Patent ID: 8468743

Claim:
A baby gate assembly comprising: a barrier frame for bridging a passageway and defining a U-shaped gateway; a gate mounted in the gateway for swinging movement between open and closed positions, respectively, out of and into alignment with the frame, thereby permitting and preventing a person walking through the gateway, respectively, cooperating latching means on the frame and gate releasably engagable with each other to lock the gate in the closed position preventing a person walking through the gateway; means on the frame for detecting the presence of a designated person adjacent the gate by detecting a predetermined physical property associated with the designated person and for automatically disengaging the latching means to unlock the gate to permit the designated person detected to open the gate by hands free operation and to walk through the gateway and for automatically re-engaging the latching means to lock the gate in the closed position preventing a person walking through the gateway when the designated person is no longer detected adjacent the gate latching means being moveable between latched and unlatched positions without moving the detecting and disengaging means; and, a pedal mechanism operably connected to the cooperating latching means when engaged to lock the gate in the closed position, to disengage the latching means to permit the designated person to open the gate by hands free operation and to walk through the gateway when the detecting and disengaging means is inoperable.