Retractable barrier

Abstract

A retractable barrier (10) includes an elongate housing (12) having a first end (14), a second end (16), and a slotted opening (18) extending between the first end (14) and the second end (16). A substrate support (20) is rotatably mounted within the housing (12). A barrier substrate (22) is provided of a height substantially equal to a length of the slotted opening (18). The barrier substrate (22) has an attachment end (26) and a free end (24). The barrier substrate (22) is rolled onto the substrate support (20) with the attachment end (26) being attached to the substrate support (20) and the free end (24) extending through the slotted opening (18) of the housing (12) to permit a selected quantity of the barrier substrate (22) to be extended from the housing (12). The barrier substrate (22) is configurable into non-linear configurations by the selectively attaching poles (28) where a change of direction occurs. A crank (32) is provided for rotating the substrate support (20), thereby retracting the barrier substrate (22) back into the housing (12).

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a retractable barrier

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

United States patents U.S. Pat. No. 5,660,144 (Venti 1997) and U.S. Pat. No. 5,690,317 (Sandsburg 1997) disclose retractable barriers. The Venti reference was developed as a pet barrier, to keep a pet out of selected areas of ones home. The Sandsburg reference was developed as a child safety barrier, to keep a child away from stairs and other hazardous areas of ones home. Both the Venti and Sandsburg references are only capable of being deployed in a short span linear application, such as across a doorway.

U.S. Pat. No. 5,029,819 (Kane 1991) discloses a system for handling and supporting flexible material used in the erection of barricades. The Kane reference uses pole receiving tubes and stiffing straps. With the addition of spring clips, the stiffening straps can a dual purpose of also supporting poles. U.S. Pat. No. 6,092,792 (Camara 2000) discloses a portable barrier. The Camara reference uses a pinch and sew procedure to form sleeves for supporting poles.

The international search report under the patent cooperation treaty identified as prior art U.S. Pat. No. 5,029,819 (Kane 1991), which discloses flexible fencing dispensed from a roll.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

What is required is a retractable barrier which is capable of being deployed in non-linear applications.

According to the present invention there is provided a retractable barrier which includes an elongate housing having a first end, a second end, and a slotted opening extending between the first end and the second end. A substrate support is rotatably mounted within the housing. A barrier substrate is provided of a height substantially equal to a length of the slotted opening. The barrier substrate has an attachment end and a free end. The barrier substrate is rolled onto the substrate support with the attachment end being attached to the substrate support and the free end extending through the slotted opening of the housing to permit a selected quantity of the barrier substrate to be extended from the housing. Several poles are provided along with means to attach the poles at spaced intervals along the barrier substrate in a supporting position. The barrier substrate is configurable into non-linear configurations by the selectively attaching the poles where a change of direction occurs. Means is provided for rotating the substrate support, thereby retracting the barrier substrate back into the housing.

The retractable barrier, as described above, can be configured to suit virtually any shape, merely by a selective positioning of the poles.

Although there are various ways of attaching the poles in a supporting position to the barrier substrate, such as by means of clamps and other hardware. It is preferred that the barrier substrate be provided with a plurality of openings (preferably slots) arranged in parallel rows and columns. The poles are attached to the barrier substrate by weaving each of the poles through the openings of one of the columns. The use of columns is less expensive and there is no danger of the loss of necessary attachment hardware.

It is envisaged that the retractable barrier will always be used with poles. Even more beneficial results may, therefore, be obtained when the housing has a plurality of receptacles adapted for storing the poles. One way of configuring the receptacles is to have a first flange positioned at the first end and a second flange positioned at the second end of the housing, with the receptacles being positioned in the first flange and the second flange.

Although other means may be used to rotate the substrate support, such as a biasing spring, it is preferred that the means for rotating the substrate support be a crank. A crank is viewed as being more durable and reliable in this application.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

These and other features of the invention will become more apparent from the following description in which reference is made to the appended drawings, the drawings are for the purpose of illustration only and are not intended to in any way limit the scope of the invention to the particular embodiment or embodiments shown, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a side elevation view of a retractable barrier constructed in accordance with the teachings of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a detailed front elevation view of a housing for the retractable barrier illustrated in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a detailed front elevation view of a substrate support for the retractable barrier illustrated in FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of a housing for the retractable barrier illustrated in FIG. 1, having receptacles for pole storage.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the retractable barrier illustrated in FIG. 1, showing use as a police barricade.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the retractable barrier illustrated in FIG. 1, showing use as a fire department barricade.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of the retractable barrier illustrated in FIG. 1, showing use as a maintenance barricade.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of a updated embodiment of the retractable barrier.

