GB2253224A

GB2253224A - Automatic security entrance with revolving doors and metal detector.

Info

Publication number: GB2253224A
Application number: GB9204153A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Rinaldo Rinaldi
Original assignee: Saima Sicurezza SpA
Current assignee: Saima Sicurezza SpA
Priority date: 1991-02-28
Filing date: 1992-02-27
Publication date: 1992-09-02
Also published as: DE4206070A1; ITAR910003A0; FR2673440A1; IT1249799B; ES2046104A1; GB9204153D0; ITAR910003A1; ES2046104B1

Description

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AUTOMATIC SECURITY ENTRANCE LOBBY WITH REVOLVING DOORS AND METAL DETECTOR The invention relates to an automatic, security entrance lobby with revolving doors and metal detector, designed to safeguard the access to premises such as banks and jewellers' that require protection from the entrance of armed persons.

Premises that need safeguarding from the admittance of armed persons have entrances equipped with detectors of metal and, more particularly, weapons (metal detectors) which prevent persons from entering those premises when their passing through the supervised area causes the electromagnetic field to alter. This alteration in electromagnetic field is picked up by the metal detector, when it exceeds a certain level which indicates the passage of a weapon through the area.

When the metal detector alarm goes off, it acivates mechanical or electromechanical devices which then prevent the supposedly armed person from entering the protected premises. This consists of blocking of the entrance door on premises with interacting double-door units; the blocking of the rotating leaves in revolving door units; the blocking of the rotating cylinder in singleentrance tubular entrance booths or lobbies; as well as activating the alarm systems which call the attention of the operator. This is generally an armed guard who makes the person who caused the alarm deposit whatever triggered the alarm in the container provided, and then checks that the lobby does not contain any weapons which are beyond the line of action of the metal detector and could be picked up by the ill-intentioned person on a subsequent passage through the lobby, when the metal detector would not react. If the guard recognizes the person who set off the alarm, he may use his discretion to let that person enter and then reset the metal detector to normal operation by a manual command on a controlling keyboard.

1 2 - This type of surveillance system requires a person to be present to intervene every time the metal detector sounds an alarm, whether true or false, in order to allow access through the supervised doors and, at the same time, prevent the entry of armed persons.

Manufacturers of entrance lobbies using metal detectors to safeguard the entrance to protected premises from armed persons therefore wish to make automatic security entrance lobbies, that is lobbies which are capable of sending a person or persons, who ser- off the alarm, back to the entrance to the lobby from outside the protected premises and which automatically check the transit way through the lobby, without the need for attendant personnel, and then, still automatically, set the controls back to normal.

Such lobbies bave very low running costs and are therefore suitable for the protection of small branches of banks, giving peace of mind to members of staff inside the protected premises, for which reason they are considered to be particularly useful.

A known type of automatic security entrance lobby, which is the subject of Italian Patent No. 1,203,757 consists of a lobby with two, interlocked, hinged doors. The lobby is equipped with a fixed metal detector which, when the alarm sounds, keeps the door that opens into the premises shut; then a message asks persons inside the lobby to return through the entrance door, which is then shut whilst an electromagnetic check on the contents of the lobby is carried out to see if any metal object has been left there; if this proves negative, the lobby returns to its normal mode of operation.

Such a system has the disadvantage that, when the alarm goes off, people inside the lobby must go back out of the entrance following instructions given on a recorded message which can be misunderstood or ignored.

1 t This, in turn, causes a noticeable slowing down in the flow of persons through the supervised entrance way.

A second system, which is the subject of the Applicant's Italian Patent No. 1,180,574, consists of a lobby with revolving doors and a metal detector which has one of its coils inside the central column of the revolving doors and the other coil behind the curved panel which lines the transit way near the entrance so that the line of surveillance is radial. In this system, when the metal detector is activated, the controls react by first stopping the revolving door unit, and then by reversing its direction of rotation, thus forcing back to the entrance the person who was passing through. At the same time, the door leaf that has gone beyond the line of surveillance of the metal detector turns back, sweeping any object that has been left inside, back to the entrance. In this way, the would-be robber cannot deposit a weapon beyond the line of surveillance of the metal detect(; and, having set off the alarm the first time,' return to pick it up on passing through again, when no alarm would be given, and enter the premises armed.

