WO2020058835A2

WO2020058835A2 - Automatic gate with beating leaves

Info

Publication number: WO2020058835A2
Application number: PCT/IB2019/057801
Authority: WO
Inventors: Michele Gulinelli
Original assignee: Michele Gulinelli
Priority date: 2018-09-20
Filing date: 2019-09-17
Publication date: 2020-03-26
Also published as: WO2020058835A3

Abstract

An automatic gate (CA) with at least one beating leaf (A1, A2) comprising drive means adapted to move said leaf (A1, A2) in opening or closing, operating means for said drive means and control means (D) for controlling the opening / closing of said leaf (A1, A2), said control means (D) comprising detection means (K1, K2, R1i, R2i, S1, S2) fixed integral with said leaf (A1) and adapted to dynamically detect and control, with respect to a reference calibration value, the distance and the angular disposition of said leaf (A1, A2) in relation to a possible obstacle (O) placed in correspondence of said leaf (A1, A2).

Description

Automatic gate with beating leaves

The invention herein relates to an automatic gate.

Particularly, the invention herein is advantageously used in the gates, doors field or in equivalent beating barriers provided with automatically openable fulcrum/hinged beating wing doors or leaves, to whom the following description will refer explicitly without losing for this reason the generality, in order to detect and check the correct and safe opening and closing movement of the same leaves.

In order to practically and functionally delimit the access to a property, the use of gates provided with one or more fulcrum and automatically openable and closable leaves is universally known.

The movement of the gate leaves is normally entrusted to an opening/closing motor of the leaves that is applicable to the same leaves and it is suitable for being driven by a drive gearcase upon an activation pulse sent to a remote unit (radio/remote control).

The mentioned drive gearcase is suitable also for acquiring further signals, e.g. those detected by check devices of the leaves movement: in such a way if an obstacle is present in the range of the openable leaves, the check device will detect it and provide for immediately stopping the motor, by blocking the leaves movement.

The most used check devices essentially include a couple of sensors, e.g. optical ones, each sensor of the couple being placed on a vertical post opposed to the gate, and suitable for cooperating with the other sensor in order to generate a horizontal check line, that will be interrupted after the detection of an obstacle.

However, such known check devices are not able to assure an effective and above all a safe check.

Indeed, there are several dead areas that are not detectable at all, that are being created immediately beyond the mentioned horizontal checking line between the couple of sensors, as e.g. those placed in the circular action sectors of the moving leaves. Such blind areas are very dangerous, and they are sources of relevant problems, especially for the physical safety of people who accidentally should be crossing them, with severe consequences - there are several cases that are really occurred and documented - created by crushes between moving leaves. It should be noted that not even the addition of further external displaying means and suitable for checking the contingent presence of people or things in the circular action sector of the leaves would be effectively able to completely avoid the occurrence of such severe problems of currently known automatic gates. The aim of the invention herein is therefore to overcome the severe drawbacks and the numerous problems of the above- mentioned prior art.

Especially, one aim of the invention herein is to realize an automatic gate with at least a beating leaf and provided with a check device able to detect, in an essentially dynamic mode, the efficient and safe leaf opening and closing movement of the whole action sector of the same leaf.

The structural and functional features of the invention herein and its advantages compared to the prior art will be more apparent and clear from the appended claims, and particularly from an examination of the following description with reference to the attached drawings, that show some preferred, but not limiting, embodiments of an automatic gated in which:

figure 1 represents a front view of a first preferred embodiment of the automatic two beating-leaves-gate according to the invention herein;

figures 2 and 3 schematically and in blocks show the automatic gate of figure 1 in plant views, respectively, and with some applied and explained components on just one beating leaf, for simplicity reasons;

figures 4 and 5 schematically and in blocks show the automatic gate of figure 1 in plant views, respectively, and with some explained explanatory details; figures 6 to 10 schematically and in blocks show the automatic gate of figure 1 in plant views, respectively, and with further explained explanatory details;

figures 1 1 and 12 represent relevant realization modifications of the automatic gate of figure 1 , shown in front views; and

figures 13 and 14 represent another embodiment of the automatic gate herein, shown in a schematic front and top view, respectively.

