EP0197893A1 - Device for removing a conditional bar on the operation of a lock - Google Patents

Abstract

1. Device for removing a conditional ban on the operation of a lock assembly (5, 8) in particular for a safe, strong box or other protected enclosure, this lock assembly comprising a rod linkage (2) which can be moved between a locked position and an unlocked position, and a lock (5) for preventing the movement of the rod linkage from the locked position to the unlocked position, said device comprising electro-mechanical blocking means (11, 19) which under control of an electronic circuit (14, 30 to 33) are adapted to place or remove the ban on the operation of said lock assembly, characterized in that said electro-mechanical blocking means act on said rod linkage and in that said electronic control circuit (14, 30 to 33) includes a memory (32) in which is stored a time schedule program to be cyclically executed and defining at least one time slot of ban removal (F1 to F4 ), means associated with said memory arranged to compare periodically the time of day (HRAC) with the moment (NXTE) framing said time slot and means (30, 33) controlling the blocking means thereby to block or release said rod linkage (2) when there is equality between the time of day and said moments.

Description

The present invention relates to the field of protection of security enclosures and it relates, more particularly, to a device for lifting a conditional ban on the operation of a lock, in particular of a safe, vault or other. protected enclosure.

Currently, it is common to impose the possibility of opening a protected enclosure of time windows in order to avoid, as far as possible, criminal breaches of protection and exposure to significant dangers for service personnel.

Thus, have we already associated with locks blocking means which prohibit its operation during certain periods of the day even for people who have the key to the lock or the opening code if it is to order more complex. As in this way the periods of lifting of the ban are reduced to a minimum, the risks of violation are obviously lower.

The primary problem posed by such an installation is the determination of the time windows corresponding to the lifting of prohibitions, which is preferably done automatically and without the personnel who use the protected enclosure daily, being able to modify the data of the windows. at least in the sense of enlarging them. This impossibility for the personnel to open the protected enclosure constitutes for them an additional security, since an attack outside the lifting windows of prohibition can thus be thwarted by the then inherent impossibility of the system of being able to be opened. Even, the injunction to open the protected enclosure under the threat of weapons cannot then lead to the opening, because the personnel having the key or the opening code is not able to cause the opening .

It is also desirable that the time windows can be modified according to circumstances such as the modification of the opening hours of the counters of a bank, the establishment of a night sale in a department store, or another establishment the closing period due to holidays, for example. Such an adaptation must naturally be carried out by authorized persons who may or may not be those belonging to the personnel who usually use the protected enclosure.

It is to this problem of creating a system of the aforementioned type. That the invention attempts to provide a solution by providing an easily adaptable ban lifting device, of convenient use, and of great flexibility as to its installation possibilities on protected enclosures of all kinds.

The subject of the invention is therefore a device for lifting a conditional prohibition on the operation of a lock, in particular a safe, vault or other protected enclosure, comprising electro-mechanical blocking means which under the control of an electronic circuit are capable of imposing the prohibition or the lifting of the prohibition of operation of said lock, characterized in that said electronic control circuit comprises a memory in which is stored a time program intended to be executed cyclically and defining at least one time window for lifting a ban and means associated with this memory for periodically comparing the official time with the times surrounding said time window and means for controlling said blocking means to block or release said lock when there is tied between official time and said times.

Thanks to these characteristics, the prohibition lifts for the operation of the lock are determined according to the official time so that the windows which frame the prohibition lifts can be fixed simply by entering a time in the device. opening and closing time.

• -la fig. 1 représente schématiquement la face avant d'un coffre-fort comportant l'ensemble de serrure suivant l'invention;
• - la fig. 2 est une vue également schématique de la face intérieure de la porte de coffre-fort;
• -la fig. 3 est une représentation schématique plus détaillée du dispositif de blocage de la serrure;
• -la fig. 4 est un schéma simplifié du circuit électronique de commande de la serrure suivant l'invention;
• -la fig. 5 est un diagramme représentant un exemple de programme hebdomadaire pouvant régir les périodes de levée d'interdiction de manoeuvre de la serrure;
• -la fig. 6 est une représentation schématique du contenu de la mémoire RAM utilisée dans le circuit électronique;
• -la fig. 7 montre le contenu de plusieurs octets de la mémoire respectivement pour définir des données "courtes" et des données "longues";
• -les fig. 8a à 8c montrent l'organigramme du programme principal exécuté par le micro- processeur de l'ensemble de serrure suivant l'invention;
• -la fig. 9 représente le principe d'un sous-programme de comparaison;
• -la fig. 10 est un organigramme d'un sous-programme de comparaison sur des données courtes;
• -la fig. 11 est un organigramme d'un sous-programme de comparaison sur des données longues;
• -les fig. 12a à 12e forment ensemble l'organigramme du sous-programme de "calcul de prochain événement";
• -la fig. 13 représente l'organigramme d'un sous-programme permettant de déterminer la relation entre l'heure actuelle et le programme hebdomadaire préétabli;
• -la fig. 14 représente l'organigramme d'un sous-programme de "recherche de début d'une prochaine fenêtre";
• -la fig. 15 représente l'organigramme d'un sous programme de "saut d'un jour";
• -la fig. 16 représente l'organigramme d'un sous-programme de "recherche de la fin d'une fenêtre actuelle";
• -la fig. 17 représente l'organigramme d'un sous-programme de "mise à jour-de semaine relative";
• -les fig. 18a et 18b représentent ensemble un organigramme de sous-programme de temporisation.

