AU672416B2

AU672416B2 - Container apparatus for valuables

Info

Publication number: AU672416B2
Application number: AU44450/93A
Authority: AU
Inventors: Peter George McFee; Colin Geoffrey Skals
Original assignee: KNOPE FOUR Pty Ltd T A CAD
Current assignee: KNOPE-FOUR Pty Ltd T/A CADILLAC CASE Co
Priority date: 1992-08-06
Filing date: 1993-08-04
Publication date: 1996-10-03
Anticipated expiration: 2013-08-04
Also published as: AU4445093A

Description

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AUSTRALIA

Patents Act 1990 KNOPE-FOUR PTY LIMITED

ORIGINAL

COMPLETE SPECIFICATION STANDARD PATENT Invention Title: CONTAINER APPARATUS FOR VALUABLES The following statement is a full description of this invention including the best method of performing it known to us:- S SC 2 CONTAINER APPARATUS FOR VALUABLES FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to an improved method of packaging valuable goods such as, for example, paintings, sculptures, etc, and more specifically to a container apparatus therefor.

BACKGROUND ART Hereto before, very valuable paintings, together with their frames which can also be very valuable by themselves, have been transported in wooden casings, crates or the like by having holes drilled in the back of the frame and screws engaged in the holes to securely hold oo.the picture frame within the casing. Such invasive *methods are well accepted in the art industry, since it is preferable to avoid anything contacting the front face of the frame which is often gilded (ie, with gold or other valuable materials). Although it is an invasive method, and does not effectively isolate the paintings/frames from shock forces experienced by the casing during transport, 20 experts employed by galleries, exhibitors and the like have not seen fit to use any other methods despite any consternation experienced by the actual owners of the S. paintings/frames It would be desirable to have an improved system which securely locates the paintings/frames within a S. casing for transporting purposes, and which can generally isolate or insulate the frames from shock forces which are inevitably exerted against the casing during transportation. Further, the system is preferably non-invasive to the picture frame and minimises any likelihood of damage to any gilding on the frame.

THE INVENTION In one broad form the present invention provides apparatus for transporting a valuable article(s), comprising: 3 a casing having a cavity adapted to receive the valuable article, the casing having a securing means for securely locating the article therein; the securing means being provided within the cavity and having a first support surface and a second support surface opposite to the first surface, with one or both of the support surfaces being associated with an elongate guide means such that the support surfaces are selectively movable towards or away from one another along the guide means; a locking means adapted to selectively secure the support surfaces relative to each other; a block of resiliently compressible material having a predetermined thickness mounted on each support surface so 15 that the blocks face one another, the blocks having a predetermined length and width to suit the valuable article to be held therebetween.

Preferably, the first support surface is fixed to the casing, with the second support surface mounted so as to 20 be slidable along the guide means towards or away from the first support surface. Further, the support surfaces are preferably flat and parallel to each other.

The guide means may have one guide track or, more preferably, two or more parallel and spaced guide tracks 25 which are mounted to an inside surface of a back side wall "of the casing. Further, the blocks are preferably of an expanded foam material and may have a fabric cover which is non-abrasive so as to, for example, protect gilded frames.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Preferred forms of the present invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein: Fig. 1 is a schematic plan view of the valuables casing of the present invention; 4 Fig. 2 is a schematic cross-sectional view of the casing of Fig. 1 taken along line A-A; Fig. 3 is a schematic longitudinal sectional view of the casing of Fig. 1 taken along line B-B; Fig. 4 is a schematic perspective view of the casing of Fig. 1 with a framed picture mounted therein; Fig. 5 is a longitudinal sectional detailed view of the securing arrangement shown in Fig. 4 taken along line Fig. 6 is another sectional view of the securing arrangement shown in Fig. 4 taken along line 6-6; Fig. 7 is a longitudinal sectional view of another casing of the present invention adapted to contain a sculpture or the like.

15 Fig. 8 is a schematic perspective view of a transportation case adapted to slidably receive and contain a number of the casings of Fig. 4.

