BE1018361A3 - CLOSING. - Google Patents

Abstract

This invention relates to a closure comprising at least one flexible plastic strip (1), (2), (3) which is connected to two fixation elements (4), (6) spaced apart and which extends substantially horizontally between these fixation elements, wherein said plastic band is a semi-rigid plastic band (1), (2), (3) which is connected via a tensioning ratchet (8) to at least one of said fixing elements (4), (6). Said fixing elements (4), (5), (6) are preferably posts (4), (6) of the barrier. Each plastic band (1), (2), (3) also runs in the path between said fixing elements (4), (6) also through one or more lead-through elements (9) which can be provided with intermediate posts (5).

Description

CLOSING

This invention relates to a closure comprising at least one flexible plastic band which is connected to two fixation elements that are spaced apart and extends substantially horizontally between these fixation elements.

This invention relates in particular to a fence or fence for animals that can be erected quickly and with relatively inexpensive materials and can also be removed quickly again, and is therefore particularly suitable for functioning as a temporary fence or fence.

A known closure of this type consists of a ribbon of a thin and flexible plastic foil that is connected to two or more fixing points. These ribbons are, for example, provided with alternating red and white stripes and are usually used as a visual warning that further passage involves risks or is prohibited, as is the case, for example, with the execution of works. Such a closure has the disadvantage that the ribbon used is very light and not strong, so that it offers very little resistance to forces exerted on it. The ribbon can also not or not sufficiently be tensioned between the fixing points. As a result, the ribbon does not form a stable boundary and is moved back and forth by the wind. With a heavy wind load, the ribbon will tear or come off fairly quickly. Due to this lack of strength and stability, such barriers are not suitable for absorbing impacts, such as are required, for example, for an animal barrier.

A known fence for animals that can be realized quite easily as a temporary fence consists of a number of posts to which a smoothly woven ribbon is attached. An electrically conductive material is incorporated in the ribbon and connected to a power source. The ribbon acts as an electric fence, keeping animals away from the fence. However, a disadvantage is that these ribbons offer little resistance to external loads and are therefore not suitable for absorbing heavy impacts. The flexible ribbons also move under the influence of the wind, which means that the fastenings can come loose in strong winds.

Such enclosures therefore do not offer the required stability and safety to function as a permanent enclosure for animals without additional provisions. These closures are therefore often provided in combination with another more stable closure, such as for example a wooden closure.

An alternative to the electrically conductive ribbons are cords in which an electrically conductive material is incorporated. such a cord suffers less from the wind, but the other disadvantages of the woven ribbons can be found here. Moreover, this cord is unsafe for some animals, such as horses, for example, because the animals do not always notice the cord and may be surprised by it. This can hurt the animals.

Since such closures also do not offer the required stability and safety to function without any doubt as a permanent seal for animals, they are also often combined with another more stable seal, such as, for example, a wooden seal.

Other known barriers that are used for animals, among others, consist of a number of posts to which wooden planks or slats are attached. The construction and removal of such a closure is very labor-intensive. The wooden planks are difficult to transport due to their length. Moreover, the wood of such a fence must be treated to withstand all weather conditions. Woods that do not need to be treated are very expensive. All this means that such closures are not suitable for use as a temporary closure.

Wooden enclosures for animals also have the disadvantage that the animals can be hurt if they bump into the wooden planks. If the wooden planks are strong enough and do not break, the animal will have to cope with the full impact of the thrust, which can result in serious injury. If the wooden planks hereby break, the impact energy is partly absorbed by the barrier, but the animal may be hurt. on sharp protrusions and splinters. Certain animals also have a tendency to gnaw at the wooden planks or to rub against the planks. This can damage the seal and injure the animals. The cost price and safety of this type of closure therefore leaves much to be desired.

The object of the present invention is to provide a barrier that can be erected quickly and with relatively inexpensive materials and that can be removed rather quickly, which moreover is safe and efficient as a barrier for animals, which is also sufficiently stable and offers the necessary resistance to absorb shocks where the risk of injury to the animals is minimal, and which is also maintenance-friendly, and because of all these properties is on the one hand suitable to be provided as a temporary closure, but on the other hand also has sufficient qualities to stand on its own, so act as a stable and secure permanent closure without additional provisions.

The above object is achieved by providing a closure with at least one flexible plastic tape which is connected to two fixation elements remote from one another and extends substantially horizontally between these fixation elements, the plastic tape according to this invention being a semi-rigid plastic tape which is connected via a tensioning ratchet is connected to at least one of said fixing elements.

