US2822682A

US2822682A - Weather-tight enclosure

Info

Publication number: US2822682A
Application number: US473998A
Authority: US
Inventors: Lester D Sollenberger
Original assignee: MILLER METERS Inc
Current assignee: MILLER METERS Inc
Priority date: 1954-12-08
Filing date: 1954-12-08
Publication date: 1958-02-11
Anticipated expiration: 1975-02-11

Description

Feb. 11, 1958 L. D. soLLE-NBERGER 2,822,682

WEATHER-TIGHT ENcLosuRE Filed Dec. 8, 1954 3 Sheets-Sheet l 1N VEN TOR.

` Feb. 11, 1958 L. D. SOLLENBERGER 2,822,582

WEATHER-TIGHT ENCLOSURE Filed Dec. 8, 1954 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 f INVENTOR. Y 3g Zezr oenqye;

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Feb- 1l, 1958 L. D. soLLENBERGl-:R 2,822,682

WEATHER-TIGHT ENoLosURE Q5 Y lesr. 5056225 Qi, 12m/M, 72,51@

IN V EN TOR.

wsATrmn-TIGHT nNcLosUnEv Lester D. Sollenberger, Chicago,lll., assignor to Miller Meters, Inc., a corporation of Illinois Application December 8, 1954, Serial No. 473,998

2 Claims. (Cl.70-158) This invention relates to a weather-tight housing and more particularly to a weather-tightenclosure adapted to contain a mechanism such as a parking meter.

It is the general object of the invention to produce a new and improved enclosure of the type described.

It is a more specific object of theinvention'to produce a weather-tight enclosure for a` parking meter mechanism which is so constructed and arranged as to provide a readily openable weather-tight enclosure for the mechanism which is capable of being locked in closed position and in which the moving parts effecting' such locking Iand opening are all completely enclosed.

It is a further object of the invention to produce an enclosure or housing for a parking meter which is proof against tampering and vandalism.

It is another object of the invention to provide a parking meter housing adapted to contain a parking meter mechanism wherein the mechanism is moved into its correct position in the housing and held in such position by the housing Without the use of screws or other anchoring devices.

It is yet another object of the invention to provide anenclosure for a parking meter including a housing having a recess terminating in a stepped upper edge `'and a cap having a lower edge complementary in shape to the edge of the housing and hingedlyconnected to the housing by a hinge member positioned within the recess and vertically movable therein so that the cap may be swung to open position to expose the recess and then in closed position may have its edge in weather-tight contact with the edge of the housing and providing no exposed hinges or hinge pins.

Other and further objects and features of the invention will be readily apparent from the following description and drawings in which- Fig. l is a front elevational view of a parking meter housing embodying the invention;

Fig. 2 is a side elevational view of the apparatus of Fig. l showing the cap in open and closed positions;

Fig. 3 is a top plan view showing the housing of Figs. 1 and 2 and the position of the parking meter mechanism therein;

Fig. 4 is a view similar to Fig.V 3-but showing the parking meter mechanism removed;

Fig. 5 is a vertical sectional view along line 5-5 of Fig. 4;

Fig. 6 is a sectional view along line 6-6 of Fig..5; and

Fig..7 is a View like Fig. 6 but showing the capin closed position and engaged by the locking mechanism.

While this invention is susceptible of embodiments in many diterent forms, there is shown in the drawings and will herein bedescribed in detail one specific embodiment, with the understanding that the present disclosure is to be considered as an exemplication of the principles of the invention and is not intended to limit the invention to the embodiment illustrated. The scope Patent 2,822,682 Patented- Feb. `11., 1958 lCC of'the inventionv will bepointedfout'in-the appended claims.

Referring nowy to the drawings-there isshowna lparking meter 10 havinga housing*` divided intoanr upper portion 11 and a lowerfportion 12. Means are provided for supporting the rhousing onfaf post` 13-standing` along the curb'in the usual` manner. The` upper housingll houses the parking-meter. mechanism.generally indicated at 14Which includes vacoin receiving portion 15v protruding'forwardly of'fthe, meter mechanism with such portion being providedl with-acon ireceiving slot 16 and a manually actuable..v handle.17` foroperating the meter and setting the dials, etc. The parking meter mechanism may be of the` type shown inthe Miller Patent 2,603,288, reference to whichmaybehad for-,further details. n

Hingedly mounted onthe upper housing portion 11 is a cap 18 in the form ofiazhalf moon .or-.semi disk which is provided with a pair of transparenbwindows 19 on either side of the center'portion of. the cap through which the `dial and violation ags offthenieter may be/viewed.