The invention will be better understood with the aid of the description which follows of an exemplary embodiment, with reference to the appended drawings in which:

• - fig. 1 schematically represents the front face of a safe comprising the lock assembly according to the invention;
• - fig. 2 is also a schematic view of the interior face of the safe door;
• - fig. 3 is a more detailed schematic representation of the locking device for the lock;
• - fig. 4 is a simplified diagram of the electronic circuit for controlling the lock according to the invention;
• - fig. 5 is a diagram representing an example of a weekly program capable of governing the periods for lifting the prohibition on operating the lock;
• - fig. 6 is a schematic representation of the content of the RAM memory used in the electronic circuit;
• - fig. 7 shows the content of several bytes of the memory respectively to define "short" data and "long"data;
• - fig. 8a to 8c show the flow diagram of the main program executed by the microprocessor of the lock assembly according to the invention;
• - fig. 9 shows the principle of a comparison subroutine;
• - fig. 10 is a flow diagram of a comparison routine on short data;
• - fig. 11 is a flow diagram of a comparison routine on long data;
• - fig. 12a to 12e together form the flowchart of the "next event calculation"subroutine;
• - fig. 13 shows the flowchart of a sub-program making it possible to determine the relationship between the current time and the pre-established weekly program;
• - fig. 14 shows the flowchart of a "search for start of a next window"subroutine;
• - fig. 15 shows the flowchart of a "one day jump"subroutine;
• - fig. 16 shows the flowchart of a "search for the end of a current window"subroutine;
• - fig. 17 shows the flowchart of a "relative week-update"subroutine;
• - fig. 18a and 18b together represent a timing subroutine flowchart.

In the description which follows, the invention is explained with the aid of an example which specifically relates to a safe. However, this example is in no way limiting, the invention being able to be applied each time it is a question of ensuring the control under the condition of a lock for the protection of an enclosure which can be closed by an element of closing.

Figs. 1 and 2 respectively represent the front face of a safe and the internal face of the door of the latter. The lock assembly of this safe is conventional, it is not useful to give here a detailed description or a complete representation. It suffices to note that this lock assembly 1 comprises a linkage 2 provided with bolts 3 and which can be moved from a locking position to an unlocking position and vice versa using a steering wheel 4. A lock including the trunk is shown in 5 and whose bolt is shown in 6 can be actuated using a conventional key through a keyhole 7, this lock can of course be as complex as may be desired in the context of the security to be assured with regard to the contents of the safe.

The bolt 6 cooperates with a bar 8 of the linkage 2, this bar being here slidably mounted in the horizontal direction and comprising a rack 9 with which a pinion 10 mounted on the flywheel 4 cooperates.

It is understood that the operation of the linkage 2 using the steering wheel 4 is prohibited when the lock is closed (bolt 6 in its high position, as shown).

The device according to the invention makes it possible to oppose the operation of this linkage 2 a second locking element 11 whose control determines the lifting of prohibition on condition of the opening of the lock of the safe. Indeed, although this is only shown very briefly in FIG. 2, it can be seen that the locking element 11 can move vertically and thus prevent sliding in the direction of opening of the linkage 2 by entering a cutout 12 which is at the rear of the bar 8. As it will be explained later, the second locking element 11 is motorized and controlled by an electronic circuit 13 to which are connected on the one hand a control keyboard 14 and on the other hand a display device 15, the keyboard being inside the door, while the display device comprises two display fields appearing respectively on either side of the latter.

Referring now to FIG. 3, we will describe, also very briefly, a possible arrangement of the mechanical part of the locking device of the lock according to the invention, the details of embodiment appearing clearly to the specialist from the description which follows of this representation.

The locking element 11 is produced in the form of a slide mounted axially movable in a guide 16 of a frame 17 formed on the door of the safe. The latter also has a corridor 18 in which the bar 8 of the linkage 2 slides and on which the guide 16 opens so that the slide 11 can oppose the recoil movement of the bar 8 when leaving the guide 16, it is placed across corridor 18.

This movement is controlled by an engine assembly 19 comprising an actual engine 20, a lever 21 articulated on the frame 17 and a cam 22 mounted on the output shaft of the engine 20 and provided with an eccentric guide groove 23 in the shape of an arc of a circle, groove in which slides a pin 24 integral with the lever 21. The lever 21 is attached by its free end to the lower end of the slide 11 and like the pin 24 is located at half of the lever 21, it is understood that if the motor 20 is actuated, the lever can raise the slide 11 while the pin moves in the guide groove 23 and that the reverse movement causes the descent of this slide. It should be noted that when the bar 8 is in a position in which it closes the guide 16, the slide 11 can be urged towards its locking position thanks to the presence of a spring 25 which is mounted around the tail. of the slide 11 and which is compressed when the motor is driven in the. direction of lifting of the slide 11. Consequently, when under these conditions, the bar returns to its closed position (to the right in the figure), the slide 11 is immediately brought to be placed across the passage 18 to oppose - any new movement in the direction of opening of the bar 8.

• -interrupteur 26: il est placé en dessous du guide 16 pour constater que le coulisseau 11 se trouve dans sa position inférieure;
• -interrupteur 27: il coopère avec le levier 21 pour fournir un signal lorsque le levier 21 se trouve dans sa position supérieure; par conséquent, lorsque l'interrupteur 26 est fermé, le coulisseau se trouve en bas et lorsque J'interrupteur 27 est .fermé, le coulisseau se trouve en haut.
• -interrupteur 28: il constate une "volonté d'ouverture", c'est-à-dire qu'il est actionné par l'extrémité arrière de la barre 8 pour constater que le volant 4 a été déplacé dans le sens de l'ouverture, alors que le coulisseau 11 se trouve encore dans .sa position haute;
• -interrupteur 29: il constate que la barre 8 est effectivement dans sa position arrière (coffre ouvert).

The assembly just described further comprises four switches 26 to 29 which have the following functions:

• -switch 26: it is placed below the guide 16 to note that the slide 11 is in its lower position;
• -switch 27: it cooperates with the lever 21 to provide a signal when the lever 21 is in its upper position; therefore, when the switch 26 is closed, the slider is at the bottom and when the switch 27 is closed, the slider is at the top.
• -switch 28: it finds a "will to open", that is to say that it is actuated by the rear end of the bar 8 to note that the steering wheel 4 has been moved in the direction of the opening, while the slide 11 is still in its upper position;
• -switch 29: he finds that the bar 8 is effectively in its rear position (boot open).

Fig. 4 shows a simplified diagram of the electronic circuit which is used with the mechanical device which has just been described. We recognize in this figure the bar 8, the slide 11 driven by the motor 22, the keyboard 14 and the display device 15. The latter, as well as the keyboard 14, constitute 'peripherals of a microprocessor 30 which is also connected to a time-based circuit 31, to a memory 32 of the RAM / ROM type and to an amplifier circuit 33 responsible for supplying energy to the motor 22 when a command comes to it for this purpose from the microprocessor 30.

