Security assembly and method of controlling a security assembly
View Patent ↗A method of controlling a security assembly comprising a frame member and at least one door is disclosed. The method comprises the step of when a door is required to be opened, determining whether the door has been open within a predetermined past time period, such as the past hour. If the door has not been open the predetermined past time period, the door is allowed to be opened. However, if the door has been open during the predetermined past time period, the door is not allowed to be opened.
1. A method of controlling a security assembly comprising a frame member and at least one door, the method comprising the steps of:
when said at least one door is required to move from a closed condition to an open condition, determining whether said at least one door has been in the open condition within a predetermined first past time period;
when said at least one door has not been in the open condition during said predetermined first past time period, allowing said at least one door to be opened; and
when said at least one door has been in the open condition during said predetermined first past time period, retaining said at least one door in the closed condition.
2. A method according to claim 1 , further comprising the step of when said at least one door has not been in the open condition during said predetermined first past time period, allowing said at least one door to be opened after awaiting the end of a predetermined second time period.
3. An apparatus comprising:
an electronic control device that is adapted to be coupled to a security assembly comprising at least one door, and when coupled to the security assembly is configured to automatically operate to:
receive a signal indicating that the door of the security assembly is required to move from a closed position to an open position;
in response to the receipt of the signal determine whether the door has been in the open position within a predetermined first past time period;
in response to determining that the door has not been in the open position within the predetermined first past time period, electronically control a locking mechanism of the security assembly to be placed in a second orientation that allows the door to be opened; and
in response to determining that the door has been in the open position within the predetermined first past time period, electronically control the locking mechanism to be in a first orientation that locks the door in the closed position.
4. An apparatus according to claim 3 , wherein the apparatus further comprises the security assembly which includes a plurality of doors and wherein each said door comprises a respective access switch, and wherein closing an access switch indicates to the control device that the corresponding door is required to move from the closed position to the open position.
5. An apparatus according to claim 4 , wherein the apparatus has an inactive condition in which each said door cannot be opened and an active condition in which each said door can be opened, and wherein the active condition corresponds to said second orientation of said locking mechanism for each said door and is activated by closing the access switches of the plurality of doors in a predetermined sequence.