Such a plastic belt can be transported in a compact rolled-up state and can be placed quite quickly. It is sufficient to connect a suitable length of the plastic belt to two fixing elements via the tensioning ratchet and then to tension the plastic belt by rotating the tensioning roller of the tensioning ratchet. Removing the seal is also simple and can happen fairly quickly. The material that has been loosened again is also reusable to set up a different seal.

The tensioning ratchet used can be a traditional tensioning ratchet that is generally commercially available in combination with a tensioning strap to, for example, immobilize loads on a truck or luggage carrier.

A semi-rigid flexible plastic material is used for the plastic strip. Such a plastic material is less flexible than the known plastic film ribbons or the woven ribbons and is therefore much more stable. Moreover, it can be tightened tightly with the tensioning ratchet, which improves the stability even more. Naturally, a material is chosen which is sufficiently strong and offers sufficient resistance to the expected load depending on the application.

With a wind load, such a plastic belt will hardly move back and forth. The plastic belts used are much cheaper than wooden boards and do not need to be maintained. This closure is therefore also particularly suitable as a temporary closure.

If, after a certain amount of time, the plastic band should be stretched out due to a high load, it can be tensioned very quickly and easily, without the use of tools, by means of the tensioning ratchet.

Because plastic material has a certain stretchability, the plastic tires will be able to absorb the impact energy. Even with breakage, they do not show sharp edges or protrusions. The risk of injury is therefore minimal. The plastic bands can be made sufficiently wide so that they are clearly visible to people and animals. This seal therefore also meets all the requirements of a stable, effective and safe seal that can be used for animals. This closure therefore also has all the necessary qualities to be used as a permanent closure.

A particular field of application of this invention is a temporary or permanent enclosure for animals, but of course numerous other fields of application are also possible, such as, for example, temporary or permanent enclosures for gardens, parks, walkways, parking lots, construction sites or other works in progress, and all sorts of works events where the safety and / or the smooth running of the event requires a temporary or permanent closure. Also in these circumstances, the safety, in particular a sufficient resistance to external load, the stability and the ease of installation and removal, are important advantages that the existing closures cannot offer of a temporary nature.

A very special field of application, for which this invention is very well suited, is the establishment of a border for dressage slopes for horses.

The tensioning ratchet is preferably directly connected to the one fixing element, while the plastic belt is connected on the one hand to the other fixing element and on the other hand to the tensioning roller of the tensioning ratchet. Such a closure has the advantage that the tensioning strap only has to be connected at one end to a fixing element, while the other end is rolled up and fixed by means of the tensioning ratchet.

In a preferred embodiment, the closure comprises a number of piles removed from one another at a distance from one another and said fixing elements are piles of the closure. The closure comprises, for example, a number of wooden posts, a number of which serve as said fixing elements. The tensioning ratchet can then be attached to these posts by means of screws. The tensioning ratchet can be provided with the necessary screw openings for this.

The flexibility of said semi-rigid plastic belt is preferably such that with a horizontally clamped plastic belt with a free length of 0.5 meter, at room temperature, there is a height difference between the clamping height and the free end of the plastic belt that is smaller than Is 0.49 meters, preferably between about 0.40 meters and about 0.45 meters, and most preferably is about 0.43 meters.

Because the plastic belt can be properly brought under tension by means of the tensioning ratchet, it can be connected to fixing elements that are more than usual from each other. A smaller number of fixing elements is therefore required. If the fixing elements are posts, this means that the closure can be realized with a smaller number of posts than is the case with the known closures. Closures with a distance between the fixing elements of more than 3.5 meters, for example 4.0 meters or more, are preferred. A distance of at least about 5.0 meters is the most preferable.

The flexible semi-rigid plastic belt preferably runs in the path between said fixing elements through one or more lead-through elements. This increases the stability of the closure, and is especially desirable if the fixing elements are removed at a relatively large distance from each other. The lead-through elements are, for example, also attached to respective posts of the closure. For example, there can be one or more intermediate posts to which lead-through elements are attached between two posts that serve as fixing elements.

Said passage elements are preferably designed with at least two separate passages for respective plastic bands and / or other closing elements.

The closure can be carried out with a first type of closure elements in the form of one or more flexible semi-rigid plastic bands and with a second type of closure elements in the form of a cord, tape or ribbon that comprises an electrically conductive material. The closure can then be provided with transit elements with at least one passage for a closure element of the first type and at least one passage separated therefrom for a closure element of the second type. For animal enclosures, in particular for enclosures for dressage slopes, the combination of a semi-rigid plastic band and an electrical cord or ribbon is highly preferred.