THE BEST METHOD OF PERFORMING THE INVENTION There is shown a casing 10 which is built from timber, plastics or any other suitable material into an open box shape. That is, the casing comprises a backing wall 11, a topside wall 12a, a bottom side wall 12b and two lateral side walls 12c, 12d, which form a rectangular cavity for receiving a framed picture 1 or the like.

25 A pair of spaced parallel guide tracks 13 are mounted to the back wall 11 within the cavity and extend generally normal to the top and bottom side walls 12a, 12b, and generally parallel to the lateral side walls 12c, 12d.

An elongate fence member 14 is slidably mounted on the tracks 13 by means of two sliders 15. Each slider is slidably received in a respective one of the tracks 13. Further, the sliders 15 are provided with a locking pin 16 which is movable between an engaged position for engaging a selected one of a plurality of holes 17 provided along each of the tracks 13, and a retracted 5 position to allow the slider to be freely slid along the track. The locking pin 16 is biased by a spring or the like into the engaged position.

The fence member 14 defines a first support surface 18 which faces a second support surface 19 defined by the inside surface of the bottom side wall 12b. Each of the support surfaces 18,19 has a block 20 of a resiliently compressible padding material detachably mounted thereto.

The blocks 20 preferably have a first layer of a closed-cell neoprene foam adjacent the support surtace 18,19, and a second outer layer of a polyethylene foam. The blocks 20 are attached to the respective support surfaces 18,19, by VELCRO' or the like, so .o:I 15 that different blocks 20 having predetermined widths, lengths, thicknesses or other characteristics such as compressibility, etc, may be selected and mounted to the support surface 18,19 depending on the characteristics of the frame 1 to be mounted therebetween.

20 Further, the blocks 20 are covered by a material 21 which has a very low abrasiveness so as to minimise the risk that the blocks 20 will rub against and remove gilding or the like from the surface of the frame 1.

The casing 10 is adapted to carry a painting which is mounted in a picture frame 1 having certain dimensions of length and width. Generally, valuable picture frames have a relatively plain backing frame portion 2, and an ornate portion 3 which stands out from the backing frame portion 2. In order to minimise the risk of damaging the frame, it is the base frame portion 2 only which is utilised to mount the frame in the casing 10. That is, in use, the fence member 14 is slid along the guide tracks 13 to a fully opened position. Suitable blocks 20 are then mounted to the support surfaces 18,19, with the blocks being approximately the same length as, or preferably 6 slightly longer than, the top and bottom edges of the backing frame portion 2 which are utilised to securely mount the frame 1 within the casing 10. More importantly, the blocks 20 are caused to extend laterally beyond the top and bottom edges of the base frame portion 2 to be secured thereby. That is, referring to Fig. 5, it can be seen that the base portion 2 of the picture frame 1 has a certain depth A and whereby the block 20 has a width B which is considerably larger than A so that the blocks project to each lateral side of the base portion 2.

The fence 14 is then slid along the tracks 13 until each of the blocks 20 come into contact with the top and bottom edges of the base portion 2 of the picture .".frame 1. A certain amount of hand pressure can then be 15 brought to bear on the fence 14 so as to compress the blocks 20 against the top and bottom edges of the base portion 2. The fence 14 can then be secured by causing the locking pins 16 to engage a nearest one of the holes 17 in the respective tracks 13. In this position, 20 the blocks 20 bear against the top and bottom edges of the base portion 2 of the picture frame 1, which force is sufficient to secure the picture frame 1 in this position. Further, since tha blocks 20 are wider than the top and bottom edges of the base portion 2, bulging side edge portions 20b of the block 20 are in a generally uncompressed form and thereby form lateral stops to further prevent movement of the picture frame in directions transverse to the plane of the picture frame 1.

Similarly, the longitudinal ends 20c of the blocks project beyond the top and bottom side edges of the frame 1, and bulge to generally prevent the frame 1 from sliding movement along the blocks Accordingly, the picture frame is now securely mounted within the casing Naturally the casing 10 is chosen such that it is 7 long and wide enough to receive the framed picture i, and that the sides 12a-d are deep enough so that the frame 1 is wholly received within the cavity of the casing.

