrier 1 increases . In addition, it may be useful to speci fy that the autoclavetype seal described above is activated by the water from which the room V is to be protected, but that the barrier 1 is preferably installed prior to the occurrence of said circumstance . Therefore , the function of the assembly 40 is to maintain the barrier 1 with the first bulkhead 10 and the second bulkhead 12 reciprocally inclined so as to seal the contact with the walls that laterally delimit the opening A of the room V and, naturally, the elastic member 30 in contact coinciding with the floor portion T regardless of the "presence" of the water outside the room V .

The presence of the locking device 40 is clearly essential in order to keep the barrier 1 in position when it is deployed in the pos ition of maximum opening considering that the hinge axis AL between the first bulkhead 10 and the second bulkhead 12 is at the intersection between the first plane Ml and the second plane M2 .

Lastly, it is clear that modi fications and variations can be made to the barrier 1 described and illustrated here without thereby departing from the scope of the present invention .

For example , it is useful to speci fy that the barrier 1 can be provided with a greater number of bul kheads , the only precaution being to ensure that the couplings between two consecutive bulkheads are designed so that overall , the barrier 1 in use is always concave towards the inside , thus always ensuring that the seal is of the autoclave type . In the case of a barrier with three bulkheads , a first bulkhead 10 will be delimited by two second bulkheads 12 , each of which is connected to the first bulkhead 10 by a hinge member 20 . In this case , to ensure that the seal is of the autoclave type , the two hinge members 20 must be arranged symmetrically relative to the first bulkhead 10 around respective longitudinal axes AL .

Naturally, the anti- flood barrier 1 can be used not only to close the openings of a building ( doors or windows ) to water ingression, creating sealed sections in combination with the sides and the respective floor portions , but also to prevent the access of liquids to underpasses , tunnels or under passages , air shafts , hori zontal gratings , enclosures or wherever required, provided with parallel sides or sides made parallel at least for the vertical extension of the bulkheads used . Furthermore , the barrier 1 has been il lustrated with height less than the vertical extension of the opening A, but by modi fying the vertical extens ion thereof to adapt it to that of the opening A in its entirety and providing the upper side of the barrier 1 with a further elastic member similar to the elastic member 30 , in terms of shape and extension, i f necessary, retained by an H-shaped profile , it would be possible to fully isolate the rooms from water ingression . The same could be done with pedestrian gratings which allow light through basement windows .

I f the opening A is to be closed completely, to seal also the upper part of the barrier 1 , a further seal similar to the elastic member 30 could be fixed to the upper parts of the bulkheads 10 and 12 analogously to what is described for application of the elastic member to the lower part of the barrier 1 . Based on the above , it is easy to understand that use of the anti- flood barrier 1 is a valid solution for the drawbacks of the prior art illustrated above in a simple and inexpensive manner, thanks to the structural characteristics described above , which can be modi fied without thereby departing from the scope of the present invention .

In the following claims , any re ference sign in brackets should not be interpreted as a limitation of the claim . The word "comprising" does not exclude the presence of other elements or steps in addition to those listed in a claim . Furthermore , the term "one" , as used in this context , is de fined as one or more than one . Furthermore , the use of introductory phrases like " at least one" and "one or more" in the claims should not be interpreted in the sense that the introduction of another claim element by the indefinite articles " a" or " an" limits any particular claim containing said claim element introduced to the inventions that contain only one , even when the same claim comprises introductory phrases like "one or more" or " at least one" and indefinite articles like "one" or " an" . The same applies to the use of de finite articles . Unless established otherwise , terms like " f irst" and " second" are used to arbitrarily distinguish the elements which these terms describe . Therefore , these terms are not necessarily designed to indicate the chronological or any other priority of said elements . The simple fact that some measures are described in di f ferent claims does not mean that a combination of these measures cannot be used to advantage .