GB2232431A

GB2232431A - Road vehicle arrestor

Info

Publication number: GB2232431A
Application number: GB8909618A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Stephen Jon Brewer
Original assignee: A H C
Current assignee: A H C
Priority date: 1989-04-27
Filing date: 1989-04-27
Publication date: 1990-12-12
Also published as: GB8909618D0

Abstract

A road vehicle arrestor in the form of an expanse of sheet material (1) made from sailcoth or the like which has a leading edge (2) and a trailing edge (3). A plurality of apertures (4) are provided along and adjacent the loading edge (2) and a series of loops (5A, 5B, 5C, 5D, 5E) of filamentary material are joined at each end at (6) intermediate the leading and trailing edges of the sheet material and are looped through selected ones of the apertures. In use, the sheet is rolled out across a carriageway with the leading edge (2) and an area behind it folded back over the top of the rest of the sheet and, on approach of a vehicle to be arrested, the leading edge is raised, whereupon the vehicle running onto the sheet will be ensnared by the raised area of the sheet, which will be dragged along the road surface, the stopping distance of the vehicle being determined by the scuff resistance between the sheet material and road surface. <IMAGE>

Description

ROAD VEHICLE ARRESTOR This invention relates to a road vehicle arrestor.

It is frequently desirable, both in civil and military fields, to stop travelling vehicles which have been stolen and/or which contain suspects, for example. It is known that high-speed car chases, particularly in urban areas, present risks to other road users.

Various prior attempts to arrest such vehicles have not been successful because they either have not stopped the vehicle in question or the vehicle has crashed out of control.

According to the present invention, there is provided a road vehicle arrestor, comprising an expanse of sheet material having a leading edge and a trailing edge, means to raise the leading edge from a condition where the sheet material has been laid out flat on a road surface to a height sufficient to interfere with the passage of a road vehicle running onto the sheet material, crossing first its trailing edge, and at least one loop of filamentary material, the loop being joined at each end to the sheet material at locations intermediate the leading and trailing edges and passing freely through at least one aperture located adjacent said leading edge.

Preferably, the loop passes freely through at least two spaced-apart apertures located adjacent said leading edge.

Preferably, too, there are a series of said loops, one loop passing through a said aperture which is common with another of the loops.

The or each loop may pass through three of said spaced-apart apertures.

The or each said aperture can be formed by a ring joined to the sheet material.

The sheet material may comprise a heavy-duty material such as sailcloth. At least part of the sheet material may comprise netting.

The filamentary material may be formed by cord, braid, rope or wire.

The sheet material should be large enough in area to allow all of the wheels of a road vehicle to run onto that part of the sheet material which is not raised by said means when the sheet material is laid out flat on the road surface.

The means to raise the leading edge of the sheet material can comprise separate lengths of cord, each length of cord being attached to either side of the sheet material at its leading edge. Each length of cord can be attached to an upright which can be raised and lowered by manual or automatic means.

In use, the sheet material is laid out on a road surface such that the leading edge and an area behind it is folded back over and towards the trailing edge of the sheet material by a distance which is equal to or less than the height to which the leading edge can be raised by said means.

The trailing edge of the sheet material can have a type of carpet strip fixed to it such as an aluminium alloy strip. When laid out on a road surface, high tensile nails can be driven through the strip into the road surface. This is intended to prevent the trailing edge of the sheet material from being lifted by wind but is intended to have minimal securing effect as regards the actual vehicle arrest. In other words, the securing strip is torn free of the road surface as a vehicle is being arrested.

For a better understanding of the invention and to show how the same may be carried into effect, reference will now be made, by way of example, to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a diagrammatic perspective view of a road vehicle arrestor in a condition in which it can take prior to the approach of a vehicle to be arrested, Figure 2 is a view similar to Figure 1 illustrating the condition of the vehicle arrestor upon imminent approach of a vehicle to be arrested, Figure 3 is a diagrammatic elevational view of the arrestor shown in Figure 2 as viewed from the trailing edge towards the leading edge of the sheet material, Figure 3A is a view similar to Figure 3 showing an alternative way of lacing the loops illustrated in Figure 3, and Figure 4 is a. diagrammatic perspective view of the vehicle arrestor after it has performed its task.

The drawings show a form of road vehicle arrestor which comprises an expanse of sheet material 1 which can be made from heavy duty sailcloth or material known and sold under the trade mark "Kevlar". The sheet material 1 has, as viewed in the drawings, a leading edge 2 and a trailing edge 3, this being ascertained by the intended direction of approach of a vehicle to be arrested, as shown by the arrows in Figures 1 and 2.

Not all of the sheet material need comprise sailcloth or the like but some of it can be formed as netting. Indeed, it could be formed as separate panels of sheet material joined together by Dutch lacing or the like.

A plurality of apertures 4 are provided along and adjacent the leading edge 2 of the sheet material. These apertures could be formed integrally in the sheet material or, as best shown in Figure 3, can be formed by rings joined at 4A to the sheet material. A series of loops 5A, 5B, 5C, 5D, 5E of filamentary material are joined at each end to the sheet material 1 at locations 6 intermediate the leading and trailing edges of the sheet material. The filamentary material can be formed by webbing or braid and, in the embodiment illustrated in Figure 3, each loop 5A - 5E is joined at one end 6 to the sheet material remote from its leading edge 2, is led freely through four adjacent rings 4 and back to another location 6 where its other end is secured to the sheet material.

All of the locations 6 are aligned with one another across the sheet material. In other words, if the sheet material is viewed as illustrated in Figure 3, each loop rises up from its securing point to the ring 4 above it, then passes through three adjacent rings 4 and drops back to its other securing point at location 6 on the sheet material. The rings 4 can be spaced at one metre intervals.

