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(11) | EP 0 264 491 A1 |
| (12) | EUROPEAN PATENT APPLICATION |
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| (54) | Safety device in particular for cash boxes and vaults of E.G. banks |
| (57) Safety device for an accommodation with a first room, at least one second room and
an intermediate room located between the first and second room and to be closed by
a first and a second door respectively, comprising locking means for locking the doors
and an electronic control means for controlling the locking means, whereby it is further
provided with closure sensor means for feeding, in a non-closed position of the doors,
a respective open signal to the electronic control means, which at least in response
thereto selectively controls the locking means. |
[0001] The invention relates to a safety device for an accommodation with a first room, at least one second room and an intermediate room located between the first and second room and to be closed by a first and a second door respectively, comprising locking means for locking the doors and an electronic control means for controlling the locking means.
[0002] Known safety devices of the kind mentioned above have one or more of the following disadvantages.
[0003] They are provided with a microswitch, which is fixed to the post at the hinged side of the door. Such a microswitch is very critical as regards its adjustment, as there is a danger that the microswitch only switches over after the door has been opened so far that before the microswitch would switch over on the door being opened said microswitch can be manipulated by hand as a result of which a closed position of the door can be simulated, making sabotage possible. In view of the above said microswitches are adjusted so critically in practice that there is a danger that even with a closed door the microswitch does not switch over to signalize the door being closed. As in this field of the art comparatively heavy doors are concerned, leaning of the doors quickly occurs, which manifests itself more than proportionally at the hinged side, as a result of which, the more so as the adjustment of the microswitches is critical, major errors may occur.
[0004] Their locking means are provided with very costly locks with electrically operated bolts, which in the first place are very costly and in the second place their building in presents quite a few problems.
[0005] They are arranged such that passage from the inside to the outside, i.e. from a second room to the intermediate room and from the intermediate room to the first room is not guaranteed at all times, which may lead to sensations of fear and panic reactions with people and of people respectively, in particular when because of a malfunction someone is locked up in the intermediate room, in which case besides specially trained fault removing personnel needs to be called, which naturally takes due time.
[0006] They make use of relay systems which are very susceptible to malfunction and are costly and take up a lot of space and have a large consumption of energy as well. Moreover, the ever increasing degree of acidity of the ambient air sooner and sooner affects the contacts in and therefore the impeccable functioning of the relay itself.
[0007] They can be easily sabotaged because of the fact that situations may occur where possibly, because of emergency measures, both the first and the second door can be kept open or can be opened, as the case may be. It is even possible for the first door as well as for the second door to be opened simultaneously by an operator of the safety device, which lays an unnecessarily heavy responsibility on said operators.
[0008] The invention has for its purpose to remove at least one of the above-mentioned disadvantages and/or other disadvantages of known safety devices and for that purpose provides a safety device of the kind mentioned in the preamble, which is characterised in that it is further provided with closure sensor means for feeding a respective open signal to the electronic control means with a non-closed position of the doors, which control means, at least in response thereto, selectively controls the locking means.
[0009] In this connection a closed position of the door means the door being shut and/or locked. Preferably, with a view to an optimum safeguarding against sabotage, a closed position of a door implies that the door is both shut and locked. A door being closed (or open) is preferably being scanned by an inductive approach sensor, whilst the door being locked (or unlocked) is preferably scanned by a bolt switch.
[0010] The lock ing means are preferably cooperating, possibly modified bolt locks and day and night locks on the one hand and electric closing plates with independently operated door openers on the other hand.
[0011] Preferably an inductive approach sensor is applied which is a coil with open core, activated by a permanently magnetic part of e.g. ferrite and is incorporated in an oscillator circuit with a circulating amplification smaller than one which coil is incorporated in a circuit with a level detector and works at a frequency of the magnitude of 30-40 kHz whereby the inductive approach sensor only responds with a certain distance between the permanently magnetic part and the coil in a very narrow range of e.g. 1-2 mm, whereas said coil does not respond with a maximum output (highest Q-factor), in order to prevent that all this can be sabotaged by bringing a permanently magnetic part into contact with the coil in a non-closed position of the door.
[0012] The electronic control means may comprise a microprocessor or programmable microcomputer, but may also be built up from discrete components, which may be considered substantially logical elements, such as operational amplifiers. Hereby the electric closing plates may be driven by thyristors.