The closure can be carried out with a single plastic band which is tensioned between the fixing elements in a substantially vertical position, but in a preferred embodiment can also comprise two or more plastic bands which extend above each other with their largest surfaces in substantially vertical position.

The plastic tape is preferably made from a polymer, such as, for example, polyethylene. The plastic tape can be made with a width between 20 mm and 150 mm, preferably between 30 mm and 100 mm, and most preferably between approximately 45 mm and approximately 65 mm. A widely used width is approximately 48 mm.

The thickness of the plastic tape is, for example, at least 0.8 mm, preferably at least 1.0 mm, and most preferably about 1.2 mm. The density of the plastic material is, for example, at least 0.75 g / cm 3, preferably about 0.934 g / cm 3.

The elastic stretchability of the plastic band is preferably at least 2%. The elasticity is important for absorbing shock energy, and therefore for the safety of the seal for animals.

In the following, an embodiment of a closure according to the present invention is described in more detail. This description serves only to further clarify the invention and its advantages. We emphasize that this is only a possible embodiment of the invention, and that nothing in this description can therefore be used as a basis for a restrictive interpretation of the scope of the protection.

Reference is made in this description to the attached drawings, of which

Figure 1 schematically represents a closure for animals according to the invention,

Figure 2 represents a lead-through element in side view, and

Figure 3 represents a tensioning ratchet in perspective.

An animal closure according to the present invention (see Figure 1) comprises, for example, a number of wooden posts (4), (5), (6) which are placed side by side in the ground at an even distance between them. Three plastic bands (1), (2), (3) of polyethylene in vertical position (with their largest surfaces in a substantially vertical plane) are connected above each other with the right post (6). To this end, the plastic bands are bent around the post (6) around the circumference of the post (6), and attached to this post (6) along one or more nails or screws (not indicated in the figure) along the rear of the post (6). The plastic tires are supplied on rolls of 100 meters.

The plastic straps are tires with a wood grain structure that can also be used as a decorative element for garden closures. In this application, the plastic bands are, for example, vertically attached to a fencing panel.

The plastic tires used have the following dimensions: width 48 mm; thickness 1.2 mm. The flexibility of the plastic belts is such that with a horizontally clamped plastic band with a free length of 0.5 meter, at room temperature, there is a height difference between the clamping height and the free end of the plastic band that is equal to approximately 0.43 meters .

At the same height one above the other, three tensioning ratchets (8) are attached to the left post (4). These tensioning ratchets (8) are shown in detail in Figure 3. They comprise a clamping roller (7A) and a handle (7B) that is rotatable to and fro around an axis that coincides with the axis of the clamping roller (7A). The handle (7B) is provided for carrying the clamping roller (7A) in one direction (with an upward movement of the handle) and not in the other direction. After each rotation of the handle (7B) in the one direction of rotation, a blocking means (7D) engaging a gear wheel (7C) (the ratchet system) prevents the clamping roller (7A) from rolling back. Thus, the plastic belt (1), (2), (3) can be systematically rolled up on the tensioning roller (7A) by repeated reciprocating rotations of the handle (7B).

The free ends of the plastic bands (1), (2), (3) are connected to the tensioning rollers (7A) of the respective tensioning ratchets (8) and are rolled up as described above by means of these tensioning ratchets (8) until the plastic bands ( 1), (2), (3) stretch tightly between the posts (4) and (6).

In figure 1 there is one intermediate post (5) between the left post (4) and the right post (6). It goes without saying that, depending on the circumstances, more than one intermediate post (5) can also be provided here. A feed-through element (9) is attached to each intermediate post (5) at the level of each plastic strip (1), (2), (3).

This lead-through element (9) comprises (see Figure 2) an upper passage (11) for a plastic strip (1), (2), (3) and a smaller lower passage (12) for a cord (10) in which an electrically conductive material has been processed. These passages (11), (12) are separated from each other by the intermediate plastic ribs (14A), (14B).

This lead-through element (9) is made of plastic and consists of two parts (9A), (9B), one part (9A) comprising openings (not indicated in the figures) and the other part (9B) complementary protrusions (13) so that the parts (9A), (9B) can be connected to each other by sliding the protrusions (13) into the corresponding openings and can easily be taken apart again. Each of the parts (9A), (9B) comprises a respective rib (14A), (14B) so that they face each other when the parts (9A), (9B) are joined together.