This last system is reliable and simple to operate, but it has a serious disadvatage in the inconvenience caused to people who happen to be in the revolving door unit when there is a false alarm because they are forced backwards to the entrance by the revolving leaves. This is particularly troublesome for people who are slow-moving or get around with difficulty and who may fall or hurt themselves as a result of the revolving unit pushing them backwards.

The present invention provides a way of overcoming the disadvantages of known automatic security systems and, in particular, could be considered an improvement in the system of the Applicant's Italian Patent No. 1,180, 574 even though it is based on a different, Ik p logical solution.

According to the present invention there is provided an automatic security entrance lobby with revolving doors and metal detector for safeguarding access to premises requiring protection from the entrance of armed persons, comprising:

- an entrance lobby having a floor, a ceiling, walls and a revolving door unit whose leaves, when rotating, brush the surfaces of the walls defining transit ways through the lobby and also the floor and the ceiling of the lobby in order to carry along any objects left therein; - a metal detector acting radially at the entrance to the lobby with a first coil, either transmitter or receiver, sited in a central column of the revolving door unit, and a second coil behind a fixed panel defining a wall of the entrance transit way to the protected premises; a sliding panel side by side with a wall defining a transit way and capable of being activated to close an access opening from the lobby to the protected premises whenever the metal detector gives an alarm; and - an electronic control unit which controls drive means for the revolving door unit and drive means for the sliding panel and which, upon receipt of an alarm from the metal detector, causes the sliding panel to be moved to close the access opening from the lobby to the protected premises and causes the revolving door unit to continue moving in the same direction in which the revolving door unit moves to permit passage through the entrance transit way to the protected premises, whereby the person or object causing the alarm is automatically moved past the closed access from the lobby to the protected premises and returned to the access opening into the lobby from outside the protected premises.

In the automatic security entrance lobby according to the present invention, the revolving door unit, which may or, may not be constantly in motion, always rotates in the same direction when people pass through, even when there is an alarm, either real or false. Therefore, people entering the premises are directed back to the street entrance by completing a circle, instead of being forced back on themselves, making it much easier for slow or handicapped people and those unaccustomed to this type of entrance lobby. When the alarm sounds the revolving door unit continues rotating and simultaneously the access opening into the protected premises" is shut off by a sliding curved panel, which is normally hidden behind the curved walls which define the controlled access way.

On the activation of the metal detector, this panel or door is slid to close off the access opening to the protected premises and remains closed long enough to allow the revolving door unit to turn far enough to prevent anybody or thing setting off the alarm from passing through the access opening from the lobby into the protected area.

Subsequently, in the absence of further alarms, this panel or door returns to its previous position, allowing people to enter and leave the premises normally. If another alarm sounds after that which has slid the door panel to its "closed" position, the memory system linked to the angle of rotation of the revolving door unit, will clear so that the panel stays closed for a time sufficient to steer the person or object which has activated the metal detector alarm, past the entrance to the protected premises, without leaving the lobby.

The lobby of the present invention thus takes advantage of the ability of the revolving door unit to continue moving in the same direction to protect the premises to be safeguarded from the unwanted admittance of armed persons without forcing the occupants of the 1 lobby to move backwards. The curved sliding panel, which blocks off access to the premises in the event of an alarm, rem-ains closed whilst the revolving door unit goes beyond the closed off access, preferably completing a full circle, and so taking the person and/or thing, responsible for activating the metal detector out of the lobby.

With regard to the means driving the revolving door unit (if motorized) and the sliding curved panel, these can be of a traditional nature, i.e. an electric motor which drives a pump that works an hydraulic motor, or some equivalent device. It is, however, preferable for the sliding curved panel, when moving to close off the access to the protected premises, to have the same angular velocity as the revolving door unit and for the revolving door unit to stop if the sliding curved panel is blocked and unable to reach the closed position.

