WO2005026649A1

WO2005026649A1 - Security device

Info

Publication number: WO2005026649A1
Application number: PCT/IL2004/000837
Authority: WO
Inventors: Joshua Mesinger
Original assignee: Joshua Mesinger
Priority date: 2003-09-12
Filing date: 2004-09-12
Publication date: 2005-03-24
Also published as: IL157900A0

Abstract

Secured checking cabin is disclosed, especially useful for preventing suicide terrorists from entering closed public regions, comprising; (a) an armored wall encompassing an area sufficient to accommodate a single standing up person, and having entrance and exit arrangements allowing passage for one person in an open state of said arrangements, and having an armored covering in a close state of said arrangements; (b) mechanism for preventing simultaneous open state of both said entrance and exit arrangements; (c) at least one metal detector or at least one detector capable of recognizing the presence of explosive substance in the area encompassed by the wall. A method for preventing suicide terrorists from entering closed public regions is also disclosed, comprising letting the public enter the closed region one by one, such that (a) each person is first entered a secured cabin capable of withstanding explosion of conventional explosives that may be hidden on the body, or carried in a hand luggage, of a single person, and having an entrance to the public and exit to the closed region, the entrance and the exit are prevented from being opened simultaneously ; (b) the entrance of the secured cabin is closed such that the person entered the cabin is captured inside the cabin without the presence of others; (c) the captured person is checked for the presence of hidden explosives; (d) the exit from the cabin to the closed region is opened only upon negative detection of explosives on a currently checked person.

Description

SECURITY DEVICE

Field of the invention

The present invention relates to the field of public security. More specifically it relates to the field of defending civil crowd from suicide terrorists who wear or carry explosive charge.

Background of the invention

During the period of the last few years there is a worldwide significant increase in 10 terror attacks involving suicide terrorists who carry explosive charges on their own body to blow themselves in a middle of civil crowd. Bitter short history in that field shows (and self-evidently conforms with the physical predictions) that the most murderous effect of such terror attacks is when occur inside closed crowded regions, such as many times exists in passenger buses, pubs, restaurants, lobby halls, and 15 the like. In such closed regions the blast effect of explosives is extreme and exhaustive, since most of their harmfully discharged energy remains at the closed area causing extreme blast and hit damages before it may pave its way out.

Current known methods for increasing public security in this field are based on security personnel positioned at the entrances and exits of public regions, for 20 checking out every person who wishes to enter. Such checking generally includes one or more of the following (depending on safeguard individual intuition and on headquarters instructions to which he is obliged): visual inspection, verbal questioning, ID certification, metal detector scanning, or scanning by other sensor and inspection instrumentation as well. These known methods may reduce the 25 chance of a terrorist to enter into closed places, however, several safeguards unfortunately paid with their own lives, and with the lives of others, while trying to prevent suicide terrorists from entrance.

30 Recently, public security specialists recommended to develop special doors and window panes that will replace regular ones in public places such as passenger buses or other closed constructions. Said special doors/windows will have quick release connections which in case of a sudden increase in inner air pressure of a closed place, will automatically and immediately be rejected from their frames to the 5 outwards, preventing the built of extreme blast pressures. The estimated expense for a conversion of a conventional passenger bus to become protected according to this solution is US$ 20,000.

Another recommendation given by public security specialists is to develop chemical shocker systems that will be automatically aligned and triggered for shocking 10 terrorists, upon recognition of explosives by means of artificial nose sensor.

As can be appreciated, any of said ways currently developed for complying with the threat of suicide terrorists does not give an entire solution, and each has its own advantages as well as disadvantages.

As shall become more apparent after reading the description of the present invention, 15 the present invention adopts the concept that safeguards should be eliminated from a direct contact with the crowed and with its individuals being subject to checking procedure.