When the parts (9A), (9B) are disassembled, the passages (11), (12) are open from the front (in figure 1), so that the plastic bands (1), (2), (3) and the cord (10) in their respective passages (11), (12) can be placed by joining said parts (9A), (9B) together while these plastic bands (1), (2), (3) and the cord (10) are located between these parts (9A), (9B), above and below the plastic ribs (14A), (14B), respectively. Thus, the bands (1), (2), (3) and the cord (10) can still be introduced into their passages (11), (12) after their attachment to the posts (4), (6).

For example, one part (9A) of each lead-through element (9) can be attached to the intermediate posts (5) at the correct heights, then the bands (1), (2), (3) and the cord (10) as explained above. connect via the tensioning ratchets (8) to the posts (4), (6) and clamp them with these tensioning ratchets (8), and finally complete each feed-through element (9) by the respective other part (9B) with the already on the intermediate posts (5) ) to connect the attached part (9A).

In Figure 1, such a cord (10) is provided only below the upper plastic band (1).

The plastic bands (1), (2), (3) can be provided with a relief, a drawing or a motif or a specific surface structure, such as for example a wood grain structure, depending on the area of application.

The plastic tires used were subjected to a number of tests:

At room temperature, a tensile test was carried out on samples of a polyethylene plastic belt of the above dimensions at room temperature. The test was conducted at a draw speed of 50 mm / min. The distance between the terminals was 115 mm. The measurement results are as follows:

In another test, 5 samples of this plastic band were tested at 50 ° C. The test was also carried out at a draw speed of 50 mm / min. The distance between the clamps was also 115 mm. The elongation was measured to an extension of 50%. The E-modulus was measured between 1.0% elongation and 1.5% elongation at a draw speed of 1 mm / min. The measurement results are as follows:

The plastic tires have good UV resistance and a tested temperature resistance between -50 ° C and + 100 ° C. The softening temperature is 117 ° C. The fragility temperature is - 70 ° C. The stretchability for breakage is 650%.

Claims (13)

Closure comprising at least one flexible plastic band (1), (2), (3) which is connected to two fixation elements (4), (6) spaced apart and which extends substantially horizontally between these fixing elements, characterized in that said plastic band is a semi-rigid plastic band (1), (2), (3) which is connected via a tensioning ratchet (8) to at least one of said fixing elements (4), (6). Closure according to claim 1, characterized in that the tensioning ratchet (8) is directly connected to the one fixing element (4) while the plastic band (1), (2), (3) is connected on the one hand to the tensioning roller (7A) of the clamping ratchet (8) and on the other hand is connected to the other fixing element (6). Closure as claimed in claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the closure comprises a number of piles (4), (5), (6) that are spaced apart from each other and that said fixing elements or piles (4), (6) respectively of the closure. Closure according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the flexibility of said plastic tape (1), (2), (3) is such that with a horizontally clamped plastic tape with a free length of 0.5 meter, at room temperature, there is a height difference of less than 0.48 meters between the clamping height and the free end of the plastic tape, which is preferably between approximately 0.40 meters and approximately 0.45 meters, and most preferably is approximately 0.43 meters. Closure according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the plastic band (1), (2), (3) is connected to fixing elements (4), (6) which are spaced (L) by more than 3.5 meters, preferably at least 4.0 meters, most preferably about 5.0 meters or more. Closure according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that each plastic band (1), (2), (3) runs through one or more lead-through elements (9) in the path between said fixing elements (4), (6). Closure according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the said feed elements (9) comprise at least two separate passages (11), (12). Closure according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that it comprises one or more additional closure elements, such as, for example, a cord (10), tape or ribbon that comprises an electrically conductive material. Closure as claimed in any of the foregoing claims, characterized in that the closure comprises at least two plastic bands (1), (2), (3) which are connected one above the other to two fixing elements (4), (6), each plastic band is connected via a respective tensioning ratchet (8) to at least one of these fixing elements (4), (6). Closure according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that said plastic strip (1), (2), (3) is made of a polymer, such as, for example, polyethylene. Closure as claimed in any of the foregoing claims, characterized in that said plastic strip (1), (2), (3) has a width that lies between 20 mm and 100 mm, preferably between 30 mm and 70 mm, and most preferably is between about 45 mm and about 55 mm. Closure according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the thickness of the plastic strip (1), (2), (3) is at least 0.8 mm, preferably at least 1.0 mm, and most preferably about 1 Is 2 mm. Closure according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the elastic stretchability of the plastic tape (1), (2), (3) is at least 2%.