GB2212547A

GB2212547A - Cash box

Info

Publication number: GB2212547A
Application number: GB8724080A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Andrew Charles Peters
Original assignee: Helix Ltd
Current assignee: Helix Ltd
Priority date: 1987-10-14
Filing date: 1987-10-14
Publication date: 1989-07-26
Anticipated expiration: 2007-10-14
Also published as: GB2212547B; GB8724080D0

Abstract

A cash box has an underside 1 provided with a central lock-down arrangement 2 including a plate 4 screwed onto a support surface 4 and a spigot 6 received in hole H in the plate. The arrangement 2 includes a square turn-cap 7 releasably snap-engageable with, and rotatable relative to, mounting portion 8 attached to wall 1a by rivets. Spigot 6 extends into the turn-cap 7 which can be accessed from inside the box and rotated relative to portion 8 to lock and release the cash box to and from the spigot 6 and thus to and from the support surface. A spring mechanism is included having two similar springs with limbs which can lockingly engage stem 6b of the spigot 6. <IMAGE>

Description

Improvements in or relating to security containers This invention relates to improvements in or relating to security containers and more particularly but not exclusively to cash boxes.

An inherent problem with cash boxes is that, although the cash box itself may be provided with a secure lock in order to protect the contents, the box and contents may not be that heavy, and thus may be at considerable risk of being stolen.

It is an object of the present invention to at least alleviate this risk.

According to the present invention there is provided a security container comprising a releasable lock-down arrangement to at least temporarily hold the container to a support surface, said releasable lock-down arrangement, preferably, comprising a knob or handle which can be manually actuated from inside the container to lock and release the container to and from the support surface.

Where the security container is a cash box or the like said releasable lock-down arrangement will usually comprise means to hold the box down on a generally horizontal (rather than vertical) support surface. In this way the box may be opened and the contents examined whilst the box is still firmly held down to the support surface. Thus the box may be carried from a safe ,for example, and fixed to a support surface before unlocking the box thereby reducing the vulnerability of the box and contents to theft.

In one embodiment of the present invention the lockdown arrangement comprises first means to be attached, preferably permanently, to said support surface (alternatively said first means could be an integral part of the support surface) and said first means is cooperable with second means of the lock-down arrangement located on the cash box (security container). The first and second means may be cooperable with one another to lock and unlock the box (container) to the support surface by relative rotation of the first and second means,via said knob or handle where provided, preferably,between fixed angular positons.

The second means may comprise said knob or handle in the form of a turn-cap locatable on a spigot of the first means and rotatable relative thereto to lock and unlock the container to the support surface. Detent means may be provided on the turn-cap operable to allow a spring mechanism of said second means to lockingly engage said spigot and to move said mechanism out of engagement with the spigot on appropriate rotations of the turn-cap. The spring mechanism may conveniently comprise two springs locatable in between the detent means on the turn-cap and stops on a mounting portion which mounts the turn-cap on the container.The turn-cap and/or mounting portion may be of plastics and, preferably the turn-cap is snapengageable with the mounting portion.The springs may have respective limbs which oppose one another and which engage under a head of the spigot in the locking position, thus preventing displacement of the box (container) along the axis of the spigot.

The spigot may be mounted onto the support surface in any convenient way, depending on the nature of the supporting surface . For example, a plate may be used to mount the spigot onto a thick support,the spigot being passed through a hole in the plate and the plate screwed to the support. Alternatively, a circlip may be used to mount the spigot to a relatively thin support and the spigot passed through the support.

Other advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the following description and drawings.

An embodiment of a cash box in accordance with the present invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: FIGURE 1 shows a cross-sectional view through a lock-down arrangement on the underside of the cash box; FIGURE 2 shows a sectional underside view of the lock-down arrangement taken on line II-II of FIGURE 1; FIGURES 3 and 4 show details of a spring mechanism of the lock-down arrangement xn the locked and unlocked positions respectively; FIGURE 5 shows an underside view of a component part of the lock-down arrangement; FIGURE 6 shows a detail of the lock-down arrangement;; FIGURE 7 shows a further detail taken on the line VIl-VIl of FIGURE 2, and FIGURES 8 and 9 show exploded views of the lock-down arrangement of FIGURES 1 to 7 and a modified lock-down arrangement respectively.

