DE20211468U1 - Security system for furniture with several lockable compartments - Google Patents

Description

Security system for furniture with multiple

lockable compartments

The present invention relates to a security system for furniture with several lockable compartments, in particular for a large number of filing or material cabinets in which security-relevant material is stored.

DE 88 02 655 Ul discloses a cabinet with a large number of drawers, in which each drawer can be locked by an electromagnetic locking device, which in turn is connected to a central electronic control and release device for all drawers, the electronic control and release device containing a query device for querying the position of the drawers. The device according to DE 88 02 655 Ul fulfils the task of locking the electromagnetic locking device of the drawers in the locked position when a maximum permissible number of drawers are not in their locked position. The task associated with DE 88 02 655 Ul of avoiding the risk of tipping over by pulling out several drawers at the same time is solved accordingly there.

From US-A-5 225 825 an electronic lock for storage units is known, in which every

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Storage unit (drawer) is secured by a central, electronic control and release device and the position of the drawer is detected by a sensor. In the device according to US-A-5 225 825, a coding device is already used to check whether access is permitted. A similar concept is also known from EP-A-0 4 97 04 0.

Both of the aforementioned facilities are assigned to a single storage unit; they therefore do not provide coordinated access control for a large number of storage units. Several storage units could be combined, but this would not connect or solve an overarching aspect.

From DE-A-41 01 744 an arrangement is already known in which furniture with several individually lockable compartments can be locked by a locking device, wherein the locking devices can be actuated electrically via a common, central remote control, wherein it is already provided that the remote control device can be actuated via a key, key switch or by means of one or more numeric codes.

However, all of these devices according to the state of the art have the disadvantage that they lack an overall safety concept. This deficiency is particularly significant when the storage units are designed in such a way that they can be connected together in a modular manner. The control device can then be assigned to a storage unit (as in US-A-5 225 825, for example), which then represents a master unit, whereby the other connected storage units can be referred to as slave units. Alternatively, the control unit can also be arranged separately from the storage units (as in DE-A-41 01 744, for example). In

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In both cases, it appears advantageous in a modular concept if it can be determined which authorized person should have which specific access to which material or files and, in particular, it can be documented which person actually had which access to which material or files. However, such a concept with a control unit must - and this is not known from the state of the art - be provided with a means of ensuring reliability and access security in the event of a power failure.

It is therefore the object of the present invention to propose a security system that overcomes the disadvantages and limitations of the devices according to the above-mentioned prior art. In particular, the system should still be reliable but also secure against access even if a power failure affects the electrical components.

The invention solves the problem by a system according to claim 1. The measures of the invention result in an access control device being able to record which person has accessed which material or files. In the case of a closed area that is protected by an access control system, the access control device can be integrated into the access control device. The access control device can be implemented either with a data reading station or, for example, with a contactless sensor reading unit (transponder), a sensor unit for the fingerprint (fingertip), a sensor unit for the iris (iris diaphragm) or similar. The modular security concept of the present invention is made possible by the emergency power supply. The emergency power supply enables unlocking in the event of a failure of the mains-connected power supply. All cabinets are unlocked by pressing the

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activating a special switch.

In the modular concept according to the present invention, technical security concepts can be implemented without special measures, as are known from DE 88 02 655 Ul, for example, only a certain number or only a single drawer of a storage unit can be opened to prevent tipping, or it can be prevented for personal safety purposes that two adjacent drawers are opened, for example to prevent the operator's hand from being trapped. In the case of closely arranged storage devices, it can also be prevented, for example, that drawers of two adjacent storage units are opened if, for example, two storage units are arranged at an angle of 90°.

The modular concept of the present invention and the automatic locking feature can also prevent drawers of a storage unit from being unlocked but not opened for a long period of time. This further contributes to the safety and security of the stored items.

A further improvement of the modular concept is possible in that the subordinate storage units are supplied electrically by the control device. For this purpose, the present invention provides that the magnets for unlocking and locking the drawers in the storage units are supplied electrically by capacitors that are charged by the control device. The purpose of these capacitors is to provide short-term energy to move the locking device. In the present modular concept, the actual process of locking or unlocking is not necessary very often, so that the capacitors can be recharged between two such processes.