FIG. 9 is an exploded perspective view of the retractable barrier illustrated in FIG. 8.

FIG. 10 is an exploded view of a pole.

FIG. 11a-g are perspective views of a step by step installation sequence for the retractable barrier illustrated in FIG. 8.

FIG. 12 is a detailed perspective view of a clip used to tension the retractable barrier illustrated in FIG. 8.

FIG. 13 is a perspective view of a joining clip.

FIG. 14 is a perspective view of the joining clip joining two substrates.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

The preferred embodiment, a retractable barrier generally identified by reference numeral 10, will now be described with reference to FIGS. 1 through 7.

Structure and Relationship of Parts:

Referring to FIG. 1, retractable barrier 10 has an elongate housing 12. Referring to FIG. 2, elongate housing 12 has a first end 14, a second end 16 and a slotted opening 18 extending between first end 14 and second end 16. Referring to FIG. 3, substrate support 20 is rotatably mounted within housing 12. Referring to FIG. 4, a barrier substrate 22 is provided which has a height that is substantially equal to slotted opening 18 and has a free end 24 that extends through slotted opening 18. Referring to FIG. 3, barrier substrate 22 has an attachment end 26 that is attached and rolled onto to substrate support 20. Substrate support 20 with barrier substrate 22 is housed within elongate housing 12 such that a selected quantity of barrier substrate 22 may extend from elongate housing 12 as shown in FIG. 4. Referring to FIG. 1, retractable barrier 10 includes poles 28. In the illustrated embodiment, three poles 28 are shown. It will be appreciated that other combinations of poles 28 and elongate bodies 12 may be used as illustrated in FIGS. 5 through 7. Referring to FIG. 1, barrier substrate 22 is adapted with a plurality of openings 30 arranged in parallel horizontal rows and vertical columns. Each pole 28 is oriented within select openings 30 at a select position along barrier substrate 22. This is done by weaving each of poles 28 through openings 30 of one of the columns. Referring to FIG. 3, a crank 32 is secured to substrate support 20. Referring to FIG. 4, actuation of crank 32 rotates substrate support 20 and, in turn, retracts barrier substrate 22 within elongate housing 12. Referring further to FIG. 4, elongate housing 12 is also adapted with a first flange 34 at first end 14 and a second flange 36 at second end 16. First flange 34 and second flange 36 have several receptacles 38 adapted to receive a pole 28 that is oriented in a stored position between a selected receptacle 38 at first flange 34 and a corresponding receptacle 38 at second flange 36.

Operation:

The use and operation of retractable barrier 10 will now be described with reference to FIGS. 1 through 7. Referring to FIG. 1, where a user desires to define or restrict access and egress, elongate housing 12 of retractable barrier 10 is positioned at one point along a chosen perimeter 40. Referring to FIGS. 5 through 7, upon determining the configuration and needs of a site 42, a user selects the number of poles 28 that at are required. Referring to FIG. 4, each pole 28 that is required is removed from first flange 34 and second flange 36. Free end 24 of barrier substrate 22 is extended from elongate body 12 through slotted opening 18 until the required length of barrier substrate 22 is extended off of substrate support 20. Referring to FIG. 1, each pole 28 is woven within any given vertical column of openings 30 at a select point in perimeter 40 such that barrier substrate 22 is fully supported at that point and defines the desired configuration of site 42 as shown in FIGS. 5 through 7. Three possible sites: a police investigation site, a fire site and a work site are illustrated respectively. It will be appreciated that other sites may be defined or configured. Poles 28 and housing 12 may rest upon bases which make them stable and self supporting or may have a lower ground anchor which penetrates the ground and anchors them.

