GB2193992A

GB2193992A - Barrier

Info

Publication number: GB2193992A
Application number: GB08719015A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Aftab Alam
Original assignee: HAGO PROD Ltd
Current assignee: HAGO PROD Ltd
Priority date: 1986-08-12
Filing date: 1987-08-11
Publication date: 1988-02-24
Also published as: GB8619577D0; GB2193992B; GB8719015D0

Abstract

A child safety barrier comprises a gate surround having a substantially U-shaped frame 7 receiving an openable gate 2 and with load absorbing and stress relieving bends A,B-as opposed to the weaker convention angled and/or welded junctions. The means 4 for jamming the frame are provided on the distal portions of both arms of the U-shaped frame, and a lower frame element 8. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Barrier This invention relates to a barrier, and has particular application as a means to limit the movement of children and pets, especially as a barrier to those areas such as stairways and kitchens that are potentially treacherous for the young and household animals and being hereinafter termed a child safety barrier.

This invention relates especially to a child safety barrier which is removably secured between two opposed supports and includes a frame and an openable gate. Conventionally, the securing means that are employed exert pressure outwardly on the opposed supports and thus inwardly on the barrier, the barrier requiring a rigid frame to counteract this.

Hence, when the gate of a barrier is open, and the barrier is largely discontinuous, the inwardly exerted pressure reduces the tightness of the securing means; if the frame is insufficiently flexible, it may also lead to sheering especially at any welded or discrete angled joints of the frame, particularly at junctions between the gate jambs and either lintel or threshold.

It is preferable that safety barriers conform to British Safety Standards (BS 4125, 1982), particularly in that the frame should be able to withstand considerable force, be resistant to bending stress and be tightly secured to its supports. Most child safety barriers are constructed of metal, to give the required strength, and generally by welding a plurality of components as a rigid frame and gate. Inward bending could be reduced and the lack of resilience of the welded joint could be overcome by using heavier constituent materials, but for reasons of cost and market acceptability lighter materials are desirable.

According to the present invention, there is provided a child safety barrier comprising a frame and means for applying a load to jam the frame in position between two opposed supports, the frame including a gate surround adapted to receive an openable gate and at least one load absorbing bend which is adapted to absorb the jamming load across the frame when the frame is in position between the supports.

Preferably, the frame is substantially Ushaped, the arms of which include proximal portions, forming the jambs of said gate surround, and distal portions, the means for jamming the frame in position being attached to at least one distal portion.

Preferably, said proximal portions and said distal portions are unjointedly continuous.

Preferably, the means for jamming the frame are in form of barrier securing means provided on both sides of the barrier by attachment to the distal portions of both arms of the Ushaped frame.

The bends may be such that the distal portions of the arms project laterally or else recurve but for either are coplanar with the U plane.

The barrier may alternatively or additionally have proximally placed bends to the arms, such bends forming arcuate junctions between the arms and the bottom of the U-shape.

Preferably, the bottom of the U-shaped frame comprises part or is aligned with a part of an elongate frame element which extends between the two supports.

The gate may be securable to a jamb by gate securing means; the gate securing means may tend to urge apart the two arms of the U-shaped frame, or the gate may be secured to a jamb by non-pressure exerting gate securing means; in the latter instance, the gate preferably overlaps the arms of the U-shaped frame and the hinged attachment is such that, when the gate is securely closed, the arms of the U-shaped frame can move slightly in the plane of the U-plane and relative to the gate without affecting the security of the gate closure or the security of the barrier.

The barrier may have a plurality of vertical rods to further restrict passage.

Preferably, the barrier securing means is. independently adjustable to engage and disengage one of the opposed supports and allow the barrier to be accommodated between opposed supports of varying and non-uniform separation.

Preferably, the U-shaped frame is constructed from hollow piping of a resilient material and, most preferably, the piping is foursided with two pairs of opposing faces, one pair being narrower than the other pair, and with the wider pair always at right angles to the bending plane of the U-shaping of the Ushaped frame. The piping may be round-cornered or have angular junctions between the faces.