In the form of the lacing of the loops shown in Figure 3A, each loop 5A - 5E as viewed in that Figure rises from a location 6, not vertically to the first aperture 4 above it but obliquely to the next adjacent second aperture 4, then along to the next adjacent third aperture 4 and then obliquely downwardly to a location 6 which is vertically below the next adjacent fourth aperture 4. Thus, each loop 5A - 5E is secured by its ends to every third location 6 and passes through the two apertures 4 which lie above the two intermediate locations 6 to which that particular loop is not secured. The outermost loops 4 in this case serve only to accommodate the lifting cord as to be described hereinafter.

The securing strip as previously mentioned can be fixed to the trailing edge 3 for nailing to the road to prevent that edge from being lifted by the wind.

In order to raise the sheet material 1 from the condition shown in Figure 1 to the condition shown in Figure 2, two lengths of cord or lines 7 are provided, each length being joined at one end of a respective outermost ring 4, each length 7 of cord being linked to a support pole 8 which itself is temporarily anchored to the ground. The cord 7 can be pulled taut manually to raise the sheet material to the condition shown in Figure 2 or an automatic means such as a gas piston-operated device can be provided to perform the raising movement. The support poles 8 or equivalent supporting devices can themselves be raised and lowered so as to minimise detection of the arrestor by the occupant(s) of a vehicle to be arrested until the last possible moment.

In more detail, the automatic means for raising the leading area of the sheet can comprise two resilient arms, one on either side of the sheet, which are rapidly lifted by gas springs, having been released by moveable pins and this pulls the lines 7 taut. The tops of the arms have means releasably to secure the ends of the lines 7 to them, which in this embodiment have rings.

The top of each arm has a spring-loaded finger which holds the ring at the end of the line on the arm.

Operation of the arrestor will be apparent from Figures 1, 2 and 4 of the drawings.

Initially, the arrestor can be transported to the site of the intended arrest in a rolled-up condition and can then be swiftly flicked out across the carriageway with the leading edge 2 and an area behind it folded back over the top of the rest of the sheet towards the trailing edge 3. Between about a quarter and a third of the length of the sheet can be folded back in this way. The means for raising the leading edge 2 of the sheet is aligned with the leading edge as can be seen in Figure 1.

Upon approach of the vehicle to be arrested, the sheet is raised to the condition shown in Figure 2 and the vehicle, the driver not having had sufficient time to extract the vehicle from the situation, will run onto the sheet and the leading end of the vehicle will be ensnared by the raised area of the sheet, which will be dragged along the road surface, pulling with it the support posts 8 or the like, which become untethered (Figure 4).

With the automatic method of raising the support posts or arms, upon the vehicle hitting the leading area of the sheet, the arms tend to bow with the extra tension in the lines 7 and then the tension in the spring-loaded fingers is overcome to release the rings and therefore the lines from the support arms.

The stopping distance of the vehicle is determined by the scuff resistance between the sheet material 1 and the road surface, as provided by the vehicle on the sheet.

With the impact of the vehicle into the sheet, the loops 5 are drawn one way or another through the rings 4 and the sheet material 1 is gathered around the leading edge of the vehicle thereby to encapsulate it.

It has been determined that, no matter what angle of approach the vehicle makes to the arrestor (provided of course it rides over its trailing edge) the arrangement of loops will cause the vehicle to be encapsulated which therefore has to come to a halt because the wheels are no longer on the road surface. The direction of travel remains substantially the same as previously so that the risk of the vehicle swerving and/or crashing out of control is minimised.

Claims

CLAIMS:

1. A road vehicle arrestor comprising an expanse of sheet material having a leading edge and a trailing edge, means to raise the leading edge from a condition where the sheet material has been laid out flat on a road surface to a height sufficient to interfere with the passage of a road vehicle running onto the sheet material, crossing first its trailing edge, and at least one loop of filamentary material, the loop being joined at each end to the sheet material at locations intermediate the leading and trailing edges and passing freely through at least one aperture located adjacent said leading edge.

2. A road vehicle arrestor according to claim 1, wherein said loop passes freely through at least two spaced-apart apertures located adjacent said leading edge.

3. A road vehicle arrestor according to claim 1 or 2, wherein there are a series of said loops, one loop passing through a said aperture which is common with another of the loops.

4. A road vehicle arrestor according to claim 2 or 3, wherein the or each loop passes through three of said spaced-apart apertures.

5. A road vehicle arrestor according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the or each said aperture is formed by a ring joined to the sheet material.

6. A road vehicle arrestor according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the sheet material includes a heavy-duty material such as sailcloth.

7. A road vehicle arrestor according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein at least part of the sheet material comprises netting.

8. A road vehicle arrestor according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein said filamentary material is cord, braid, rope or wire.

9. A road vehicle arrestor according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein said sheet material is large enough in area to allow all of the wheels or a road vehicle to run onto that part of the sheet material which is not raised by said means when the sheet material is laid out flat on the road surface.

10. A road vehicle arrestor according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein said means to raise the leading edge of the sheet material comprises separate lengths of cord, each length of cord being attached to either side of the sheet material at its leading edge.

11. A road vehicle arrestor according to claim 10, wherein each length of cord is attached to an upright which can be raised and lowered by manual or automatic means.

12. A road vehicle arrestor according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein, in use, the sheet material is laid out on a road surface such that the leading edge and an area behind it is folded back over and towards the trailing edge of the sheet material by a distance which is equal to or less than the height to which the leading edge can be raised by said means.

13. A road vehicle arrestor according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the trailing edge of the sheet material has a securing strip fixed to it to enable the trailing edge to be held to the road surface to prevent the sheet material from being lifted by wind.

14. A road vehicle arrestor, substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.