The keyboard 14 comprises the usual numeric keys 34, shift keys 35 to allow successively acting on the data appearing in the boxes of the display field, to the left and to the right, a modification key 36, a key 37, a "delete" key 38 and a "delete" key 39. The keyboard 14 is intended to allow the introduction of programming data into the electrical circuit according to procedures which can be carried out either by the user daily from the safe, either by an authorized person, whereby the latter must have a secret code, in principle unknown to the daily user. Since such procedures for access by a user code are known in the art of microcomputers, it is not necessary to describe them in detail here.

The display device 15 comprises eight display fields, the four fields grouped on the right are intended for indicating the time and the four fields on the left respectively indicate from right to left: the day of the week (1 to 7), the relative week (0 to 3), this concept being explained later, the opening or closing of the safe (the opening condition being represented here), and finally the indication of the instantaneous operating mode of the electronic circuit. It should be noted that this display device 15 is of the interactive type and therefore allows a dialogue between the operator of the keyboard 14 and the display device 15, in particular during a modification of the programming of the following device. the invention.

Fig. 5 shows a diagram as a function of time illustrating an example of operation that can be executed by the device according to the invention. The curve a in this diagram represents a basic weekly program which is cyclical and which therefore returns in principle every week. In the represented case, each day presents two opening windows, respectively between 10 and 12 hours and between 1400 and 1800 hours. This program is pre-established by an authorized person having the secret access code, the daily user being unable to edit. It should be noted that in the example which will be described in the continued, up to four of these opening windows can be programmed each day. Thus, this program determines beforehand the lifting periods prohibiting the opening of the lock.

However, this lifting of the ban may be subject to certain other conditions which may be imposed either by the authorized person or by the daily user, which is illustrated by curves b and c in fig. 5. By first looking at curve b, the basic weekly program for curve a can be inhibited for a period ranging from several hours to a few weeks. Unlike the basic program, this inhibition is not cyclical, but must be programmed by the authorized person step by step and be automatically deleted after its execution. The so-called imposed inhibition (since the daily user cannot erase it) can be useful for example to prohibit opening during a holiday period, a holiday bridge associated with a public holiday, etc. In the example described, inhibition can be given in "relative" weeks (which are from 0 to 3 in number), in days (from 1 to 7), in hours and minutes between the start time and the end time inhibition. In the example of fig. 5, it is assumed that the imposed inhibition period begins on Tuesday at 8.30 am and ends on Friday at 6 am.

Curve c represents the "chosen" inhibition, that is to say selectable by the daily user who does not have the secret access code. This inhibition can be useful when the user must be absent during the day for one or more periods, which is the case in the example shown for the day on Monday. Indeed, the opening ban is established between 10.00 a.m. and 11.30 a.m. and from 4.30 p.m. to 6 p.m.

Curve d thus represents the effective opening periods or periods of lifting of prohibition which are hatched for greater clarity.

Of course, fig. 5 represents only a single example of determining the programming of the lifting of the ban, any other combination of the opening and closing periods which can be chosen as required, either by the authorized programmer or by the user. daily. Furthermore, at any time, if one is inside the enclosure, immediate opening and closing can be requested by both types of operators.

It should also be noted that the programming of the opening and closing times or of lifting of prohibition or prohibition should not be confused with the programming of the microprocessor 30, the operation of which will now be described using flowcharts of Figures 8a to 18b.

However, it is first of all necessary to examine the content of the memory 32 where at least the essential part of this memory which contains both the programming data of the lifting of prohibition as described above, that the program governing the operation of the microprocessor 30.

Fig. 6 schematically represents the organization of the RAM part of the memory 32 in which the data which are essential for the implementation of the invention are stored. The weekly program is recorded in a maximum of 112 bytes in the example shown, this program being used cyclically week after week. Each day can be assigned four ban lifting windows, numbered F, to F., each window requiring for its definition two bytes for opening and two bytes for closing.

Another memory field is intended to contain variable parameters, some of which occupy three bytes and others of which occupy only two.

Fig. 7 shows two examples of groups of bytes used for this memory organization.

The upper part of fig. 7 represents the content of two bytes, hereinafter called "short" data, used for the definition of opening or closing a window F, at F ₄ , while the lower part represents a group of three bytes corresponding to "long" data.

The first byte of a short datum contains the units of the minutes (0 to 9) on four bits, the four most significant bits being assigned to the tens of minutes (0 to 5). The second byte comprising in its four least significant bits, the units of hours (0 to 9), the next two bits being assigned to the tens of hours (0 to 2), the remaining bits corresponding respectively to variables P and S can each admit two states 0 and 1. The bit P, when it is at 1, means that the short datum in question is programmed and, when it is at zero, that this datum is not programmed. The bit S, when it is at 1, means that after processing this data, the slider 11 (fig. 2 and 3) must be lowered to unblock the passage of the bar 8, while when this bit is at zero , the reverse movement must be triggered.

Long data has in its first two bytes the same information as that used to define a short data, while the third byte of long data defines in its four least significant bits the days of the week (0 to 6) and in the other four bits "relative weeks" (0 to 3).

The concept "relative week" means the days extending from today to today + 6 days for the first week numbered 0, the days of relative week no 1 extending from today + 7 days to today + 13 days, etc. In other words, the relative week can start on any day of the calendar week, that is to say in relation to the weekly program defined in memory 32 .

• -PROG (JR, NE) représente la donnée du programme hebdomadaire de base correspondant à l'événement NE du jour JR (donnée courte), 0≦JR≦6 et 0≦NE≦7 dans l'exemple décrit.
• - HRAC représente la donnée contenant l'heure actuelle, mise constamment à jour par une partie du programme du microprocesseur (donnée longue).
• -NXTE représente normalement la donnée définissant l'instant du prochain événement, cette donnée étant le résultat d'un calcul définissant cet événement en fonction des contraintes ou conditions imposées, soit par le programmeur autorisé, soit par l'utilisteur quotidien comme autant de dérogations au programme hebdomadaire qui est défini au préalable. Il s'agit ici d'une donnée longue.
• -AJTO représente la donnée définissant le début d'une inhibition choisie par l'utilisateur quotidien - (AJT pour "ajout"). C'est donc le début d'une fermeture supplémentaire que l'utilisateur quotidien peut faire intervenir dans une fenêtre pour le jour actuel en cours (donnée courte).
• - AJT1 représente la donnée définissant la fin d'une inhibition choisie à_' l'ouverture. C'est également une donnée courte.
• -INHO et INH1 représentent les données contenant respectivement le début et la fin d'une période d'inhibition imposée par le programmeur autorisé. Ce sont des données longues.