Referring to FIGURES 1 to 8 of the drawings, a cash box(not shown) has an underside 1 (see FIGURE 1) provided with a lock-down arrangement 2 located centrally thereof. The lock-down arrangement 2 includes first means permanently fixed to a support surface 3 (see FIGURES 1 and 8), said first means comprising plate 4 screwed down onto the support surface by means of four screws 5 located at the corners of the plate as shown, and spigot 6, which is received in a central hole H in the plate 4. Flange 6a of spigot 6 is of wider diameter than the the hole H and rests snugly in the recess defined between plate 4 and support surface 3.Stem 6b of spigot 6 extends upwardly from the plate and flange 6a is held down on the surface by the plate 4.

As shown in FIGURE 1, spigot 6 extends into second means of the lock-down arrangement and said second means is mounted onto the bottom wall la of the underside 1 of the cash box by rivets R (only one shown rivet in the detail of FIGURE 6). The second means has a generally square, hollow turn-cap 7 or knob releasably snapengageable with, and rotatable relative to, circular mounting portion 8 securely permanently attached to the wall la by the rivets R. Turn-cap 7 and mounting portion 8 are of plastics and the upper peripheral rim 8a of portion 8 is resiliently snap-engageable with four lugs S (see FIGURES 2 and 5) which depend downwardly from turn cap 7 and across the corners to lie tangentially with respect to the portion 8. Rim 8a seats over a lower inwardly extending rib r on each lug S as shown more particularly in FIGURE 7.The engagement of turn-cap 7 with portion 8 is such that the turn-cap 7 can be accessed from inside the cash box and turned or rotated through a pre-determined angle relative to the portion 8 and said first means 4,5,6 in a manner yet to be explained. The turn-cap 7 is rotatable on the spigot stem 6b and said stem extends up through the centre of portion 8 as far as the top of turn-cap 7. The bottom of turn-cap 7 is clear of the wall la by gap g so that rotation of the cap is not impeded thereby.

Most importantly, the second means includes a spring mechanism M depicted more clearly in FIGURES 3 and 4.

Mechanism M includes two similar springs 9,10 arranged opposing one another as shown with integral limbs 9a,10a parallel with one another and engaging under head portion 6c of stem 6b (FIGURES 2 and 3). Limbs 9a,10a rest on an inner diameter portion 6d of the stem 6b and on opposed arc-shaped detents d integral with centre cylindrical portion 7a of turn-cap 7. The ends of limbs 9a,10a are bent over and engage angle pieces a integral with portion 8(FIGURES 2 and 3). Each spring 9,10 has a coil portion 9b at the other end of limb 9a,9b and further limb portions 9c,lOc extend from the coil portions parallel with one another past location stops L integral with portion 8 and diametrically opposing one another.

Diametrically opposed stops 7b(see FIGURE 5) limit the angular rotation of turn-cap 7.

Once the cash box is opened the turn-cap 7 may be gripped by hand (the corners are rounded to facilitate grip) and rotated against the spring force provided by the spring mechanism. The arc-shaped detents act on the limbs 9a,10a to cause them to move apart from one another in manner shown in FIGURE 2 to free the limbs 9a,10a from locking engagement with the stem 6b. The cash box can now be removed free of the support surface simply by lifting the box off the stem 6b. Stops 7b limit the relative rotation in a manner which should be evident from the drawings by engagement with the location stops L. To attach the the box to the spigot 6 the converse process is employed.In this way a very reliable attachment to, and detachment from, the support surface is provided, by relative rotation of the turn-cap on the underside of the box (the turn-cap being spring biassed to some extent into the angular locking position) and relative vertical movement ofthe box and spigot.

FIGURE 9 shows a modified lock-down arrangement.

The arrangement shown in FIGURES 1 to 8 is suitable for attachment to a surface of a support of substantial thickness and the spigot 6 is mounted on the outside of the surface by the plate 4. In FIGURE 9 the stem 6c of the spigot is passed completely through a support 11 of relatively narrow thickness and fixed thereto by means of a circlip ring c, without the use of plate 4.

Advantageously, the same spigot is usable in either the arrangement shown in FIGURES 1 to 8 or FIGURE 9.

The scope of the present invention should not be unduly limited by use of particular terminology and the scope of individual terms may extend to any convenient or generic term where sensible. Individual features of the cash box, for example the lock-down arrangement per se, combinations thereof or function or method relating thereto may be individually patentably inventive. It is possible that the lock-down means may be utilised with other sorts of security containers and a plurality of lock-down arrangements may be used to hold the container onto one or more support surfaces.