[0013] The electronic control means may further be provided with visual and/or sound producing signalizing means, such as buzzers, light-emitting diodes, which may possibly be driven intermittently by a timer for visualising the open position of a respective door. Said signalizing means may be provided on a control panel of the electronic control means, beside the keys for opening a respective door after manual operation insofar as the system allows so. Also the closed position of doors may be visualized.
[0014] Preferably the control panel is provided with a key switch, which may also or as well be provided elsewhere, in order to switch the system on or off, whereby preferably all doors are accessible from both sides when the system is switched off. A timer dial may be connected in series to the key switch and preferably an emergency switch is connected in parallel to the key switch in order to switch the system off in case of an emergency. Said emergency switch is preferably located in a second room, possibly in the same second room as where the control panel is located.
[0015] Finally both the first room and every second room may be provided with several doors, whereby it may be indicated on the control panel exactly which door is or has been open. Furthermore several second rooms may be provided, whereby every second room except the last second room may be looked upon as an intermediate room in relation to the operation of the respective doors.
[0016] The invention wil now be described in detail with reference to an embodiment thereof, and also with reference to the drawing, in which:
Fig 1 diagrammatically illustrates how a person gets from a first room, via an intermediate room locked by a first and a second door, into a second room of an accommodation protected by the safety device according to the present invention.
Fig 2 diagrammatically illustrates the locking means and a inductive approach sensor, as well as their location in relation to a door; and
Fig 3 is a simplified and diagrammatic illustration of a control means according to the invention.
[0017] Fig 1 of the drawing illustrates five possible situations I-V of the accessibility of a first, left-hand door and a second, right-hand door in relation to always two directions of access, whereby "o" means inaccessible and "t" means accessible.
[0018] In situation I a person stands in a first room and whishes to get access to a second room. In order to get access to the second room the person has to pass through an intermediate room, also called safety sluice, located between the first and the second room, said intermediate room being locked by the first, left-hand door of the first room and by t he second, right-hand door of the second room.
[0019] To express his wish to get into the second room the person pushes a button, as a result of which a buzzer, preferably mounted on the control panel of the electronic control means, sounds in the second room.
[0020] The safety sluice and the second room may form part of a cash box in a bank, a department store, a jeweller's shop etc. and a cashier can look from the second room, through a wall preferably bullet proof, impact proof and transparent, into both the intermediate room and into the first room, at least in the vicinity of the first door, in order to make sure, both with regard to the first and the second door, whether the person who is ringing is authorized to enter the second room. The second room may also be a vault or make access to a vault possible. Said vault need not necessarily be on the same floor as the second room and may even be located in a second second room, whereby the first room serves as a second safety sluice.
[0021] The control means has as it were a modular building-up with regard to always the operation of two ( a first and a second ) doors. The afore-mentioned first second room may, therefore, as regards the system under consideration, be looked upon as an intermediate room. Thus several intermediate rooms may be connected in cascade, as it were, whereby a non-final second room may also be looked upon as a first room.
[0022] Reverting to situation I, in which the person rings, the first and the second door are both not accessible from the outside (the first door into the direction of the first room to the intermediate room and the second door into the direction of the intermediate room to the second room), whereas the doors in the reverse direction are both accessible.
[0023] In situation II the cashier has pushed a button on the control panel for unlocking the first door, so that the person can open the first door. The electronic control means is now adapted and/or programmed so that the second door is not accessible in either direction of access. This prevents sabotage because it is impossible to open the second door from whichever side when the first door is open.
[0024] In situation III the person is in the intermediate room, which he can leave just as he wishes, whilst he does not have access to the second room yet, which makes it possible for the cashier to check again whether it concerns an authorized person. When he or she thinks this is the case a further button on the control panel may be pushed, as a result of which the second door is unlocked, which makes it possible for that person to enter the second room.
[0025] As indicated in situation IV the electronic control means according to the invention is adapted and/or programmed so that by unlocking the second door the first door is automatically locked, making it impossible again to open the first door as well when the second door is open, as a result of which sabotage can be prevented.
[0026] Finally situation V again corresponds with situation I, be it that the person is now in the second room instead of in the first room.
[0027] Preferably the "being closed" criterion according to the invention is that the door is shut and that the door is on the lock, i.e. the bolt is in the closed closing plate or electric door opener. It has become apparent namely that when only the door being closed, i.e. the door being shut is taken as a criterion, it will be possible, seeing that the standard distance between the first and the second door is 1.5 metres, to open the first door as quickly as lightning from the intermediate room while the cashier pushes the button for opening the second door, as a result of which a situation with both the first and the second door being open is created. According to the invention this undesired situation is prevented.