In the flowcharts which will be described below, the following data are used as variables, this data being able to be temporarily stored in the lower part of the memory area appearing in FIG. 6. So:

• -PROG (JR, NE) represents the data of the basic weekly program corresponding to the NE event of the day JR (short data), 0 ≦ JR ≦ 6 and 0 ≦ NE ≦ 7 in the example described.
• - HRAC represents the data containing the current time, constantly updated by a part of the microprocessor program (long data).
• -NXTE normally represents the data defining the instant of the next event, this data being the result of a calculation defining this event according to the constraints or conditions imposed, either by the authorized programmer or by the daily user as so many derogations to the weekly program which is defined beforehand. This is long data.
• -AJTO represents the data defining the start of an inhibition chosen by the daily user - (AJT for "addition"). It is therefore the start of an additional shutdown that the daily user can call in a window for the current day in progress (short data).
• - AJT1 represents the data defining the end of a selected inhibition at _' opening. It is also short data.
• -INHO and INH1 represent the data respectively containing the beginning and the end of a period of inhibition imposed by the authorized programmer. These are long data.

• -Mi (x) représente la partie "minutes" de la variable x, où x peut être l'une des données suivantes: HRAC, NXTE, AJT0, AJTA, INH0, INH1, PROG - (JR, NE).
• -Hr (x) représente la partie "heures" de la variable x.
• -P (x) représente le bit de la variable x qui indique si la donnée est programmée ou non.
• -S (x) représente le bit de la variable x qui indique le sens du mouvement du coulisseau 11 associé à la donnée en question.

To explain the processing of significant parts - long and short data, the flowcharts use the following variable designations:

• -Mi (x) represents the "minutes" part of the variable x, where x can be one of the following data: HRAC, NXTE, AJT0, AJTA, INH0, INH1, PROG - (JR, NE).
• -Hr (x) represents the "hours" part of the variable x.
• -P (x) represents the bit of the variable x which indicates whether the data is programmed or not.
• -S (x) represents the bit of the variable x which indicates the direction of movement of the slide 11 associated with the data in question.

• -HRAC, NXTE, INH0, INH1,
• ces données étant complétées par:
• -JR (y) qui représente la partie "jours"
• -Sm (y) qui représente la partie "semaines".

The four variable parts relate to short data x, and these parts can also be assigned to the first two bytes of each long data y which can be one of the following data:

• -HRAC, NXTE, INH0, INH1,
• these data being supplemented by:
• -JR (y) which represents the "days" part
• -Sm (y) which represents the "weeks" part.

Figs. 8a to 8c represent the flowchart of the main program implemented in the microprocessor 30. This main program comprises a certain number of subroutines as well as a calculation loop which takes place in the last phase of the execution of this main program. This calculation loop itself comprises a certain number of subroutines which will all be described in detail below.

The main program consists essentially of four parts, the first of which calculates the time (fig. 8a), the second of which essentially aims to compare the current time with the NXTE data defining the previously calculated event, the third part ensuring the actual control of the movement of the slider 11 as a function of the constraints imposed by the program, and the fourth part being the calculation loop of which we have just spoken.

The main program is executed every half-second under the control of a signal which is applied to the microprocessor 30 by the time base 31. The latter can be formed by a conventional division chain controlled by a quartz oscillator.

During initialization at 50 (fig. 8a), a test is first carried out at 51 to find out whether the content of a register of seconds SECS is equal to. 119. It will be noted in passing that the program makes use of a certain number of registers which, conventionally, form part of the microprocessor 30.

If the test is negative, the content of the register is - incremented by one at 52 and the program ends at 53 until the next half-second is triggered. If, on the other hand, the test is positive, the number zero is placed in the SECS register (operation 54). _.

It is understood that the number examined during test 51, chosen here at 119 (120, that is to say 2 minutes) is a function of the frequency with which one wishes to execute the main program and it can be different from once every two minutes.

The content of the SECS register being set to zero, a test is carried out at 55 to determine whether the first byte of the HRAC data contained in the memory 32 (units and tens of minutes) is equal to 59. If the test proves negative , the content of the byte in question is incremented by one at 56 and the program switches to a "long comparison" subroutine 57 (fig. 8b), a detailed description of which will be given below. If the test 55 proves positive, the number 0 is placed in the aforementioned byte at 58 and the program passes to a test 59 to determine whether the content of the second byte of the HRAC data contains a number of hours equal to 23 If the test is negative, the content of this byte is incremented by one at 60 and the program also goes to subroutine 57. If the test is positive, the number zero is placed in the byte in question in 61. This obviously means that we go from one day to the next day, because the time then corresponds to midnight.

The program then goes through three subroutines 62, 63 and 64 called "relative week update program", a detailed description of which will be given below (fig. 8b).

This update being carried out if necessary, the program goes to a test 65 to determine whether the content of the days part of byte 3 of the HRAC data is equal to 6. If the test proves negative, the content of this part of byte 3 is incremented by one at 66 and the program goes to subroutine 57. On the other hand, if the test proves positive, zero is placed in the part concerned by byte 3 (operation 67) and the program also goes to subroutine 57.

In general, during the course of the program as a whole, comparisons must be made between hourly data representing the variables which may arise as and when. These comparisons can be performed on long data and short data and can give rise, assuming that one of the data is designated by A and the other designated by B, to four results which are illustrated in FIG. 9, which is a general subroutine "C" for comparison, the details of the corresponding subroutines CDC and CDL appearing respectively in FIGS. 10 and 11. As these are hourly data, the four results can be as follows: A precedes B, (C1), A and B are synchronous - (C2), A succeeds B (C3) and finally B n is not programmed (C4), that is to say that its P bit is at zero.