The reverse movement of the sliding curved panel to reopen the access into the protected premises may be powered or may, for example, make use of return springs.

The electronic control circuitry, which co-operates with the metal detector, not only controls the sending of messages and signals in the event of an alarm, but also drives and controls the movement of the revolving door unit and the sliding curved panel. The movement of the former must be dependent on the movement of the latter, and whether this is open or closed is indicated by electronic switches. This means that the revolving door unit will be stopped if the sliding panel, during an alarm, is prevented from reaching the "closed" position, as indicated by a detector. The movement of the revolving door unit relative to that of the sliding curved panel must, at all times, be such that it is impossible to transfer any weapon from the compartment in which the person or thing that has set off the metal detector alarm is located, into the protected area.

The present invention will be further understood from the following detailed description, which is made, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 shows diagrammatically a plan view of an entrance lobby in accordance with the present invention in section through a horizontal plane, showing the revolving door unit, the coils of the metal detector, the support structure with the entrance and exit openings to and from the lobby in alignment with each other, and the sliding curved panel in the "open" position; Figure 2 shows the entrance lobby of Figure 1 with the sliding curved panel in the "closed" position; Figure 3 is a block diagram of one embodiment of electronic control for the entrance lobby of Figures 1 and 2; and Figure 4 is a block diagram of an alternative embodiment of electronic control for the entrance lobby of Figures 1 and 2.

In the drawings, 1 indicates the supporting structure of the lobby; 2 the leaves of the revolving door unit; 3 is the tubular central column of the revolving door unit; 4 the first coil, either transmitting or receiving, of the metal detector, whilst 5 shows the second coil located close to the entrance opening 6 into the lobby from outside the protected premises.

The two coils 4 and 5 define the radial line 7, which is the line of surveillance where the metal detector has maximum sensitivity.

8 and 9 represent the side walls. of the entrance lobby along which the leaves 2 of the revolving door unit sweep as the unit revolves. In Figures 1 and 2 of the drawings these leaves 2 are shown as being straight, but they could take other forms, such as an "S" or "L" W shape. The side walls 8 and 9 are integral with the supporting structure of the lobby, which is anchored in the doorway by the walls'10 of the building, or other fixed structures of equivalent type.

11 indicates the curved panel, whose sliding movement is guided by the fixed structures 12 and 13 at either side of the access opening 20 from the lobby to the protected premises, which keep the sliding curved panel 11 in place.

14 and 15 indicate the presence detectors or.sensors, which are located on the fixed guide structures 12 and 13 and which are positioned to pick up the presence of the sliding curved panel 11 when it is in the "closed" and glopen" positions, respectively.

16 indicates the element or actuator which actuates the detectors 14 and 15 and which is sited towards the front edge of the sliding curved panel 11.

AA' and M' indicate paths through the lobby to enter and leave the protected premises, with, in this particular embodiment, the access openings 6 and 20 diametrically opposite each other.

In the practical illustrative block diagrams serving as examples of the logical operation of the lobby, EC indicates the electronic control unit, MD the metal detector in which the coils 4 and 5 are its electromagnetoelectric transducers, 14 and 15 again indicate the sliding curved panel 11 "closed" and "open" detectors, MT indicates the motor unit, in the case of a powered revolving door unit, which commands and regulates the motion of the revolving door unit, GMT the drive mechanism of the revolving door unit and RRT the revolving door unit rotation detector.

FR indicates a clutch unit able when engaged to transmit the motion of the motor unit MT from the revolving - 9 door unit drive mechanism GMT to the panel drive mechanism GMA, which sets the sliding curved panel 11 moving.

1 RRA meanwhile indicates the sliding curved panel 11 movement detector unit, which provides a signal indicative of the movement of the sliding curved panel in terms of a rotation about the centre of the revolving door unit.

Indicated in Figure 4 mechanisms and MA indicates are two separate drive the motor unit operating on the panel 11 while GMA indicates the panel drive mechanism. During normal operation the sliding curved panel 11 is at rest, the opening 20 giving access to the protected premises is open and the revolving door unit turns in one direction, continuously, or only in the presence of persons passing through as signalled by infrared detectors, sensors of pressure on suitable diaphragms or by other systems within the known art and widely used in the technology of metal detector-using lobbies or booths.

