Electronic security system

• US 5,999,095 A
• Filed: 05/29/1998
• Issued: 12/07/1999
• Est. Priority Date: 05/19/1995
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: GE Security Incorporated (Carrier Global Corporation)
• Original Assignee: SLC Technologies, Inc. (General Electric Company)
• Inventors: Toll, Michael C., Earl, Mark J., Valenzuela, Antonio P., Larson, Wayne F.
• Primary Examiner(s): MULLEN, THOMAS J
• Application Number:
  US09/086,971
• Time in Patent Office: 557 Days
• Field of Search: 340/542, 340/543, 340/825.31, 340/825.32, 340/825.34, 340/528, 340/545.1, 340/545.6, 340/506, 235/382, 235/382.5, 361/172, 379/102.06, 70/DIG. 49, 70/271, 70/278, 70/423, 70/425, 70/427
• US Class Current: 340/542
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 1/32 Time-recording locks
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 2009/00634 Power supply for the lock
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 2009/00761 with data transmission performed by connected means, e.g. mechanical contacts, plugs, connectors
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 9/00309 operated with bidirectional data transmission between data carrier and locks
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 70/49 with alarm
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 70/7073 Including use of a key

Abstract

An access control unit for an electrified door lock also toggles the state of an associated alarm. The unit is arranged to unlock the door only temporarily, but the alarm state is not toggled except by user request. The system is arranged to prevent the anomalous situation of an unlocked door and an armed alarm. Another aspect is the use of standardized key-receiving nests in disparate types of access control devices. Some disparate devices employ identical key-receiving nests, while others use different forms of nests. Yet all mate with and respond to a single type of key.

Claims

1. An access control system including an electronic key and plural access control devices responsive thereto, at least one of said access control devices being a controller for applying an electrical signal to an electric door lock in response to a properly authorized key, the controller also including a switching circuit for switching a control signal of an associated alarm unit to switch same between armed and dis-armed states, the system including means for preventing false alarms due to lack of synchronization between states of the door lock and the alarm unit.

2. The system of claim 1 in which another of said access control devices is a member of the group consisting of a vault, a keybox, and a padlock.

3. The system of claim 2 including a vault, said vault including means controllably coupling a manual actuator member to a locking bolt in response to said key.

4. The system of claim 2 including a padlock, said padlock including means aiding reliable operation even after extended periods of non-use.

5. Apparatus comprising:

an input device used by a user to solicit entry to a secured area, the area being secured by an access control device having locked and unlocked states;

a verifier for determining whether the user is authorized to enter the secure area, the verifier receiving signals from the input device, and producing a first output signal if the user is determined to be authorized;

a first circuit for controllably unlocking the access control device in response to the first signal from the verifier;

a second circuit for controllably changing an alarm unit between armed and disarmed states; and

a controller coupled to at least one of the first or second circuits, preventing a disallowed state of an unlocked access control device with an armed alarm unit.

6. The apparatus of claim 5 in which the second circuit controllably changes the alarm state in response, in part, to the first signal from the verifier.

7. A method of operating a lock/alarm controller comprising:

(a) receiving a first signal from a user;

(b) in response to said first signal, unlocking a door and toggling an alarm state to dis-armed;

(c) automatically re-locking the door a predetermined period after said unlocking;

(d) receiving a second signal from a user;

(e) in response to said second signal, toggling an alarm state to armed;

wherein the method does not result in the door being unlocked and the alarm armed.

8. The method of claim 7 which further includes providing a confirmation signal to the user as part of said response to the first signal.

9. The method of claim 7 which further includes providing a confirmation signal to the user as part of said response to the second signal.

10. The method of claim 9 in which the confirmation signal is visual.

11. The method of claim 9 in which the confirmation signal is audible.

12. An access control system including an electronic key and first and second access control devices, the key having plural sides each lying in a different plane, and at least first and second electrical key contacts for exchanging electrical signals between circuitry internal to the key and external circuitry coupled through the contacts to said key, the first access device including a nest for receiving a first side of the key, the second access device including a nest for receiving a second side of the key different from the first, both of said nests including contacts for establishing contact with said key contacts.

13. Apparatus comprising:

first and second electronic locking devices, one of said devices being configured for locking a small article in a metal box, the other of said devices being configured for controlling a locking member that restricts human access to a secured area and not for securing a small article in a metal box;

a first interface member defining a nest into which fits an electronic key, the first interface member being attached to the first locking device;

a second interface member defining a nest into which fits an electronic key, the second interface member being attached to the second locking device;

wherein both of said interface members permit the same key to be used therewith to open the associated locking devices, and wherein the nests of the first and second interface members have different shapes, for receiving different portions of the electronic key.

14. The apparatus of claim 13 in which one of the locking devices is an electronic padlock used to restrict human access to a secured area, said padlock including means aiding reliable operation even after extended periods of non-use.