The comparison of short data (CDC) thus proceeds as follows (fig. 10). After initialization (CDC1), a test is performed in CDC2 to check the value "1" "of bit P of data B. If this test proves negative, B is not programmed and we can proceed to the operation On the other hand, if the test proves positive, a new test is performed in CDC3 to determine if the "hour" value of variable B is greater than, equal to or less than the "hour" value of variable A. Otherwise of equality, the same test is performed on the values of the minutes of the two variables (CDC4), which results in the findings C1 and C3 If the values of the minutes of the two variables are equal, we obtain the result C2.

In the case of variables corresponding to long data, two additional tests (CDL sub-program) are added to the CDC subroutine relating respectively to the day and week values of the variables A and B, these tests being indicated by the references CDL5 and CDL6 in fig. 11, the other operations identical to the CDC subroutine bearing the references CDL1 to CDL4.

Returning now to FIG. 8b we see that the sub-program 57 corresponds to the long comparison CDL, according to the procedure of FIG. 11, of the variable HRAC and of the variable NXTE which is, expressed in hourly data, the time at which the next event will take place, this variable having been calculated before. She depends therefore of the time program of curve a of FIG. 5 and of the constraints introduced by the inhibitions imposed and chosen, according to curves b and c of this same figure.

If, during the execution of subroutine 57, it turns out that the variable NXTE is not programmed or that it is lower or higher than the variable HRAC, the main program ends and the device waits for the next initialization of the program by returning to the initialization operation 50 when half a second has passed. On the other hand, when there is equality between the two variables, the main program will execute its third part to place the slider 11 in the position required by the data obtained after the execution of the sub-program 57.

Thus, a test is carried out at 68. to determine the value at which the bit S of the variable NXTE is established. If this bit is at zero, the circuit generates a "logically closed" signal at 69, which does not yet mean that the motor 20 driving the slider 11 will be actuated in the closing direction. Indeed, it is first necessary to examine in which position the slide is located. After passing a test in 70, the usefulness of which will be explained later, and assuming that the answer to this test is negative, a test is carried out to determine in what position the slide 11 is actually in relation to the positions of the switches 26 and 27. If it is then found that the slider is open, the motor is triggered according to operation 72 and the slider is raised by the motor 20 controlled by the microprocessor through the amplifier 33. The program passes then on the “calculation of the next event” loop 73. If the tests 70 and 71 prove to be positive, the program also passes on this same loop 73, by the common operation 74.

If the test 68 proves to be affirmative, the same operations take place, but this time with respect to the state of opening of the slide 11, the program passing through the operations 75 to 78 which all end equally on loop 73.

It can therefore be seen that when the first three parts of the main program have been executed, the device places the slide in the position required by the constraints illustrated in FIG. 5 as a function of the variable NXTE previously calculated, after which, during the fourth part, the device will examine what is the nature of the next event and calculate exactly the next variable NXTE which is then stored in memory 32 to be used during of the execution of the next routine 57 leading to the comparison with the current time.

We will now describe this fourth part, that is to say the program loop 73 used to calculate the data NXTE translating the hourly coordinates of the next event to take place. This loop is initialized at 79 (fig. 12a) and the first operation consists in placing in memory 32 at the location of the NXTE datum, the HRAC datum of the current time worked out during the first part of the main program ( fig. 8a).

Next, a CDL subroutine 81 is performed between the NXTE datum and the content of the two bytes corresponding to the INH1 datum. If, following this comparison, it turns out that INH1 is not programmed, is greater than the variable NXTE (corresponding to this instant at the moment) or is equal to this data, the program switches to a following subroutine 82 called "localization in the weekly program" - (LPH; see fig. 12b).

If, on the other hand, the comparison of the subroutine 81 leads to note that INH1. East. lower than NXTE, which means that the current time is either in an imposed inhibition period or before this period, it is to be determined by the CDL 82 subroutine which is a long comparison between INHO and NXTE if the current time is within or before the imposed muting period. If the subroutine 83 determines that it is still before the inhibition period, the program goes to the subroutine 82. On the other hand, if it turns out that there is equality between the two data, the program goes to operation 84 (fig. 12e) which consists in placing the data INH1, that is to say the end of the inhibition period imposed in the bytes of memory 32 corresponding to the variable NXTE driving of these bytes the HRAC data which was previously stored there. The operations following this introduction will be described later in the NXTE bytes according to operation 84.

We will now describe the LPH 82 subroutine with particular reference to FIG. 13.

The purpose of subroutine 82 is to determine whether the data contained at this instant in the NXTE bytes, according to operation 80 (fig. 12a) falls into an opening window of the corresponding day of the basic weekly program (fig. 5), and to determine if there is an event of the corresponding day which follows this data. The subroutine 82 is initialized at 85 and the first operation 86 consists in placing in a register of the microprocessor JR the bits of the third byte of the data NXTE (which therefore correspond to today), then during 'a operation 87 of placing the number zero in another register NE of the microprocessor. The contents of the registers JR and NE are then used as pointer to the bytes of memory 32 in which the weekly program is stored - (curve a in fig. 5). The content of the bytes designated by the pointer (in this case, for example, the two opening bytes of window F, which are then extracted from the memory) is subjected to a comparison subroutine at 88 according to the process. table illustrated in fig. 9.

Before examining the possible results of the comparison carried out by the subroutine 88, it is useful to note that the parity of the number NE is representative of the opening or closing state of a window, an odd number corresponding obligatorily at the opening and a number even at a closing, it being understood that in the example represented, at most four successive openings and closings can occur, the number NE of the events therefore being at most equal to eight.

If the comparison carried out reveals that NXTE and PROG (JR, NE) are equal, the content of the NE register is incremented by one at 89 and a test is performed at 90 to determine if NE is equal to the maximum number of possible events scheduled in the weekly schedule, this number being therefore eight in the example described. If this test proves negative, the program loops back to subroutine 88 to extract from memory the second event of the day pointed to by the registers JR and NE. A new comparison is then performed on NXTE, i.e. the current time and PROG (JR, NE).

If following test 90 it turns out that NE is equal to 8, we are faced with a first case which may result from sub-program 82. Indeed, we will then know that the slide 11 is in its closed position and that no event in the weekly program follows the current time of day on that day.

