Automatic gate and associated method for permitting or preventing access

Method of controlling access for an automatic gate comprising at least one vertical and elongated frame, at least one flap which is mobile between a closed position in which the flap forms a barrier preventing passage of a person along the frame and an open position in which the flap allows this passage, elements for reading an access ticket, elements for controlling displacement of the flap between the two positions, a lateral face of the frame adjacent to the passage of the person comprising at least two superposed rows of detection cells cooperating with elements for preventing opening of the flap or for maintaining the flap closed when these cells detect an abnormal situation, one of the rows called a high or upper row, comprising a plurality of the detection cells extending to both sides of the flap, above a line situated at the mid height of the frame and the other row called middle, being situated closest to the line, and a third row called low, of at least one cell situated below the line, method comprising steps of:

• determining the presence of an adult by the simultaneous covering of a cell of the high row and a cell of the middle row superposed on the cell of the high row;
• detecting the presence of a child by the covering of a cell of the middle row without a cell of the high row, superposed on the cell of the middle row being covered;
• detecting a fraud by crawling when only one of the cells of the low row is covered, and detecting a fraud and or an intrusion when a number of consecutive cells, in the same row covered simultaneously, is greater than a given number;
• and detecting a change of direction of a person or of a child that has passed the flap using the cells in the upper or middle rows that are situated downstream of the flap, and controlling the closing of the flap in order to prevent the person from turning back.

Automatic gate for permitting or preventing access by a person to a space or a transport vehicle, comprising:

• at least one vertical and elongated frame constituting a closed box;
• at least one flap which is mobile between a closed position in which said flap forms a barrier preventing the passage of a person along the frame and an open position in which the flap allows passage;
• an end upstream of the frame relative to the person's direction of movement, comprising an input slot for an access ticket and another end downstream of the frame comprising an output slot for the ticket, the frame including elements for controlling the displacement of the flap between the two abovementioned positions, a route for displacement of the ticket between the input slot and the output slot for the ticket and elements for reading the ticket, wherein the gate is structured and arranged for preventing the person from accessing the output slot in order to remove the ticket, when the flap is in the position preventing the passage of the person, by the distance between the flap and the output of the ticket being such that the person cannot access the ticket output in order to remove the ticket, and wherein the gate includes a plurality of detection cells situated downstream of the flap configured for detecting a change of direction of a person or of a child that has passed the flap and for controlling the closing of the flap in order to prevent the person from turning back.