Controllable barrier system for preventing unpaid admission to a

Abstract

A barrier system works in conjunction with an automatic fee collection system to prevent persons from gaining entry to a fee-paid area without payment of the required fee. The barrier system includes a physical barrier that controllably blocks a passageway through which the person who attempts to gain access without payment must move. A barrier actuator controllably drives the physical barrier from the open to the closed position under the direction of a controller. The controller receives sensor signals that warn of an attempt to gain admission without payment, processes those signals through a logic that prevents unauthorized admission, guards against injury to persons by operation of the physical barrier, and permits exit through the barrier system. In a preferred approach, the automatic fee collection system includes a passageway through which persons must pass to gain admission, and the barrier system includes a passageway extension which is blocked when a person attempts to gain admission without payment.