Top management for a protective barrier

Abstract

Upper guide (1) for a protective barrier, in particular a road or bridge barrier, wherein the guide (1) has the form of an elongated, hollow element, characterized in that the guide (1) has two ends (2) and a central part (3) which are formed from a hollow profile, wherein at each end (2): the guide (1) ends with flat connecting elements (4), wherein the flat connecting elements (4) are essentially parallel to each other and spaced apart from each other at a distance corresponding to the thickness of the connecting elements (4), wherein the flat connecting elements (4) are provided with coaxial through-holes (5), wherein two to ten flat connecting elements (4) are provided at each end (2) of the guide (1).

Description

Technical field

[0001] The present solution concerns the field of (energy-absorbing) protective barriers, such as road or bridge barriers, which have posts mounted on the ground to which various types of fall protection or energy-absorbing elements are attached. More specifically, the present solution concerns the design of the upper guide – that is, the part that runs parallel to the ground (between the posts) and is mounted above the typical (usually horizontal) zigzag profile (typically a profile with a W-shaped cross-section) commonly found on road barriers. State of the art

[0002] In the prior art, there are mainly two predominant types of upper guides (where present and fitted to road barriers), i.e., guides in the form of a rectangular metal profile in cross-section or guides in the form of a rod.

[0003] While rectangular top guides are relatively durable, they are difficult to install in locations where roads or bridges curve, for example, because the profile itself is difficult to bend to conform to a curve. Furthermore, since the profiles are three-dimensional and hollow, additional intermediate elements must be used to connect such guides, which are typically located within the ends of the guides (due to the connection method, this is the area of ​​lowest strength, and this point determines the overall strength of the guide).

[0004] On the other hand, rod-shaped guides are relatively easy to bend and adapt to the curves of a road or overpass, but here too, to connect the successive rods that form such a guide, their ends must be threaded and screwed together with an elongated nut (which functions like a toggle lock). While the previously mentioned profile guides can be mounted on the posts, a rod-shaped guide also requires the use of additional "eyelets" provided on the posts through which such guide rods can be threaded. Purpose of the utility model

[0005] The purpose of the utility model is to create an improved guide structure that combines the strength of profile guides with the easy adaptation of rod guides to road curves, while creating a structure that simplifies the attachment of the guide to the posts. Core of the utility model

[0006] The subject matter of the utility model is an upper guide for a protective barrier, in particular a road or bridge barrier, wherein the guide has the form of an elongated, hollow element, characterized in that the guide has two ends and a middle part formed from a hollow profile, wherein at each end: the guide ends with flat connecting elements wherein the flat connecting elements are essentially parallel to each other and spaced apart by a distance corresponding to the thickness of the connecting elements, wherein the flat connecting elements are provided with coaxial through-holes for mounting, with two to ten flat connecting elements being provided at each end of the guide.

[0007] Preferably, the flat connecting elements are formed from cut-off and appropriately flattened parts of the respective ends of the guide.

[0008] Preferably, the ends of the guide are elements that are different from the middle part of the guide and are integrated therein by connections selected from the group of screw, rivet, weld, crimp and fusion welding connections.

[0009] Preferably, each flat connecting element has one to one hundred fastening holes, preferably three to nine, in particular four, five, six, seven or eight, fastening holes. wherein these mounting holes are evenly distributed along the respective flat connecting elements and are similarly spaced apart at one end of the guide and the other. Brief description of the drawings

[0010] The present utility model is explained in more detail below with reference to exemplary embodiments and the accompanying drawing. The drawing shows: Fig. 1. An exemplary guide attached to a road barrier, Fig. 2 an exemplary representation of the connection of connecting elements at the ends of adjacent guides to each other and to the road barrier post, Fig. 3 an exemplary top view of the connection of an exemplary guide with a road barrier post, Fig. 4 an exemplary representation of interlocking connecting elements of adjacent guides, Fig. 5 a variant of the guide with two mounting holes in the flat connecting elements, Fig. 6 a variant of the guide with twelve mounting holes in flat connecting elements, Fig. 7 a variant of the guide which was formed from an element with an essentially rectangular cross-section and has elongated (bean-shaped) and vertically oriented mounting holes, Fig. 8 a variant of the guide which was formed from an element with an essentially circular cross-section and round mounting holes, Fig. 9 a variant of a guide formed from an element with an essentially circular cross-section and having elongated (bean-shaped) and horizontally oriented mounting holes, Fig. 10 Three views (from above, from the front and in frontal perspective) of one of the variants of the guide attached to a protective barrier, and Fig. 11 the variant of the leadership from Fig. 10 in three views - from the back, from the side and in perspective from behind. Examples of the utility model

[0011] In the most general embodiment of this utility model, the upper guide 1 for the protective barrier 6 has the form of an elongated, hollow element – ​​generally similar to profile guides. The guide 1 can be divided longitudinally into three parts – two ends 2, which are the outermost parts of the guide 1, and a middle part 3, which lies between the aforementioned ends 2 and is a part in the form of a hollow profile.

