Security Bollard

The present invention relates to a security bollard and, in particular, to a security bollard designed to be used as a protective measure to be placed in front of shop fronts and Automatic Teller Machines (ATMs) that may be subjected to ramming by vehicles.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

There exist today many security bollards and similar types of constructions that aim to prevent vehicular access for one reason or another. Some of these bollards are specifically designed to prevent ram-raid attacks and various other attacks using moving vehicles.

Current bollards available to the public are largely made of steel and are typically filled with a concrete type mix that quite successfully stops vehicles from driving into a protected zone. However these types of bollards may be easily cut by the use of various tools including powerful petrol hand held angle grinders or oxy acetylene welding apparatus. Whilst the use of such tools may be noisy and still take an operator several minutes to cut through a bollard, it is often shorter then the response time of the police or security services allowing enough time for persons to gain access to an area.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide for a bollard that is more resistive to being cut then those presently known or at least provides an alternate to those currently known.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Therefore, according to a first aspect of the present invention, although this need not be the broadest, nor indeed the only aspect of the invention, there is provided a security bollard characterised by: a first upright hollow member having an outer wall defining a chamber; a second vertical longitudinal member disposed inside said chamber; and a biasing means associated with said second vertical longitudinal member, said biasing means adapted to bias said second vertical longitudinal member in a longitudinal direction.

Preferably said second vertical longitudinal member is in the form of a material which substantially fills said chamber, said material adapted to be strong in compression.

In preference said bollard further includes a pressure plate disposed at a longitudinal end of said material, said biasing means being in the form of a spring adapted to apply pressure against said pressure plate in a direction towards said material.

Preferably said bollard is embedded in a ground cavity, said pressure plate and spring being disposed below a ground surface inside said chamber and adapted to provide an upwards pressure on said material. In preference said material is a resin mixture.

Preferably said security bollard further includes a central upright longitudinal tube defining a core of said bollard.

In preference said first upright hollow member is made from steel.

In an alternative embodiment, said second vertical longitudinal member is in the form of at least one vertical longitudinal member disposed longitudinally inside said chamber, wherein said at least one member has associated therewith said biasing means to bias said at least one member in a longitudinal direction.

Preferably said bollard is embedded in a ground cavity, and each of said biasing means is in the form of a spring disposed below a ground surface inside said chamber, said spring adapted to provide an upwards pressure on said at least one vertical longitudinal member.

In preference said bollard includes a cap at an upper end thereof, and each of said vertical longitudinal members comprises a metal shell with an internal core adapted to abut at an upper end thereof with said cap.

Preferably said security bollard includes a plurality of second vertical longitudinal members disposed circumferentially and symmetrically inside the chamber.

In preference wherein space inside the chamber and between the second upright longitudinal members is filled with a material strong in compression.

Preferably said material is concrete. Alternatively said material is a heat resistant resin mixture.

In preference said security bollard further includes a central upright longitudinal tube defining a core of said bollard.

Preferably said first upright hollow member is made from steel.

In preference said bollard is embedded in a ground cavity, said bollard including a horizontal member disposed at a lower end of said bollard, and said ground cavity including a locking mechanism adapted to engage said vertical member and thereby lock said bollard inside said cavity, said locking mechanism including engaging arms moveable between a first locked position in which said arms prevent vertical movement of said vertical member and said bollard, and a second position in which said vertical member and said bollard are vertically moveable.

Advantageously said arms are moveable between said first and second positions using a vertical operating lever which is accessible from an exterior of said bollard and an associated rod which connects the lever to the arms such that said arms are caused to rotate between said first and second positions when said vertical lever is moved between an upper and a lower position.

In a further form of the invention there is proposed a security bollard characterised by: a first upright hollow member having an outer wall defining a chamber; a second upright hollow member disposed inside said first upright hollow member, said second upright hollow member having an outer wall defining an internal core of said bollard; filling material disposed longitudinally between said first and second walls, said filling material adapted to be strong in compression; and a biasing means associated with said filling material, said biasing means adapted to bias said filling material in a longitudinal direction.

In a still further form of the invention there is proposed a security bollard characterised by: a first upright hollow member having an outer wall defining a chamber; a second upright hollow member disposed inside said first upright hollow member, said second upright hollow member having an outer wall defining an internal core of said bollard;

at least one vertically extending longitudinal jamming bar disposed between said first and second walls; and a biasing means associated with each of said jamming bars, said biasing means adapted to bias said jamming bars in a longitudinal direction.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate an implementation of the invention and, together with the description, serve to explain the advantages and principles of the invention, hi the drawings,

Figure 1 illustrates a cross-sectional side view of a bollard according to the present invention and illustrating the j amming tubes;

Figure 2 illustrates a cross-sectional top view of a bollard according to the present invention;

Figure 3 illustrates a cross-sectional side view of a bollard according to the present invention and illustrating the central core;

Figure 4 illustrates a cross-sectional side view of a bollard according to the present invention and illustrating the lock and operating lever;

Figure 5 illustrates a cross-sectional partial side view of a bollard according to the present invention and illustrating the detail of the locking mechanism; and

Figure 6 illustrates a cross-sectional top view of a bollard according to the present invention and illustrating an alternative configuration of the jamming tubes.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

The following detailed description of the invention refers to the accompanying drawings. Although the description includes exemplary embodiments, other embodiments are possible, and changes may be made to the embodiments described without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Wherever possible, the same reference numbers will be used throughout the drawings and the following description to refer to the same and like parts.