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Fig. 1 shows a front view of one embodiment of a barrier according to the present invention; Fig. 2 shows a front view of the U-shaped frame of the barrier of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 shows a front view of a U-shaped frame and lower elongate frame element of the barrier of Fig 1; Fig. 4 shows a front view of the frame assembly of the barrier of Fig. 1; Fig.5 is the front view of an alternative embodiment of a barrier according to the present invention; Fig. 6 shows a side view of a section of piping of the U-shaped frame of the barriers of Fig. 1 and Fig. 5; Fig. 7 shows a sectional view of the piping of Fig. 6; and, Fig. 8 shows a sectional view of alternative piping for use in the barrier of the present invention.

Referring to Figs 1 to 4 of the drawings, there is provided a barrier 1 of substantially rectangular outline, comprising a frame as sembly 3 to which an openable gate 2 is hingedly attached, and barrier securing means 4.

The securing means 4 are positioned in each of the four corners of the barrier 1 for securing both top and bottom of the barrier 1 between opposed supports 5,6, such as the op posed walls to either side of a passageway, to limit the movement of children and pets.

The frame assembly 3 comprises a substantially U-shaped frame 7, with two upwardly directed arms 10,10' and with the bottom of the U being juxtapposed to a horizontally positioned, elongate frame element 8 that extends between the two opposed supports 5,6, each end of the frame element 8 being hollow and forming a housing 9' for one of the lower pair of barrier securing means 4. The distal portions of the arms 10,10' of the U-shaped frame 7 are arcuate and project laterally; these distal portions are also hollow and form hous ings 9 for the upper pair ofbarrier securing means 4.

The frame assembly 3 also includes vertical rods 11, and associated laterally projecting brackets 12, extending between upper and lower housings 9, 9' so as to reduce the gap between U-shaped frame 7 and the opposed supports 5,6.

Two feet 13 are attached,by welding or screw threading,to the elongate frame element 8 to give ground clearance for the lower pair of barrier securing means 4. Each barrier securing means 4 is independently adjustable to accommodate passageways and the like of varied and non-uniform width.

The gate 2 is hingedly attached to one arm 10' of the U-shaped frame 7, the bottom of the U forming the threshold and the arms 10,10' forming the jambs. The gate 2 comprises a straight upper element 14, a J-shaped combined spine 15 and lower element 15', and vertical rods 16 interconnecting the upper and lower elements 14,15'. The upper ele ment 14 is hollow and the unhinged end forms the housing 17 to a pressure exerting gate securing means 18 which is actuated by an associated latch 19 and cam means 20.

When the barrier securing means 4 are adjusted, engaged and urging against the opposed supports 5,6, the top of the frame assembly in particular 3 is biassed inwardly.

When the gate 2 is shut, the pressure exerted by the gate securing means 18 acts to increase the overall rigidity of the barrier 1 by counteracting the aforesaid inward bias. However, when the gate 2 is open, and the barrier 1 largely discontinuous, the inwardly directed pressure is exerted fully, particularly at the top of the U-shaped frame 7. Sheering stress is reduced by load absorbing bends, such as arcuate sections A,B positioned such as to increase the flexibility and resilience of the frame and reduce the number of discrete stress points which would be liable to form at the conventional angled and/or welded junctions, particularly at junction A between threshold and jamb and at junction B between jamb and the distal portions having the upper housings 9 of the barrier securing means 4.

In alternative embodiments (not shown), the arms of the U-shaped frame are inclined, the elongate frame element may form the bottom of the U-shaped frame, rather than lie juxtapposed to it, and the junction between threshold and arm of the frame be angular. The distal portions of the arms may extend laterally for a greater distance or even recurve to parallel the opposed supports.

In a further alternative embodiment (Fig. 5), the gate 2 is not provided with pressure exerting gate securing means, but just a latch 18', the barrier 1 being given the required strength by the resilience of the constituent material aiding the load absorbing bends of the U-shaped frame 7.