[0028] In countries where legislation permits so an extra situation might be provided between situation III and situation IV, which extra situation may possibly be effected by the cashier and in which the second door is inaccessible from the intermediate room, as in situation III and the first door is inaccessible in both directions of access, as in situation IV, which makes it possible that when the cashier only notices when the person is already in the intermediate room that this is an unauthorized person he/she can keep this person locked up in the intermediate room, therefore, until the person can be heard by the competent authorities or can be arrested respectively.
[0029] As will be seen unobstructed passage from the second room to the first room is possible at all times from the situations with closed doors I, III and V, as a result of which no one needs to feel locked up. When the safety device is out of operation there is unobstructed access in both directions of access at all times. The safety device may e.g. be put out of operation from the second room by driving an emergency switch, e.g. in a small case with a transparent window which can be smashed with a small hammer detachably attached to the case or similar attribute, after which the emergency switch can be manipulated. Putting the device into and out of operation can also be carried out automatically by a programmed timer, in which timer weekly or monthly programmes may have been programmed, indeed even a yearly programme inclusive of holidays, Sundays and festival days.
[0030] As is shown in fig 2 the locking means of a door, no matter whether this is the first or the second door, comprise in an embodiment a bolt lock 30 fixed to a plate 40 and day and night lock 32, as well as door openers 37 and 38 cooperating therewith and being provided on a closing plate 36, to which closing plate also an inductive approach sensor has been provided, whilst a bolt switch (not illustrated) has been incorporated in the electric opener 38. Closing plate 36 has naturally been mounted in the door post opposite the side of the door in which the plate 40 has been mounted.
[0031] The bolt lock may be modified in the sense that it is not operatable, neither by e.g. a latch, nor by e.g. a cilinder lock. The bolt 31 of bolt lock 30 is bevelled and is pre-tensioned, protruding from the housing of the bolt lock 30, by a spring (not illustrated), so that by shutting the door the door is automatically locked, when the door opener is closed. Unlocking will only be possible then by opening the door opener 37.
[0032] Also the day and night lock 32 is modified in the illustrated embodiment, as it does not comprise a bolt. The bolt 35, also bevelled, is retractable against the spring load into the housing of the day and night lock with a key by means of a cilinder to be provided in the opening 34. With a key day and night lock 32 can be opened from two sides, therefore, even when the electric opener 38 is closed. Said opening is also possible by means of a latch fitting into the opening 33, but according to the invention said latch is only provided at one side to make the first door accessible into the direction of access from the intermediate room to the first room when the door opener 37 is open and the door opener 38 is closed, as explained hereinabove with reference to the situations I,III and V. The same principle applies to the second door.
[0033] In the case that the inductive approach sensor 39 is a coil on an open core, a part (not illustrated) of magnetic material, preferably ferrite, is provided opposite that on plate 40. As said before the sensor 39 only responds to that when the distance between the permanently magnetic part and the sensor lies within a precisely determined narrow range of a magnitude of e.g. 1-2 mm. The coil with open core of the inductive approach sensor is incorporated in an oscillator circuit with a circulating amplification or less than 1 for that purpose. By approaching the permanently magnetic part the quality factor Q of the oscillator circuit, which works to a frequency of the magnitude of e.g. 30-40 kHz, changes. The closer the permanently mag netic part gets to the head side of the coil with open core, the larger the quality factor will become. Preferably the inductive approach sensor does not deliver a closing signal with a distance that is too large, nor with a distance that is too small, in that use is made of a level detector which responds to a small range of the level determined by the quality factor of the oscillator circuit, corresponding with the afore-mentioned range of the magnitude of 1-2 mm. Owing to this, according to the invention, the possibility of sabotage is removed.
[0034] Although the above inductive approach sensor is now preferred, also another inductive approach sensor of a different type may be chosen, viz. one that responds to the material of the door or of the plate 40, e.g. steel and/or aluminium. A type suitable for that is the approach sensor available under the trade name NAMUR type 12-4. Also approach sensors applied in welding robots are usable.
[0035] As also said before the signal of the inductive approach sensor is not exclusively relied on according to the invention, but also the signal of the bolt switch is involved for the closing criterion. A signal from either one of the approach sensor and the bolt switch is sufficient to make the system conclude that the door is open, and because in fact it concerns logical signals here the signals from both the approach sensor and the bolt switch are required to make the system conclude that the door is indeed closed, i.e. shut and that the bolt is in the closed opener, 35 and 38 respectively.