Structure and Relationship of Parts of Most Recent Version:

There will now be described the most recent version of retractable barrier 10 with reference to FIGS. 8 through 14. Referring to FIG. 9, substrate support 20 has a an end cap 45 known as a “castle cap” with a plurality of receptacles 46 spaced about a 360 degree circumference. A crank handle 48 is provided on a crank mounting cap 44 that is non-rotatably secured to and rotates with rotatable substrate support 20. Crank handle 48 is attached to crank mounting cap 44 by a dowel 49. Crank handle 48 has an operative position and a locking position. In the locking position, as shown in FIG. 8, a cam 50 carried by crank handle 48 engages one of the receptacles 46 on end cap 45 to non-rotatably fix substrate support 20 to housing 12. A knob 51 on the opposite end of handle 48 from cam 50 is included to make cranking easier, and is tucked away in end cap 45 when handle 48 is in the locking position. Referring to FIG. 9, housing 12 has a bottom cap 52 with a threaded male member 54 adapted to screw into a threaded female member of a weighted base 58 (seen in FIG. 8). Housing 12 is adapted to receive a shaft 73. Shaft 73 is attached to crank handle 48 on the top, such that turning crank handle 48 rotates shaft 73. Shaft 73 is adapted to have substrate 22 wound about it. Substrate guides 75 are included on the top and bottom for guiding substrate 22 as it is pulled out or wound back up on shaft 73. The various components are held together using fasteners, such as screws 59. Referring now to FIG. 11b, substrate 22 has openings 30 in the form of vertical pockets as shown positioned at regular spaced intervals which are adapted to accommodate poles 28. Referring to FIG. 10, each pole 28 has a receptacle 62 adapted to receive a lighting or signage support (not shown). Receptacle 62 may be covered by end cap 61 when not in use. Pole 28 is attached to a base 63 by a male member 65 inserted into pole 28 and adapted to screw into base 63. Referring to FIG. 11e, once poles are installed and erected, tensioning clips 64 are securable to each pole 28 to tension barrier substrate 22. Referring to FIG. 12, each tensioning clip, 64 includes a body 66 that has a top 68 and a bottom 70. There is an open ended receptacle 71 at top 68 of body 66 for receiving pole 28, and a resilient clip 72 at the bottom for clipping onto pole 28 over substrate 22. Tensioning clip 64 is installed by inserting the top of pole 28 into receptacle 68, and pushing clip 72 onto pole 68, such that substrate 22 is pulled tight between poles 28 as the sides of clip 64 hold substrate 22 against pole 28.

Operation of Most Recent Version:

Referring now to FIGS. 11a-g, the preferred method of erecting a barrier will be discussed. Referring to FIG. 11a, housing 12 is provided sitting on a self supporting base 58 with retractable barrier substrate 22 housed within housing 12, where retractable barrier substrate 22 has pole receiving openings 30 at selected intervals along substrate 22. A selected length of barrier substrate 22 is pulled from housing 12. Referring to FIG. 8, the length of barrier substrate 22 is locked when cam 50 of handle 48 is received in one of receptacles 46 of end cap 45 of housing 12. Referring to FIG. 11b, barrier substrate 22 is then laid on a ground surface. Referring to FIG. 11c poles 28, that have self supporting weighted bases 58, are inserted into selected pole receiving pockets 30 with poles 28 being left in a substantially horizontal position. Pockets may be formed in many different ways, for example, by stitching, welding, etc. Referring to FIG. 11d, the pole 28 positioned farthest from housing 12 is stood up, and the movement of standing up pole 28 creates a movement to a vertical position of barrier substrate 22 resulting in all of the other poles 28 to standing in a vertical orientation. Referring to FIG. 11e, tensioning clips 64 are installed on each pole 28 to remove any slack from barrier substrate 22 between poles 28. Referring to FIG. 9, barrier substrate 22 is secure by less than four fasteners 77 to shaft 73. Washers 79 may also be used to provide a better hold on substrate 22. Other ways of securing substrate 22 will be apparent, for example, by providing a slit in shaft 73 and folding substrate 22 around a resilient piece of material that is then securely fit into the slit. Referring to FIG. 13, in order to form a barrier that is longer than is possible with a single retractable barrier 10, it may be desired to secure substrates 22 from two different housings 12 together. This may be done by a joining clip 76. Joining clip 76 comprises a body 78 with apertures 80 at each end that are adapted to fit over the end of each pole 28 supporting substrates 22, as shown in FIG. 14. It will be appreciated that joining clip 76 may join retractable barriers 10 is various ways pole 28 to pole 28, housing 12 to housing 12, housing 12 to pole 28.