If the comparison made by the subroutine 88 indicates that the current time (NXTE) precedes PROG (JR, NE), the program performs a new test at 91 to determine whether NE is even or odd. If NE is even, we are faced with a second case, namely that the slide is in its closed position and that there is an event. of the program that will succeed at the moment that day. If, on the other hand, the test carried out in 91 turns out to be positive, we are faced with a third case corresponding to the opening position of the slide 11 and the programming, that day, of the end of the window in presence.

If the comparison carried out by the subroutine 88 results in establishing that the current time succeeds PROG (JR, NE), the program continues as previously described with regard to the finding of equality of the two corresponding data. If, finally, the subroutine 88 establishes that PROG (JR, NE) is not programmed, the program passes to a test 92 to examine the parity of the number NE. If this number is even, we are in the presence of case no 1 and otherwise we are in the presence of a case no 4 corresponding to the opening position of the slide 11, that is to say the The current time is in an opening window and this window lasts until midnight of the current day. Thus, referring again to FIG. 12b, it can be seen that the subroutine 82 gives rise to four possible cases which will be examined successively now.

If the subroutine 82 leads to case no. 1 or no. 2, the program switches to an RDPF 93 (Search for Beginning of Next Window) subroutine, the operations of which have been detailed in FIG. 14 to which we will now refer. The subroutine 93 is initialized at 94 and the first operation consists in placing the value zero in the register NE (operation 95). Then, a test is carried out to determine if NE is equal to the maximum number of events of the day (operation 96). If the test 96 establishes the inequality, the program passes to a test 97 to determine the program bit P of the PROG data item (JR, NE). If this bit is equal to one, a test is carried out in 98 to determine the parity of the number NE and if this test proves negative, the values of minutes and hours of the data PROG (JR, NE) are introduced into the corresponding bits of the three bytes of the NXTE signal by pushing back the current time data which was there previously - (operation 99). Then the program loops back to the main program.

If the test at 98 proves positive, the NE register is incremented by one unit at 100 and the program loops back to test 96 and the operations previously described are repeated.

If the result of the test 96 is positive or if that of the test 97 is negative, the program passes to a subroutine SDJ 101 called subroutine of "day jump" which we will now examine with reference to fig. 15.

This subroutine is called when we are looking for the next event in the basic weekly program and when, having already reached the last scheduled event of the day we are working on, we must go to the day following. In this subroutine we use an auxiliary variable NC which aims to avoid that in the absence of a program we change more than seven times a day.

The subroutine 101, after initialization at 102, performs a test 103 to determine if the content of the register NC is equal to 7. If this is the case, it is an error which is signaled on the device d 'display and which results in putting the slide 11 in the open position, which is also the case each time an error is observed during the course of the program.

If the test 103 is negative, the register NC is incremented by one unit (operation 104) and the number zero is placed in the register NE. Then, a test is performed in 105 to determine whether the content of the JR register is equal to 6. If this test proves positive, the number zero is placed in the JR register and if not, this register is incremented by one unit (operations 106 and 107). Then, operation 108 consists in transferring the content of the register JR into the corresponding bits of the data NXTE of the memory 32. Then, a test is carried out in 109 to check the equality between the content of the register JR and the day of HRAC data. If this test proves negative, the program loops back to test 97 of the subroutine 93 (fig. 14) and if not, the number of the NXTE data item corresponding to the week is incremented by one unit (operation 110 ) after which we also go back to test 97.

At the end of the operation 99 of the subroutine 93, the program switches to a subroutine 111 (fig. 12b) which consists in making a long comparison between the content of the bytes of the NXTE data which then does not correspond at present, but at a calculated value and the INHO data. If this comparison determines that INHO is not programmed or if NXTE precedes INH0, the program goes to operation 112 which consists in placing the value 1 in the bits P and S of the data NXTE, which completes the calculation of this given. If, on the other hand, the comparison establishes equality between NXTE and INH0, or if NXTE succeeds INHO, a new long comparison is carried out in 113 between INH0 and INH1. If INH1 succeeds INHO, the program goes to operation 84 (fig. 12e). In the other three cases, this is an error (operation 114) and a zero is placed in the PNXTE bit.

We will now examine the flow of operations when, during the execution of the subroutine 82 (fig. 12b), cases no. 3 and 4 are noted, recalling that case no. 3 corresponds to the open position of the slide and the programming of the end of the window in progress, while case 4 also corresponds to the slide opening position, the window being established until midnight.

When case no 3 is noted, the program goes on to a test at 115 (fig. 12c), whereas if this is case no 4, a test is carried out at 116, tests 115 and 116 having the aim of determining if the opening order exists. If the test 115 proves negative, a subroutine 117 of short comparison is carried out between the data item NXTE which is here the data item corresponding to the current time and the item of data AJT1 which relates to a selected inhibition. If this last datum is not programmed or if it is equal to or less than the NXTE datum, the program loops back to subroutine 93 (fig. 12b). If, on the other hand, AJT1 is greater than NXTE, the program switches to a new subroutine 118 for short comparison between the data item PROG (JR, NE) (see subroutine 82) and the data item AJT1. If AJT1 is not programmed, if it is equal to PROG - (JR, NE) or if AJT1 succeeds PROG (JR, NE) the program also loops back to subroutine 93. On the other hand, if PROG (JR, NE) succeeds AJT1, the values of minutes and hours of this data are transferred in the corresponding bits of the NXTE bytes of memory 32 (operation 119). After this operation, the program loops back to the long comparison subroutine 111 to complete the other bits of the data NXTE during operation 112, or to detect errors (operation 114).

The test carried out in 116 being negative, a short comparison is also carried out on the data NXTE and AJT1 (subroutine 120), but in this case it is only when NXTE - (current time) precedes AJT1 that we pass to operation 119, the three other cases leading to loopback on the subroutine 93. If the tests 115 and 116 prove to be positive, the same comparison operations are carried out on the data AJT0 in accordance with the subroutines 121, 122 and 123 (fig. 12d).

When subroutines 121 and 122 establish either that AJT0 is not programmed, or that NXTE is greater than AJT0, or that the two data are equal, the program switches to an RFFA search end of window subroutine Current (Fig. 16). The program also switches to this subroutine 124 at the end of the execution of the subroutine 123 when it turns out that AJT0 is not programmed or when AJT0 is greater than PROG (JR, NE).