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The capacitors also supply the microprocessors on the storage units, the position sensors for the individual drawers, the operating devices (buttons) for requesting release for a storage unit or an individual drawer and the display device for the locking or unlocking status on the storage unit or the individual drawer, provided that these are actually present, which is intended but may not be necessary in view of the modular concept. 10

Further advantageous details of the invention are set out in the subclaims.

The aforementioned elements to be used according to the invention as well as those claimed and described in the following embodiments are not subject to any special exceptional conditions in terms of their size, shape, use of materials and technical conception, so that the selection criteria known in the respective field of application can be applied without restriction.

Further details, features and advantages of the subject matter of the invention emerge from the following description of the associated drawings, in which - by way of example - a device for the present invention is explained.

The drawings show:

Figure 1 is a schematic drawing of the elements of a modular overall system according to the present invention;

Figure 2 a detailed drawing of a storage unit with the security-relevant elements; 35

Figure 3 is a cutaway perspective view of a part of a drawer cabinet in which the locking

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mechanism with a locking strip is provided; and

Figure 4 is an elevational view of part of an inner side of the rear wall of the drawer cabinet shown in Fig. 3. 5

In Figure 1, a drawer cabinet according to the present invention is designated 10. The drawer cabinet has several drawers that can be locked or unlocked with two magnetic locks 1 and 2. Furthermore, the drawer cabinet 10 has a sensor 4, 4' for each drawer, with which it can be determined whether a drawer is closed or not. The sensors 4, 4' are designed as reed contacts in the rails of the drawers, with which it is measured whether the position of the sensor in the drawer matches the corresponding sensor in the drawer cabinet and thus the drawer is closed. In a first alternative embodiment, the sensors for determining the state of the drawers (open or closed) are designed as optical sensors, the function being similar to the reed contacts. In a further alternative embodiment, the sensors are designed as electrical limit switches that emit a signal when the corresponding drawer is fully pushed in and thus closed.

The drawer cabinets 10 also have a display 6 which shows the state of the lock or the magnets 1 and 2, which can therefore be used to read whether the drawers of the drawer cabinet 10 are unlocked or locked.

Push buttons are attached to the drawer cabinet 10, with which the user can request the unlocking and locking of all drawers of a drawer cabinet 10. In the exemplary embodiment, the push buttons are combined in one unit with the display 6.

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The drawer cabinet 10 has an electronic circuit 3 that controls the magnets, operates the display 6, receives the signals from the reed sensors on the individual drawers and processes them into a logical signal and handles the communication with a higher-level control device 7. The above-mentioned signals are thus forwarded to the control device 7. A microprocessor is provided in the electronic circuit 3 that controls the above-mentioned logical processes.

In the embodiment of the arrangement shown in Figure 2, several drawer cabinets 10 are assigned to a control device 7, which acts as a master unit and controls all drawer cabinets 10. In the embodiment, data exchange is provided in coded form, so that the individual drawer cabinets 10 can be wired serially and the individual microprocessor only processes the signals corresponding to the code assigned to it. Likewise, the data of each microprocessor in the control device 7 can be identified as belonging to this drawer cabinet. The coding also serves to ensure data security, as it can make unauthorized intervention in the data line impossible. In the embodiment, the data line is designed according to the standard of a serial interface (RS 485), via which the coded data is sent.

Alternatively, the wiring can also be dedicated, with the control device 7 having its own wiring for each drawer cabinet. Here, too, the communication can be encrypted for reasons of data security.

The control device 7 comprises a microprocessor with which the following functions are carried out:

1. First, it is determined whether opening a cabinet

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is permissible at all, i.e. whether a user has authorized himself with the higher-level system unit 20 and has permission to open this drawer unit (entire drawer cabinet or individual drawer). A further technical condition can then be, for example, that only one cabinet may be unlocked and another cabinet is already unlocked. This would lead to the unlocking instruction on the individual drawer cabinet being rejected. The instruction to unlock can be sent by the higher-level system 2 0 if the user has identified himself here and thus a certain combination of drawer cabinets or individual drawers is released in accordance with his authorization. In this case, the microprocessor in the control device can be programmed in such a way that an additional condition is required here that certain drawers or entire drawer cabinets are at least closed - i.e. not necessarily locked - which is measured by the reed sensors on the drawers.

