Patent Application
20190345765
This application claims priority to French Patent Application No. 16 70568, filed Sep. 30, 2016, which is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.
Aspects of the present disclosure relate to handicap-accessible access barriers configured to control access to reserved areas.
Access controls are used to restrict access to various locations. For example, in public transit stations, access to a platform or other controlled area is restricted to holders of a valid ticket or otherwise authorized persons. Access controls may require a user to traverse a passage selectively closed by obstacles or access barriers. Such access barriers can be of various shapes, sizes, and configurations. Examples of such barriers can include turnstiles, gates, drop arms, etc.
In some cases, the access barriers comprise two fan-shaped barriers, each of which is composed of portions of decreasing sizes which retract within one another to permit passage. Such barriers may only be marginally effective, because it may be relatively easy for a person to straddle and climb over the barrier.
Other barriers may include pivoting swivel doors which are more difficult to straddle. But to provide access for disabled persons, wheelchairs, etc., at least one passage in a line or arrangement of access control passages may be wider than a standard passage, and due to the extra width of the passage, multiple persons can potentially pass through simultaneously, thus permitting unauthorized passage.
One solution for preventing unauthorized access through an accessible control barrier is to form an “airlock” type access control defined by two barriers, one of which is located at an entrance, the other of which is located at the exit. Such a configuration can limit the number of people present in the lock area and allows only a single direction of traffic flow. The entrance door can be programmed to remain closed until a user requests access by pressing a button or presenting a ticket. Alternatively, the entrance door can remain open and close when a user enters the lock. Exit from the lock may then be permitted by again presenting the ticket, or pressing a button which allows the user to retrace their steps through the entrance if the person does not have a ticket.
Such “airlock” type access barriers have several disadvantages. First, such an airlock may create a feeling of confinement for the user inside the lock between the closed entrance and exit barriers. Second, access barriers of this type may have significant bulk of the structure and hardware supporting the doors, and additionally the structure may be required to contain the doors when the doors are in the retracted position, resulting in a loss of useful width on the control line and reducing the number of possible passes.
Exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure may solve one or more of the above-mentioned problems and/or may demonstrate one or more of the above-mentioned desirable features. Other features and/or advantages may become apparent from the description that follows.
In accordance with at least one exemplary embodiment, an access control device comprises a primary access barrier configured move between a closed position and an open position. The primary access barrier is configured to extend into an access passage of the access control device to prevent access through the access passage when in the closed position and is configured to move away from the access passage to permit access through the access passage when in an open position. The access control device further includes an entry access barrier positionable in the access passage of the access control device on a first side of the primary access barrier and an exit barrier positionable in the access passage of the access control device on a second side of the primary access barrier opposite the first side.
In accordance with another exemplary embodiment, a method of granting access to a restricted area through an access control device with an access passage, comprises permitting a user passage beyond an entry barrier positioned at an entry to the access control device to provide the user access to an access passage in which a closed primary access barrier is positioned. Subsequent to a user entering the access passage in which the closed primary access barrier is positioned, the primary access barrier is retracted to allow the user to proceed beyond the primary access barrier in the access passage. The method further includes closing an exit barrier positioned at an exit of the access passage beyond the primary access barrier, closing the entry barrier to enclose the user within the access passage, and opening the exit barrier to permit the user to exit the access passage into the restricted area.
In accordance with yet another exemplary embodiment, an access control system includes at least one first access lane. The at least one first access lane has a width defined by first and second trunk portions, and the first and second trunk portions extend along a length of the at least one first access lane. The access control system includes at least one second access lane, the at least one second access lane being adjacent to the at least one first access lane and having a width defined by the second trunk portion and a third trunk portion. The second access lane comprises a primary barrier configured to block access through the second access lane in a closed position and allow passage through the second access lane in an open position, and at least one secondary access barrier positioned in the second access lane on a side of the primary barrier, the at least one secondary access barrier configured to at least partially retract into the second trunk portion.