If the comparison established during the course of the sub-program 122 results in establishing that AJT0 is greater than NXTE, the values of minutes and hours of the data AJT0 are placed the corresponding bits of bytes of the data NXTE in replacement of the corresponding values of the current HRAC (Operation 125). Likewise, if, after the execution of the subroutine 123 it turns out that AJT0 is greater than PROG (JR, NE), the value of minutes and hours of this data are placed in the corresponding bits of the data NXTE of memory 32 (operation 126).

The purpose of the subroutine RFFA 126 is to find the end of the current window, to allow the end of this window to place in the "S" bit of the NXTE signal, the value 0 having the purpose of causing the mo, uvement of the slide 11 in the closing direction.

The subroutine 124 (FIG. 16) runs almost entirely like the subroutine 93 in accordance with the operations 94 to 101 already described with reference to FIG. 14. The difference consists in that, at the end of the running of the subroutine 101 (fig. 15), that is to say when the test 109 turns out to be negative or that the updating of the bits of the NXTE signal corresponding to the number of weeks, is carried out according to operation 110, the subroutine 124 performs a test 127 to determine whether the bit P of the PROG datum, (JR NE) is equal to 1, being recalled that this datum was retrieved from memory based on the contents of the JR and NE registers. If this test 127 proves positive, two successive tests 128 and 129 are carried out on the hour and minute values of the PROG data item (JR, NE) to check whether these values are equal to zero. If tests 128 and 129 prove to be negative, zero values are introduced into the corresponding bits of the bytes of the NXTE data item, in accordance with operation 130, after which the program reconnects to the program 73 for calculating the next event (fig. . 12d). If tests 128 and 129 are both positive, this means that, in one particular case, an opening window has been programmed which overlaps midnight. It is then necessary to search for the next event of the new day, so that the value NE is incremented according to operation 100.

The operations 127 to 130 therefore aim to avoid that, when the opening is programmed to overlap midnight, the slider is not successively brought into the closed position and into the open position, but remains on the contrary in the open position, despite the fact that in reality, at midnight, by convention, the slider 11 must always be in its closed position.

If, after the execution of the subroutine 124, no error is noticed, the program - (fig. 12d) switches to a long comparison subroutine 131 to check if the current value of the given NXTE does not correspond to an INH0 datum, that is to say with an imposed start of inhibition.

If the INHφ data is not programmed or if it succeeds to NXTE or if it; is equal to INH0, values of 1 and 0 are respectively placed in the bits P and S of the data NXTE - (operation 132), after which the calculation of NXTE is completed.

If, on the other hand, the data NXTE turns out to succeed INH0, this data is placed in the bytes of NXTE (operation 133), after which the same bit values are placed in the bits P and S of NXTE according to the operation 132. The same operation is carried out if, after a test 134 made after finding an error in the subroutine 101 taking place in the context of the execution of the program 124 (fig. 16), it is checked whether the bit P of the data INH0 is equal to 1. If this is not the case, 0 is placed in this bit and there is an error.

Returning to fig. 12a, in the event of a tie between NXTE and INHo during the course of subprogram 83, NXTE is in a period of inhibition. The slider 11 is then in its closed position and it is necessary to search for the start of the first window which follows the end of the inhibition. The program then continues as follows (fig. 12e).

The operation 84 already mentioned consists in placing the value 'INH1 in the bytes NXTE, after which the subroutine 82 is executed to locate this data in the weekly program.

If the subroutine 82 ends in case no 1 or in case no 2, we will execute the subroutine 93 to find the start of the consecutive window. If cases no 3 or no 4 occur, values 1 are respectively placed in bits P and S of the data NXTE and the calculation of the next event ends. If the subroutine 93 results in the observation of an error, the value zero is placed in the bit P of the data item NXTE and an error is noted (operations 136 and 137).

We will now return to the main program and more precisely to the subroutines 62, 63, 64 appearing in FIG. 8b. It has already been indicated that the inhibitions imposed use a notion of relative week, the definition of which has been given. Given this relativity, the variable which described it varies with the progression of time, so that, when going from one day to another, it is necessary to update the data which contain the indication of the relative week, namely the NXTE, INHO and INH1 data. It is precisely the role of the MJSR 62, 63 and 64 subroutines which are the same and which have been represented only once in FIG. 17. After initialization at 138, this subroutine first checks whether the data in question is programmed by the test 139. If it is not programmed, the subroutine ends. If programmed, it is checked during test 140 whether the day value of the HRAC data corresponds to the day value of the data examined. If it does not match, the routine ends. If it corresponds, it is checked during test 141 if the week value of the data examined is equal to zero. If this is the case, the value zero is placed in the bit P of the data examined. On the other hand, if this is not the case, the week value of the data examined is decremented by one unit (operations 142 and 143, respectively) after which, the subroutine in question ends and the operations reconnect to the main program.

We will now describe fig. 18a and 18b which relate to the time delay at the opening of the slide 11. The corresponding algorithm is executed every half-second after the time has been calculated (fig. 8a).

• 1. L'ouverture au sens du progamme. Se présente lorsque le temps actuel HRAC se trouve entre les limites d'une fenêtre d'ouverture du programme;
• 12. L'ouverture théorique. Est l'ouverture au sens du programme, éventuellement restreinte par une inhibition imposée. Au sens théorique, l'appareil est ouvert si l'heure actuelle se trouve entre les limites d'une fenêtre d'ouverture et ne se trouve pas entre les limites de la période d'inhibition imposée, éventuellement programmée.
• 3. L'ouverture logique. A l'extérieur des fenêtres d'ouverture théorique, l'appareil est logiquement fermé; à l'intérieur des fenêtres d'ouverture théorique, l'appareil peut être logiquement ouvert ou logiquement fermé, soit par action manuelle, soit par le jeu des inhibitions choisies.
• 4. L'ouverture physique. Correspond à l'état du coulisseau 11 déplacé par le moteur. Dans un dispositif suivant l'invention dépourvu de système de temporisation, l'ouverture physique correspond à l'ouverture logique. Cependant il est possible de prévoir une temporisation et, dans ce cas, l'ouverture logique définit la période pendant laquelle un signal . externe de requête d'ouverture est pris en considération et donne lieu, après une période d'attente programmable, à une ouverture physique d'une durée standard de trois minutes par exemple.

