US2914354A - Seal - Google Patents

Description

Nov; 24, 1959 s. M. MOBERG 2,914,354

SEAL Filed Feb. 27, 1957 2 Sheets-Sheet z 1I \IVENTOR. S/wm M M05596 BY W ATTORNEY Nov. 24, 1959 s. M. MOBERG 2,914,354

SEAL

Filed Feb. 27, 1957 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Ill/11 111114 INV EN TOR. 5/01/20 M. MOB/5R6 :47 TOR/V6 V United States Patent 2,914,354 SEAL Application February 27, 1957, Serial No. 642,689

3 Claims. (Cl. 292-307) This invention relates to improved seals for use with two separate, related elements or parts as, for example,

an article and a cover for the article, for holding the two elements or parts against separation without breakage of said seal. Although the invention may be utilized with different types of related elements or parts, it is disclosed herein, for illustrative purposes, as employed with covers of an electric meter and of a milk can without, however, limiting the invention to the particular uses and forms disclosed.

An important object of this invention is the provision of an inexpensive seal which may be quickly applied and which cannot be manipulated to permit separation of scaled together elements or parts except by breaking the seal.

In the drawings:

Figure l is a fragmentary elevational view of the back of an electric meter and a cover of the latter, illustrating an initial step in applying a seal, according to a preferred embodiment of this invention, to the meter and cover for holding the latter against removal.

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary cross-sectional view on the line 22 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary sectional view, on the line 3-3 of Fig. 1, illustrating an intermediate step in the application of the seal to the meter and cover.

Fig. 4 is a view, generally similar to Fig. 3, but showing the seal as completely applied to the meter and cover.

Fig. 5 is an enlarged view of a portion of Fig. 1, showing the seal, however, as completely applied.

Fig. 6 is an enlarged perspective view of the seal shown in Figs. 1-5 inclusive.

Figs. 7 and 9 are perspective views of seals according to further embodiments of the invention.

Figs. 8 and 10 are sectional views, generally similar to Fig. 3, but showing, respectively, the seals of Figs. 7 and 9, as completely applied.

Fig. 11 is a perspective view of a seal according to a still further embodiment of the invention.

Fig. 12 is a fragmentary elevational View showing the seal of Fig. 11 as utilized for sealing a cover to a milk can.

Referring to the first embodiment, illustrated in Figs. 1-6, the seal 20 comprises a flat piece of suitable sheet metal as, for example, aluminum, having a strip portion 22, preferably of substantially uniform width, having on its underside (appearing as the top side in Fig. 6) a Score or line of weakness 24, dividing the strip portion 22 into a main or body portion 26 and a locking tongue 28. At the end of the seal opposite the tongue 28 is an integral head or tab 30 of greater width than the strip portion 22. For reasons hereinafter explained, the score 24 extends obliquely in relation to the strip portion 22 and the end or tip of the locking tongue 28 is rounded and formed with an upward bend as at 32.

The use of the seal on an electric meter in the manner illustrated in the drawings is ordinarily for the purpose Patented Nov. 24, 1959 Q of assuring that after assembly of the cover and the meter,

and prior to the installation of the meter for service, the cover may not be removed without leaving evidence of that fact.

The meter cover commonly is in the form of a deep, circular, glass dish 34 having rigidly fixed to its edge an annular metal band or collar 36 preferably having three or more inwardly extending fastening lugs 38 spaced equidistantly about said collar and adapted to effect a bayonet-lock type of connection with peripheral lugs 40 integral with a body 42 of the meter. Assuming that the meter body 42 in Fig. 1 is held stationary, the dish-like cover is moved into position over the meter until flange 44 of the glass dish abuts the meter body 42, as shown in Fig. 4, when each lug 38 of the cover is in its position "of Fig. 1) of its related lug 40. Then, by turning the cover in the direction indicated by the arrow in Fig. 1, each lug 3S underlies and intimately engages its related lug 40 to hold the meter and its cover together.

It should be clear that a cover, applied to a meter in the manner just described, cannot be removed from the meter unless the cover is turned revers'ely to bring each ing 38 back approximately to its indicated broken-line position with reference to its related lug 40 of the meter. Seals according to this invention operate on the principle of being so associated with such a meter and cover that such .removal rotation cannot occur to any material extent without breaking the seal. It is pertinent, therefore, to observe the manner in which the seal is employed with the meter and its cover.

When the meter and the cover are bayonet-locked together as described, an aperture 46 in a plate 48 welded to or otherwise rigidly secured inside the collar 36, is in radial alignment with a recess 50, an aperture 52 and a second recess 54 in the meter body 42, the latter recess opening" at the bottom of the meter body. The collar 36 is cut away to form a space 56 of the general shape and slightly larger than the tab 30, said space being in line with aperture 46. The recess 50 may, but need not necessarily, be an open recess except that it communicates with both apertures 46 and 52. It may be observed that recess 54, advantageously, is circular in shape and, in the arrangement shown in Figs. 1, 4, and 5, is of a diameter somewhat greater than the length of locking tongue 28.