Referring to figure 1 , with CA the automatic gate with beating wing doors/leaves A1 and A2 is globally shown, that are anchored hinged respectively on fixed columns L1 and L2, and automatically movable in order to pivotably move the same leaves A1 and A2 in relation to the columns L1 and L2 and therefore determine the opening or closing of the automatic gate CA.

The movement of the leaves A1 and A2 of the gate CA is realized by a motor unit (known and not shown, e.g. an actuator motor unit (electric, pneumatic or hydraulic one) for the opening/closing of the leaves A1 and A2, applicable to the same leaves A1 and A2 and suitable for being driven by a drive gearcase (known and not shown) upon an activation pulse sent to a remote control remote unit (known and not shown, too). Each leaf A1 and A2 is essentially formed by a post AT, A2’ provided with relevant hinge pivot units C1 , C2 to the columns L1 , L2 and with an essentially barrier structure that departs from the post A1’, A2’ of the leaf A1 , A2.

Furthermore, the leaves A1 , A2 bear integral posts, that are at a determined and preferred height, relevant horizontal band elements K1 and K2 suitable for defining a detection and check device D of the motorised movement of the leaves A1 and A2. According to what illustrated in the figures 2 and 3 (with some explained components that are shown applied just on the beating leaf A1 , for simplicity reasons), each band component K1 , K2 includes a plurality (P1 , P2) (array) of detection and check sensor means R1 i, R2i, that are arranged evenly distributed along the band element K1 , K2 in order to act both outside and inside the gate CA of the same band K1 , K2, and they are suitable, in use, for efficiently determining the distance of the leaf A1 , A2 from the contingent obstacle O (people or things) placed in front of or behind the same leaf A1 , A2 and the relevant angle mutual arrangement in relation to the other leaf A2, A1 .

Specifically, the mentioned detection and check sensor means R1 i, R2i, that are assembled on the electronic card, include the following:

distance detection means, preferably bidirectional ultrasound transducer ones, or ToF (Time of flight) or equivalents; angle arrangement detection means, that are defined by gyroscopic sensors cooperating with three-axes accelerometer sensors and furthermore by permanent magnet elements, in order to get stable information on the angle absolute position of the leaf: in such a way therefore the possibility is avoided that the detection means on the leaf may interpret as an obstacle the proximity of the other leaf in correspondence to the partial overlapping, that the leaves have between each other close to the closing of the automatic gate CA (false obstacle FO - figures 4 and 5). Preferably but not limiting, such angle position detection means are realised with a MEMS (Micro Electro- Mechanical Systems) technology and having inside them at least a three-axes gyroscopic, a three-axes accelerometer and a three-axes magnetometer;

a microprocessor unit (connected to the mentioned drive gearcase);

communication interface means between the leaves of the gate CA;

electric supply means.

Essentially, with the above-described detection and check device D applied to the gate CA, a volume V1 , V2 of dynamic operating check is being created in correspondence with each leaf A1 , A2 of the gate CA (figures 6, 7 and 9), inside of which volume V1 , V2, that dynamically follows the same leaf A1 , A2 in its movement, the presence of obstacles causes the mentioned processor unit to send a correspondent blocking signal to the mentioned drive gearcase, so to make the same gearcase in its turn being able to efficiently and automatically instantly start the stop of the movement of the same leaves A1 and A2, in order to satisfy the requirements of high safety and entirely safeguarding people’s safety, who inadvertently should be close to moving leaves.

More specifically, the device D, by means of the microprocessor unit present inside it, is suitable for continuously processing the signals coming from the sensors R1 i and R2i (each specifically for its own relevant leaf) and the signals coming from the MEMS device (or similar) in order to instantly extract distance information of each single sensor R1 i, R2i and the absolute angle position of the specific leaf. The processing of the distance information along with that of the angle position allows to efficiently determine an obstacle present on the movement path of the leaf A1 , A2.

