US2998897A - Tamper-proof container closure - Google Patents

Description

Sept. 5, 1961 F. B. RUDDER ETAL 2,998,897

TAMPER-PROOF CONTAINER CLOSURE Filed Jan. 15, 1959 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 IN VEN TORS ANK B. RUDDER Z0 ZEOIVARD E. .sw so/v 9 LEONARD 6'- /1/7 1 35/ 0 MEMM ATTOH/VEY;

p 1961 I F. B. RUDDER ETAL 2,998,897

TAMPER-PROOF CONTAINER CLOSURE Filed Jan. 15, 1959 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 United States Patent TAMPER-PROOF CONTAINER CLOSURE Frank B. Rudder, 329 W. Groveton St.; Leonard E. Simpson, 601 The Parkway; and Leonard G. Smith, Box

198, R1). 6, all of Fairfax County, Va.

Filed Jan. 15, 1959, Ser. No. 787,091 4 Claims. (Cl. 220-24) (Granted under Title 35, US. Code (1952), see. 266) The invention described herein may be manufactured and used by or for the Government for governmental purposes without the payment of any royalty thereon.

This invention relates to a tamper-proof closure for containers.

The temporary storage of material which is not intended to be generally accessible to other than authorized per sonnel, and which must therefore be safeguarded during such temporary storage, is always a problem. This is particularly true in the case of material which must be stored until such time when it can be disposed of to prevent accessibility or knowledge of the contents of the stored material or, having been stored, must not be removed from the storage container by other than authorized persons. Such circumstances are encountered in the temporary storage of material such as papers and documents bearing intelligence which is subject to security regulations or other means of safeguarding the contents of such material. The ultimate disposition of such stored material is accomplished for purposes of economy only periodically and therefore necessitates temporary storage under safeguarded conditions.

It is therefore an important object of the present invention to provide a closure for containers temporarily storing such material, which closure is tamper-proof regardless of how the container is oriented in attempts to gain access to the material stored therein.

A'further important object of the present invention is to provide a tamper-proof closure for a container wherein individual components of the closure are configured and relatively coact to prevent access to the contents of the container.

A still further object of this invention is to provide a waste container closure that is economical to build and that can be easily adapted to standard receptacles.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be fully understood from the following description and claims when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the container closure;

FIG. 2 is an inverted perspective view of the container closure showing the details of the inner construction;

FIG. 3 is a central vertical section of a receptacle equipped with the instant invention showing the door and tilting gate of the closure for the receptacle in two positions; and

FIG. 4 is an inverted view of the receptacle of FIG. 3 showing the door and tilting gate of the closure for the receptacle in two positions.

Looking now with more particularity at FIGS. 1 and 2, it is seen that the container closure shown generally by 1 carries an upstanding housing 4, provided with a hinged door 7 with a door handle 8. While the door handle 8 is shown as being hook-like, it is understood that other configurations of handles may be substituted. The closure 1 has a portion 1 hinged as at 3 to the closure 1 enabling the closure of the container to be opened to empty the contents thereof. Portion 1' is either bolted or welded to the container. Looking at the underside of the container closure 1, as best depicted in FIG. 2, the door 7 is connected to a hinged gate having sections 9 and 9', which move in direct relation to door 7 through the action Patented Sept. 5, 1961 ice,

of swivel rod 14 which is fitted into gate sides 6. The sections 9 and 9' are connected by hinge 10. A hinge stop 11 in the form of a plate bent into a generally V- shaped configuration terminating in a flange portion is secured to the underside of gate 9 adjacent to the hinge 10, and the Vshaped part of the hingestop 11 extends over the hinge 10. The free end of the hinge stop is positioned beneath section 9' and in contact therewith when the sections 9 and 9 are in substantially coplanar position as shown by dotted and full line illustration'in FIG. 3. It is evident that the hinge stop 11 limits the movement of the section 9' of the hinged gate about the hinge 19 for a purpose which will be hereinafter disclosed. A hasp 5 which interfits with a staple 12 as best shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 locks the closure 1 to the container 2. A projection 13, depending from the underside of the closure 1, is located between the gate sides 6 remote from the hinge 1G to engage the section 9' when the door 7 is moved to the open position as shown in'dotted outline in FIG. 3. I