Additional objects, features, and/or advantages will be set forth in part in the description which follows, and in part will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by practice of the present disclosure and/or claims. At least some of these objects and advantages may be realized and attained by the elements and combinations particularly pointed out in the appended claims.
It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary and explanatory only and are not restrictive of the claims; rather the claims should be entitled to their full breadth of scope, including equivalents.
The present disclosure can be understood from the following detailed description, either alone or together with the accompanying drawings. The drawings are included to provide a further understanding of the present disclosure, and are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification. The drawings illustrate one or more exemplary embodiments of the present teachings and together with the description serve to explain certain principles and operation.
This description and the accompanying drawings that illustrate exemplary embodiments should not be taken as limiting. Various mechanical, compositional, structural, electrical, and operational changes may be made without departing from the scope of this description and the claims, including equivalents. In some instances, well-known structures and techniques have not been shown or described in detail so as not to obscure the disclosure. Like numbers in two or more figures represent the same or similar elements. Furthermore, elements and their associated features that are described in detail with reference to one embodiment may, whenever practical, be included in other embodiments in which they are not specifically shown or described. For example, if an element is described in detail with reference to one embodiment and is not described with reference to a second embodiment, the element may nevertheless be claimed as included in the second embodiment.
For the purposes of this specification and appended claims, unless otherwise indicated, all numbers expressing quantities, percentages, or proportions, and other numerical values used in the specification and claims, are to be understood as being modified in all instances by the term “about,” to the extent they are not already so modified. Accordingly, unless indicated to the contrary, the numerical parameters set forth in the following specification and attached claims are approximations that may vary depending upon the desired properties sought to be obtained. At the very least, and not as an attempt to limit the application of the doctrine of equivalents to the scope of the claims, each numerical parameter should at least be construed in light of the number of reported significant digits and by applying ordinary rounding techniques.
It is noted that, as used in this specification and the appended claims, the singular forms “a,” “an,” and “the,” and any singular use of any word, include plural referents unless expressly and unequivocally limited to one referent. As used herein, the term “include” and its grammatical variants are intended to be non-limiting, such that recitation of items in a list is not to the exclusion of other like items that can be substituted or added to the listed items.
Further, this description's terminology is not intended to limit the disclosure or claims. For example, spatially relative terms—such as “beneath,” “below,” “lower,” “above,” “upper,” “proximal,” “distal,” and the like—may be used to describe one element's or feature's relationship to another element or feature as illustrated in the orientation of the figures. These spatially relative terms are intended to encompass different positions (i.e., locations) and orientations (i.e., rotational placements) of a device in use or operation in addition to the position and orientation shown in the figures. For example, if a device in the figures is inverted, elements described as “below” or “beneath” other elements or features would then be “above” or “over” the other elements or features. Thus, the exemplary term “below” can encompass both positions and orientations of above and below. A device may be otherwise oriented (rotated 90 degrees or at other orientations) and the spatially relative descriptors used herein interpreted accordingly. The relative proximal and distal directions of surgical instruments are labeled in the figures.
The present disclosure contemplates access controls in a handicapped accessible passage while preventing passage of unauthorized persons, while limiting the bulk of the structure and hardware supporting the access controls and enabling the handicapped accessible passage to have a common trunk with an adjacent passage. Exemplary access barriers of the disclosure include a primary barrier having a first configuration, and at least one auxiliary barrier having a second configuration different from the first configuration. For example, access barriers according to the disclosure include a main barrier that creates an impassible obstacle when closed, and two auxiliary barriers. The auxiliary barriers may be positioned to provide an entry barrier and an exit barrier to the passage. In an exemplary embodiment, the access barriers may be configured such that at least one barrier is always closed, to prevent unauthorized passage such as by passing through in a reverse direction simultaneously with a person gaining authorized passage.