It is of the outmost importance to point out that at an installation stage of the device D a calibration of the device is being carried out by implementing an opening without obstacles.

After such calibration, the device D stores inside the processor memory, provided with it, a map that associates to each angle position of the leaves A1 , A2, detected during the movement the distance, values detected by the sensors R1 i, R2i. This allows to have a description and a matrix relevant to a correspondent situation and without obstacles, for example:

In the example of the above set out matrix, a very frequent case is pointed out, i.e. the case in which the leaf by the end of its opening (corresponding to the example of the 90° angle position) is very close to a hedge or a wall.

If the device D simply detected the distance of the sensors R1 i, R2i and determined an alarm situation as the detected distance is less than a prefixed threshold (e.g. 30 to match the case of the example of the table), the approach of the leaf to the hedge would generate an alarm situation.

Using the data present in the calibration matrix instead, the device D is able not to generate alarms, if between the leaf and the mentioned hedge there aren’t any obstacles.

Therefore, the device D detects a real obstacle O, when in a certain angle position any of the distances detected by the sensors R1 i, R2i is less than the value reported in the table for that angle position.

The calibration mechanism with consequent generation and storage of the described matrix allows also to solve the problem of the overlapping or“surmount” of the leaves A1 , A2 (figure 8), i.e. the fact that the approaching of the closing of the two leaves A1 , A2, the sensors R1 i, R2i may detect as an obstacle the proximity of the other leaf A2, A1 .

In order to avoid this problem each sensor R1 i, R2i present on the respective leaf A1 , A2 knows moment by moment not only its own angle position, but even that of the other leaf A2, A1 . Doing in this way, the device D can reduce the triggering threshold for the generation of the alarm, as it detects that the angle position of the other leaf puts it in the detection range of its sensors.

The fact of knowing the angle position of each leaf A1 , A2 in relation to the other leaf A2, A1 allows for compensating the modifications throughout the time of the“surmount” angle, i.e. of that angle distance between a leaf and the other, that allows the opening of the gate C. Typically, due to frictions, deformations caused by the temperature, variations of the engine power, the surmount positions throughout the time vary compared to what set at installation stage of the automatic opening.

The described device D is advantageously able to compensate for these variations, thanks to the mutual knowledge of the angle positions; in order to do so the two sensors R1 i, R2i of the device D are connected one to the other with a communication channel (wired or wireless). It is to be noted that in the proposed solution the determination of the angle position plays an essential role.

This information may be obtained in two ways:

1 ) from the drive gearcase of the gate, a gearcase that typically has at its disposal the information of encoders being on movement engines. Such solution involves a close interaction with the constructor of the gate drive, an interaction that is not always possible above all in cases where the device D is assembled at a later stage on an already installed gate C.

2) By means of the processing of a device composed of a three-axes gyroscopic and a three-axes accelerometer.

In this second case the available devices are preferably electronic MEMS devices normally employed in many consumer portable devices and they are characterized by their low cost. The gyroscopic supplies the angle speed on three axes: integrating this information the angle position on 3 axes is detected, but the continuous vibrations and waving that characterize the movement of the leaf of an automatic gate lead to an incorrect information of the angle position. To address this, the errors are being compensated using a three-axes accelerometer by means of algorithms known in literature (ex. Madgwick). The result of these algorithms is a stable information over the time, even in case of vibrations and waving of the leaf movement. Unfortunately, however, the information of the angle position obtained like this is relative and not absolute: for the use in the described application the absolute angle position is necessary.

In order to achieve this result, a further component is being used (that may be present inside the same MEMS device already containing a gyroscopic and an accelerometer, but not necessarily), composed of a three-axes magnetometer. Such a magnetometer is assembled on the end of the leaf and it detects the presence of a small permanent magnet assembled on the end of the second leaf (one magnetometer and one magnet for one couple of leaves are enough).

During the calibration stage the device D by means of its microprocessor stores the information of the magnetometer during the stage in which the gate is closed: in this way the device D, by processing the information of the magnetic field on three axes, is able to recognize when the gate is in a closing position and only in this case it generates a zero setting signal of the angle position.

