Emergency exit bar with dual sensors

An emergency exit bar comprising:

• an elongated housing, said housing defining an elongated frontal face and an elongated back panel oppositely located from said frontal face;
• mounting means at said back panel for mounting said housing to a door so that said frontal face projects forwardly from said door;
• beam generator means for generating a detection beam along said frontal face;
• and
• beam detector means for detecting the presence of a foreign object in said beam and generating a first signal indicative thereof.

An emergency exit bar system comprising:

• an elongated tubular structure defining a frontal face;
• capacitance sensor means for detecting a capacitance change in response to an external contact applied to said structure and generating a first signal indicative thereof;
• beam generator means for generating a detection beam along said structure exteriorly of said structure and adjacent said face;
• beam detector means for detecting the presence of a foreign object in said beam and generating a second signal;
• and
• relay means responsive to said first and said second signals for controlling the state of a lock in response to said signals.