Wooden guardrail

Abstract

To provide a wooden guardrail having a simple structure, capable of resisting a large impact force by preventing the restraining force of a beam member from concentrating at one point, and capable of maintaining a fixed state between adjacent beam members. [Solution] Slits 21 are formed at both longitudinal ends of a beam member 2, and a support piece 41 of a support member 4 made of a plate material extending horizontally from a support 3 is inserted into the slit 21 of an adjacent beam member 2, and the beam member 2 and the support piece 41 of the support member 4 are fastened together by a fastening member 5 that penetrates both members vertically and a flat bar 8 that connects the lower ends of the fastening member 5.

Description

[Technical field]

[0001] This invention relates to wooden guardrails that are installed between roadways and road shoulders or sidewalks, or between sidewalks and road shoulders, etc., and in particular to wooden guardrails in which beam members made of log-shaped lumber are erected between posts. [Background technology]

[0002] 2. Description of the Related Art Wooden guardrails in which beam members made of wood such as logs are installed between posts have been proposed and put to practical use (see, for example, Patent Documents 1 and 2).

[0003] These wooden guardrails have the advantage that by making the beam members out of wood instead of steel, it is possible to make effective use of thinning materials that were previously treated as waste in the forestry industry.In addition, the wooden appearance of the guardrails allows them to match the surrounding landscape, making it possible to install them without damaging the scenery.

[0004] Incidentally, the wooden guardrails described in Patent Documents 1 and 2 are configured so that beam members made of wood such as logs are attached to mounting members disposed on posts via bolt members that pass through the beam members.

[0005] For this reason, with the above-mentioned conventional wooden guardrails, the restraining force of the beam member is concentrated at one point by the bolt member that penetrates the beam member, so that, for example, the beam member cannot withstand the large impact force accompanying a vehicle collision, and the beam member breaks at the restraining point by the bolt member, compromising the vehicle guidance function.

[0006] In consideration of the problems with the conventional wooden guardrails described above, the inventor of this invention previously proposed a wooden guardrail that makes effective use of thinning materials that were previously treated as waste in the forestry industry, and has the advantage of allowing the guardrail to be installed without damaging the surrounding scenery by matching it with its wooden appearance, while also having a simple structure and being able to withstand large impact forces by preventing the restraining force of the beam members from being concentrated at one point (see Patent Document 3). [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0007] [Patent Document 1] JP 2004-84295 A [Patent Document 2] JP 2012-7430 A [Patent Document 3] Utility Model Registration No. 3203607 Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0008] The wooden guardrail described in Patent Document 3 had a simple structure and was able to withstand large impact forces by preventing the restraining force of the beam members from being concentrated at one point. However, there was a problem in that the fixed state between adjacent beam members was prone to loosening.

[0009] In consideration of the problems with the above-mentioned conventional wooden guardrails, the present invention has the advantage of being able to effectively utilize thinned wood that was previously treated as waste in the forestry industry, and of being able to install guardrails without damaging the surrounding scenery by matching it with the surrounding landscape due to its wooden appearance. At the same time, the present invention has a simple structure, and by preventing the restraining force of the beam members from being concentrated at one point, it is possible to withstand large impact forces, and the adjacent beam members are also prevented from being damaged. To provide a wooden guardrail capable of maintaining a fixed state of a fence. [Means for solving the problem]

[0010] In order to achieve the above-mentioned object, the wooden guardrail of the present invention is characterized in that, in the wooden guardrail, beam members made of log-shaped wood are installed between posts, slits are formed at both longitudinal ends of the beam members, support pieces of support members made of plate material extending horizontally from the posts are inserted into the slits of the adjacent beam members, and the beam members and the support pieces of the support members are fastened together by fastening members that pass vertically through both members and a flat bar that connects the lower ends of the fastening members.

[0011] In this case, the flat bar may be made of a metal plate having a length of 300 to 500 mm, a width of 30 to 50 mm, and a thickness of 2 to 5 mm.

[0012] In addition, the support member may be an integral structure having a plurality of support pieces connected above and below by connecting pieces, and a plurality of beam members may be supported above and below by the plurality of support pieces. Effect of the Invention

[0013] According to the wooden guardrail of this invention, slits are formed on both longitudinal ends of the beam members, and support pieces of support members made of plate material extending horizontally from the posts are inserted into the slits of the adjacent beam members. The beam members and the support pieces of the support members are fastened with fastening members that penetrate both members vertically and flat bars that connect the lower ends of the fastening members. This has the advantage that thinning materials that were previously treated as waste materials in forestry can be effectively utilized, and the guardrail can be installed without damaging the scenery by matching it with the surrounding landscape due to its wooden appearance. At the same time, with a simple structure, the restraining force of the beam members can be distributed over a surface by the support pieces of the support members made of plate material extending horizontally from the posts, so that the force is not concentrated at one point on the beam members, which makes it possible to withstand large impact forces and firmly maintain the fixed state of adjacent beam members.