[0012] The exact geometry of the profile from which the central part 3 of the guide 1 is formed according to the utility model can be relatively unrestricted – it can be an open, semi-open, or closed profile. The shape of the profile can be oval, round, rectangular, square, pentagonal, hexagonal, or simply polygonal.

[0013] Due to their easy availability on the market and their relatively high strength, it is preferable to use oval or round tube profiles to form the guide 1 according to the utility model ( Fig. Figure 1 shows the guide formed from a round tube profile 1).

[0014] Each of the ends 2 of the guide 1 terminates with flat connecting elements 4, of which at least two and at most ten are provided. These flat connecting elements 4 are substantially parallel to one another (i.e., as parallel as can reasonably be ensured in the manufacture of such flat connecting elements 4, without, however, having to guarantee laboratory-level accuracy) and are spaced apart from one another by a specific distance corresponding to the thickness of these connecting elements 4. Because several such connecting elements 4 are present at the ends 2 of the guide 1 according to the utility model, it is possible—during the assembly and joining of the connecting elements 4 of successive / adjacent guides 1—to interlock them alternately, thereby increasing the number of contact pairs and thus increasing the strength of the connection.

[0015] Through-hole mounting holes 5 pass through all flat connecting elements 4 at the respective end 2 of the guide 1 and are coaxial to each other, - i.e., the mounting holes 5 of a flat connecting element 4 at the respective end 2 of the guide 1 are coaxial to the mounting holes 5 in the next flat connecting element 4 at that end 2 of the guide 1 - so that a fastening element in the form of a screw can pass through them. Fig. Figure 2 shows an embodiment of the construction in which the fastening holes 5 are elongated, such an elongated shape being helpful compared to the usual round holes, as it allows a certain degree of upward and downward adjustment when attaching the guide 1 to a post 7.

[0016] Various versions of the guides 1 are possible with respect to the number of mounting holes 5 in the flat connecting elements 4. It is necessary that at least one mounting hole 5 be present in each connecting element 4 to allow the connection of successive guides 1 to one another. The maximum number of mounting holes 5 in the connecting elements 4 is not limited in any way; however, preferably no more than one hundred of these holes are provided. In most embodiments, it is not necessary to provide a total of one hundred mounting holes 5 in a given connecting element 4; often it is sufficient to provide three to nine of these, in particular four, five, six, seven, or eight mounting holes 5. Fig. 1, Fig. 2, Fig. 3, Fig. 4, Fig. 7, Fig. 8 and Fig. Figure 9 shows examples of the guide 1 according to the utility model with six fastening holes 5 in each connecting element 4.

[0017] When attaching the guides 1 to the protective barriers 6, adjacent guides 1 are connected to each other by interlocking the connecting elements 4 of adjacent guides 1 (see Fig. 4) and screws are guided through the mounting holes 5. For this purpose, it is definitely preferable if the mounting holes 5 are evenly distributed along the connecting elements 4 of adjacent guides 1 and the distance between them is similar. In the case of unevenness (i.e., the mounting holes 5 of adjacent guides 1 are not coaxial and it is not easy to guide a screw through them), it is possible to modify these holes on site, e.g., by drilling them, etc. However, it is always more convenient and better if the mounting holes 5 in the connecting elements 4 at both ends 2 of a given guide 1 are evenly spaced from each other, and this distance is maintained between successive / adjacent guides 1.

[0018] Regarding the construction, it is evident that the ends 2 of the guide 1 together with their connecting elements 4 can be provided in two main ways.

[0019] The first – more universal – method consists of using the ends of the elongated element from which the central part 3 of the guide 1 is formed, cutting them, and then flattening them to form flat connecting elements 4 (and, obviously, aligning them so that they are essentially parallel to each other and spaced apart by a thickness similar to that of these flat connecting elements 4). The fastening holes 5 can be provided at any stage, either before cutting, after cutting, or even only after the flat connecting elements 4 have been formed.

[0020] The above-mentioned method for manufacturing connecting elements 4 can be used regardless of the geometry or thickness of the original profile from which the guide 1 is formed, wherein the in Fig. The illustrated example shows the guide 1, which is formed from a tube profile and whose ends have been cut and flattened, thereby forming two flat connecting elements 4 at a given end 2 of the guide 1, while Fig. Figure 7 shows a variant of the guide 1 according to the utility model, which was formed from a profile with a substantially rectangular cross-section.

