US3268158A

US3268158A - Strong box

Info

Publication number: US3268158A
Application number: US405808A
Authority: US
Inventors: Elbert V Abbott
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1964-10-22
Filing date: 1964-10-22
Publication date: 1966-08-23
Anticipated expiration: 1983-08-23

Description

STRONG BOX Filed Oct. 22, 1964 5 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR ELBERT V. ABBOTT .5 v. ABBOTT STRONG BOX Filed Oct. 22, 19 64 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 FIGZ FIG.4

IN VENTOR ELBERT ABBOTT E. V. ABBOTT STRONG BOX 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed Oct. 22, 1964 R m. M V M ELBERT v ABBOTT BY W M om ww m om Dom mm 9 0 mm J N9 Q9 J 0 nmu Q & 1 w ow a m Q .1. A A mp nm m W@ N@ ww qw ON United States Patent 3,268,158 STRONG BOX Elbert V. Abbott, 69 Vicksburg St., San Francisco, Calif. Filed Oct. 22, 1964, Ser. No. 405,808 4 Claims. "(CL 232-1) The present invention relates to boxes such as are used as coin collection devices on parking lots and the like. Boxes of this type are targets for burglary and vandalism and must, therefore, be strong to resist attempts to break them open. On the other hand they must be easy to open by authorized personnel so that an attendant serving several parking lots may collect the accumulated coins in a minimum of time. I

It is an object of my invention to provide a box of the type referred to, that may readily be opened by authorized personnel but is vandal-proof when closed.

More particularly it is an object of the invention to provide a strong box which cannot be pried open when closed.

Another object of the invention is to provide a strong box which has a door whose hinges are concealed from the outside and cannot be knocked off when the door is closed.

These and other objects of the invention will be apparent from the following description of the accompanying drawings which illustrate a preferred embodiment thereof and wherein FIGURE 1 is a perspective of a strong box embodying my invention in open position;

FIGURE 2 is a fragmentary horizontal section through the strong box taken along line 22 of FIGURE 1 and viewed in the direction of the arrows associated with said line;

FIGURES 3 and 4 are fragmentary horizontal sections similar to FIGURE 2, showing different angular positions of the body portion of the box relative to a back plate;

FIGURE 5 is a horizontal section similar to FIGURES 2 to 4 illustrating the box in closed and locked condition.

The strong box of the invention comprises a base or back plate of rounded rectangular shape which is made from a heavy material, and is preferably cast from a suitable metal alloy. On its front side the plate 10 is provided with an integral rim that extends along its top and side edges as shown at 14, 16a and 16b, respectively, and forms an inwardly open U-shaped channel. The bottom edge of the plate 10 is arcuate and carries a forwardly projecting trough 18 which has a concave floor. A headed screw bolt 26 passing through an aperture in the floor of the trough serves to secure the plate 10 to a suitable post or pedestal which is indicated at 28 in FIGURE 1.

Hingedly supported from the inner face of the back plate 10 along an area parallel to but a distance removed from the left side channel 16a is the left side of the body portion of the box, which has the form of a tray 30 of rectangular conformation and is likewise made of a heavy material, such as cast metal alloy. In the exemplary embodiment of the invention illustrated in the accompanying drawings, the tray 30 houses a coin collection mechanism, and for this purpose its front wall 32 is provided with juxtaposed rows of vertically superposed, horizontally disposed slots 34 which lead into individual compartments 36 arranged adjacent the rear surface of said front wall 32. Each compartment has a floor 38 that is yieldably held in a horizontal position and upon which coins deposited through the slots 34 may accumulate. An operator who has access to the interior of the box may simultaneously tilt the floors 38 of all the compartments 36 downwardly by manipulation of a crank handle 40, to discharge all the coins accumulated in the compartments 36 into a trough 42 that is provided below the compartments and above the bottom wall 44 of the tray. From said trough the coins may readily be collected by the operator. The rear walls of all the compartments are formed by a sheet of transparent material 46 that bears opposite each compartment an identifying number which corresponds with an identifying number that may be provided on the front face of the tray adjacent each of the coin receiving slots 34. Thus, upon opening the strong box an attendant may see at a glance which parking stalls have been paid for.