[0014] In addition, by using a support member with an integrated structure in which multiple support pieces are connected above and below by connecting pieces, and supporting multiple beam members above and below on the multiple support pieces, it is possible to support multiple beam members above and below as a single unit. [Brief description of the drawings]

[0015] [Figure 1] 1A, 1B, and 1C show an embodiment of a wooden guardrail according to the present invention, in which (a) is a plan view, (b) is a front view, and (c) is a side view. [Diagram 2] 1 shows an example of the installation form of the wooden guardrail, where (a) is a plan view of the straight section, (b) is a bottom view of the same, (c) is a plan view of the curved section, and (d) is a bottom view of the same. [Diagram 3] 1A, 1B, and 1C are views showing a support member used in the wooden guardrail, in which (a) is a plan view, (b) is a rear view, and (c) is a side view. [Figure 4] FIG. 2 is a plan view of a flat bar used in the wooden guardrail. [Diagram 5] FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram of the wooden guardrail, in which (a) is a front view and (b) is a bottom view. [Figure 6] FIG. 2 is a front view showing a modified embodiment of the wooden guardrail of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

[0016] DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Hereinafter, an embodiment of the wooden guardrail of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings.

[0017] 1 to 5 show an embodiment of the wooden guardrail of the present invention. This wooden guardrail 1 comprises beam members 2 made of log-shaped wood that are installed between posts 3. Slits 21 are formed at both longitudinal ends of the beam members 2. Support pieces 41 of support members 4 made of plate material extending horizontally from the posts 3 are inserted into the slits 21 of adjacent beam members 2. The beam members 2 and the support pieces 41 of the support members 4 are fastened together by fastening members 5 that pass vertically through both members and flat bars 8 that connect the lower ends of the fastening members 5.

[0018] The beam member 2 can effectively utilize thinning materials that are treated as waste in the forestry industry, and various log-shaped wood materials can also be used, so that the guardrail can be installed without spoiling the scenery by matching the surrounding landscape with its wooden appearance. The beam member 2 may be a log-shaped member having a round cross section, or may be a member having a polygonal cross section, such as an octagonal cross section, formed by chamfering the edges.

[0019] The support member 4 has an integral structure in which multiple (in this embodiment, two) support pieces 41 are connected vertically by connecting pieces 42, and each support piece 41 supports both ends of the multiple (in this embodiment, two) beam members 2 vertically and further, and if necessary, the middle parts. The support member 4 can be manufactured by bending a metal plate such as a steel plate or a stainless steel plate (in this embodiment, a 4.5 mm thick SS400 steel plate) into an approximately U-shape, but a formed material such as FRP can also be used. The material, plate thickness, and the like of the support member 4 can be selected according to the required strength, and the like. This makes it possible to integrally support a plurality of upper and lower beam members 2. The support member 4 may also be configured to include one support piece 41 and to support one beam member 2.

[0020] The support member 4 can be fixed directly to the support column 3, but in this embodiment, the back surface of the support member 4 is fixed to the support column 3 via a bracket 6.

[0021] By forming slits 21 at both longitudinal ends of the beam member 2 and supporting adjacent beam members 2 by support pieces 41 of a common support member 4, it is possible to support adjacent beam members 2 with the same height positions. This allows the installation of wooden guardrails to be adapted to both straight sections (Figures 2(a) and (b)) and curved sections (Figures 2(c) and (d)), as shown in Figure 2.

[0022] Although not shown in the figure, in the case of a beam member 2 having a large longitudinal dimension, if necessary, a slit can be formed in the longitudinal middle portion of the beam member 2, and the beam member 2 can be supported by a support piece 41 of a support member 4, which is similarly made of a plate material extending horizontally from the support pillar 3, so that the long beam member 2 can be supported in the longitudinal middle portion of the beam member 2.