Referring now to
A secure area 110 is defined between the entry doors 102, 104, the exit doors 106, 108, and left and right trunk portions 112 and 114, respectively of the conventional handicapped access control device 100. Entry to the secure area 110 is accomplished by, for example, pressing a button or by presenting a ticket at a reader (not shown). As can be seen in
The entry doors 102, 104 and exit doors 106, 108 are high enough to prevent fraud such as persons gaining access by straddling the doors, as noted above. But such height can result in an uncomfortable feeling of confinement for those persons within the secure area 110 when the entry doors 102, 104 and exit doors 106, 108 are closed. To exit the secure area 110 once the entry doors 102, 104 are closed, the person must validate the ticket by, for example, presenting the ticket at a reader (not shown) within the secure area, after which the exit doors 106, 108 open and permit the person to leave the secure area 110.
The width of the secure area 110 must be wide enough to accommodate mobility equipment such as a wheelchair. When open, the entry door 102 and exit door 106 (i.e., the doors on the left-hand side in the perspective of
Additionally, in some configurations, the total width of the trunk portions 112 and 114 cannot be combined with a width of a trunk portion of an adjacent passage, because the doors may be adjacent to various components, such as ticket validation equipment, in the trunk of the adjacent passage. That is, where you have two adjacent passages, the passages may not be able to share a central trunk portion but instead may each require two separate trunk portions defining the passages. For example, in a standard passage, the ticket validation equipment may be in a top or upper portion of the trunk, and the height of the trunk associated with the accessible access control device 100 may make it impossible or impractical to locate the ticket validation equipment in the trunk portion of the conventional accessible access control device 100.
As a non-limiting example,
Referring now to
The primary access barrier 328 is not limited to the example configuration shown in
In the exemplary embodiment of
The entry and exit barriers 330, 332 may comprise configurations different from that shown in
According to the exemplary embodiment of
Referring now to
The accessible control lane 400 may include various additional equipment to enable automatic operation of the entry barriers 330 (exit barriers 332 shown in
Referring now to
Referring now to
Once the user has entered the passage, based on information from sensors, such as optical sensors or proximity sensors as discussed above, the entry barriers 330 close behind the user 550, as shown in
Referring now to
Other sequences and modes of operation different from that described in connection with
In a second alternative mode of operation, the sequence is like that of the first alternative mode of operation, with the exception that instead of the user 550 pressing a button or other control to gain access to the accessible control lane 400 and then presenting the ticket or other validation once the user 550 is inside the accessible control lane 400, the user 550 presents the ticket or pass upon approaching the accessible control lane 400, and the entry barriers 330 open upon validation of the ticket or pass to admit the user 550 to the accessible control lane 400.
While embodiments of the disclosure are described in connection public facilities such as rail, bus, or other transit facilities, embodiments of the disclosure can be used in any other circumstance in which access of individuals to a restricted area is to be controlled based on tickets, passes, tokens, or other forms of validation. Such other forms of validation could include numerical keypads, fingerprint scanners, retina scanners, voice pattern scanners, etc. Examples of other facilities in which access controls of the disclosure may be used include entertainment venues, sports venues, office buildings, airports, etc.
Further modifications and alternative embodiments will be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art in view of the disclosure herein. For example, the devices, systems, and methods may include additional components or steps that were omitted from the diagrams and description for clarity of operation. Accordingly, this description is to be construed as illustrative only and is for the purpose of teaching those skilled in the art the general manner of carrying out the present disclosure. It is to be understood that the various embodiments shown and described herein are to be taken as exemplary. Elements and materials, and arrangements of those elements and materials, may be substituted for those illustrated and described herein, parts and processes may be reversed, and certain features of the present teachings may be utilized independently, all as would be apparent to one skilled in the art after having the benefit of the description herein. Changes may be made in the elements described herein without departing from the scope of the present disclosure and following claims.
It is to be understood that the particular examples and embodiments set forth herein are non-limiting, and modifications to structure, dimensions, materials, and methodologies may be made without departing from the scope of the present disclosure.
Other embodiments in accordance with the present disclosure will be apparent to those skilled in the art from consideration of the specification and practice of the invention disclosed herein. It is intended that the specification and examples be considered as exemplary only, with being entitled to their full breadth of scope, including equivalents by the following claims.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1670568 | Sep 2016 | FR | national |
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/IB2017/055971 | 9/28/2017 | WO | 00 |