This point is very important for the correct operation of the device D.

The zero setting of the angle position may be done even with simpler devices (e.g. a simply limit switch): the use of a magnetometer integrated into the MEMS device allows a higher integration easiness of the device in cases where the gate has already been provided with automation. According to what illustrated in figure 1 1 , the detection and check device D assembled on the gate CA, as a possible alternative, provides a wireless implementation: in such a case the supplying to the device D is being realized by means of appropriate batteries to be periodically substituted, and the communication of the consent to the opening/closing occurs by means of a receiver Q fixed on the column L1 (or L2) suitable for receiving from the sensor means R1 i (or R2i) a relevant opening/closing signal.

According to the further possible alternative illustrated in figure 12, each band K1 , K2 of the device D includes furthermore a series of LED lighting means suitable for being driven by the sensor means R1 i, R2i in order to make the movement of the leaves A1 , A2 during the opening/closing more efficient and more apparent.

According to the alternative embodiment illustrated in the figures 13 and 14, the device D includes flashing means W1 , W2 placed on the top of the column L1 and of the column L2, respectively: in such a case on each leaf A1 , A2, substituting the band K1 , K2 (here non present), just a detecting means of the angle position of the type mentioned with a MEMS technology is integrally assembled, and referred to as S1 , S2 in figure 1 1 , each detecting means S1 , S2 being electrically connected with the remaining components of the mentioned means R1 i, R2i, that are placed adequately and accomodated inside the external container E1 , E2 of the related mentioned flashing means W1 , W2.

Finally, it is to point out that the above-described device D may be advantageously applied to all types of automatic gates with beating leaves that are currently present on the market and/or that have already been installed substituting traditional optical check devices.

Claims

1. Automatic gate (CA) with at least one beating leaf (A1 , A2) hinged on a fixed anchoring structure (L1 , L2), comprising drive means adapted to move said leaf (A1 , A2) in opening or closing, operating means for said drive means and control means (D) for controlling the opening / closing of said leaf (A1 , A2), said control means (D) comprising detection means (K1 , K2, R1 i, R2i, S1 , S2) fixed integral with said leaf (A1 ) and adapted to dynamically detect and control, with respect to a reference calibration value, the distance and the angular disposition of said leaf (A1 , A2) in relation to a possible obstacle (O) placed in correspondence of said leaf (A1 , A2); characterised in that said detection means (K1 , K2, R1 i, R2i; S1 , S2) of the angle arrangement include at least one three-axes gyroscopic, one three-axes accelerometer and one three-axes magnetometer.

2. Automatic gate according to claim 1 , characterized in that said detection means (K1 , K2, R1 i, R2i) for controlling said distance comprise bidirectional ultrasonic transducer means.

3. Automatic gate according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the said detection means (K1 , K2, R1 i, R2i) comprise a plurality (P1 , P2) of sensors (R1 i, R2i) uniformly arranged distributed along a band element (K1 , K2) fixed integrally and longitudinally to said leaf (A1 , A2).

4. Automatic gate according to claim 3, characterized in that said band element (K1 , K2) is provided with lighting means (LED).

5. Automatic gate according to claim 1 , characterized in that said detection means (K1 , K2, R1 i, R2i; S1 , S2) for controlling said angular disposition comprise a sensor (S1 , S2) fixed integral with said wing (A1 ); and further flashing means (W1 , W2) connected to said sensor (R1 , R2).

6. Automatic gate according to one or more of the preceding claims from 1 to 5, characterized in that it comprises two beating leaves (A1 , A2) arranged opposite each other on respective fixed elements (L1 , L2) for anchoring for said gate (CA); said sensor means (K1 , K2, R1 i, R2i; S1 , S2) for controlling said angular arrangement being also able to detect the mutual angular disposition of one leaf (A1 ) with respect to the other said leaf (A2) for controlling and compensating the variations in the angle of overlap between one leaf (A1 ) and the other (A2) allowing the opening / closing of said gate (CA).