Safety gate for vehicle wheel alignment pit installations

Claim 1

Safety gate means at the floor level for blocking access of a vehicle or person to the edge of a vehicle service floor pit, said gate means comprising: biparting gate sections; a pair of towers positioned spaced apart from each other but adjacent the edge of the floor pit, a gate section being pivotally supported by each tower for movement between aligned positions blocking access to the edge of the floor pit and separated positions projecting away from each edge in a direction to the suspended over the floor pit for exposing the edge of the floor pit between said towers; gate sections supporting posts pivotally mounted in each tower; drive means connected to each post; reversible power operated means in one of said towers operably connected to the gate supporting post therein; driven means extending between said towers and interconnecting said drive means for said posts, said driven means being adjacent the floor level and traversing the space between said towers for effecting simultaneous movement of said gate sections between said aligned and separated positions; and control means in said one of said towers connected to said power operated means, said control means including means for determining the direction of movement of said gate sections by operation of said reversible power operated means, gate section position limit switches in one of said towers responsive to the position of the adjacent gate section to determine the full aligned and separated positions of both of said gate sections, and manual switch means to initiate the operation of said control means.