[0021] The second method for providing flat connecting elements 4 at the ends 2 of the guide 1, a somewhat more complicated and expensive method, consists of attaching separate ends 2 with connecting elements 4 to the central part 3 of the guide 1 and integrating these into the central part 3 of the guide 1 by means of mechanical connections, e.g., screw, rivet, weld, crimp, or fusion welding connections. The person skilled in the art can then select suitable connection types that are appropriate both for the materials used and for the required strength of such connections.

[0022] The described second variant of the ends 2 of the guide 1 is of interest insofar as it enables fixed connections with many (e.g. eight) flat connecting elements 4 at each of the ends 2 of the guide 1, whereas, for example, when cutting a tube profile at the end into eight equal parts, it might turn out that the resulting parts are narrower than desired and their further use is difficult.

[0023] It should now be noted that, due to the guide 1 according to the utility model - a high strength of the spatial and hollow profiles (through their central part 3) as well as their flat connecting elements 4 at the ends 2 is ensured - these allow a certain freedom in use by being more easily bent in order to adapt the guide 1 to the curvature of, for example, a road.

[0024] Furthermore, it is possible not only to use the fastening holes 5 on the connecting elements 4 to guide the screws in order to press one connecting element 4 against the other, but also to use slightly longer screws to guide them through the holes in the post and thus attach the guide 1 to the post 7.

[0025] In situations where the distance between adjacent posts 7 does not correspond to the length of an existing guide 1, clamps / clips / holders known from the prior art can be used to attach the guide 1 to the post 7.

[0026] With regard to its use, the guide 1 according to the utility model is suitable for use with various types of protective barriers 6, e.g. road or bridge barriers, and even though it is normally shown as an upper guide (i.e., it is located above the typical W-shaped cross-section profile of protective barriers 6, see Fig. 1, Fig. 10 and Fig. 11), it can also be used at other altitudes.

[0027] Depending on requirements, the guide 1 can be manufactured from various profiles with different cross-sectional sizes, for example, from circular cross-sections with diameters ranging from 5 mm to 300 mm, as well as from non-circular profiles with cross-sections ranging from 5 x 5 mm to 300 x 300 mm. The wall thickness of the guide 1 (especially its central section 3) is selected individually depending on the expected strength in a given application and is typically in the range of 0.2 to 10 mm.

[0028] With regard to materials, the guide 1 according to the utility model can be made from various materials, e.g. metals, plastics or composite materials, although steel is the best material for most applications.

[0029] The fastening holes 5 in the connecting elements 4 of the guide 1 according to the utility model can typically be round or oblong / oval or widened to a bean-shaped form (cf. Fig. 7 and Fig. 9), which allows certain modifications to the orientation of guide 1 during assembly, e.g., to position it at an angle to the road. The bean-shaped holes can also be arranged horizontally (see Figure 9). Fig. 9). The holes can also be round (see below). Fig. 8). Reference sign 1 Guided Tour 2 End of the tour 3 Middle section of the tour 4 flat connecting element 5 mounting holes 6 Protective barrier 7 posts of the protective barrier 8 Zigzag profile of the protective barrier

Claims

[1] Upper guide (1) for a protective barrier, in particular a road or bridge barrier, wherein the guide (1) has the form of an elongated, hollow element, characterized by , that the guide (1) has two ends (2) and a middle part (3) formed from a hollow profile, with at each end (2): the guide (1) ends with flat connecting elements (4), wherein the flat connecting elements (4) are essentially parallel to each other and spaced apart from each other at a distance corresponding to the thickness of the connecting elements (4), wherein the flat connecting elements (4) are provided with coaxial through-holes (5), wherein two to ten flat connecting elements (4) are provided at each end (2) of the guide (1). [2] Guide (1) according to claim 1, characterized by, that the flat connecting elements (4) are formed from cut-off and correspondingly flattened parts of the respective ends (2) of the guide (1). [3] Guide (1) according to claim 1, characterized by , that the ends (2) of the guide (1) are separate elements in relation to the middle part (3) of the guide (1) and are integrated therein by connections selected from the group of screw, rivet, weld, crimp and fusion weld connections. [4] Guide (1) according to claim 2 or 3, characterized by , that each flat connecting element (4) has one to one hundred fastening holes (5), preferably two to nine, in particular three, four, five, six, seven or eight, fastening holes (5), wherein these fastening holes (5) are evenly distributed along the respective flat connecting elements (4) and are spaced similarly apart at one end (2) and the other end (2) of the guide (1).

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