[0036] In the diagram of the control means of the safety device according to the present invention to be discussed hereinafter the OP-function is used instead of the EN-function, i.e. the door being open is detected when either a signal from the approach sensor 39, or a signal from the bolt switch, or a signal from both is received.
[0037] Fig 3 illustrates, with the reference numbers 17 and 18, a closure sensor means, which closure sensor means in this case comprises the approach sensor 39 and a bolt switch, whilst the OF-signal of the lock sensor means 17 and 18 is fed to the inverting input of the differential amplifier 5 and 7 respectively, whereby closure sensor means 17 is related to the second door and closure sensor means 18 is related to the first door, therefore. Reference numbers 15 and 16 indicate adjusting means for adjusting a reference voltage to be fed to the non-inverting terminal of the differential amplifiers 5 and 7 respectively. By adjusting, by means of adjusting means 15 and 16, the reference voltage at the non-inverting input of the differential amplifiers 5 and 7, which are connected as comparators, the distance between the permanently magnetic part and a head side of the coil of the inductive approach sensor can be set or adjusted, as the case may be, electronically (and this is important) instead of mechanically. The output of the differential amplifiers 5 and 7 is connected to the light-emitting diodes 25 and 26 respectively, for lighting up when the second and the first door respectively are closed.
[0038] The output of the differential amplifiers 5 and 7 is connected to the non-inverting input of differential amplifier 6 and 8 respectively, whereby the inverting input of differential amplifier 6 is connected to the output of differential amplifier 8, the inverting input of which is connected to the output of differential amplifier 6. A further input of the differential amplifiers 6 and 8 is connected to a control circuit 22-24. The output of the differential amplifiers 6 and 8 is connected, via driving means 11 and 13 respectively, to door opener 1(37), which is normally open during operation (situations I, III and V), of the first door and normally open door opener 3(37) of the second door. The light emitting diodes 27 and 28 indicate the first and the second door respectively being open. The light-emitting diodes 27 and 28 are connected to a timer 19 (NE 555) for intermittently lighting up, preferably red, the light-emitting diodes 27 and 28. The light-emitting diodes 25 and 26 for the first and the second door respectively being closed preferably emit green light.
[0039] The control circuit 22-24 comprises three switches or switching means, in the illustrated embodiment in particular the emergency switch 24 already mentioned before, time switch means 23 and operating switch means 22. During normal operation the emergency switch 24 and the switch means 22 and 23 are open, making a light-emitting diode 29, emitting e.g. green light, light up. When the safety device is put out of operation by the control circuit a light-emitting diode 29สน, emitting e.g. red light, will light up. The output of the control circuit 22-24 is also fed to the input of the differential amplifiers 6 and 8 in order to prevent, in case the safety device is out of operation, that the normally open door openers 37 close on the doors being opened. When the safety device is in operation the output of the differential amplifiers 6 and 8 therefor delivers a control signal to the control means 11 and 13 respectively when a respective door is opened, through which the locking means 1,3 (30, 37) respectively are locked or door openers 37 are closed through which the respective door is locked. Furthermore the light-emitting diodes 27 and 28 respectively are triggered in that case to go off and on intermittently.
[0040] Furthermore the differential amplifiers or operational amplifiers are connected in a flip-flop circuit to exclude both doors being locked simultaneously.
[0041] From the above it follows that when a first door is opened a second door will automatically be locked and vice versa. Said opening may therefore take place by operating from the inside the latch of the normally locked locking means or the whether or not modified day and night lock.
[0042] Also pushing a switch 20 or 21 for unlocking the normally locked locking means of the first and second door respectively will result in the first and second door respectively being automatically locked. For this purpose the input of the driving means 11 and 13 is connected, via switch 20 and 21 respectively, to differential amplifiers or operational amplifiers 9 and 10 respectively, again connected in a flip-flop circuit, which in their turn are connected to driving means 12 and 14 for driving the normally locked locking means of the first and second door respectively. The switch section 22-24 is connected to said driving means 12 and 14 in such a manner that when the safety device is put out of operation the normally locked locking means 2 and 4 will be unlocked.
[0043] It will be apparent that in the simplified diagram of fig 3 all bias resistors and the necessary diodes have been left out. For the differential amplifiers the ICs LM 324 may be used. Also it is possible to use a logical processor IC or several logical processor ICs or a microprocessor or microcomputer instead of in the differential amplifiers with adjusting resistors and possibly also for the timer. The modular (in principle) building-up of the electronic control circuit may thereby be advantageous.