Summary of the invention 20

The present invention relates to secured checking cabin especially useful for preventing suicide terrorists from entering closed public regions. The cabin comprising; (a) an armored wall (encompassing an area sufficient to accommodate a single standing up person, and having entrance and exit arrangements allowing passage for one person in an open state of said arrangements, and having an 25 armored covering in a close state of said arrangements; (b) mechanism for preventing simultaneous open state of both said entrance and exit arrangements; (c) at least one metal detector or at least one detector capable of recognizing the presence of explosive substance, in the area encompassed by the wall (or a combination thereof). 30 ln the context of the present invention the term "armored" when relates to a wall or to a barrier encompassing a predetermined area, is to say said wall (or barrier) are of a construction and material capable of withstanding explosion of 0.5 Kg explosive substance unit per a space unit of one cubic meter volume of said predetermined area, without letting the explosion damaging the outwards space laterally of said wall 5 (or barrier). The armored wall could be made of any material or combination of materials, in any suitable reinforcement construction, known in the art as withstanding explosion, and/or blast absorbing. Layers of such materials may be used as well. The wall or portions of it could be a part of a former construction, or may consist in part portions of such former construction (i.e. that is already existing in 10 the site to be defend).

Secured checking cabin according to this invention may further comprise an armored ceiling. However according to various embodiments of the device the cabin may have opened top, partially opened top, or a top covered with soft and light material i.e. a water resistant cloth which may protect from rain, however may cause no damage in 15 case of explosion inside the cabin. This is in order to direct at least a portion of possible blast and splinters, to be released toward direction were no person is expected or positioned, i.e. upwards. There may be designed in the cabin other openings, in different locations than in its top, for the same purpose of blast releasing. However, such openings should be terminated with appropriate channeling 20 directing the blast to a place were no person is positioned or expected.

In its various embodiments the cabin according to the present invention further comprises an armored floor as an integral part. However, when applicable, the existing floor upon which the cabin is positioned in the site to be defend, may be used as the floor of the cabin itself, which should, however, be effectively anchored 25 to the site existing construction, prior to use.

According to the preferred embodiment the open and exit arrangements make use of a common armored covering. According to this embodiment, the cabin is made of two cylindrical barriers, or semi cylindrical barriers (cylindrical barrier will hereinafter be referred to also as "cylinder") one inside the other. Both cylinders form a wall 30 encompassing an area sufficient to accommodate a single standing up person. The exterior cylinder has entrance opening and exit opening. The interior cylinder, serving as a common armored covering, has one opening sized as to match the size of the exit and entrance openings of the exterior cylinder, each at a time. Whenever the opening of the interior cylinder is brought to alignment with either the exit opening or the entrance opening of the exterior cylinder by a respective rotation between the interior and exterior cylinders, the other opening is necessarily being covered and blocked by the wall of the interior cylinder. Thus, a person who enters through the entrance opening, may not continue passing also through the exit opening until he 5 was checked up and found qualified to enter the defended public region, which enter enabling requires a respective rotation between the cylinder for bringing the opening of the interior cylinder into alignment with the exit opening of the exterior cylinder. The checking itself is taken when both entrance and exit openings are blocked, i.e. when the opening of the interior cylinder is brought by respective rotation of the 10 cylinders, to a mid position between the entrance and exit openings.

Respective rotation between the cylinders could be achieved either by rotating one of the cylinders while the other stay passive, or by rotating both cylinders in opposite directions or in different speeds.

According to the preferred embodiment the exterior cylinder is stationary, and the 15 respective rotation is by rotating the interior. However, according to various embodiments of this invention in which the armored wall or the cabin itself are rotateable, it is possible to change the position of an actual entrance or exit obtained by the entrance and exit arrangements, respective to the cabin surrounding.