2. The control device 7 reports to the higher-level system unit 20 as soon as a drawer has been opened. In the simplest case, this information can only include the fact that a drawer on a cabinet has been opened. In the exemplary embodiment, however, it is provided that the information reported to the higher-level system unit 20 includes the time of opening and an identification of the opened drawer. Likewise, the closing of a drawer - measured by the reed sensors 4, 4' - is reported to the system unit with the time and identification of the drawer.

3. In the event of a power failure in the supply of the control device 7, the most important feature is the possibility of emergency opening. This event is reported to the higher-level system unit 20. For this purpose, the control device has a battery unit 9 in order to

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to be able to carry out certain emergency functions during the power failure.

4. If all drawers in a drawer cabinet have been closed for a predetermined time (300 seconds in the example), all drawers in this drawer cabinet will be locked.

A switch 11 for emergency opening in the event of a power failure is provided on the control device 7, which switch is provided with a mechanical key in the exemplary embodiment. Alternatively, an input device for a code can also be provided for this purpose.

The operating status and corresponding details are displayed on a display unit 12 of the control device 7.

In the exemplary embodiment, the data exchange between the control device 7 and the higher-level system unit 20 is also carried out in coded form using a serial data line, whereby appropriate standards (e.g. RS 485) can be used. In an alternative embodiment, the data exchange between the control device 7 and the higher-level system unit (access control device 20) is carried out via a data network (intranet or Internet) in accordance with the data transmission protocol provided there (e.g. TCP/IP).

In the exemplary embodiment, the higher-level system unit 20 is an access control device, and the entire arrangement with the control device 7 and all drawer cabinets is located in a closed area, access to which is controlled by the access control device. According to known methods, magnetic cards, chip cards, mechanical keys, transponder cards, input devices for a personal code or other means with a key function can be provided for access control.

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The access control device logs access to the area and - according to the present invention - also all opening, closing, unlocking and locking processes on a drawer or on a drawer cabinet. Furthermore, the power failure reported by the control device and the emergency opening are logged, including the time of the process. This logging ensures that access to a storage unit (e.g. drawer or entire drawer cabinet) can be assigned to an individual person who just had access to the area.

In the embodiment described, the locking and unlocking of the drawer cabinets is described as a whole, while the detection of the opening and closing of a drawer by the reed sensor 4, 4' is provided for each drawer individually. For the locking and unlocking by the magnets 2, 3 with the aid of a locking strip, reference is made to the applicant's publication EP-A-I 035 2 85, the version of which is referred to here by reference and the essential content of which is presented again at the end of the description - as an example for the second embodiment therein. The system can, however, be designed in such a way that an individual locking and unlocking mechanism is provided for each drawer, that the magnets 1, 2 are therefore present for each drawer and move a locking strip for this drawer or mechanize another locking and unlocking process (e.g. a locking bolt for each drawer). In the case of a locking strip, use can be made of the additional mechanisation for power failure protection according to EP-A-I 035 285.

In the present embodiment, the magnets 1, 2 are supplied by a capacitor which is charged by a voltage transmitted by the control device 7.

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This voltage is also used to supply the electronic circuit 3, including the microprocessor on the drawer cabinet. The function of the capacitors is to be able to design the voltage supply from the control device 7 to the individual drawer cabinets in such a way that only the electronics, the supply of the reed sensors 4, 4 ¹ and a charging process for the capacitors are carried out, but not the movement of the magnets 1 and 2. Although this means that the magnets 1 and 2 can only be moved when the capacitors are recharged after the last movement, the unlocking and locking of the drawers or an entire drawer cabinet is not intended to be carried out in frequent succession.

