ITMI20122140A1 - ELECTRONIC SYSTEM FOR EASY ACCESS FOR MANAGEMENT OF HANDLING OF AT LEAST ONE MOBILE BARRIER - Google Patents

Description

EASY ACCESS ELECTRONIC SYSTEM FOR THE MANAGEMENT OF THE HANDLING OF AT LEAST ONE MOBILE BARRIER

The present invention refers to an electronic system with easy access for managing the movement of at least one mobile barrier, moved by means of an electric actuator.

By mobile barrier we mean gates with swing or sliding doors, overhead or sectional doors or gates, barriers for vehicular transits, pedestrian doors with swing or sliding doors, traffic bollards or any other selectively removable element of obstacle to transit through an opening. In the management of the movement of a mobile barrier, the use of electronic systems comprising at least one central unit able to control the activation of the actuators that move the mobile elements that make up the barrier is known.

These central units generally require prior programming in order to set the movement parameters of the mobile barrier.

In these known electronic systems, the movement parameters can be subsequently modified during maintenance or repairs through the intervention of specialized technical personnel equipped with instruments suitable for establishing a wired connection or in any case equipped with software means specifically programmed to interface with the Central unity.

Furthermore, also for updating the software means for controlling the central unit itself, a specific proprietary wired connection is generally required, or special devices equipped with software means specifically programmed to interface with the operating system of the central unit.

Basically, with the electronic management systems for the movement of a barrier known today, even interventions of mere programming, diagnostics or ordinary maintenance of the central unit require the intervention of specialized personnel equipped with the appropriate instrumentation.

The purpose of the present invention is to obviate the aforementioned drawbacks and in particular to devise an electronic system for managing the movement of at least one mobile barrier which can be easily accessed in order to carry out programming, diagnostic or routine maintenance operations without the need for dedicated instrumentation.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an electronic system for managing the movement of at least one mobile barrier whose access does not require a wired connection or proprietary software interface means.

A further object of the present invention is to provide an electronic system for managing the movement of at least one mobile barrier which makes the intervention of specialized personnel superfluous in the case of setting, diagnostic or routine maintenance operations, since these operations can possibly be carried out by remote.

These and other purposes according to the present invention are achieved by providing an electronic system for managing the movement of at least one mobile barrier as set forth in claim 1.

Further characteristics of the electronic system are the subject of the dependent claims.

The characteristics and advantages of an electronic system for managing the movement of at least one mobile barrier according to the present invention will be more evident from the following, exemplary and non-limiting description, referring to the attached schematic drawing which shows a preferential embodiment of the system electronic for managing the movement of at least one mobile barrier according to the present invention

With reference to the figure, an electronic system is shown for managing the movement of at least one mobile barrier, indicated as a whole with 10.

The electronic system 10 for managing the movement of at least one mobile barrier comprises a central unit 11 adapted to control the activation of at least one actuator 12 of the electric type which moves at least one mobile element (not shown) that makes up the barrier, such as for example a door.

The mobile element can be moved by the actuator 12 according to a swing or sliding movement according to the type of the mobile barrier.

The central unit 11 is also connected to a plurality of peripheral units 13,14 for collecting the opening / closing commands of the mobile barrier and information relating to the presence of obstacles in the movement area of the barrier.

The at least one electric actuator 12 and the peripheral units 13,14 are connected to the central unit directly or, according to an alternative embodiment not illustrated, through a special electric network for the exchange of data and, possibly, the transmission of power supply.

The central unit 11 also comprises software means 16 for setting the parameters and managing the movement of the mobile barrier.

According to the present invention, the central unit 11 comprises at least one interface 15 for realizing at least one network access via the air (wireless) to the software means 16 of the central unit 11.

In particular, the at least one interface 15 for over-the-air network access is of the Wi-Fi type, ie it operates according to the IEEE 802.11 transmission protocols for wireless access to a local network.

Alternatively or in addition, the at least one over-the-air network access interface 15 is of the GSM, GPRS, UMTS or other telecommunications system for data transfer based on cellular mobile phone standards.

For the exchange of information through the local and / or wireless mobile telephone network to which the at least one interface 15 over the air allows access, the software means 16 of the central unit 11 advantageously comprise means for interfacing to the network operating according to HTTP (HyperText Transfer Protocol), at the application layer, and TCP (Transmission Control Protocol or transmission control protocol), at the data packet transport layer.

Furthermore, the software means 16 are such as to create a Web server, providing a hypertextual structure of documents (Web pages) accessible through any Web Browser or a navigation program which, relying on the HTTP network protocol, allows access the contents of these documents as well as an interaction with them.

It is thus possible to interface with the software means 16 residing on the central unit 11 by means of any electronic processing device 20 equipped with an interface 21 for access via the air of the type Wi-Fi and / or GSM, GPRS, UMTS and so on as well as software means (not illustrated) comprising a specific program for interfacing with the Web server residing in the central unit, such as for example a Web browser.

By way of wholly exemplary and non-limiting example, the electronic processing device 20 can be a personal computer, a palmtop, a multimedia mobile phone (smartphone) or a tablet PC.

Advantageously, the central unit 11 additionally comprises a connection interface (not shown) to an ethernet network for an alternative access to the software means 16 of the central unit 11, for example in the event of a malfunction of the wireless access.

