Patent Grant
11235955
The following includes information that may be useful in understanding the present disclosure. It is not an admission that any of the information provided herein is prior art nor material to the presently described or claimed invention, nor that any publication or document that is specifically or implicitly referenced is prior art.
The present invention relates generally to the field of safety devices of existing art and more specifically relates to escalator barricades.
Elevators are more common than escalators, move faster, and are used more frequently by many more people. Escalators have a much higher rate of passenger injuries and fatalities, though. This isn't because escalators are more dangerous in operation. It's because passengers have more opportunity to intentionally misuse them. Many hop over the balustrade to stand on the outer deck of escalators, continuing the ride up while only holding the moving handrail. When they arrive at the landing floor, though, they contact an immobile barricade. This can cause injuries, falls and even fatalities. A suitable means for preventing accidents is desired.
U.S. Pat. No. 8,079,515 to Wolfram Kocznar relates to an access control gate. The described access control gate includes an access control gate with a mechanical guide forming one or more access lanes for patrons. A contactless access reader which is connected to a software controlled verification system identifies access right of patrons shortly before the person approaches a gate threshold formed by two motor driven flaps which when closed protrude into the access lane from left and right of the lateral lane boundaries a verification system activates the flaps when an access right has been granted. Two or more photoelectric barriers detect the passage of patrons through the gate threshold, wherein the detecting beams are spaced apart by between 1 and 10 inches and directed to the lane zone behind the gate threshold. The flaps are closed after the patron has passed through.
In view of the foregoing disadvantages inherent in the known escalator barricades art, the present disclosure provides a novel monitored escalator barricade system. The general purpose of the present disclosure, which will be described subsequently in greater detail, is to provide an escalator barricade structure including a one-way pivoting door which allows for a user on an outer deck area of an escalator to continue moving to the landing floor instead of striking a solid, immobile barricade.
A monitored escalator barricade system is disclosed herein. The monitored escalator barricade system includes a barricade assembly which is installable on a landing floor near an escalator and projects perpendicular to an outer deck of the escalator. The barricade assembly includes a one-way swinging door allowing one-way passage of a user having a magnetized metal door-plate on an open vertical plane of the one-way swinging door, a hosting column supporting the one-way swinging door and housing a transceiver and including IR beam transmitters on an exterior of the hosting column configured to detect when the user arrives near the landing floor, a magnetized metal floor tab in alignment to and magnetically contacts to the magnetized metal door-plate, and an alarm system. The transceiver is electrically connected to the magnetized metal door-plate and the IR beam transmitters are electrically connected by wire to the transceiver. Interruption of the IR beam transmitters detected by the transceiver unlocks the one-way swinging door allowing for passage of the user. The alarm system is in communication with the transceiver and configured to activate after the one-way swinging door is opened. The alarm system comprises an audio speaker configured to output audio and at least one light emitting member. The alarm system may be able to sync with a security-officer-notification system of a using establishment.
For purposes of summarizing the invention, certain aspects, advantages, and novel features of the invention have been described herein. It is to be understood that not necessarily all such advantages may be achieved in accordance with any one particular embodiment of the invention. Thus, the invention may be embodied or carried out in a manner that achieves or optimizes one advantage or group of advantages as taught herein without necessarily achieving other advantages as may be taught or suggested herein. The features of the invention which are believed to be novel are particularly pointed out and distinctly claimed in the concluding portion of the specification. These and other features, aspects, and advantages of the present invention will become better understood with reference to the following drawings and detailed description.
The figures which accompany the written portion of this specification illustrate embodiments and methods of use for the present disclosure, a monitored escalator barricade system, constructed and operative according to the teachings of the present disclosure.
The various embodiments of the present invention will hereinafter be described in conjunction with the appended drawings, wherein like designations denote like elements.
As discussed above, embodiments of the present disclosure relate to escalator barricades and more particularly to a monitored escalator barricade system as used to prevent falls that commonly occur when persons attempt to ride the outer deck of an escalator, and avoid the damages, injuries, and fatalities that occur from such incidents. The monitored escalator barricade system may be installed at the top outside edge of an ascending escalator.
Generally, the monitored escalator barricade system is an escalator barricade structure, for placement on the landing floor of an ascending escalator near the outer deck area of the escalator, that includes a one-way swinging door which allows anyone on the outer deck area of an escalator to continue moving to the landing floor instead of striking a solid, immobile barricade. Spring-loaded, self-returning hinges are provided for attachment of the door to a door-hosting column. A magnetized metal plate is positioned on an open vertical plane of the door and a base plate including a magnetized metal floor tab is provided. The magnetized metal floor tab is in alignment to the magnetized metal plate of the door. The floor tab features a notification light that illuminates when the door is attached, and the system is active. The light does not illuminate if the door is not attached and/or the system is not active. A transceiver is featured within the door-hosting column and connected by wire to the metal plate attached to the door. IR beam transmitters are featured on an exterior portion of the door-hosting column and are attached by wire to the transceiver. After a user passes through the plexiglass door, the plexiglass door relocks to prevent wrong way passage from occurring. The monitored escalator barricade system further includes an alarm function and the function may sync with a using establishment's security-officer-notification system. The alarm of the monitored escalator barricade system immediately informs authorities in the area when its pivoting door is operated. The alarm system includes an audio speaker and an alarm light which are connected by wire to the transceiver and featured within the door-hosting column.