The left side wall 50a of the tray 30 is provided with an outwardly directed longitudinally extending lip 52, and a shallow longitudinally extending recess 54 is provided in the outer edge of the right side wall 50b of said tray; and hingedly supported from the inner surface of said side wall 50b is an elongated latch plate 56 of L-shaped crosssectional contour. Spring means indicated at 58 yieldably hold said latch plate 56 in a position wherein its free end 60 extends intothe recess 54 in the side wall 50b of the tray, but does not project beyond the outer surface of said side wall. The left side wall 50a of the tray is hingedly connected to the back plate 10 in such a manner that the tray may be rotated from a position wherein its front wall is substantially at right angles to the plane defined by the base plate (FIGURE 2) to a position wherein its front wall is parallel to and the outer edges of its side walls lie closely adjacent to the back plate, the outwardly turned lip 52 on its left side is fully engaged in the left side channel 16a of the back plate, and the free end 60 of the latch member 58 is aligned with the right side channel 16b of the back plate 10. (FIGURES 4 and 5.)

For this purpose the inner surface of the back plate forms a ledge 62 extending vertically a distance inwardly removed for the channel section 16a of the back plate 10. Rigidly secured to said ledge 62 such as by means of screws 64, is one bar-shaped leaf 66 of a two hinge 68, and the other bar-shaped leaf 70 of said hinge 68 is rigidly secured a leaf 72 of a second two leaf hinge 74. The other lea-f 76 of said second hinge 74- is rigidly secured to a leaf 78 of yet another two leaf hinge 8t) and the other leaf 82 of said third hinge 88 is rigidly tconneoted, such as by means of screws, to the outer or bottom surface of the lip- 52 along the edge of the left side wall 50a! of the tray '30 in such a position that the loopsand the pin of the hinge are located within the tray 30 adjacent the edge of the inner surface of said left side wall 50m The described connection between the bottom face of the outwardly turned lip 52 of tray 30* and the ledge 62 on the inner surface of the base plate 10 by three series-connected hinges makes it possible to swing the tray 30 from an open position wherein its left side wall 50w bears against the outer flange 15a of the left side channel 16a of base plate 10 and wherein it is fully exposed to view by, and readily accessible to, an operator (FIGURES 1 and 2), into a position wherein the tray is fully closed 'by the back plate 10, and its

sides

50a and 50b lie closely adjacent to the inner edges of the

outer side flanges

15a and 15b, respectively, of the

side channels

16a and 16b of the back plate 10, and its lip 52 engages the left side channel 16a while the recess 54 in its right side wall Sub is aligned with the right side channel 16b of the back plate 10.

When the body 'of the box is in the fully open position illustrated in FIGURES 1 and 2, the leaves 72 and 76 of the floating center hinge 74 define an acute angle and resemble a bent knee, with the leaf 76 extending in a plane substantially parallel to the inner surface of the back plate 10. The leaves of the outer hinge 80 adjacent the lip 52 on the left side 52a of the tray 30 extend substantially at right angles to each other and the leaves of the inner hinge 68 on ledge 62 of the back plate 10 define an acute angle of the same size as, but facing in a direction opposite, to the angle defined by the blades of the center hinge 74.. To close the box, the attendant grips an car 86 provided along the outer surface of the right side 50b of the tray 30 (FJGURES 1, 2 and 4) and initially swings the tray through a limited arc in counterclockwise direction, as viewed from the top, into the position illustrated in FIGURE 3. In this position the hinge 80 has moved somewhat to the right and closer to the back plate .10 its leaves define an angle of 180, the edge of lip 52. is almost in contact with the inner surface of the back plate 10, the center hinge 74 has moved somewhat to the left and farther away from the back plate 10 so that the knee formed by its leaves 72 and 76 is bent more acutely and the movable leaf of the inner hinge 68 forms an obtuse angle with the back plate 10". The attendant now urges the tray '30 toward the back plate 10 while continuing its clockwise rotation. This brings the hinge 80 closer to the front surface of the back plate 10 and turns its

