Road structure – process – or apparatus – Traffic steering device or barrier
Patent
1997-02-25
1998-09-29
Graysay, Tamara L.
Road structure, process, or apparatus
Traffic steering device or barrier
404 9, 49 49, 246479, 246485, E01F 1300, E01F 900, B61L 516
Patent
active
058137963
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The invention concerns a barrier for a roadway, with an upright, a barrier arm on a horizontal drive spindle that can swing between a horizontal locking position and an upward-facing release position, a pivoting mechanism, and a balancing spring supporting the opening and closing of the barrier arm.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Such barriers, which can be used for an entry or exit gate in parking lots, garages, etc., can be inferred from EP-A 553 802 or DE-A 37 43 305. They have a system of balancing springs that support the barrier arm as it swings up in order to be able to reduce the capacity of the drive motor, to save counter-weights, and to have an upright that is as space-saving as possible. The screw spring used as a pressure spring in EP-A 553 802 and DE-A 37 43 305 is used for the balancing spring.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The problem of the invention is therefore to accelerate the cycle of moving the barrier (opening and closing), and it achieves this by having the balancing spring have an untensioned zero position that is between the locking position and the opening position of the barrier arm.
This makes for faster initial opening of the barrier arm supported by the balancing spring until it reaches the untensioned zero position. Over the remaining pivoting angle, the swinging movement is braked by the now opposing balancing spring. The cycle of movement is now accelerated mainly by the fact that the balancing spring also accelerates the closing of the barrier arm in the initial area up to the untensioned zero position; the visual impression of fast closing also directly inhibits the subsequent passage of another vehicle. Since the torque produced by the balancing spring opposes the loading torque of the barrier arm over a substantial part of its pivoting area, only one electric motor with a lower capacity is necessary, Depending on the design of the balancing spring, the untensioned zero position can be between 45.degree. and 60.degree. for a certain opening angle, or can be within a range of opening angles. In the latter case, the range can be between 30.degree. and 40.degree., wherein the two ranges supported by the balancing spring represent the first and last 25.degree. to 30.degree. of the opening angle.
A first embodiment provides that the balancing spring be coaxial to the drive spindle. This makes it an extremely compact, easy-to-mount, low-weight structure.
Preferably, the balancing spring has an inner body that turns with the drive spindle, an outer body assigned to the upright, and an insert between the inner and outer bodies that deforms elastically when the inner body turns. Such a balancing spring is very easy to build and can be produced inexpensively. The insert is attached to the inner body and the outer body by an interlocking form in the peripheral direction. The inner and outer bodies can form, for example, roughly square bodies with equal angles that are staggered in the middle in relation to the corners. However, other non-round forms are also conceivable, for example triangular, elliptical, etc.
The body of the insert is comprised particularly of cylindrical parts corresponding to the number of corners, made of rubber for example. Thus, if square inner and outer bodies are staggered to one another, roughly four rubber rods can be provided as insert bodies in the four triangular intermediate spaces.
If the range of the opening angle covers the untensioned zero position, it can be provided that the outer body be able to pivot between two stops on the upright, wherein the pivot angle of the outer body is smaller than the opening angle of the barrier arm. A released zero position in a central angle range can also be achieved, for example, by making the inner body able to turn to the outer body in a limited way, and the insert body therefore can turn freely between two stops and can deform after resting on one of the two stops until it reaches the end position of the barrier arm.
On the other hand, when the range of
REFERENCES:
patent: 3913717 (1975-10-01), Collins
patent: 4090685 (1978-05-01), Pappas
patent: 5288164 (1994-02-01), Nasatka
patent: 5466088 (1995-11-01), Nasatka
patent: 5469660 (1995-11-01), Tamenne
Graysay Tamara L.
Hartmann Gary S.
Skidata Computer Gesellschaft mbH
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