Referring now to Figs..4-to-,7 inclusive, itv` will be noted that the upper housingportion- 11. is-provided with an internal recess 20- adapted.. to receive the parking meter mechanism. 14 andk the 1frontfwall 21 of the housing is provided witha cut-.out portion-22 `through whichthe coin receivingzportion. 15.may extend when the mechanism is properly positionedwithinthe recess 20. The upper edge,23 of. therecess 20 is stepped as shown in Figs. 6 and 7.a-ndthe.1ower edge .24 of the cap is -stepped in a complementary.fashionssothatwhen the cap is seated upon the-housing-portion -11=a weather tight juncture therebetween is-fassured.

The cap 18 ishingedly securedr tothe housing portion 11 and for this purposev therefisprovidedifa hingemember 2S having anupper portion generally Vin the form of a yoke including two spaced legs. 26and-27: which at their upper ends are bent overa..hinge..pin.28,which extends through apertures in lugs 29,#aflixedto the inside ofthe cap 18. The hingemember 25 is .movable upwardly within the housing recess v20.so that thecomplementary steppedvportions 23 and.24 of thefhousing edge and cap edge respectively may continuefeven; at the location of the hinge. For this purpose the-hinge member 25 is provided withfa-slot 30 embracinga bushing 31 xed in a sidewall'of the housing-portionill.` `By Virtue of this construction the hinge.. member 25= may slide upwardly when .thecap,ispivotedtofopen position (illustrated in Fig. 6) and downwardly tothe position shown in Fig. 7 when the cap` is.closed.V

For locking the cap in. closed position.there.is provided a crank-arm means 3,5'comprising apairof crank levers 36 and-37 each havingtasubstantially vertically upwardly extending arm 38 and av. generally,Y horizontally extending arm 39'. The -crank leversarepivoted at 40 and- 41 respectively to` the sides of therece'ss,2; The upwardly extending arm 38 of` each crank .lever is. provided at its upper end with a hook. portion 42 adapted to engage and hook over a rod 43 tixed' to lugs44 depending from the cap 18.. v

A key operated locking device isprovidcd'for-pivoting the crank arms 36 andA 37 about their, pivotsto cause engagement between thev hooks 42 and rodl 43 and'simultaneously to lock the hinge member 25 against vertical movement. A key operated lock-.50 isprovided inthe housing including a portion 51rotatableirtthe fitting-31 andlprovided` at its outer end ywith a lock member 52 having a camming'portio`n53' at one side thereof and a lip 54 at an opposite side thereof. Rotation of a key inserted in the lock 50 serves to rotate the lock member 52 and thus to move it from the position shown in Fig. 6 to that shown in Fig. 7. In the latter figure ythe lip 5g coincide with a slot 74 formed in'the bottom 72. bottom, adjacent the slot 74, is provided with two

upstanding Walls

75 and 76 joined by twoparallel walls 77 passes over the top of and engages a lip 55 provided on the hinge member 25 and thus not only moves the hinge member downwardly, but effectively prevents upward movement of such member. Rotation of the lock member 52 also causes the cam portion 53 toengage a bar 56 rockably secured to and extending between the free terminal ends of the arms 39 of the crank lever means 3S, such rotation moving said ends downwardly and pivoting the crank levers in a counterclockwise direction (as seen in Fig. 6) to move them into a position engaging the hooks 42 with the rod 43. Thus the locking of the hinge member 25 at one side of the recess and theengagement of the hooks 42 and rod 43 at the opposite side of the recess serves effectively to lock theV cap in position.l When the cap is so locked in position, no parts of the locking mechanism are exposed and thus are not inV position to be tampered with, and the overall exterior appearance of the housing and cap is smooth and neat.

A pair of

tension springs

60 and 61 are providedgwithin the recess constantly to urge the hinge member 25 downwardly and simultaneously to urge the/crank lever means 35 to assume the position of Fig. 6 in which position the hooks 42 are disengaged from the rod or bar 43. The upper ends of the

springs

60 and 61 aresecured to

lugs

62 and 63 respectively, each outstruck from the

leg portions

26 and 27 of the hinge member with each spring being secured at its lower end to suitable lugs 64 and 65 'fastened to the outer end of the cross bar 56.