To seal the meter and its cover together, the strip portion 22, withtongue 28 in the lead, is manually inserted into and through aperture 46, recess 50, and aperture 52, into recess 54. Continued pushing of the seal inwardly causes the bent-up end 32 of the locking tongue to engage a far surface of the side wall of recess 54 and be deflected upwardly as may be understood from Fig. 3. This deflection occurs quite easily as the score 24 enables tongue 28 to pivot upwardly in relation to main body portion 26 of the seal which remains flat. This deformation of the seal permits its complete insertion to bring the inner end of portion 26 up against or quite near to the far side of the wall of recess 54and the tab 30 into engagement or close association with plate 48. Then the upstanding locking tongue 28 is manually folded, along the score 24, down and into recess 54 so that said tongue lies intimately upon an opposed part of body portion 26 of the seal with the tip of said tongue in stationary abutment with an adjacent portion of the side wall of said recess. Then, the tab 30 may be bent upwardly, as in Fig. 4, to nest into space At this point it is worthy of note that, because of the oblique disposition of the score 24, the tongue 28, in being applied to the meter and cover, bends to one side of body portion 26 of the seal so that the end 32 of the tongue is substantially out of alignment with aperture 52; and because of such malalignment, the tongue will lie intimately upon the seals body portion despite the bend at the end of the tongue.

It should be apparent, from the facts that the seal extends through apertures in both the meters body and the covers collar and cannot be shifted endwisely, that the cover cannot be separated from the meter unless the seal 20 is removed. It should also be evident that the seal cannot be removed without breaking it beyond possible reuse.

In its condition shown in Fig. 4, the seal cannot be pulled out because the locking tongue 28, being out of alignment with aperture 52, cannot be withdrawn therethrough. If one were to try to bend the tongue 28 upwardly to permit withdrawal of the seal, the presence of the score 24 and attempted rebending thereat would almost certainly cause the tongue 28 to break E at the score. If, perchance, that did not occur, it is certain that further rebending, in an attempt to reuse the seal, would cause such breakage.

It follows, therefore, that once the cover is sealed to the meter by a seal, according to this invention, it could not be removed from and replaced upon the meter without leaving evidence thereof unless, of course, the person doing so possessed similar seals. And such similar seals ordinarily would not be available for unauthorized removal and replacement of the cover. Thus, the presence of an unbroken seal on the meter is a good indication that the meter is in the same, presumably good, condition that it was in when the seal was applied thereto.

It will be understood that, within this invention, the score 24 may be normal rather than oblique in relation to the seals body portion 26, in which case, however, the aperture 52 and probably also the aperture 46 would have to be too narrow to permit the folded tongue 28 to pass through said apertures without being bent substantially to its initial condition as manufactured. This points up an advantage of the oblique disposition of the score which causes the tongue 28 to bend out of line with the aperture 52, one advantage being that the apertures 46 and 52 may be quite large to permit easier application of the seal to the meter and its cover.

The second embodiment, illustrated in Figs. 7 and 8, differs from the first embodiment chiefly in that the score 24a is normal to the seals body portion 26a and the tongue 28a is longer, in fact long enough that it may be bent to the shape shown in Fig. 8, when the seal is installed, so that a portion toward the free end of said tongue extends out of recess 54 and overlies a'portion of meter body 42 in the vicinity of the aperture 52.

Because of the increased length of tongue 28a, the aperture 52 may be quite large, despite the normal disposition of score 24a. Figs. 7 and 8 suggest that, within this invention, a seal may be manufactured with tab 30a or its equivalent already bent up. As with the first embodiment, bending and rebending at score 24a would cause the seal of the second embodiment to break.

The third embodiment, illustrated in Figs. 9 and 10, differs from the first embodiment only in having ridges 58 and 60 pressed up, respectively, from the seals main portion 26b and the seals locking tongue 28b. These ridges, which extend longitudinally of the parts 26b and 28b, preferably on the same side face of the sheet metal as the score 241), serve to strengthen the said parts and assure that bending of the seal will be localized at said score when the seal is applied to the meter. Obviously, the ridges 58 and 60 give such substantial'overall thickness to folded-together parts 26b and 28b that even if aperture 52 is fairly large, the seal could not be withdrawn therethrough even if score 24b were normal rather than oblique.

The fourth embodiment, illustrated in Figs. 11 and 12, includes features adapting the seal for use under special conditions as encountered, for example, in sealing a cover upon a milk can. In this embodiment, the head or tab 30c preferably is bent to an acute angle relatively to body portion 26c so that, when the seal is applied to a milk can and cover as shown in Fig. 12 with body portion 260 extending through an aperture 62 in plug cover 64 of the milk can 66, the tab 30c will lie intimately against the angular skirt surface 68 of the cover.