The following describes - as an example - the mechanisation of the closure strip (from EP-A-I 035 285):

The drawer cabinet 101 shown in Figure 3 has an induction sensor 112 in the area of the upper end of the locking profile 107 of its central locking on the side opposite the lifting magnet 110. Below the induction sensor 112 there is a pivoting

Flag 113, which is connected to the driver 128 in an articulated manner. Depending on the position of the two switching strips 126, 127 (see also Fig. 4) of the central locking mechanism, the flag 113 is located directly under the induction sensor 112 - and thus in the detection range of the sensor - or next to it, as shown in Fig. 3. In the embodiment shown, the flag 113 is located under the flag in the release position of the central locking mechanism and next to it in the blocking position. In addition to a magnetic sensor as described above, a mechanical button or an optical

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Sensor, such as a fork light barrier, can be used.

Between the two switching strips 126, 127, a switching pin 132 is arranged on the driver 128, which interacts with an eccentric 152 of the switching rod 151 shown in section. The switching rod 151 can be actuated via a cylinder lock arranged on a front side of the drawer cabinet (not shown).

On the same side as the induction sensor 112, in the area of the lower end of the locking profile 107, there are two lifting magnets 10' and 10'', each of which is connected to a slide 114', 114''. Each of the slides 114', 114'' has a driver that engages between the two switching strips. When one of the two single-acting lifting magnets 110', 110'' is actuated, the switching strips 126, 127 can be moved from one end position to a second end position by means of one of the drivers.

The upper lifting magnet 110' can thus move the switching strips 126, 127 into their blocking position and the lower magnet HO'' can move them into their release position. The other lifting magnet is then de-energized and is driven along with the respective movement via its carrier.

The induction sensor 112 and the two lifting magnets belong to a power failure protection device 109, which is provided with its own, mains-independent power supply (not shown) - namely a buffer accumulator. The power failure protection device can ensure that unauthorized access to drawers 103 is not possible even in the event of a power failure.

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Based on the position of the flag 113, the induction sensor 112 can be used to determine whether the switch strips 126, 127 are in the locked or released position. The induction sensor 112 sends a corresponding signal to a control unit (not shown) installed in the drawer cabinet. In the event of a power failure, the components of the fail-safe device - and thus also the control unit - are supplied with power from the buffer accumulator.

Due to various circumstances, the switch strips 126, 127 can be in their release position during a power failure, for example because they were already arranged in this position before the power failure. However, they can also be moved into this position after the power failure has occurred by one or more drawers 103 that were only pushed in after the power failure. If, during a power failure, the induction sensor 112 determines from the position of the flag 113 that the switch strips 126, 127 are in the release position, the upper lifting magnet 110' (from the buffer accumulator) is energized. This then carries out a stroke, whereby its driver moves the switch strips 126, 127 into their locked position. All drawers 103 of the drawer cabinet are thus secured against unauthorized access, although the lifting magnets of the locks 108 assigned to the individual drawers 103 are now de-energized.

In order to be able to use the drawer cabinet 101 during a power failure, it can be provided that the switch strips 126, 127 can be operated via the central mechanical lock. These can be moved from their locked position to their

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The lock allows the switching strips to be moved from their locked position to the released position by rotating the eccentric 152 via the switching pin 132 and the driver 128. In this state, all drawers in the drawer cabinet are accessible - without restriction to certain user groups. Keys for the central lock should therefore only be given to selected people.

In order to move the switch strips 126, 127 into their release position after the power supply from the mains is restored, the second lifting magnet HO'' is energized by the control system, causing it to perform a corresponding stroke. The first lifting magnet, which is now de-energized, is moved along with this movement via the switch strip 114' and its driver. In addition, the control system now switches all locks 108 of those drawers 103 that had assumed this position before the power failure to "lock". Of course, the other locks release their respective assigned drawers.