Referring now to Figs 6 to 8 of the drawings, in both shown embodiments (Figs 1 to 5) the strength tooresist sheering and bending stresses is aided by the U-shaped frame 7 comprising four-sided hollow piping 21 with two pairs 22,23 of opposed faces, one pair 22 being narrower than the other pair 23. The edges 24 between faces can be angled (Fig,8) or is preferably rounded for safety reasons (Fig. 7).

The arcuate portions A,B of the frame 7 are formed during manufacture by the bending of the piping 21 such that inner line of curvature is always one ofthe pair of narrow faces 22.

When the barrier 1 is in position and pressure exerted on to the U-shaped frame 7 by the barrier securing means 4, the upper pair in particular, a greater portion of the pressure is thus distributed across the wider faces 23 of the piping 21, the wider faces 23 being at right angles to the bending plane, and consequently a greater proportion of the pressure is dispersed away from the bending plane and this greatly reduces the inward bending of the U-shaped frame 7. In addition, the hollow nature of the piping 21 and the bending on a narrow face 22 encourages the use of large diameter arcs for the load absorbing bends, large diameter arcs being more flexible and counteracting bending and sheering forces with greater effectiveness than smaller diameter arcs.

Modifications and improvements may be incorporated without departing from the scope of the invention.

Claims

1. A child safety barrier comprising a frame and means for applying a load to jam the frame in position between two opposed supports, the frame including a gate surround adapted to receive an openable gate and at least one load absorbing bend which is adapted to absorb the jamming load across the frame when the frame is in position between the supports.

2. A barrier according to Claim 1, wherein the frame is substantially U-shaped, the arms of which include proximal portions, forming the jambs of said gate surround, and distal portions, the means for jamming the frame in position being attached to at least one distal portion.

3. A barrier according to Claim 2, wherein said proximal portions and said distal portions are unjointedly continuous.

4. A barrier according to either Claim 2 or 3, wherein the means for jamming the frame are in form of barrier securing means provided on both sides of the barrier by attachment to the distal portions of both arms of the Ushaped frame.

5. A barrier according to any one of Claims 2 to 4, wherein the bends are such that the distal portions of the arms project laterally but are coplanar with the U-plane.

6. A barrier according to any one of Claims 2 to 4, wherein the bends are such that the distal portions of the arms recurve but are coplanar with the U-plane.

7. A barrier according to any one of Claims 2 to 6, wherein the bends are proximally placed and form arcuate junctions between the jambs and the bottom of the U-shape.

8. A barrier according to any one of Claims 2 to 7 wherein the bottom of the U-shaped frame comprises part of an elongate frame element which extends between the two supports.

9. A barrier according to any one of Claims 2 to 8 wherein the gate is securable to a jamb by gate securing means, the gate securing means tending to urge apart the two arms of the U-shaped frame.

10. A barrier according to any one of Claims 2 to 8, wherein the gate is securable to a jamb by non-pressure exerting gate securing means.

11. A barrier according to Claim 10, wherein the gate overlaps the arms of the Ushaped frame and the hinged attachment is such that, when the gate is securely closed, the arms of the U-shaped frame can move slightly in the plane of the U-plane and relative to the gate without effecting the security of the gate closure or the security of the barrier.

12. A barrier according to any one of the preceding Claims, in which a plurality of vertical rods-are fixed to the barrier.

13. A barrier according to any one of Claims 2 to 12, wherein the barrier securing means is independently adjustable to engage and disengage one of the opposed supports and allow the barrier to be accommodated between opposed supports of varying and nonuniform separation.

14. A barrier according to any one of Claims 2 to 13, wherein the U-shaped frame is constructed from hollow piping of a resilient material.

15. A barrier according to Claim 14, wherein the hollow piping is four-sided with two pairs of opposing faces, one pair being narrower than the other pair, and with the wider pair always being at right angles to the bending plane of the U-shaping of the Ushaped frame.

16. A barrier according to Claim 15, wherein the hollow piping is round-cornered.

17. A barrier according to Claim 15, wherein the hollow piping has angular junctions between faces.

18. A barrier substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.