Persons entering follow the path W, persons leaving the protected, premises follow the path W. These paths may be made virtually straight, or with the entry and exit directions forming any variable angle to the centre, depending on how the premises are constructed and the corresponding opening in which the lobby is inserted.

When a weapon, or a metallic body equivalent to a weapon, crosses the line of surveillance 7, the metal detector is excited and the electronic control circuit commands the sliding curved panel 11 to move in an arcuate path constituting part of a rotation about the centre of the revolving door unit, while the revolving door unit continues to turn in one direction, until the panel 11 reaches the "closed" position defined by the contact or proximity of the presence detector 14 with the corresponding element or actuator 16 on the panel 11.

This is brought about in one embodiment by engaging the clutch unit FR which rotationally couples the revolving door unit drive mechanism with the panel drive mechnism so that, in the case of an alarm, the motion of the revolving door unit and that of the sliding curved panel 11 are linked together.

In the second case, exemplified in Figure 4, the separate motor MA of the sliding curved panel 11 is started.

This motor actuates the drive mechanism GMA of the sliding curved panel, whose motion is detected by the sliding curved panel movement detector RRA which sends a signal to the electronic control circuitry EC which compares that signal with the signal from the revolving door unit rotation detector RRT.

These two movements of the revolving door unit and of the sliding curved panel 11 are controlled since the speed of the sliding curved panel, given as an angular movement about the centre of the revolving door unit, must not be less than the speed of rotation of the revolving door unit. Even more importantly, the sliding curved panel must not stop before the access opening 20 is fully closed to prevent the entry into the protected premises of armed persons or even only of weapons passed to illintentioned persons who have previously entered unarmed into the protected premises.

The sliding curved panel 11 stays in the "closed" position until the revolving door unit has turned through an angle, normally of about 2701, sufficient to take the person or thing that has set the alarm of f past the opening 20, after which the sliding curved panel 11 moves back to the "open" position, unless a new alarm occurs. The control unit and hence the lobby follow an operating logic which keeps the sliding curved panel 11 in the "closed" state for an interval of time which is recounted from zero at each alarm. In other words, whenever an alarm occurs before the effect of a previous alarm ceases, the count in the memory representing the roation of the revolving door unit is automatically reset, and the sliding curved panel 11 moves back to the open position only after the revolving door unit has turned through a predetermined angle counting from the last alarm.

Structurally, the leaves 2 of the revolving door unit are of such a width as to skim, during rotation, against the walls 8, 9 and the panel 11, when in the "closed" position, and almost equal in height to the distance from the walking base to the internal ceiling of the lobby in order that, during rotation, the transit way is kept clear and that objects left beyond the line of surveillance 7 of the metal detector are carried or swept along towards the entrance access 6 into the lobby from outside the protected premises.

The lobby of the present invention will be equipped with an acoustic security address system to relay messages to the occupants of the lobby in the event of an alarm, in addition to warning devices for personnel inside the protected premises when criminals attempt to interfere with the lobby, a-- for example by placing an obstacle in the opening 20 to' prevent the sliding curved panel 11 from reaching the "closed" position. The control circuitry EC will be equipped with controls, so that, for example, it is possible, from within the premises, to activate owing to "closed" position during an alarm, by putting it into reverse in order to take the person or persons trapped in the lobby back to the entrance access 6.

the revolving door unit, when this is locked the inability of the panel 11 to reach the In other structural embodiments employing the same operating logic and hence coming within the same invention, it is possible to use a revolving door unit which is pushed round by the person passing through; the sliding curved panel 11 may be divided into two small panels which when at rest are located one behind the wall 8 and the othbr behind the wall 9 and, upon excitation of the metal detector, are both made to converge, simultaneously or otherwise, towards the centre of the opening 20 which has to be closed off.