The cylinder rotation (pivoting) range is determined according the angular space 20 between the entrance and exit openings, such that the pivoting angle substantially equals to the central circular angle between said openings. It is of course possible to provide an endless clockwise or counter clockwise rotation of the cylinder, however, and in order to allow facile cabling connections with the rotated cylinder (i.e. for connecting various electrical modules using in the cabin as will be detailed later on, 25 to a central controller or to energy source) the preferred rotation is a back and forth pivoting within the pivoting range explained herein before. The rotation is performed by means of a motor or engine and a related gearing mechanism, while the cylinder slides or travels on a circular track formed from above and/or from below the ends of the rotatable cylinder. The floor of the rotatable cylinder can be either an integral part 30 of the cylinder (thus be rotated with the cylinder) or a separate part which does not follow the cylinder rotation. Other mechanisms could be used as well for rotating the cylinder as well. For example, the rotatable cylinder may be hinged to rotate without a track. Another option is to use hydraulic or pneumatic piston to pivot the cylinder back and forth between the open and close states, instead of using a motor or engine.

As can be appreciated, in said preferred embodiment the armored wall is round, around the encompassed area. Furthermore it could be appreciated that most of the 5 wall length is double protected, i.e. by means of a double barrier - that of the interior cylinder, and that of the exterior one. It could be appreciated that if one does not interested in said double barrier arrangement, the interior cylinder may include only its restricted section of wall which actually dimensioned as to block the entrance and exit openings. Vice versa, the exterior cylinder may include only its restricted section 10 of wall which actually dimensioned as to block the opening in the interior cylinder when should be blocked during pivoting between entrance and exit states.

According to another embodiment the secured checking cabin is made in a conventional rotating door arrangement, i.e. delimited between a stationary semi cylindrical barrier and between two angularly spaced planner barriers rotating about a 15 vertical axis at the meeting point of the two angularly spaced barriers, wherein said barriers are armored.

Referring again to the preferred embodiment, it is further comprising intercom allowing to communicate with a person imprisoned inside the cabin. Furthermore it comprises video camera allowing inspection inside the cabin. 20

In other embodiments, the cabin further comprises (in its wall or in the covering door of its entrance or exit openings) an armored inspection window or eyepiece allowing inspection inside the cabin. The entire cabin wall (and or doors) could be made of a transparent material conditionally that it has appropriate capabilities to withstanding explosion blast. 25

In the preferred embodiment there is also a warning siren actuated upon recognition of explosive inside the cabin. The operation of the siren may be automatic upon machine recognition of explosives, or may require operator involvement, all according to predetermined user preferences set to a controller of the cabin.

According to the preferred embodiments the cabin has means for allowing 30 dominating a suspected person, neutralizing him, or preventing his freedom to act. Such means may be one or more from the following: electrical or chemical shocker adapted to shocking a suspected person inside the cabin; electrical or chemical shocker adapted (e.g. in their location at the cabin exterior) to shocking a suspected person near and outside the cabin; hibernating gas releasing device; remote controlled handcuffs; auto latch handcuffs. 5

A cabin according to the present invention may further comprise means for confirming explosive detection by exploding the recognized explosive charge in order to eliminate the need to risk humans for neutralizing the charge. Such means may be operated manually, after communicating with a suspected person through the intercom, commanding him to undress the charge from his body and put it in an ιo appropriate exploding cell or hole prepared for that purpose inside the cabin (e.g. under cabin's floor), commanding him to lock his hand with the handcuffs, and let him exit the cabin, before exploding the charge. Such means may however be designed to operate automatically upon recognition of explosive charge, and after a failure to communicate with the suspected person, is so desired. In such a case a 15 warning announcement shall be generated, to let the crowed go far, then a timer may handle the operation of an igniter adapted to trigger an explosion of explosives inside the cabin. Such igniter may comprise one or more of the following: chemical reactor injection means, high intensity light beam generator, microwave transducer, ultrasonic transducer, electric spark generator, detonator shooting device. 20

Said igniter may be a directional unit, or a plurality of units, arranged for covering the volume of the cabin (or of an exploding cell or hole, if one exists), either in a predetermined array or by scanning the volume (e.g. by means of a vibrating beam deflector).

