Tripod Turnstile

A tripod turnstile also called a baffle gate or turn style is a type of gate which allows one person to pass at a time. It can also be made so as to impose one-way traffic of people, and in addition, it can restrict passage only to people who insert a coin, a ticket, a pass, or similar. Thus a tripod turnstile can be used in the case of paid access, such as to access public transport, a pay toilet, or to restrict access to authorized people, such as in the lobby of an office area.

Application

Tripod turnstiles are used at a wide variety of settings, including stadiums, amusement parks, mass transit stations, office lobbies, airports, ski resorts, factories, power plants, and casinos etc.

For a business/revenue standpoint, turnstiles give an accurate, verifiable count of attendance. For a security standpoint, they lead patrons to enter single-file, so security personnel has a clear view of each patron. This enables security to efficiently isolate potential trouble or to seize any prohibited materials. On the other side, physical barriers become a serious safety issue when a speedy evacuation is needed, requiring emergency exits that bypass any turnstiles.

Turnstiles mostly use ratchet mechanisms to allow the rotation of the stile in one direction allowing ingress but preventing rotation in the other direction. They are usually designed to operate only after payment has been made, usually by inserting a coin or token in a slot; or by swiping, tapping, or inserting a paper ticket or electronically-encoded card.
Tripod turnstiles are often used for counting the numbers of people passing through a gate, even when payment is not involved. They are used extensively in this manner in amusement parks, in order to keep track of how many people enter and exit the park as well as ride each ride.

TYPES

Waist-high

A tripod turnstile used in fairs, attractions, and arenas. The user inserts a ticket or passes into the slot, from which a barcode is read; if access is to be granted, as per that sensor determines the speed along with the user passes through and sets the electric motor to turn the turnstile at the corresponding speed. This fixed arm style has traditionally been the most popular type of turnstile, sometimes also referred to as “half-height” turnstiles.

Optical

Where a physical barrier is deemed unnecessary or unaesthetic, traditional “arm”-style turnstile and is increasingly used in that locations. Optical turnstiles are an alternative to the Optical turnstiles generally use an infrared beam to count patrons and recognize anyone attempting to enter a site without a valid entry pass.

Drop arm optical

The drop arm optical turnstile is a combination of all the security of a tripod or barrier turnstile and a fully optical turnstile. The single lane can have either single or double arms. As access is granted the arms drop into recesses in the cabinet. The turnstile functions as a fully optical turnstile, once the arms drop out of the way.

Full-height turnstiles

The full-height turnstile is a larger version of the turnstile, mostly 7-foot (2.1 m) high. It is similar in operation to a revolving door, which eliminates the possibility of anyone jumping over the turnstile. Although, this type of turnstile functions differently than a revolving door, in that it often does not allow someone to come in as someone else goes out. It is also known as an “iron maiden”.