A variety of different means and methods known in the art may be used when setting up the lobby for the mechanisms for driving the revolving door unit and the panel or panels 11, their guide means, the detectors or sensors which signal the open or closed state, the devices for interrelating the speeds of the revolving door unit and the panel 11 when an alarm goes off and the opening 20 is being closed, and the means that give stability to the panel or panels 11 in the "closed" position and those for reversing them when the alarm stops in order to reset the normal operating conditions 1 - 13

Claims

1. An automatic security entrance lobby with revolving doors and metal detector for safeguarding access to premises requiring protection from the entrance of armed persons, comprising:

an entrance lobby having a floor, a ceiling, walls and a revolving door unit whose leaves, when rotating, brush the surfaces of the walls defining transit ways through the lobby and also the floor and the ceiling of the lobby in order to carry along any objects left therein; - a metal detector acting radially at the entrance to the lobby with a first coil, either transmitter or receiver, sited in a central column of the revolving door unit, and a second coil behind a fixed panel defining a wall of the entrance transit way to the protected premises; - a sliding panel side by side with a wall defining a transit way and capable of being activated to close an access opening from the lobby to the protected premises whenever the metal detector gives an alarm; and an electronic control unit which controls drive means for the revolving door unit and drive means for the sliding panel and which, upon receipt of an alarm from the metal detector, causes the sliding panel to be moved to close the access opening from the lobby to the protected premises and causes the revolving door unit to continue moving in the same direction in which the revolving door unit moves to permit passage through the entrance transit way to the protected premises, whereby the person or object causing the alarm is automatically moved past the closed access from the lobby to the protected premises and returned to the access opening into the lobby from outside the protected premises.

2. An automatic security entrance lobby according to Claim 1, wherein the movement of the sliding panel is guided by fixed structures which are located either side of the access opening from the lobby to the protected premises and which hold the sliding panel in position.

3. An automatic security entrance lobby according to Claim 1 or Claim 2 which includes presence detectors arranged to be excited by the sliding panel when in the "closed" and "open" positions respectively.

4. An automatic security entrance lobby according to Claim 2 wherein presence detectors are sited on either side of the access opening from the lobby to the protected premises in the fixed structures of the lobby and positioned so that they can be activated by the sliding panel.

5. An automatic security entrance lobby according to any one of Claims 1 to 4 wherein the revolving door unit is rotated constantly.

6. An automatic security entrance lobby according to any one of Claims 1 to 4 wherein the revolving door unit is rotated only in the presence of occupants in the lobby.

7. An automatic security entrance lobby according to any one of Claims 1 to 6 further comprising means for stopping rotation of the revolving door unit in the event that the sliding panel is prevented from reaching the closed position.

8. An automatic security entrance lobby according to any one of the preceding Claims wherein the revolving door unit rotates at an angular velocity related to the velocity of movement of the sliding panel to the closed position.

9. An automatic security entrance lobby according to any one of the preceding Claims wherein the electronic control unit includes operating logic which keeps the sliding panel in the closed state for an interval of time which is recounted from zero at each new alarm.

10. An automatic security entrance lobby according to any one of the preceding Claims wherein a motor governed by the electronic control unit controls the movement of the revolving door unit during an alarm as a function of the velocity of movement of the sliding panel.

11. An automatic security entrance lobby according to Claim 1 which further includes a revolving door unit rotation detector and a sliding panel movement detector, both providing information to the electronic control unit for comparison within the electronic control unit.

12. An automatic security entrance lobby according to Claim 1 wherein the revolving door unit is manually operated by occupants of the lobby.

13. An automatic security entrance lobby according to any one of the preceding Claims wherein the sliding panel is comprised of two panels, each of which in its standby position is sited behind and side by side with a wall defining a transit way, the two panels being moved whenever the metal detector gives an alarm to close by converging on the centre of the access opening from the lobby to the protected premises.

14. An automatic security entrance lobby according to Claim 13 wherein the two panels converge simultaneously on the centre of the access opening from the lobby to the protected premises.

15. An automatic security entrance lobby substantially as hereinbefore described, with reference to the accompanying drawings.