In the foregoing description of the algorithms governing the program of the microprocessor 30, several concepts of opening and closing (lifting of prohibition or prohibition) have been used which are as follows:

• 1. Openness in the sense of the program. Occurs when the current HRAC time is between the limits of a program opening window;
• 12. Theoretical opening. Is the opening in the sense of the program, possibly restricted by an imposed inhibition. In a theoretical sense, the device is opened if the current time is between the limits of an opening window and is not between the limits of the imposed inhibition period, possibly programmed.
• 3. The logical opening. Outside the theoretical opening windows, the device is logically closed; inside the theoretical opening windows, the device can be logically open or logically closed, either by manual action or by the play of the selected inhibitions.
• 4. The physical opening. Corresponds to the state of the slide 11 moved by the motor. In a device according to the invention without a timing system, the physical opening corresponds to the logical opening. However, it is possible to provide a time delay and, in this case, the logical opening defines the period during which a signal. external opening request is taken into account and gives rise, after a programmable waiting period, to a physical opening of a standard duration of three minutes for example.

The request signal can be presented at any time, a signal which can possibly be associated with a special code known only to authorized persons. If the opening is so requested, the algorithm of figs. 18a and 18b impose a period limited to the possibility of opening, although this opening does not occur until after the waiting period mentioned above. The timing algorithm of Figs. 18a and 18b consists, after an initialization at 144, of first examining a transition of the request signal using tests 145, 146 and 147. These tests consist in examining the state of a flag FR which is established to zero after test 146 (operation 148) or to one (149).

_- After operation 148, a test is performed at 150 to determine if there is an error. If this test is negative, we will examine in 151 if there is a logical opening. In the positive case, a test is carried out to examine whether the variable TEMP is equal to zero, this variable being the set value corresponding to the delay time which is here three minutes. If the TEMP variable is equal to zero, the motor 20 is controlled in the opening direction (operation 153), after which the TEMP variable receives the value 3. If tests 151 and 152 prove to be negative, the motor 20 is controlled in the closing direction (operation 154) which also loops back to operation 155 for adjusting the TEMP variable. Then the program continues by updating a TEMPO variable to its initial value of 120 half-seconds executed during operation 156 appearing in FIG. 18b.

After operation 149, which consists in establishing a 1 for the flag FR, it is examined whether there is an error in 157, after which it is checked whether the variable TEMPO is equal to zero. In the negative case, the variable is decremented by a unit at 159, after which this variable is again confronted with the value zero in test 160.

If this test proves positive, we check, during the test .161, if the variable TEMP1 is equal to zero. In the negative case, this value is decremented by one unit (operation 162), after which we check again calf, during test 163, if this variable is equal to zero. In the positive case, the motor 20 is controlled in the closing direction (operation 164) and the program loops back to operation 156. Otherwise, a new test at 165 is carried out on the variable TEMP1 to check if it is equal to 3. In the negative case, the program returns to operation 156. Otherwise, the motor 20 is controlled in the opening direction (operation 166). Finally, if test 161 proves positive, the program loops back to the main program.

Claims (11)

1. Device for lifting a conditional ban on the operation of a lock (5, 8), in particular a safe, vault or other protected enclosure, comprising electromechanical blocking means (11, 19) which under the control of an electronic circuit (14, 30 to 33) are capable of imposing the prohibition or the lifting of prohibition of operation of said lock, characterized in that said electronic control circuit (14, 30 to 33) includes a memory - (32) in which is stored a time program intended to be executed cyclically and defining at least one time window for lifting a ban (F, to F.) of the means associated with this memory for periodically comparing the time official (HRAC) at times (NXTE) framing said time window and means (30, 33) for controlling said blocking means to block, respectively release said lock when there is equality between the official time and said times. 2. Device according to claim 1, characterized in that said electronic circuit comprises a microprocessor (30) programmed to give the official time (HRAC) and to carry out said comparison at regular intervals. 3. Device according to claim 2, characterized in that each of said instants is defined in said memory (32) using a datum (NXTE) comprising numerical values of minutes, hours and if necessary of day and during the week, information (P) establishing whether this data enters the time program or not and information (S) defining in which direction the blocking means must be controlled, namely in the direction of a ban or in the sense of a lifting ban on the operation of the lock (5). 4. Device according to claim 3, characterized in that said microprocessor (30) is programmed to, after each finding of equality between the official time (HRAC) and an instant (NXTE) of the cyclic time program, extract from the memory (32), the data corresponding to the next instant of this time program, and to check the equality of this new data and the official time (HRAC) at the rate of said regular intervals. 5. Device according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the data stored in said memory (32) also include data defining time intervals during which the lifting of prohibition provided by said cyclic time program is inhibited (INHO, INH1, AJTO, AJT1). 6. Device according to claim 5 when it depends on any one of claims 2 to 4, characterized in that said microprocessor - (30) is also programmed to, during each comparison operation, check whether the next instant provided for by said cyclical time program falls during an interval corresponding to an inhibition of the lifting of prohibition. 7. Device according to claim 6, characterized in that said microprocessor (30) is connected to an interactive communication device (14, 15) and in that it is programmed to allow the retrospective introduction of the data defining the intervals inhibition (INH0, INH1, AJT0, AJT1). 8. Device according to claim 7, characterized in that said microprocessor (30) is programmed to admit the retrospective introduction of inhibition interval data only by means of an authorization code. 9. Device according to any one of claims 1 to 8, characterized in that said cyclical hourly program is weekly. 10. Device according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that it comprises means for delaying the action on said blocking means (11, 19) for a predetermined period of time elapsing after observation of the equality between the official time and an instant corresponding to the lifting of a ban on the operation of the lock. 11. Device according to any one of claims 2 to 10, characterized in that said microprocessor (30) is programmed to determine the direction of control of said blocking means - (30, 33) towards a ban or a lifting of 'Prohibition of the operation of the lock according to the number of moments that have appeared during a predetermined time interval.

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