The cabin of the present invention may be permanently secured to a constant 25 construction existing near the entrance of a closed public region. Furthermore, according to various embodiments it is constructed as a stand alone mobile unit and further having anchoring means allowing to secure it at the site to be defended. However, according to other embodiments it may be constructed as an immovable unit at a site to be defended. 30

According to additional embodiments of the secured cabin of the present invention, the cabin has a rectangle shape (i.e. with substantially strait walls from its four sides), and uses separate doors for opening and closing two openings in its walls, respectively being the entrance and exit arrangements. Such doors may be sliding doors that slide laterally. However, in order to allow minimum wall length (to enable using the cabin in places restricted in space), the doors may be designed to slide vertically. According to this arrangement the cabin may be designed very tall, i.e. having a height as twice as a door height, which (especially according to the 5 embodiment without ceiling) is useful to direct possible blast and splinter out of their harmful range. The embodiments having a sliding door arrangement may further comprise security mechanism allowing only one door open at a time, thus preventing free passage via the cabin. The door leading to the protected public region is opened only after the person being checked is detected negatively to carrying explosives. 10

The present invention further relates to a method for preventing suicide terrorists from entering closed public region, comprising letting the public enter the closed region one by one, such that (a) each person is first entered a secured cabin capable of withstanding explosion of conventional explosives that may be hidden on the body, 15 or carried in a hand luggage, of a single person, and having an entrance to the public and exit to the closed region, the entrance and the exit are prevented from being opened simultaneously ; (b) the entrance of the secured cabin is closed such that the person entered the cabin is captured inside the cabin without the presence of others; (c) the captured person is checked for the presence of hidden explosives; (d) the exit 20 from the cabin to the closed region is opened only upon negative detection of explosives on a currently checked person.

Detailed Description of the Invention

The present invention will be further described by Figures 1 - 4 Those figures are 25 solely intend to disclose some preferred embodiments of the secured cabin according to the present invention, and in no manner intend to limit its scope.

Brief description of the figures:

Figure 1 illustrates a horizontal cross sectional view of a secured checking cabin according to the preferred embodiment, in its opened entrance state. 30

Figure 2 illustrates a horizontal cross sectional view of a secured checking cabin according to the preferred embodiment, in its secured checking state. Figure 3 illustrates a front view of the secured checking cabin of Figure 1.

Figure 4 illustrates a secured checking cabin equipped with a variety of its optional devices.

Detailed description of the Figures: 5

Figure 1 illustrates a horizontal cross sectional view of a secured checking cabin according to the preferred embodiment, in its opened entrance state. The cabin is made of two exterior semi cylindrical walls (1a) and (1 b), occupying the opening between two wall parts (8a) and (8b) respectively, said opening separates between a general public area, and between a public region that should be protected by the 10 secured checking cabin. The two wall parts (8a) and (8b) are not a part of the secured checking cabin, rather they are part of an existing construction in the place where the cabin was brought and put to use. The two armored semi cylindrical walls (1a) and (1b) form a passageway in between, and through that passage a person may enter from the non protected area to the protected area. For that end, the 15 person should enter from the entrance opening (2) and walk toward the exit opening (5), however, when he enters through the entrance opening (2), he may not exit yet through the exit opening (5), from the reason this exit is blocked by the interior armored cylindrical wall (4). At this stage, the interior armored semi cylindrical wall (4) is being turned substantially 90 degrees clockwise, to the position shown by 20 Figure 2. The turn is made by a rotation along the track marked between doted lines (6a) and (6b). In this position, the person is locked up inside the cabin for checking. Conditionally that the checking found negative to the existence of explosives, the interior armored semi cylindrical wall (4) should be turned additional 90 degrees clockwise, to bring the opening (3) into alignment with the exit opening (5), thus 25 allowing the person to walk out of the cabin, and enter the protected region. In case the checking being found positive to the existence of explosives, the person remains a prisoner inside the cabin, and an emergency procedure should be performed. An example for such procedure will be explained during the description of Figure 4.