[0044] Summarizing, in what may be called a rest position of the safety device according to the invention the normally open locking means (30, 37 in fig 2) is locked through the control action of the electronic control means and the normally locked locking means (32, 38 in fig 2) are locked.
[0045] When e.g. the first door is now mechanically opened from the intermediate room the signal from the bolt switch in the normally locked locking means will result in the normally open locking means of the second door being locked. The same happens with regard to the first door when the cashier unlocks the normally locked locking means by means of a push-button on the control panel of the electronic control means. In both cases a red LED flashes, indicating on the control panel that the first door is open. After the first door subsequently becoming locked, the lock o f the locking means (30,37 in fig 2), normally open during operation, is unlocked by the action of the electronic control means.
1. Safety device for an accommodation with a first room, at least one second room
and an intermediate room located between the first and second room and to be closed
by a first and a second door respectively, comprising locking means for locking the
doors and an electronic control means for controlling the locking means, characterised
in that it is further provided with closure sensor means for feeding, in a non-closed
position of the doors, a respective opening signal to the electronic control means,
which at least in response thereto selectively controls the locking means.
2. Safety device as claimed in claim 1, characterised in that the closure sensor means
comprise an inductive approach sensor.
3. Safety device as claimed in claim 2, characterised in that the inductive approach
sensor is a coil with open core to be activated by a permanently magnetic part and
incorporated in an oscillator circuit with a circulating amplification smaller than
one.
4. Safety device as claimed in claim 3, characterised in that connected to the oscillator
circuit is a level detector for only failing to deliver an open signal when the distance
between the magnetic part and the coil lies within a certain range.
5. Safety device as claimed in any of the preceding claims, characterised in that
with regard to every door two independent electric locking means are provided, one
of which is normally locked during operation and the other is normally unlocked.
6. Safety device as claimed in claim 5, characterised in that every electric locking
means comprises an electric opener.
7. Safety device as claimed in claim 5 or 6, characterised in that the normally locked
locking means comprises a day and night lock, whilst the normally unlocked electric
locking means comprises a bolt lock.
8. Safety device as claimed in any of the claims 5-7, characterised in that the normally
locked locking means can be locked and unlocked with a key from at least one side
of the respective door.
9. Safety device as claimed in any of the claims 5-8, characterised in that the normally
locked locking means of the first and the second door can be unlocked mechanically
from the intermediate room and the adjacent second room respectively.
10. Safety device as claimed in claim 9, characterised in that the day and night lock
of the normally locked locking means is provided with a latch at one side.
11. Safety device as claimed in any of the claims 7-10, characterised in that the
closure sensor means are provided with a bolt switch in the door opener of the day
and night lock.
12. Safety device as claimed in any of the claims 5-11, characterised in that the
electronic control means is adapted and/or programmed so that with a normally unlocked
locking means of a door being unlocked the unlocking of an associated normally locked
locking means leads to the substantially simultaneous locking of the normally unlocked
locking means of the other door.
13. Safety device as claimed in claim 12, characterised in that the electronic control
means is adapted and/or programmed so that the locked normally unlocked locking means
of the other door is unlocked after receipt by the electronic control means of a close/(not-open)
signal related to the one door.
14. Safety device as claimed in any of the claims 5-13, characterised in that the
control means comprises an emergency switch means located in the second room, which
on being driven puts the electroni c control means out of operation, in which
situation none of the doors is locked.
15. Safety device as claimed in any of the claims 4-10, characterised in that the
electronic control means comprises a control panel located in the second room, which
panel is provided with switch means for manually unlocking the normally locked locking
means.
16. Safety device as claimed in claim 11, characterised in that the electronic control
means is provided with signalizing means located on the control panel and driven by
the open/close signals for visualizing and/or indicating by sound the open or closed
positions of the respective doors.
17. Safety device as claimed in any of the preceding claims, characterised in that
with several second rooms all rooms except the final one are at the same time intermediate
rooms.
18. Safety device as claimed in any of the preceding claims, characterised in that
the first room is in principle a generally accessible room,that the or an intermediate
room is a sluice and that the second room(s) is/are in principle (a) selectively accessible
room(s).
19. Safety device as claimed in claim 14, characterised in that the sluice and a second
room constitute a cash box of e.g. a bank.