Wireless access control system for a door including proximity based lock disabling and related methods

A lock assembly for wireless access control system for a door, the door defining interior and exterior areas, the lock assembly carried by the door and comprising:

• a lock switchable between a locked position and an unlocked position;
• lock wireless communications circuitry;
• a proximity detector directed toward the interior area to detect a proximity of a user to the door;
• an interior directional antenna directed toward the interior area;
• an exterior directional antenna directed toward the exterior area;
• and
• a lock controller coupled to said lock, said lock wireless communications circuitry, said proximity detector, and said interior and exterior directional antennas, said lock controller configured to
• determine if the user is in the interior area or exterior area based upon said proximity detector and a received signal strength at each of said interior and exterior directional antennas based upon wireless communication with a remote access device remote from the lock assembly,
• enable switching of said lock between the locked and unlocked positions based upon the received signal strength at said exterior directional antenna being greater than at said interior directional antenna,
• disable switching of said lock between the locked and unlocked positions when the user is determined to be in the interior area and a difference between the received signal strength at said interior and exterior directional antennas is below a threshold, and
• switch said lock between the locked and unlocked positions based upon communication with said remote access device and switching of said lock being enabled.

A method of using a wireless access control system for a door, the door defining interior and exterior areas, the wireless access control system comprising a lock assembly carried by the door and comprising a lock switchable between a locked position and an unlocked position, lock wireless communications circuitry, a proximity detector directed toward the interior area to detect a proximity of a user to the door, an interior directional antenna directed toward the interior area, an exterior directional antenna directed toward the exterior area, and a lock controller coupled to the lock, the lock wireless communications circuitry, the proximity detector, and the interior and exterior directional antennas, the wireless access control system further comprising a remote access device remote from the lock, the method comprising:

• using the lock controller to
• determine if the user is in the interior area or exterior area based upon the proximity detector and a received signal strength at each of the interior and exterior directional antennas based upon wireless communication with the remote access device,
• enable switching of the lock between the locked and unlocked positions based upon the received signal strength at the exterior directional antenna being greater than at the interior directional antenna,
• disable switching of the lock between the locked and unlocked positions when the user is determined to be in the interior area and a difference between the received signal strength at the interior and exterior directional antennas is below a threshold, and
• switch the lock between the locked and unlocked positions based upon communication with the remote access device and switching of the lock being enabled.