Figure 2, illustrates the cabin in its checking state, i.e. when the entrance and exit 30 openings (2) and (5) respectively, are both blocked by the interior armored semi cylindrical wall (4). In the same time, the opening (3) of the interior armored semi cylindrical wall (4), is blocked by the exterior semi cylindrical wall (1 b). In this situation, a person that entered the cabin in the situation illustrated by Figure 1 , is locked up inside the cabin for checking. In this Figure 2, the cabin is seen positioned in a different location then that shown by Figure 1 , i.e. while in Figure 1 the existing architecture led to positioning of the cabin among the two wall parts (8a) and (8b), in 5 Figure 2 the existing architecture led to a different positioning wherein the exit opening (5) is adjacent to the opening between two wall parts (8c) and (8d). This change between the two Figures, is only for demonstrating two possible situations. It should be appreciated however, that the same cabin may be positioned between wall parts of different gap in between, and in different angles between the walls parts 10 whenever the wall parts end with a respective exterior semi cylindrical wall (1a) or (1 b), such that the secured checking cabin blocks the gap.

Figure 3 illustrates a front view of the secured checking cabin of Figure 1. The exterior cylinder (1) has an exit opening (5), that is blocked by the interior semi cylindrical wall (4), when it is in the position illustrated in Figure 1 , as well as when it 15 is in the position illustrated by Figure 2. In order to enable exit from the cabin, the interior semi cylindrical wall (4) should be pivoted 90 degrees clockwise, until the opening (3) (not illustrated in this Figure) in the interior wall is brought into alignment with the exit opening (5).

Figure 4 illustrates a secured checking cabin equipped with a variety of its optional 20 utility devices. The cabin (10) has a floor (22), and part of the floor is formed as a horizontal door (22a). Underneath the horizontal door (22a) there is an exploding cell (21 ), useful for exploding charges with a minimal damage to the surrounding. For recognizing the presence of explosives, there is an artificial nose located inside housing (15) communicating via cable (15b) with a controller (12) of the cabin (10). 25 The artificial nose is fed by air received from the cabin (10) via terminal (15a) and pipe (15b).

The cabin (10) further comprises means for confirming explosive detection by exploding the recognized explosive charge in order to eliminate the need to risk humans for neutralizing the charge. Such means may be operated manually, after 30 communicating with a suspected person through the intercom (17), commanding him to undress the charge from his body and put it in the exploding cell (21) prepared for that purpose underneath cabin's floor(22)(22a), commanding him to lock his hand with handcuffs (24), and let him exit the cabin, before exploding the charge. The person responses and behavior could be watched thanks to a video camera (23). Such means for confirming explosive detection by exploding the charge may however be designed to operate automatically upon recognition of explosive charge, and after a failure to communicate with the suspected person, if so desired. In such a case a warning announcement shall be generated e.g. by activating a siren (19), and 5 glimpsing light device (25) to let the crowed go far, then a timer that is a part of the controller (12) may handle the operation of igniter units (13) (13a) adapted to trigger an explosion of explosives inside the cabin. Such igniter may comprise one or more of the following: chemical reactor injection means, high intensity light beam generator, microwave transducer, ultrasonic transducer, electric spark generator, 10 detonator shooting device. The cabin (10) further comprise electrical or chemical shocker devices (29)(29a) respectively, to allow shocking a suspected person. The same shocker devices may be added also to the exterior of the cabin walls, near its entrance, thus allowing shocking a suspected person near and outside the cabin (i.e. before he enters the cabin). The cabin may further comprise hibernating gas 15 releasing device. Such device may be located inside housing (15), and may use the pipe (15b) and terminal (15a) for streaming the gas inside the cabin (using the same infrastructure that uses for the artificial nose).

The handcuffs (24) may be manually operated auto latch handcuffs, or remote controlled handcuffs, activated through the controller (12) either for latching, or 20 releasing hands, and/or for releasing the handcuffs from the cabin wall, in order to allow the suspected person walk out the cabin with tied hands.