As previously pointed out, means are providedin the housing of the present invention for locating and securing a parking meter mechanism within the recess 20 and lcap 18. These means are so arranged as to permit the mechanism merely to be placed within the recess and the 'cap closed whereupon the mechanism is moved into proper position within the housing and rmly held therein without the use of other anchoring devices such as Iscrews, bolts or the like. Thus according to the present invention a parking meter mechanism may be removed from .the housing for replacement, inspection or repair simply by opening the cap and grasping the mechanism and withdrawing it vertically upwardly out of the recess.

The particular parking meter mechanism shown is provided along its bottom with a pair of parallel rods 7 0 adapted to seat upon a pair of pins 71 extending upwardly from the bottom wall 72 of the upper housing portion 11. The mechanism 14 is also provided with a coin chuteY73 extending downwardly from its bottom and adapted' tc The and 78 upstanding from the bottom (see Fig. 4) with the walls 75-78 forming a generally rectangular slot into which the coin chute 73 is inserted when the mechanism is placed within the recess.

When a mechanism 14 is to be placed within the recess 20, it is slipped downwardly thereinto until the coinchute 73 seats within the walls 75-78 and the rods 70`are resting upon the pins 71. VWhen so seated the mechanism is generally accurately, seated within the recess, however, it will be noted that the lugs 44 on the cap are provided with a forwardly facing camming portion 80 each adaptedto engage a cross piece 81 secured to the park- 'ing meter mechanism. Thus when the cap 18 is moved to the closed position shown in Fig. 7, thecamming portions 80 contact the portions 81 of the ymechanism-and thus move the mechanism forwardly, firmly seating the coin receiving portion 15 oil thermechanism within thejcut-,out portion 22 and accurately positioning the entire mechanism within thephousing. The housing Vitself is ,locked with the mechanism soppositioned by operating the lock 50 to rotate the locking member to the position oFig. 7.

4 Because of the fact that the bar 56 is rockably mounted on the end of the arms 39, greater manufacturing errors can be tolerated in the apparatus as should one of the hooks 42 engage with the rod 43 before the other hook 42 makes an engagement, the rocking bar 56 may tilt slightly thus permitting one of the crank levers to pivot more than the other.

The housing portion 12 below the recess 20 and into which the slot 74 opens may of course be provided with the usual coin box for receiving coins together with a hinged door which may be opened to give access to the coin box.

I claim:

1. A weather-tight enclosure for a parking meter mechanism comprising a housing having a recess therein adapted to receive the mechanism and terminating in an upper stepped edge, crank lever means pivotally mounted within the recess, said crank lever means having an upwardly extending -portion terminating in a hook portion and having a substantially horizontally extending portion, a cap adapted'to cover said recess and having a lower edge complementary in shape to and adapted to seat upon said stepped edge of the recess, a hinge member vertically slidably mounted in the recess and hingedly secured to the cap, tension spring means secured at one end to the hinge member and at the other end to said crank lever means adjacent the end of said `horizontally extending portion,{ and a rotatable? lock member mounted on the housing having a cam portion positioned in the recess to contact the horizontal portion of the crank lever means to pivot the same to cause the hook portion lockingly to engage the cap, said lock member having a second portion positioned to engage the hinge member to lock the same against movement upwardly.

2. A weather-tight enclosure for a parking meter mechanism comprising a housing having a recess therein adapted to receive the mechanism and terminating in an upper stepped edge, a pair of crank levers pivotally mounted within the recess each having an arm portion extending upwardly from said pivotal mounting and each terminating at its upper end in a hook portion, each of said crank levers having a second arm portion extending substantially horizontally fromY said pivotal mounting, a horizontal bar extending 4between and rockably secured to the free ends of said second arm portions, a cap adapted to cover said recess and having a lower edge complementary in shape to and adapted to seat upon said stepped edge of the recess, a hinge member vertically slidably mounted in the recess and hingedly secured to the cap, a pair of tension springs each secured at its upper end to the hinge member and at its lower end to said bar, and

a key operated locking device mounted on the housing and including a rotatable lock member having a cam portion positioned in the recess to contact said bar and move the same downwardly to cause the hook portion of the armsplockingly to engage the cap, said lock member having a second portion positioned to engage the hinge member to lockV the same against movement upwardly.

References Cited the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 768,258 Anis; Aug. 23, 1904 2,033,432 Leach Mar. 10, 1936 2,217,097 Brooks v Oct. 8, 1940 2,303,147 Tinnerman Nov. 24, 1942 2,483,805 Broussard Oct. 4, 1949 2,660,283 Broussard Nov. 24, 1953 l2,661,119 Spies'et al.' Dec. l, 1953 FOREIGN VPATENTS 95,264 Austria Dec. 10, 192.3