Gated Access Control

Swing Gates, Slide Gates, Barrier Arms, and Lift Gates which of the styles of actuators will best fit your budget, and your application? This page should give you enough information to make that choice.

Gates are really just an extension of a fence or a barrier in order for them to become a security device you have to make them do what you want them to do which is what? Control the entry of vehicles or pedestrians to a specific area or property. In order to do that a number of devices have to come together to make this gate smart enough to perform a pretty simple task. What we do first is look at the property and assess the existing barrier or fence line. We combine what we find out with that assessment with maybe some consideration to the look or curb appeal of the finished product to come up with the style of operator.
Unless you are a hermit or a recluse you will probably want some visitors to have access .If not maybe UPS, Fedex or the pool guy. So what are they going to see and be able to do when they get to the gate. If your saying wow now wait to we get to the access of emergency personnel and vehicles. So lets start at the basics and look at some of the devices that all combine will make access control possible and while we are at it we should throw in some devises that will keep this gate from closing on someone or some thing.

First you have an operator. That operator serves as the opener for the gate. Operators are sometimes call actuators. Now we have to add some thing that will tell the gate when to open and possibly who to open for . So we add a key pad. A keypad that will have the ability to hold codes. Enough codes that the pool guy, the maid, the butler and the baby sitter can all have codes. What about the pizza guy? OK so then the keypad should have a way to call the house so that you can open the gate for people that do need access but only when you are at the house to let them in. This requires a phone line to the keypad.

Emergency vehicle access is relatively easy. Audio sensing devises called SOS modules that with a yelp of a siren the gate will automatically open. There are also boxes that are located on the outside of the property that can either come keyed and a key can be supplied a a common pad lock can be used on the box that the emergency personnel can just cut off. These boxes come from the manufacturer a fire engine red and are clearly marked and extremely visible even at night.

If the power goes out and your operator does not have battery back-up you are either locked in or out of your property . Many operators have a lever that can enable you to open the gate manually, if are on the same side of the fence that the operator is on. However if it is an electrical failure due to a storm you might get real wet doing so. I suggest battery back up. Most operators with battery back up can be set up for what the industry calls fail safe operation. Fail safe operation means that if the power goes out your battery back up device will open the operators and the gate will remain there until power is restored. Some industrial complexes due classified materials would prefer the operators to be set for fail safe operation.

Safety devices are devices that prevent the gate from closing on a car or person.