Claims

1. Secured checking cabin especially useful for preventing suicide terrorists from entering closed public regions, comprising; (a) an armored wall encompassing an area sufficient to accommodate a single standing up 5 person, and having entrance and exit arrangements allowing passage for one person in an open state of said arrangements, and having an armored covering in a close state of said arrangements; (b) mechanism for preventing simultaneous open state of both said entrance and exit arrangements; (c) at least one metal detector or at least one detector 10 capable of recognizing the presence of explosive substance in the area encompassed by the wall.

2. Secured checking cabin according to claim 1 , further comprising an armored ceiling.

3. Secured checking cabin according to claim 1 , further comprising an 15 armored floor.

4. Secured checking cabin according to claim 1 , permanently secured to a constant construction existing near the entrance of a closed public region.

5. Secured checking cabin according to claim 1 , wherein the open and exit arrangements make use of a common armored covering. 20

6. Secured checking cabin according to claim 1 , wherein the armored wall is round around the encompassed area.

7. Secured checking cabin according to claim 1 , wherein the cabin and the entrance and exit arrangements comprise two cylindrical barriers one inside the other and having respective rotation one about the other. 25

8. Secured checking cabin according to claim 1 , wherein the armored wall or the cabin itself are rotateable, allowing for changing the position of an actual entrance or exit obtained by the entrance and exit arrangements, respective to the cabin surrounding. 30

9. Secured checking cabin according to claim 1 , wherein the cabin wall is in a rectangle or parallelogram shape, having four substantially strait wall sections, and wherein there is a separate entrance arrangement, and a separate exit arrangement, each comprised of an opening in one of the four wall sections, and of a door adapted to block the opening. 5

10. Secured checking cabin according to claim 9, wherein the door is a laterally or vertically sliding door having a respective sliding mechanism.

11. Secured checking cabin according to claim 1 , further comprising intercom allowing to communicate with a person imprisoned inside the cabin.

12. Secured checking cabin according to claim 1 , further comprising video 10 camera allowing inspection inside the cabin.

13. Secured checking cabin according to claim 1 , further comprising an armored inspection window or eyepiece allowing inspection inside the cabin.

14. Secured checking cabin according to claim 1 , further comprising warning 15 siren actuated upon recognition of explosive inside the cabin.

15. Secured checking cabin according to claim 1 , further comprising electrical or chemical shocker adapted to shocking a suspected person inside the cabin.

16. Secured checking cabin according to claim 1 , further comprising electrical 20 or chemical shocker adapted to shocking a suspected person near and outside the cabin.

17. Secured checking cabin according to claim 1 , further comprising hibernating gas releasing device.

18. Secured checking cabin according to claim 1 , further comprising 25 explosive igniter adapted to trigger an explosion of explosives inside the cabin, comprising at least one from the group of chemical reactor injection means, high intensity light beam generator, microwave transducer, ultrasonic transducer, electric spark generator, detonator shooting device. 30

19. Secured checking cabin according to claim 1 , constructed as a stand alone mobile unit and further having anchoring means allowing to secure it at a site to be defended. 5

20. Secured checking cabin according to claim 1 , constructed as an immovable unit at a site to be defended.

21. Method for preventing suicide terrorists from entering closed public region, comprising letting the public enter the closed region one by one, such that (a) each person is first entered a secured cabin capable of 10 withstanding explosion of conventional explosives that may be hidden on the body, or carried in a hand luggage, of a single person, and having an entrance to the public and exit to the closed region, the entrance and the exit are prevented from being opened simultaneously ; (b) the entrance of the secured cabin is closed such that the person entered the cabin is 15 captured inside the cabin without the presence of others; (c) the captured person is checked for the presence of hidden explosives; (d) the exit from the cabin to the closed region is opened only upon negative detection of explosives on a currently checked person. 20