As may be seen in Fig. 12, the body of the can 66 has a rolled top edge 70. This condition together with the fact that aperture 62 may be quite large, even larger than illustrated, makes it desirable to adapt the seal for rapid application to the can and cover without material interference from the rolled edge 70. To this end, the body portion 26c and locking tongue 280 may be manufactured with bends 72 and 74 therein, respectively, so that as the seal is introduced through aperture 62, its leading end, tongue 28c, will certainly pass the outer surface of the rolled edge 70 and within and through a V-shaped strap 76 welded to the body of the can 66. The fact that the tongue 280 is bent upwardly at its free end as at 32c, as with the other disclosed embodiments, also contributes to the facility with which the seal may be applied.

It may be noted that bend 72 also enables a lower part of body portion 260 to extend in parallelism to the side surface of the can body and that the bend 74 assures that, when application of the seal is completed by bending of the tongue 28c upwardly, as in Fig. 12, the end portion 320 will lie close to the lower part of portion 26c, thereby reducing the possibility that something might accidentally catch upon the tongue 23c and cause unintended breaking of the seal.

In the fourth embodiment, a normal score 240 is provided, rather than an oblique score, and is shown as being at the inside rather than the outside of a bend to be made thereat, although, within the invention, the score may be at either side of the seal.

Having in mind that seals according to this invention may be applied through apertures considerably larger than the width of the body portions 26, 26a, 26b or 26c, but smaller than the heads or tabs 30 etc., this invention contemplates that a pair of scores or lines of weakness 78, 80 (Fig. 11) may be formed in such a head or tab, on either or both faces thereof, so that if an interloper sought to fold the sides of such a head or tab over upon the center portion thereof to enable the tab to be pulled through an aperture in one of two sealed-together elements, one or both sides of the head or tab would break off, thereby defeating undetectable tampering.

The term score as used in this description and in the accompanying claims is intended to be interpreted broadly to cover not only a score which forms a line of weakness but any type of line of weakness as, for example, a line of perforations or of slits or of depressions formed in the material of which the seal is made.

It should be understood that seals according to this invention may be used with different kinds of covers and articles than illustrated in the accompanying drawings and that the cover need not necessarily be one which is applied or removed by turning it in the manner herein described. The inventive concept, also, may be employed in various other ways than herein disclosed without, however, departing from the invention as set forth in the following claims.

I claim:

1. The combination of an article, a cover for said article, and means for sealing said article and cover together, the combination comprising portions of said article and cover defining alignable apertures, and an elongate sealing member having a main portion within both said apertures, an abutment portion adjoining one end of the main portion and coacting with an adjacent marginal portion defining one of said apertures for limiting movement of the main portion endwisely into said apertures in one direction and a locking tongue adjoining the opposite end of said main portion, bendable relatively to the latter into substantially parallel relationship to said main portion, and said locking tongue, when thus bent, stationarily abutting, at its tip, an adjacent surface of a marginal portion defining the other of said apertures, whereby to limit movement of the main portion endwisely in the opposite direction within said apertures; said sealing member being formed with a transverse line of Weakness at the juncture of said main portion and said locking tongue, facilitating said bending of the latter but inducing breakage upon repeated bending at said line of weakness.

2. The combination according to claim 1, said line of weakness being oblique in relation to said sealing member whereby to cause the locking tongue, upon such bending of the sealing member, to assume an oblique relationsip to said main portion.

3. The combination of an article, a cover for said article, and means for sealing said article and cover together, the combination comprising portions of said article and cover defining alignable apertures, and an elongate sealing member having a main portion within both said apertures, an abutment portion adjoining one end of the main portion and coacting with an adjacent marginal portion defining one of said apertures for limiting movement of the main portion endwisely into said apertures in one direction and a locking tongue adjoining the opposite end of said main portion, bendable relatively to the latter into substantially parallel relationship to said main portion, and said locking tongue, when thus bent, stationarily abutting, at its tip, an adjacent surface of a marginal portion defining the other of said apertures, whereby to limit movement of the main portion endwisely in the opposite direction Within said apertures; said sealing member being formed with a transverse line of weakness at the juncture of said main portion and said locking tongue, facilitating said bending of the latter but inducing breakage upon repeated bending at said line of weakness; said line of Weakness being oblique in relation to said sealing member whereby to cause the locking tongue, upon such bending of the sealing member, to assume an oblique relationship to said main portion; an end portion of the locking tongue being bent out of the plane of the remainder of said tongue and said line of weakness being at the side of said plane opposite to said bent-out end portion of the tongue.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,017,837 Wood Feb. 20, 1912 1,240,719 Hosking Sept. 18, 1917 1,612,420 Davis Dec. 28, 1926 1,615,057 Tyden Jan. 18, 1927 2,653,401 Sutherland Sept. 29, 1953 2,772,109 Busch et al Nov. 27, 1956

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