Failsafe operation for unmanned gatelines

• US 9,394,740 B2
• Filed: 04/30/2015
• Issued: 07/19/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 04/30/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Cubic Corporation
• Original Assignee: Cubic Corporation
• Inventors: Reymann, Steffen, Smith, Gavin
• Primary Examiner(s): YANG, JAMES J
• Application Number:
  US14/700,403
• Publication Number:
  US 20150315840A1
• Time in Patent Office: 446 Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: E05F 1/006 by emergency conditions, e.g. fire operating or controlling mechanisms for physical fire-barriers A62C2/24
• CPC Class Codes: E05F 15/40 Safety devices, e.g. detection of obstructions or end positions
• CPC Class Codes: E05F 15/72 responsive to emergency conditions, e.g. fire
• CPC Class Codes: E05F 15/75 responsive to the weight or other physical contact of a person or object
• CPC Class Codes: E05F 15/76 responsive to devices carried by persons or objects, e.g. magnets or reflectors E05F15/77 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: E05F 2015/765 using optical sensors using photoelectric cells E05F15/74
• CPC Class Codes: E05F 2015/767 using cameras
• CPC Class Codes: E06B 11/02 Gates; Doors
• CPC Class Codes: E06B 11/08 Turnstiles; Gates for control of entry or exit of persons, e.g. in supermarkets control gates on vehicles B60N5/00 ; bank protection devices E05G5/00; with registering means G07C9/10 ; coin-freed facilities for turnstiles G07F17/14
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 9/10 Movable barriers with registering means
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 9/15 with arrangements to prevent the passage of more than one individual at a time
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 9/28 the pass enabling tracking or indicating presence
• CPC Class Codes: G07C 9/30 not involving the use of a pass
• CPC Class Codes: G08B 21/02 Alarms for ensuring the safety of persons

Abstract

Systems and techniques are presented for enabling fail-safe operation of an automatic pedestrian access control gate during a health and safety event. Gateline sensor data is received from at least one gateline sensor. The gateline sensor data indicates that an event concerning health and safety has occurred. An alert is generated in response to receiving the gateline sensor data. The alert is transmitted to a remote monitoring device that is remote from the access control gate. A determination is made that a preset amount of time has elapsed since transmitting the alert. A further determination is made that an acknowledgement of the alert has not been received. Based on determining that the preset amount of time has elapsed and determining that the acknowledgement has not been received, a predefined action is triggered.

Claims

1. A system for enabling fail-safe operation of an automatic pedestrian access control gate during a health and safety event, the system comprising:

a gate paddle configured to operate in an open state and a locked state, wherein pedestrian passage through the access control gate is granted while the gate paddle is operating in the open state, and wherein pedestrian passage through the access control gate is blocked while the gate paddle is operating in the locked state;

a gate paddle sensor configured to detect a position of the gate paddle; and

a computer server system coupled to the gate paddle and the gate sensor, the computer server system being configured to;

receive gate paddle sensor data from the gate paddle sensor indicating the position of the gate paddle,

determine, based on the gate paddle sensor data, that the gate paddle is stuck in an unnatural position that is different from a natural resting position of the gate paddle during normal operation,

determine that the gate paddle is currently operating in the locked state, and

transmit an alert to a remote monitoring device;

determine whether the remote monitoring device is actively monitored;

select a timeout threshold based on the determination of whether the remote monitoring device is actively monitored, wherein the timeout threshold is different upon a determination that the remote monitoring device is actively monitored than upon a determination that the remote monitoring device is not actively monitored;

determine that an acknowledgement of the alert has not been received within the selected timeout threshold; and

transmit a signal to the gate paddle that causes the gate paddle to operate in the open state based on determining that the gate paddle is stuck in the unnatural position, determining that the gate paddle is currently operating in the locked state, and determining that the acknowledgement has not been received within the selected timeout threshold.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the computer server system determines that the gate paddle is stuck in the unnatural position by tracking a period of time that the gate paddle is in the unnatural position, and determining that the period of time is greater than or equal to a preset threshold.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the computer server system is further configured to:

determine that the gate paddle is currently operating in the open state;

generate an alert based on determining that the gate paddle is stuck in the unnatural position and determining that the gate paddle is currently operating in the open state; and

transmit the alert to a remote monitoring device.

4. The system of claim 1, further comprising:

an optical sensor configured to detect presence of an object within a passageway of the access control gate;

wherein the computer server system is further configured to;

receive optical sensor data from the optical sensor, the optical sensor data indicating that the object is present within the passageway,

generate an alert in response to receiving the optical sensor data, and

transmit the alert to a remote monitoring device.

5. The system of claim 4, wherein the computer server system is further configured to:

wait for a preset period of time to pass after transmitting the signal to the gate paddle that causes the gate paddle to operate in the open state and before generating the alert.

6. The system of claim 1, further comprising:

a video camera aimed at an area that includes the access control gate;

wherein the computer server system is further configured to;

receive a video feed from the video camera,

analyze the video feed,

determine that a pedestrian is present within a passageway of the access control gate based on analyzing the video feed,

generate an alert in response to determining that the pedestrian is present within the passageway, and

transmit the alert to a remote monitoring device.

7. The system of claim 6, wherein the computer server system is further configured to:

extract a clip from the video feed, the clip including the health and safety event; and

transmit the clip to the remote monitoring device.