Turning now to the drawings in detail there is shown in Figure 1 a bollard 10 embedded below ground level 12 into a cavity 14. The bollard 10 includes a metal shell or tube 15 with central core 16 extending from the bottom of the bollard towards the top where it abuts plate 18, the bollard then having a cap 20. Steel tubes 22 extend from below ground level 12 to plate 18 and each houses a jamming bar 24. Spring 26 is housed below the tube and the jamming bar and exerts upward pressure on both. Typical loading of pressure may be up to 80 kg and an expansion of around 40 millimetres.

The extension of the bollard 10 into the ground cavity 14 provides the necessary resistant force to stop a moving vehicle and also protects from tampering certain components of the bollard.

The free space within the bollard is typically filled by a resin 28 as is the free space within the steel tubes 22. The resin 28 is designed to act as a heat retardant to slow the progress of an oxy acetylene welding apparatus and will also provide friction to the rotary or grinding blade of a power tool, thus promoting the anti- vandalism purpose of the bollard.

As seen in Figure 2 there are a number of steel tubes and jamming bars located symmetrically and circumferentially within the bollard, in this case there being six of them spaced at 60 degree intervals. If a person attempts to cut the bollard with an angle grinder having a blade 30 they will first cut through the shell 15 into resin 28 and will then encounter steel tubes 22 and the jamming bars 24. Although the cutting operation is made difficult due to the hard material itself and the presence of the resin, when the person has cut through the jamming bar, the spring loading will cause it to exert an upwards force effectively acting like a disc brake on the grinding blade.

Of course, it is not the intention to limit the invention to an upward biasing force, for a spring may be located at the top of the bollard or for that fact there may be springs at either end. Furthermore the biasing may be achieved by other means besides a spring. The reader should appreciate that when the person is trying to cut through several jamming bars the combined braking force may be enough to prevent the effective use of the grinding blade causing the person to withdraw the grinding blade and cut again. But when the blade has been removed from the jamming bar, the spring loading will cause the cut ends of jamming bar to close up and abut each other resulting in the person having to cut through the jamming bars again.

Whilst the use of a powerful angle grinder will eventually lead to the bollard being cut, what the present invention achieves is that the time it takes to cut the bollard has been greatly increased to the point where appropriate authorities have enough time to arrive at the scene and take effective action.

It is important to understand that the invention is not to be limited to a particular number of jamming bars extending around the central core. The number of jamming bars may indeed vary as well as their geometry. Thus there may well be disposed two "circles" of jamming bars around the central core. Alternatively the jamming bars may form a square pattern around the core. One may also configure the bollard with there being more jamming bars at one location then the other, for example, there may be six jamming bars disposed around 180 degrees and then ten jamming bars disposed around the other 180 degrees.

The present invention can equally well be applied to a bollard that has just a single central core and is filled with resin, or even just resin without the core if that provides an appropriate barrier. Illustrated in Figure 3 is a bollard 32 having a central core 34 surrounded by resin 36. At the bottom of the bollard there is located a free-floating pressure plate 38 biased by spring 40 that engages another pressure plate 42 which is fixed in position by a compression nut 44. The spring 40 provides an upward force on pressure plate 38 causing pressure to be applied upwardly into the resin. This causes it to put pressure onto the grinding blade and once again act as a disc brake on the grinding blade.

Such bollards also need to be removable from their cavities, for example, when access is needed to a particular area. Therefore, each cavity includes a locking mechanism which allows for the bollard to be removed from within the cavity, and also to be locked there again. As can be observed in Figure 4, a lock and operating lever 46 is accessible from the exterior of the bollard and uses a pushrod 48 to connect to a release mechanism, details of which are illustrated in Figure 5. The pushrod 48 acts on a release crank 50 that is itself connected via rod 52 to a hook release bar 54. Operation of the pushrod causes the hook release bar to pivot the arms 56 and 58 of a locking hook around pivot 60 causing their upper end to open. In between the arms is a horizontal lock bar associated with the bollard, which is prevented from upwards motion when the arms 56 and 58 are closed, but free to move upwards when the arms 56 and 58 are open. There would obviously exist some form of restriction (not shown) which allows only designated personnel to access the lock and operating lever 46 of the bollard.

The reader will now appreciate the advantages of the present invention over existing bollards. It is not the intention of this description to limit the invention to that described and many variations to the principle may be employed whilst still falling under the ambit of the invention. For example, the jamming rods may be of a circular shape, and the biasing may be achieved by hydraulic or electro-magnetic means. Also, the voids within the bollard may be filled with different materials that are designed to impede the cutting operation either by oxy- acetylene or by a power tool means. Many of the internal materials of the bollard may be tactfully drilled with holes to reduce the total weight of the bollard, but all the whilst maintaining the structural strength of the bollard.

Further advantages and improvements may very well be made to the present invention without deviating from its scope. Although the invention has been shown and described in what is conceived to be the most practical and preferred embodiment, it is recognized that departures may be made therefrom within the scope and spirit of the invention, which is not to be limited to the details disclosed herein but is to be accorded the full scope of the claims so as to embrace any and all equivalent devices and apparatus.

In any claims that follow and in the summary of the invention, except where the context requires otherwise due to express language or necessary implication, the word "comprising" is used in the sense of "including", i.e. the features specified may be associated with further features in various embodiments of the invention.