With reference to the operation of the instant invention, it is best to refer to FIGS. 3 and 4 which show several positions of the door 7 while the container is both in the normal and inverted position. It is seen that gate 9 is simply an angled extension of door 7 deriving a lever action from the fulcrum of swivel rod 14. In ordinary operation the hinge action of hinge 10 does not come into play. The waste paper is preferably cut or torn into small pieces. This action is desirable from a security aspect but, further, it is an aid in the operation of the instant invention because of the'small openings involved. I The door 7 is opened by use of handle 8 and the paper inserted into housing 4. As can be seen from FIG. 3, opening of door 7 causes gate 9 to rotate about swivel rod 14 until section 9' hits against projection 13. At this point, the inserted paper is confined in an irregular cubicle bounded on two sides by gate sides 6, the top of the container, gate sections 9 and 9' and projection 13, having only one opening, which is door 7. Upon closing door 7, section 9' comes away from projection 13, allowing the inserted paper to fall into container 2. To this point the action of the container closure operates much like any mail box except for several important structural differences which serve to render the container tamperproof. The configuration of the housing 4, jutting, as it does, above the plane of the container top, makes accessibility to the container 2 through the door opening extremely difiicult. Once the paper has passed on into container 2, fully opening the door 7 causes sections 9 and 9 in cooperation with gate sides 6 and projection 13, as previously shown, to bar re-entry of the paper into the aforementioned irregular cubicle. Partially closing door 7 causes section 9' to come away from projection 13; however, this narrows the entry passage and because of the configuration of housing 4, there is presented the further limiting factor of edge 15; Coupled with this limited access to only the upper part of container 2, is the further limitation of gate sides 6 which prevent any probing into container 2 from door 7 except directly forward of the door opening and that on a shallow downward angle.

Where the would-be tamperer seeks to dislodge paper from the container by turning it upside down or tilting it in any degree, more of the novel structure inherent in the instant invention comes into play. This aspect of the container top is best shown in FIG. 4. As the container is overturned, the door and gate combination are so weighted and levered as to open the door in fully opened position. This position is shown by the dotted line configuration in FIG. 4. The section 9 of the gate is in the same general plane as section 9 of the gate and hinge 10 is not brought into play. At this point, the paper will fall against the top of the container and the underside of gate sections 9 and 9'. Gate sides 6 will prevent the possibility of any paper entering into the cubicle defined by the gate sides, the gate, the gate stop, the inside surface of the top of the container and the housing 4 from the sides. This leaves only the possibility of getting some of the paper into this cubicle through the opening between the gate section 9' and the gate stop 13. However, as the door 7 is closed, gate 9 is drawn upwards and hinge 10 goes into action, thereby keeping gate section 9' constantly against gate stop 13. The net result of this hinge action is that no paper can be withdrawn through the door 7 once it has been deposited in container 2.

The hasp and staple 12 are used to lock the closure securely to the container and also to chain the container to some immovable object if desired. To remove the stored material the lock is removed and the container closure is opened through the action of hinge 3.

It is seen that an exceedingly simple yet effective means for preventing persons from tampering with the contents of the container or removing material from it by inverting it and inserting an instrument or the like through the opening has been provided. It is to be understood that while there is shown and described one preferred embodiment of the invention, there may be slight modifications and variations in some respects Without departing from the spirit of the invention or sacrificing any of the advantages thereof.

We claim:

I. A tamper-proof closure for a container comprising a lid, an opening in said lid, an enclosure beneath said lid communicating with said opening including side walls and an end wall, a door for said opening hingedly supported by said enclosure and having an extension beneath said lid, said extension including a lower section hingedly 4 connected thereto; a hinge stop attached to said extension limiting the travel of said lower section relative to said extension, said end wall means forming a part of said enclosure coacting with said lower section to limit the travel of said lower section and means for securing said closure to a container.

2. A tamper-proof closure as claimed in claim 1, wherein said lid includes hinged portions and a hasp for connecting the closure to a container.

3. A tamper-proof closure for a container comprising a lid, a housing including an opening carried by said lid, an enclosure beneath said lid communicating with said opening and including side walls and an end wall, a door for said opening hingedly supported by said side walls and having an extension beneath said lid at a fixed position relative to said door, said extension including a lower section hingedly connected thereto, a stop attached to said extension limiting the travel of said lower section relative to said extension, said end wall of said enclosure limiting the travel of said lower section and means for securing said closure to a container.

4. A tamper-pr0of container closure as claimed in claim 3, wherein said housing comprises a shallow box-like structure having an open side and wherein the length of the structure normal to the plane of the lid is substantially greater than the depth normal to the plane of the openmg.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 771,051 Fonts Sept. 27, 1904 1,212,321 Buckholz Ian. 16, 1917 1,322,522 Bixon Nov. 25, 1919 1,539,929 Arial June 2, 1925 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION Patent No. 2,998,897 September 5, Y 1961 Frank B. Rudder et al.

It is hereby certified that error appears in the above numbered patent requiring correction and that the said Letters Patent should read as corrected below.

In the grant, lines 1 and 2, for "Frank B. Rudder, Leonard E. Simpson, and Leonard G. Smith, all ofdFairfax County, Virginia, read Frank B. Rudder and Leonard E. Simpson, both of Fairfax County, and Leonard G. Smith, of Alexandria, Virginia, in the heading to the printed specification, lines 3, 4, and 5, for "Frank B. Rudder, 329 W Groveton St. Leonard E. Simpson, 601 The Parkway; and Leonard G. Smith, of Box 198, R.D. 6, all of Fairfax County, Va. read Frank B. Rudder, 329 W. Groveton St. and Leonard E. Simpson, 601 The Parkway, Fairfax County; and Leonard G. Smith, Route No. 5 Box 397-(3. Alexandria, Va,

Signed and sealed this 20th day of February 1962.

(SEAL) Attest:

ERNEST w. SWIDER a I DAVID L. LADD Attesting Officer I Commissioner of Patents

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