In a preferred embodiment, the one-way pivoting door includes a translucent plexiglass material. However, the door may include various materials, such as but not limited to glass, plexiglass, acrylic, and pipe and may or may not match the material(s) of the interior panel of the corresponding balustrade. The pivoting door of the monitored escalator barricade system allows exit from an outer deck through its escalator barricade to a landing floor, unlike standard, immobile escalator barricades. The pivoting door of the monitored escalator barricade system can only be opened when a person arrives near its facing, which interrupts the broadcasting infrared (IR) beam, which unlocks said pivoting door. The pivoting door of the monitored escalator barricade system automatically recloses after its opening, returning the structure to its barricade purpose. The pivoting door of the monitored escalator barricade system only pivots in one (1) direction, preventing re-entry to the outer deck of the escalator from a landing floor. The pivoting door of the monitored escalator barricade system relocks after closing, preventing it from being opened from the landing floor. The monitored escalator barricade system may be provided in various sizes and shapes to accommodate individual points of placement.
The monitored escalator barricade system can be made in various formats and with different mechanisms that allow its door to swing open towards a landing floor while still preventing the door from being opened from a landing floor. Such formats include but are not limited to: a crash bar on the interior plane of the monitored escalator barricade system and an infrared (IR) beam near the interior plane of the monitored escalator barricade system that will turn off a locking mechanism when said IR beam is interrupted. The alarm device of the monitored escalator barricade system may broadcast through an included audio speaker, and/or may send signal to communication devices used by facility authorities. The monitored escalator barricade system may or may not include an alarm device that sounds after its pivoting door is opened.
Should an escalator passenger travel upon the outer deck of an escalator, the infrared (IR) beam transmitter of the monitored escalator barricade system will detect when the passenger arrives near the landing floor. This interruption of the IR is detected by the transceiver, which then triggers opening of the one-way pivoting door allowing a user to safely move through the door. The audio alarm of the device is triggered following the opening of the one-way pivoting door. The hinge of the door then automatically retracts, closing the door. Upon that closing, the corresponding metal frame and tab resume magnetic attachment, thus preventing the door from being opened from the landing floor.
The monitored escalator barricade system can bear instructional signage, such as but not limited to “push,” on its outer-deck facing plane, and said signage may be printed in multiple languages of relevance to its area of use. In further variation, said printed instruction(s) may be illuminated, and such illumination may be permanent or only when the monitored escalator barricade system detects a person is near its door. Additionally, the monitored escalator barricade system can include instructional and/or warning signage for posting at the landing floor near its point of placement, such as but not limited to “area must remain clear.” Signage may be printed in multiple languages of relevance to its area of use.
The monitored escalator barricade system can be made in variations that include sensors or motion detectors for placement at various lengths of the escalator. The sensors may initiate alarm for notification to facility authorities, and/or to stop the escalator if presence on the outer deck is determined at a low height.
Referring now more specifically to the drawings by numerals of reference, there is shown in
The one-way swinging door 120 is attached to the hosting column 122 via fasteners 168. Preferably, the fasteners 168 comprise spring-loaded, self-returning hinges. The spring-loaded, self-returning hinges are limited to ninety-degree rotation. The alarm system 160 includes an audio speaker 146 configured to output audio and at least one light emitting member 148. The audio speaker 146 and the at least one light emitting member 148 are contained within, and project from, the hosting column 122 and connect by wire to the transceiver 126. The alarm system 160 is able to sync with a security-officer-notification system of a using establishment. Interruption the IR beam transmitters 130 detected by the transceiver 126 unlocks the one-way swinging door 120. The IR beam transmitters 130 are equidistantly spaced along a length of the exterior of the hosting column 122. The audio speaker 146 of the alarm system 160 is activated after the one-way swinging door 120 is opened.
The embodiments of the invention described herein are exemplary and numerous modifications, variations and rearrangements can be readily envisioned to achieve substantially equivalent results, all of which are intended to be embraced within the spirit and scope of the invention. Further, the purpose of the foregoing abstract is to enable the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and the public generally, and especially the scientist, engineers and practitioners in the art who are not familiar with patent or legal terms or phraseology, to determine quickly from a cursory inspection the nature and essence of the technical disclosure of the application.
| Number | Name | Date | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5923005 | Blondiau | Jul 1999 | A |
| 6334522 | Haruta | Jan 2002 | B2 |
| 7453358 | Webster | Nov 2008 | B2 |
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| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20210362982 A1 | Nov 2021 | US |