In this case, the electronic processing device 20 is preferably also provided with an interface for connection to an ethernet network.

The operation of the electronic system 10 for managing the movement of at least one mobile barrier according to the present invention is as follows. Through the electronic processing device 20 it is possible to access the local and / or wireless mobile telephone network made available by the at least one interface 15 for over-the-air access present on the central unit II, possibly after authenticating the device 20 in case the functionalities security of the wireless network, known to the state of the art, are active.

Thanks to the software means provided with a program for interfacing with the Web server residing on the electronic processing device 20, access is obtained to the data made available by the software means 16 residing on the central unit 11.

In this way it is possible to access the status information and the parameters of the central unit itself, being able to vary the settings of the movement parameters of the mobile barrier.

In fully exemplary and non-limiting terms, it is also possible to enter movement commands for the mobile barrier; updating the software means 16 residing on the central unit 11; as well as modifying the properties of the wireless network made available by the at least one interface 15 for over-the-air access present on the central unit 11.

In the specific case in which the electronic processing device 20 is a multimedia mobile phone or a tablet PC, the program for interfacing with the Web server can be a specific proprietary application for such devices, realized in such a way as to allow, in fully exemplary terms and not limitative, to enter movement commands to the barrier; updating the software means 16 residing on the central unit 11; update the configuration, change the settings of the movement parameters of the mobile barrier; activate specific diagnostic programs; access the history of the movements of the mobile barrier; enter on and off commands for any courtesy light present on the mobile barrier; block the mobile barrier so that it does not accept opening commands of any kind.

From the above description the characteristics of the electronic system for managing the movement of at least one mobile barrier object of the present invention are clear, as are the relative advantages.

In fact, the presence of an over-the-air access interface makes it easy to access the software means residing on the central unit, allowing programming or routine maintenance operations to be carried out. Furthermore, this access as well as the programming, diagnostics or ordinary maintenance operations can be operated, possibly even remotely, by means of any electronic device provided with a wireless interface and a program for interfacing with a Web server, which are widely used today.

It is therefore also possible for the user to be able to access these software means without the obligatory intervention of specialized personnel. In this way, configuration, diagnostics and routine maintenance operations can also be performed by the user himself.

Finally, it is clear that the electronic system for managing the movement of at least one mobile barrier thus conceived is susceptible of numerous modifications and variations, all of which are within the scope of the invention; furthermore, all the details can be replaced by technically equivalent elements. In practice, the materials used, as well as the dimensions, may be any according to the technical requirements.

Claims (11)

CLAIMS 1) Electronic system (10) for managing the movement of at least one mobile barrier comprising a central unit (11) able to control the activation of at least one actuator (12) for the movement of at least one mobile element of said mobile barrier , said central unit (11) being connected to at least a plurality of peripheral units (13,14) for the collection of opening / closing commands of the mobile barrier and information relating to the presence of obstacles in the movement area of said mobile barrier , said central unit (11) comprising software means (16) for managing the movement of said mobile barrier characterized by the fact that said central unit (11) comprises at least one interface (15) for realizing at least one over-the-air network access to said software means (16). 2) Electronic system (10) for managing the movement of at least one mobile barrier according to claim 1 characterized by the fact that said at least one interface (15) for over-the-air network access is of the type operating according to the IEEE 802.11 transmission protocols for wireless access to a local network. 3) Electronic system (10) for managing the movement of at least one mobile barrier according to claim 1 or 2, characterized by the fact that said at least one interface (15) for network access via the air is of the GSM, GPRS, UMTS or another telecommunications system for data transfer based on cellular mobile phone standards. 4) Electronic system (10) for managing the movement of at least one mobile barrier according to any one of claims 1 to 3, characterized by the fact that said software means (16) resident on said central unit (11) comprise means for interfacing with a local network operating according to the HTTP and TCP protocols. 5) Electronic system (10) for managing the movement of at least one mobile barrier according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized by the fact that said software means (16) are such as to create a Web server. 6) Electronic system (10) for managing the movement of at least one mobile barrier according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that said central unit (11) comprises at least one interface for connection to an ethernet network. 7) Electronic system (10) for managing the movement of at least one mobile barrier according to claim 5 or 6, characterized by the fact of comprising an electronic processing device (20) equipped with an interface (21) for access via the air and software means comprising a program for interfacing with said Web server residing in said central unit (11). 8) Electronic system (10) for managing the movement of at least one mobile barrier according to claim 7, characterized by the fact that said electronic processing device (20) comprises an interface for connection to an ethernet network. 9) Electronic system (10) for managing the movement of at least one mobile barrier according to claim 7 or 8, characterized by the fact that said interface program to said Web server is a Web browser. 10) Electronic system (10) for managing the movement of at least one mobile barrier according to claim 7 or 8, characterized by the fact that said program for interfacing with said Web server is a proprietary application for a multimedia mobile phone or tablet PC. 11) Electronic system (10) for managing the movement of at least one mobile barrier according to any one of claims 7 to 10, characterized by the fact that said electronic processing device (20) is selected from the group consisting of: - personal computer; - handheld; - multimedia mobile phone; And - tablet PC.