In this patent document, the word “comprising” is used in its non-limiting sense to mean that items following the word are included, but items not specifically mentioned are not excluded. A reference to an element by the indefinite article “a” does not exclude the possibility that more than one of the element is present, unless the context clearly requires that there be one and only one of the elements.

It will be apparent to one skilled in the art that modifications may be made to the illustrated embodiment without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as hereinafter defined in the Claims.

Claims

1. A retractable barrier (10), comprising:

an elongate housing (12) having a first end (14), a second end (16), and a slotted opening (18) extending between the first end (14) and the second end (16);

a substrate support (20) rotatably mounted within the housing (12);

a barrier substrate (22) of a height substantially equal to a length of the slotted opening (18), the barrier substrate (22) having an attachment end (26) and a free end (24), the barrier substrate (22) being rolled onto the substrate support (20) with the attachment end (26) being attached to the substrate support (20) and the free end (24) extending through the slotted opening (18) of the housing (12);

several poles (28) being provided along with means to attach the poles at spaced intervals along the barrier substrate (22) in a supporting position, the barrier substrate (22) being configurable into non-linear configurations by the selectively attaching the poles (28) where a change of direction occurs, the means to attach the poles (28) to the barrier substrate (22) consisting of a plurality of pole receiving openings (30) through the barrier substrate (22); and

means being provided for rotating the substrate support, thereby retracting the barrier substrate (22) back into the housing (12).

2. The retractable barrier as defined in claim 1, wherein means are provided to lock the substrate support in a selected rotational position with a selected quantity of barrier substrate (22) extended from the housing (12) and the housing (12) forming part of the barrier.

3. The retractable barrier as defined in claim 1, wherein the housing (12) has a plurality of receptacles (38) adapted for storing the poles (28).

4. The retractable barrier as defined in claim 3, wherein a first flange (34) is positioned at the first end (14) and a second flange (36) is positioned at the second end (16) of the housing (12), the receptacles (38) being positioned in the first flange (34) and the second flange (36).

5. The retractable barrier as defined in claim 1, wherein the means for rotating the substrate support (20) being a crank (32).

6. The retractable barrier as defined in claim 1, wherein the barrier substrate (22) displays a message.

7. The retractable barrier as defined in claim 2, wherein an end cap is fixed at the first end of the housing, the end cap having a plurality of receptacles spaced about a 360 degree circumference, a crank handle being provided on a crank mounting on the rotatable substrate support, the crank handle having an operative position and a locking position, in the locking position, a cam carried by the crank handle engages one of the receptacles on the end cap to non-rotatably fix the substrate support to the housing.

8. The retractable barrier as defined in claim 1, wherein the substrate has vertical pockets positioned at regular spaced intervals which are adapted to accommodate poles.

9. The retractable barrier as defined in claim 1, wherein each pole has a receptacle adapted to receive one of a lighting or signage support.

10. The retractable barrier as defined in claim 1, wherein the housing has a bottom cap with a threaded male member adapted to screw into a threaded female member of a weighted base.

11. The retractable barrier as defined in claim 1, wherein tensioning clips are securable to each pole to tension the barrier substrate.

12. The retractable barrier as defined in claim 11, wherein each tensioning clip is comprised of:

a body;

an open ended receptacle at the top of the body adapted to receive the top of a pole; and

a resilient clip adapted to receive the pole covered by the substrate.

13. The retractable barrier as defined in claim 1, wherein two barrier substrates are joined by a joining clip.

14. The retractable barrier as defined in claim 13, wherein the joining clip comprises a body having an aperture at each end, where each aperture is adapted to join one of pole to pole, housing to housing or housing to pole.

15. A method of erecting a barrier, comprising the steps of:

providing a housing sitting on a self supporting base with a retractable barrier substrate housed within the housing, the retractable barrier substrate having pole receiving openings at selected intervals along the substrate;

pulling a selected length of barrier substrate from the housing, locking the barrier substrate to the housing and laying the barrier substrate on a ground surface;

inserting poles having self supporting weighted bases in selected ones of the pole receiving pockets with the poles being left in a substantially horizontal position;

standing up a pole positioned farthest from the housing, the movement of standing up the pole creating a movement to a vertical position of the barrier substrate resulting in all of the poles standing in a vertical orientation.

16. The retractable barrier as defined in claim 1, wherein the barrier substrate is secure by less than four fasteners to a shaft.