TITLE:

Parking Stall Barrier

FIELD The present invention relates to a barrier which prevents persons from parking their vehicles in reserved parking stalls.

BACKGROUND

Some drivers do not respect signs designating reserved parking stalls. To address this problem a number of devices have been proposed, as described in the following patents: U.S. 3,849,936; U.S. 4,531,472; U.S. 4,713,910; U.S. 4,879,554; U.S. 5,165,200; and U.S. 6,142,702.

SUMMARY There is provided a parking stall barrier which includes an elongated horizontal member and a pair of supports. The pair of supports are positioned in spaced relation and support the opposed ends of the horizontal member. The horizontal member is movable vertically along the supports between a raised barrier position and a lowered access position.

A locking latch mechanism secures the horizontal member in the raised barrier position. When the locking latch mechanism is released, the horizontal member can be moved from the raised barrier position to the lowered access position to facilitate vehicle ingress and egress.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

These and other features will become more apparent from the following description in which reference is made to the appended drawings, the drawings are for the purpose of illustration only and are not intended to in any way limit the scope of the invention to the particular embodiment or embodiments shown, wherein: FIG. 1 is a front elevation view of a parking stall barrier.

FIG. 2 is a side elevation view, in section, of the parking stall barrier of FIG. 1 in a raised barrier position.

FIG. 3 is a side elevation view, in section, of the parking stall barrier of FIG. 1, in a lowered access position.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION A parking stall barrier generally identified by reference numeral 10, will now be described with reference to FIG. 1 through 3.

Structure and Relationship of Parts:

Referring to FIG. 1, parking stall barrier 10 consists of an elongated horizontal member 12 having opposed ends 22. A pair supports are positioned in spaced relation and support opposed ends 22 of horizontal member 12. In the illustrated embodiment, the supports are a pair of hollow support posts 24. Referring to FIG. 2, each support post 24 has a side wall 26 that defines an interior cavity 28. Referring to FIG. 1, a vertical opening 30 is provided in side wall 26 through which one of opposed ends 22 of horizontal member 12 extends into interior cavity 28. Referring to FIG. 2 and FIG. 3, horizontal member 12 is movable vertically within vertical opening 30 between a raised barrier position depicted in FIG. 2 and a lowered access position depicted in FIG. 3. Springs 16 bias horizontal member 12 into the raised barrier position illustrated in FIG. 2. Referring to FIG. 1, a locking latch mechanism 18 maintains horizontal member 12 in the raised barrier position. Locking latch mechanism 18 has a latch 32 controlled by a solenoid 34. A wireless actuator 36 is used to remotely actuate solenoid 34 to release latch 32 on locking latch mechanism 18. Referring to FIG. 2, while horizontal member 12 can be make in a variety of configurations, it is preferred that horizontal member 12 be made with a transverse curvature which provides strength and facilitates a vehicle passing over it. For aesthetic reasons, it is also preferred that a flexible ground engaging shroud 14 overlie horizontal member 12 and carry markings 15 which make horizontal member 12 of parking stall barrier 10 highly visible. Finally it is preferred that signage 40 be supported by support posts 24, with a message that warns that the parking stall is reserved. In the illustrated embodiment, signage 40 has a message portion 42 and a shaft portion 44, which raises message portion 42 to eye level.

Operation:

The use and operation of parking stall barrier 10 will now be described with

reference to FlG. 1 through 3. Referring to FIG. 1, with horizontal member 12 locked in the raised barrier position, parking stall barrier 10 serves as a barrier to prevent unauthorized entry of a vehicle into a parking stall. A person authorized to use the parking stall, pushes a button 48 on wireless actuator 36. Wireless actuator 36 then sends a signal caused acutate solenoid 34 to release locking latch mechanism 18 by moving latch 32 from under horizontal member 12. Referring to FlG. 2 and FlG. 3, once locking latch mechanism 18 is released, pressure from vehicle tires 38 temporarily overcome the biasing force of springs 16 to move horizontal member 12 from the raised barrier position depicted in FlG. 2 to the lowered access position depicted in FlG. 3 to facilitate vehicle ingress and egress. When horizontal member 12 moves into the lowered access position, shroud 14 flattens, allowing vehicle tires 38 to pass smoothly overtop. Once vehicle tires 38 have passed over horizontal barrier 12, springs 16 bias horizontal member 12 back into the raised barrier position illustrated in FlG. 3 and locking latch mechanism 18 automatically is re-engaged.

Barrier 10 may be provided to prevent unauthorized entry into any type of space.

Examples of various types of spaces that barrier 10 may be used with include private apartment, company, and handicapped parking. Barriers 10 may be used singularly or in multiples. Barrier 10 has the advantage of removing the need for a manned security post. Any attempt to compromise barrier 10 may activate a pressure sensitive switch mechanism (not shown) that may in turn activate an alarm. Alternatively, an alarm could be activated by motion or heat sensors.

Barrier 10 may also function as an anti-theft device. Once a vehicle is locked in by barrier 10, a thief cannot easily remove the vehicle from behind barrier 10. A panic button may be provide on wireless actuator 36 in order to allow a user to activate the alarm if suspicious activity is spotted by the user. Barrier 10 may also be provided with, or installed as part of, a surveillance system.

In this patent document, the word "comprising" is used in its non-limiting sense to mean that items following the word are included, but items not specifically mentioned are not excluded. A reference to an element by the indefinite article "a" does not exclude the possibility that more than one of the element is present, unless the context clearly requires

that there be one and only one of the elements.

It will be apparent to one skilled in the art that modifications may be made to the illustrated embodiments without departing from scope of the Claims.