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Claims (10)

1. Security system for storage, especially of security-relevant material with
at least one storage unit ( 10 ), in particular with a plurality of secured drawer cabinets, each with a plurality of lockable compartments, which have at least one locking device ( 1 , 2 , 3 ) adjustable into a locking position and an unlocking position and at least one compartment position sensor ( 4 , 4 ') for determining whether a compartment of the storage unit ( 10 ) is opened or closed,
wherein each storage unit ( 10 ) is assigned at least one locking request device ( 6 ) for requesting the locking of the respective storage unit ( 10 ) associated compartments,
a control device ( 7 ) for controlling the closure devices ( 1 , 2 , 3 ) and for receiving the data from the fan position sensors ( 4 , 4 '), and
an access control device ( 20 ) connected to the control device ( 7 ) for determining whether the compartments of a storage unit ( 10 ) may be unlocked by the locking device ( 1 , 2 , 3 ), wherein the access control device ( 20 ) has a recording device which can at least record when a compartment in the respective storage units ( 10 ) was opened and at what time, according to the data of the respective compartment position sensors ( 4 , 4 '),
wherein the control device ( 7 ) forwards the data of the compartment position sensors ( 4 , 4 ') to the access control device ( 20 ),
characterized in that - the access control device ( 20 ) is designed to automatically lock the compartments of a storage device ( 10 ) when all compartment position sensors ( 4 , 4 ') of the respective storage unit ( 10 ) have detected for a predetermined time that all compartments of this storage unit ( 10 ) were closed and - the control device ( 7 ) has an emergency power supply ( 15 ) in order to be able to open or close the storage units ( 10 ) even in the event of a power failure, wherein the control device ( 7 ) is designed such that the state of the power failure and the use of the emergency power supply ( 15 ) is reported to the access control device ( 20 ) after the power failure and the access control device ( 20 ) is designed such that it records the state of the power failure and the use of the emergency power supply ( 15 ). 2. Security system for storage according to claim 1, characterized in that the control device ( 7 ) is connected to one of the storage units ( 10 ) and forms a main unit (master unit) with this, while the other storage units form subordinate units (slave units). 3. A storage security system according to claim 1 or 2, characterized by an indicator device ( 6 ) on each storage unit ( 10 ) for indicating whether the compartments of the respective storage unit ( 10 ) are locked or not. 4. Security system for storage according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that for at least one storage unit ( 10 ) each compartment is assigned a compartment position sensor ( 4 , 4 ') which determines which compartment of the storage unit ( 10 ) is open and the access control device ( 20 ) is set up such that it records which compartment of the respective storage unit ( 20 ) was open at which time and each compartment is assigned a locking device ( 1 , 2 , 3 ) which can be adjusted to a locked position and an unlocked position. 5. Security system for storage according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the access control device ( 20 ) is set up such that the compartments of a storage device ( 10 ) are only unlocked by the locking device ( 1 , 2 , 3 ) when the compartments of no other storage unit are opened or that the access control device ( 20 ) is set up such that the compartments of a storage device ( 10 ) are only unlocked by the locking device ( 1 , 2 , 3 ) when predetermined compartments of the corresponding and/or another storage unit are closed. 6. Security system for storage according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the compartment position sensors ( 4 , 4 ') are designed as reed contacts which are mounted in the pull-out rails ( 5 ) of drawers. 7. A security system for storage according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the locking device comprises magnets ( 1 , 2 ) with which a lock is moved, the locking device comprising capacitors for operating the magnets ( 1 , 2 ), the capacitors being supplied with electrical energy by the control device ( 7 ), and a power source circuit supplied by the capacitors for operating the magnets ( 1 , 2 ). 8. Security system for storage according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that - the access control device ( 20 ) is connected to a personal identification device with which access to the security system can be controlled and released and - using the data of the personal identification system, access to individual storage units ( 10 ) and/or individual compartments of storage units ( 10 ) can be selectively granted or blocked for certain persons. 9. Security system for storage according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the control device ( 7 ) has a secured emergency opening device ( 17 ) in the event of failure of the access control device ( 20 ), with which all storage units ( 10 ) can be unlocked, wherein the emergency opening device ( 17 ) is secured with a lock, a coding device or a similarly acting device. 10. Security system for storage according to one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the storage units ( 10 ) have microprocessors ( 3 ) which carry out the data exchange with the control device ( 7 ), wherein the data transmission between the control device ( 7 ) and the access control device ( 20 ) and/or the control device ( 7 ) and the storage units ( 10 ) is carried out in coded form and/or the data exchange between the control device ( 7 ) and the access control device ( 20 ) is carried out within a data network.