[0023] In this embodiment, bolts and nuts (M20) are used for the fastening members 5, and square washers 7 (in this embodiment, square washers measuring 56 mm x 56 mm and 3.2 mm thick) are placed on the upper ends of adjacent fastening members 5, and the lower ends are connected and fastened by flat bars 8. Here, the flat bar 8 can be a metal plate such as a steel plate or a stainless steel plate having a length L: 300 to 500 mm, a width W: 30 to 50 mm, and a thickness t: 2 to 5 mm (in this embodiment, a SS400 steel plate having a size of 360 mm x 38 mm and a thickness of 3 mm). The material and thickness of the fastening member 5, square washer 7 and flat bar 8 can be selected according to the required strength. By connecting and fastening the lower ends of adjacent fastening members 5 with a flat bar 8, the flat bar 8, which is made of a metal plate, elastically deforms, and as shown in Figure 5, a tension is applied to the adjacent beam members 2 in a direction that pulls the beam members 2 apart, thereby firmly maintaining the fixed state between the adjacent beam members 2.

[0024] According to this wooden guardrail 1, slits 21 are formed at both longitudinal ends of the beam members 2, support pieces 41 of support members 4 made of plate material extending horizontally from the posts 3 are inserted into the slits 21 of adjacent beam members 2, and the beam members 2 and the support pieces 41 of the support members 4 are fastened together by fastening members 5 that penetrate both members vertically and flat bars 8 that connect the lower ends of the fastening members 5. This has the advantage that thinned wood that was previously treated as waste in forestry can be effectively utilized, and that the guardrail can be installed without damaging the scenery by matching the wooden appearance to the surrounding landscape. At the same time, with a simple structure, the restraining force of the beam members 2 is distributed over a surface by the support pieces 41 of the support members 4 made of plate material extending horizontally from the posts 3, so that the force does not concentrate on one point on the beam members 2, which makes it possible to resist large impact forces and firmly maintain the fixed state of adjacent beam members 2.

[0025] The wooden guardrail of the present invention has been described above based on its embodiment, but the present invention is not limited to the configuration described in the above embodiment, and the configuration can be changed as appropriate within the scope of the spirit of the invention.

[0026] Specifically, in the above embodiment, the support member 4 is an integral structure in which two upper and lower support pieces 41 are connected by a connecting piece 42, and each support piece 41 supports both ends of the two upper and lower beam members 2. However, the wooden guardrail of the present invention can also be applied to, for example, a wooden guardrail 1 (Figure 6(a)) used for wooden guardrails for sidewalks (sidewalk protection fences, sidewalk crossing prevention fences, sidewalk fall prevention fences, etc.) in which multiple beam members 2 are arranged above and below by supporting adjacent beam members 2 on the support pieces 41 of multiple support members 4 fixed to the support posts 3 at intervals, or a wooden guardrail 1 (Figure 6(b)) in which two beam members 2 are arranged above and below by supporting adjacent beam members 2 on the support pieces 41 of two support members 4 fixed to the support posts 3 at intervals, and a vertical lattice 22 made of wood is provided between the two beam members 2. [Industrial Applicability]

[0027] The wooden guardrail of the present invention not only makes effective use of thinning materials that were previously treated as waste in the forestry industry, but also has the advantage of matching the surrounding scenery with its wooden appearance, making it possible to install the guardrail without damaging the scenery. However, its simple structure allows the restraining force of the beam members to be acted without being concentrated at one point, making it able to withstand large impact forces and maintaining a fixed state between adjacent beam members. Therefore, it can be used suitably as a wooden guardrail for roadways, installed between the roadway and the shoulder or sidewalk, etc., and also as a wooden guardrail for sidewalks, installed, for example, between the sidewalk and the shoulder. [Explanation of symbols]

[0028] 1 Wooden guardrail 2 Beam member 21 Slit 22 Vertical Lattice 3 pillars 4 Support member 41 Support piece 42 Connecting piece 5 Fastening members 6 Bracket 7 Square washer 8 Flat Bar

Claims

1. This wooden guardrail is constructed by forming beam members made of log-shaped lumber between posts, and is characterized in that slits are formed at both longitudinal ends of the beam members, support pieces of support members made of plate material extending horizontally from the posts are inserted into the slits of adjacent beam members, and the beam members and the support pieces of the support members are fastened together by fastening members which pass vertically through both members and by flat bars which connect the lower ends of the fastening members.

2. 2. The wooden guardrail according to claim 1, characterized in that the flat bar is made of a metal plate having a length of 300 to 500 mm, a width of 30 to 50 mm, and a thickness of 2 to 5 mm.

3. A wooden guardrail as described in claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the support member is an integral structure in which a plurality of support pieces are connected above and below by connecting pieces, and a plurality of beam members are supported above and below by the plurality of support pieces.

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