Claims

1. A security container comprising a releasable lockdown arrangement to at least temporarily hold the container to a support surface, said releasable lock-down arrangement, preferably, comprising a knob or handle which can be manually actuated from inside the container to lock and release the container to and from the support surface.

2. A container as claimed in Claim 1 which is a cash box.

3. A container as claimed in Claim 2 in which said releasable lock-down arrangement comprises means to hold the box down on a generally horizontal (rather than vertical) support surface.

4. A container as claimed in any one of the preceding claims in which the lock-down arrangement comprises first means to be attached to, or being an integral part of, said support surface and said first means is co-operable with second means of the lock-down arrangement located on the security container.

5. A container as claimed in Claim 4 in which the first and second means are co-operable with one another to lock and unlock the container to the support surface by relative rotation of the first and second means, via said knob or handle where provided, preferably, between fixed angular positions.

6. A container as claimed in Claim 5 in which the second means comprises said knob or handle in the form of a turn-cap locatable on a spigot of the first means and rotatable relative thereto to lock and unlock the container to the support surface.

7. A container as claimed in Claim 6 in which detent means is provided on the turn-cap operable to allow a spring mechanism of said second means to lockingly engage said spigot and to move said mechanism out of engagement with the spigot on appropriate rotation of the turn-cap.

8. A container as claimed in Claim 7 in which the spring mechanism comprises two springs locatable in between the detent means on the turn-cap and stops on a mounting portion which mounts the turn-cap on the container.

9. A container as claimed in Claim 8 in which the turncap and/or mounting portion is of plastics and, preferably the turn-cap is snap-engageable with the mounting portion.

10. A container as claimed in Claim 8 or 9 in which the springs have respective limbs which oppose one another and which engage under a head of the spigot in the locking position, thus preventing displacement of the container along the axis of the spigot.

11. A container as claimed in any one of Claims 6 to 10 in which the spigot is mounted onto the support surface by a plate used to mount the spigot onto a thick support, the spigot being passed through a hole in the plate and the plate screwed to the support.

12. A container as claimed in any one of Claims 6 to 10 in which a circlip is used to mount the spigot to a relatively thin support and the spigot passed through the support.

13. A security container as claimed in Claim 1 in which the releasable lock-down arrangement is substantially as shown in FIGURES 1 to 8 of the accompanying drawings or substantially as modified in FIGURE 9 of the accompanying drawings ADDITIONAL CLAIMS

14. A security container comprising a releasable lockdown arrangement to at least temporarily hold the container to a support surface, said releasable lock-down arrangement comprising a knob or handle which can be manually actuated from inside the container to lock and release the container to and from the support surface, and in which the lock-down arrangement comprises first means to be attached to, or being an integral part of, said support surface and said first means is co-operable with second means of the lock-down arrangement located on the security container, and in which the first and second means are co-operable with one another to lock and unlock the container to the support surface by relative rotation of the first and second means, via said knob or handle preferably, between fixed angular positions, and in which the knob or handle is in the form of a turn-cap locatable on a spigot of the first means and rotatable relative thereto to lock and unlock the container to the support surface, and in which detent means is provided on the turn-cap operable to allow a spring mechanism of said second means to lockingly engage said spigot and to move said mechanism out of engagement with the spigot on appropriate rotation of the turn-cap.

15. A security container comprising a releasable lockdown arrangement to at least temporarily hold the container to a support surface, said releasable lock-down arrangement comprising a knob or handle which can be manually actuated from inside the container to lock and release the container to and from the support surface, and in which the lock-down arrangement comprises first means to be attached to, or being an integral part of, said support surface and said first means is co-operable with second means of the lock-down arrangement located on the security container, and in which the first and second means are co-operable with one another to lock and unlock the container to the support surface by relative rotation of the first and second means, via said knob or handle, and the arrangement being such that the container can be locked to the support surface by engagement of said first and second means without manual actuation of said knob or handle, and whilst said container is closed.

16. A container as claimed in Claim 15 in which the container can be snap-locked onto the support surface without manual actuation of said knob or handle.

17. A container as claimed in Claim 15 or 16 in which the first means comprises a spigot.