Further, the casing 10 is preferably wide enough such that the tracks 13 are positioned to either side (ie, outside) of the respective side edges of the picture frame 1, and wherein the sliders and their respective locking pins 16 are positioned between the support surfaces 18,19 in order to maximise the size of picture frame 1 which is mountable within the casing 10. Further, the sliders 15 preferably engage a sufficient length of the respective tracks and the fence 14 is mounted to the sliders 15 in order that the support surface 18 is sufficiently rigid to withstand the forces necessary to compress the blocks 15 It is envisaged that at least one, and preferably two or three casings 10, each of which have a framed painting 1 mounted therein in the manner described above, are slidably received, adjacent one another, in a transportation case of known type. That is, referring to Fig. 8, the transportation case 30 is a reinforced box shape having a closable opening at one side thereof, with the cavity within the transportation case 30 being adapted to slidably receive three separate casings 10. When the transportation case 30 is closed, the casings 10 are securely located within the cavity and are generally prevented from movement relative to the transportation case 30. The transportation case 30 provides a strong and durable outer shell to minimise risk of damage to the casings 10. It has been found that a framed picture mounted within the casing 10 of the present invention, with the casing 10 being housed within a transportation case 30, can be transported by normal courier services, ie, without special care, without damage being sustained by the picture frame.

Referring to Fig. 7, an alternative embodiment of the 8 present invention is depicted, whereby a sculpture 5 is located and secured within a casing 10' which is basically the same as the casing 10 shown in Figs. 1-5 except that the fence 14' extends outwards away from the back side 11' a substantially greater distance than does the fence 14 of the casing 10. Further, it is envisaged that only one casing 10' would be located within the transportation case It will be appreciated by persons skilled in the art that numerous variations and/or modifications may be made to the invention as shown in the specific embodiments without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention as broadly described. The present embodiments are, therefore, to be considered in all respects as 15 illustrative and not restrictive.

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Claims

2. The apparatus of claim i, wherein the first support surface is fixed relative to the casing, the second support surface is selectively slidable along the guide means towards or away from the first support surface, and 25 the support surfaces are generally flat and substantially parallel to one another.
3. The apparatus of claim 1 or 2, wherein the guide means is in the form of at least one guide track mounted to a back wall of the casing within the cavity.
4. The apparatus of claim 3, wherein there are two parallel guide tracks which are spaced apart a predetermined distance at least a width of the valuable article. The apparatus of claim 4, wherein each of the guide tracks has a plurality of holes at spaced apart positions 10 along its length, wherein the holes are selectively engageable by a retractable projection provided on each of two sliders which form the locking means, the sliders being retained by, and slidable along, the respective guide tracks.
6. The apparatus of claim 5, wherein the sliders are elongate and are fixed relative to their respective support surface for maintaining the support surfaces in opposing and generally parallel relative positions at any position of the support surfaces along the guide means.
7. The apparatus of any one of claims 1-6, wherein the blocks are an expanded foam material.
8. The apparatus of claim 7, wherein at least opposing surfaces of the blocks are covered with a non-abrasive 15 fabric.
9. The apparatus of any one of claims 1-8, further comprising an outer transportation case adapted to receive at least one casing. Apparatus for transporting valuable article(s) as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings. ar *501 S. O 0G*S 5* DATED this day of 1993 KNOPE-FOUR PTY LIMITED Patent Attorneys for the Applicant: F.B. RICE CO. ABSTRACT A casing 10 which will selectively and securely hold a valuable article 1. The casing 10 forms a cavity within which there is provided first and second support surfaces 18,19 which are selectively movable towards and away from one another along one or more guide tracks 13. Each of the support surfaces 18,19 has a block 20 of resiliently compressible material attached thereto. The blocks 20 face one another and, in use, engage the valuable article 1 (eg, a frame of a painting) therebetween. Further, the support surfaces 18,19 are lockable into any one of a plurality of positions relative to one another to suit the size of the valuable article o 1. Preferably, only one of the support surfaces 18 is movable along the guide track(s) 13. One or more casings each of which securely hold and contain a valuable S article 1, can then be placed into a transportation case S"of known type. oooo 4