[0001] The present invention relates to a safety grid of the kind described in the introduction
to Claim 1.
[0002] Such safety grids are by way of example mounted behind the glazing in the display
windows of shops, e.g. goldsmith's, and they are intended to prevent thieves from
getting access to the displayed articles after the pane has been smashed.
[0003] The safety grid is normally rolled up on a cylindrical core in the daytime and rolled
down after closing time. The safety grid is locked in the rolled-down position by
a motor brake, so that it cannot be lifted from the outside. The glazing in front
of it can be connected to an alarm system so that the alarm is set off and the police
or a safety guard is called if the pane is smashed. Therefore the safety grid must
be transparent and at the same time obstruct access to the displayed articles for
as long as possible after the pane has been smashed.
[0004] It is the purpose of the present invention to describe a safety grid which offers
the best possible protection against penetration at the same time as the transparent
area is as large as possible.
[0005] By embodying the safety grid as described in the characterizing part of Claim 1 it
is achieved that the safety grid is completely closed and thus has no openings whatsoever
through which the displayed items can be fished out and through which it is possible
to insert tools in order to attack either the track profiles or the bridge elements.
Consequently, it is possible that the safety grid according to the invention also
makes it possible to use track profiles with a smaller cross-sectional area than those
used in the known safety grids.
[0006] The track profile can therefore be made smaller whereby the distance between the
track profiles and consequently also the transparent area can be made correspondingly
larger. Furthermore, it will not be necessary to reinforce the track profiles.
[0007] By what is described in Claim 2 it is achieved that the whole field of vision between
the two track profiles becomes transparent and that there will be no light-refracting
effects around the joint between two bridge elements.
[0008] Claim 3 describes an embodiment of a safety grid according to the invention.
[0009] By what is described in Claim 4 it is achieved that it is not possible to force a
tool into the joint between two bridge elements.
[0010] The embodiment described in Claim 5 ensures that a bridge element made of a glass-clear
transparent material, such as polycarbonate, can have a long length and at the same
time be impact-proof, which gives a free choice with regard to the length of the individual
bridge ele-ments, and that the safety grid is foldable in one direction, from the
inside and outwards, so that it can be rolled up on a roll, but not in the opposite
direction.
[0011] The invention will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying
drawing in which
fig. 1 shows a front view of a section of a known safety grid,
fig. 2 shows a section after the line I-I in fig. 1.
fig. 3 shows a front view of a section of a safety grid according to an embodiment
of the invention,
fig. 4 shows a front view of a safety grid according to another embodiment of the
invention,
fig. 5 shows a front view of a section of a safety grid according to a third embodiment
of the invention,
fig. 6 shows a large-scale section after the line V-V in fig. 5,
fig. 7 shows an end view of two bridge elements according to the invention mounted
in a track profile.
fig.8 shows a cross-section through a track profile.
[0012] As shown in fig. 1 a known roll-up safety grid consists of a number of mutually parallel
track profiles 1, which at their ends are inserted into and can slide in guide rails
2 so that the grid can be moved in the vertical direction, up or down, by a not shown
cylindrical roll by a tube motor in the top of the safety grid.
[0013] At their top and bottom the track profiles 1 are on their interior side embodied
with cylindrical tracks 3 in the full length of the track profile 1. As shown in fig
7 the tracks 3 have a number of swingably embedded bridge elements 4 which at their
ends are embodied with hinge pins in the shape of beads 5 (gripping rims). The bridge
elements 4 connect the track profiles 1 to form a coherent grid. The bridge elements
4 have a uniform width and are held by cylindrical distance pieces, which are inserted
into the tracks 3 with a definite mutual distance.
[0014] The track profiles 1 are made of aluminium, and the bridge elements 4 may also be
made of aluminium. Between the bridge elements 4 there are openings 6 through which
the exhibited objects behind the safety grid can be viewed.
[0015] According to the invention and as shown in fig. 3 bridge elements 4₁ are inserted
between the bridge elements 4. They are made from a glass-clear transparent material,
preferably of a polycarbonate, which fills out the openings 6 and rest against and
join up to a preceding or following bridge element 4 along the edge 7 along the full
length of the edge. As shown in fig 6 the bridge elements are held in position against
each other by cylindrical lock pins 8. The bridge elements 4 and 4¹ thus combine to
form a closed rim 9 between the track profiles. This rim 9 is at both ends, as shown
in fig. 6, taken a distance into the guide rails 2. The bridge elements 4 and 4¹ preferably
have the same cross-sectional profile and they can be made of the same type of material.
[0016] As shown in fig. 4 the bridge elements 4 have the same length as the bridge elements
4¹.
[0017] As shown in fig. 7 a bridge element 4¹ according to the invention is on the outside
embodied with a convex centre portion 10 and with a concave outer portions 11 which,
where they transform into a bead 5, have a mutual tangent t₁. The inclination of this
tangent v₁ is less than or equal to the inclination v₂ of the tangent t₂ to the circular
cross section in the tracks 3 at the outer edge 12 of the tracks. In the full length
of the cross section between the beads 5, the bridge elements 4¹ preferably have a
uniform thickness t, which is less than the diameter of a bead 5.
A bridge element 4¹ with such a cross-sectional profile and produced from a transparent
polycarbonate can have a great length and at the same time be impact proof. It can,
for instance, as shown in fig. 5 have approximately the same length as a track profile
1.
1. Roll-up safety grid consisting of a number of mutually parallel track profiles (1)
made of a light metal and with their ends inserted into guide rails (2), and of a
number of bridge elements (4), which are of uniform width and are arranged with the
same mutual distance, and which at their ends have hinge pins in the shape of beads
(5) on which they are swingably hinged in longitudinal cylindrically shaped tracks
(3) inwardly open towards the safety grid's interior side. The tracks (3) are positioned
above and below at a track profile's (1) interior side and extend in the whole length
of the track profile (1) characterized by the fact that between the bridge elements (4) there is inserted bridge elements
(4¹), joining up to and resting against the bridge elements (4) - edge (7) against
edge - in the whole length of the edge (7), so that the bridge elements (4, 4¹) in
combination form a closed rim (9) between the track profiles (1), the said rim having
a length so that it continues a distance into the guide rails (2) in both sides, and
that the bridge elements (4¹) are produced from a glass-clear transparent material,
preferably a polycarbonate.
2. Roll-up safety grid according to Claim 1 characterized in that the bridge elements (4) are made of the same material and have the same cross-sectional
profile as the bridge elements (4¹).
3. Roll-up safety grid according to Claim 1 characterized in that all bridge elements (4, 4¹) have the same length.
4. Roll-up safety grid according to Claims 1-3 characterized by the fact that the bridge elements (4) and (4¹) are held in a squeezed position
against each other by two lock pins (8).
5. Roll-up safety grid according to Claim 1 characterized by the fact that a transparent bridge element (4¹) on its outer side against the outside of the safety
grid has a convex centre portion (10) and concave outer portions (11), which at their
transition into the bead (5) has a common tangent (t₁) with the bead (5), that the inclination (v₁) of the tangent (t₁), when the safety grid is in its vertical
position, is smaller than or equal to the inclination (v₂) of the tangent (t₂) to
the circular cross section in the tracks (3) at the outermost edge (12) of the tracks,
and that the bridge elements (4¹) in the full extent of the cross section between the beads
(5) preferably have a uniform thickness (t) which is less than the diameter of a bead
(5).