Patent ID: 8079515

Claim:
A mechanically-guided access control gate for an access lane for patrons, comprising: two motor-driven flaps which protrude from left and right of lateral lane boundaries into the access lane so as to form a closable gate defining a gate threshold, a contactless access reader located before the gate threshold in a passing direction of a patron and connected to a software-controlled verification system which identifies an access right of the patron and causes the motor-driven flaps to swing out of the lane when the access right has been approved, a detector system located after the gate threshold in the passing direction of a patron and comprising two or more photoelectric barriers having spaced detecting beams, with the detector system detecting passage of the patron through the gate threshold and causing the motor-driven flaps to close after the patron has passed through the gate, an overhead gantry-style beam, and upright supports located at the lateral lane boundaries at the gate threshold and attached to the overhead gantry-style beam, and bearings mounted on the upright support to pivot each flap about a vertical axis, a gearbox coupled to the flaps to turn the flaps from a closed to an open position and vice versa, and a position sensor to detect an open and a closed position of the flaps, wherein the two or more photoelectric barriers having the spaced detecting beams detect the passage of the patron when the two or more beams are interrupted, while ignoring signals caused by interruption of only one of the beams.