leaves

78 and 82 so that they form an oppositely facing obtuse angle. Thus, the knee formed by the leaves of the floating center hinge 7 4 is bent into a still more acute angle (FIGURE 4). Further clockwise rotation of the tray while urging it to the left stretches the knee formed by the leaves 76 and 72 of the floating hinge 74, places the left side wall 52a of the tray 30 close to the edge of the outer flange 15a: of the left side channel 16m and moves its outwardly turned lip 52 fully behind the flange 15a of said channel (FIGURE The leftward shift in the final phase of the described box closing operations bringsthe right side wall 52b of the tray into a position within the confines of the inner edge of the outer flange 15b of side channel 166! so that the tray is now located between, and fits snugly into the space defined by and between the edges of the side flanges 15a and 1512, respectively. In this position the recess 54 in the edge of the right side wall 52b of the tray 30 is subberged below the outer flange 15b of the right side channel 16b and is aligned with the interior of said channel. At the same time the top wall 88 of the tnay lies closely below the bottom edge of the outer flange 92 of the channel section-9'4 formed by the rim of the back plate along its top edge; and the bottom wall 95 of the tray lies closely adjacent the upper outer edge 96 of the trough 18 formed by the back plate 10.

To place the latch 56 on the inner surface of the side wall 521: of tray 10 into a position wherein its latching end 60 projects into the right side channel 16b of the back plate 10 and thus makes it impossible to withdraw the tray from the back plate, a hole 98 is provided in the back plate 10 of the box, and securely anchored in said hole is a look 99 which permits rotation of a cylinder 100 by means of the proper key (FIGURE 5). Said cylinder 100 protrudes a limited distance intothe interior of the box and carries upon its inner end a camming member 102 which is initially located behind the latch member 56- in its retracted position when the tray 30 is closed upon the back plate 10. By turning the cylinder 100' by means of the proper key, the c amming member 102 engages the rear surface of the latch member 56 and swings it against the urgency of spring means 58 into a position wherein its latching end 60 is projected into the channel 16b behind the outer flange b thereof.

With the lip 52 engaged behind the outer flange 15a of the left side channel 16a and the latching end of member 56 held in engagement with the right side channel 16b, it is impossible to open the box. It is also impossible to burglarize the box by knocking off its hinges, because all hinges are safely sheltered in the cast metal enclosure formed by the back plate and the tray, and are complete ly inaccessible from the outside. Moreover, it is difficult, if not impossible, to pry the box open because with the solid cast metal tray held tightly in the solid frame formed by the cast metal back plate .10 and its integral rim and trough, the closed box presents to the potential burglar no parts or members that will bend; and when a crow bar is forced into the narrow interstice between the side wall-s of thetray 3t} and the rim of the back plate 10, the bar meets with the immovable rigidity of the cast metal parts of the box. It, therefore, can neither bend the cast metal parts of the box nor exert indirectly a destructive force against the more vulnerable hinge connections within the box until and unless the cast metal parts of the strong box are actually shattered. This, however, takes a stronger force than can be exerted with a crow bar by even a strong man, and if a sledge hammer were used, this would cause considerable noise.

While I have described my invention with the aid of a particular embodiment thereof, it will be understood that the invention is not limited to the specific constructional details illustrated and described by way of example, which may be departed from without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention.

I claim:

1. A strong box comprising a plate having confronting first and second channels formed along opposite sides thereof, a tray having oppositely located first and second side walls spaced from each other to fit into the space defined by and between said first and second channels, said first side wall having an outwardly turned lip formed along its bottom edge and said second side wall having a recess, latch means hingedly supported adjacent said second side wall, plural series-connected hinge means interposed between, and having their opposite ends secured, respectively, to said first side wall and an area of said plate to permit rotation of said tray from an open position into position wherein said first and second side walls thereof are located at right angles to said plate and intermediately of said first and second channels.

2. A strong box comprising a plate having confronting first and second channels formed along opposite sides thereof, a tray having oppositely located first and second side walls spaced from each other to fit snugly into the space defined by and between said first and second channels, said first side wall having an outwardly turned lip formed along its bottom edge and said second side wall having a recess, latch means hingedly supported from said second side wall, plural series-connected hinge means interposed between, and having their opposite ends secured, respectively, to the bottom edge of said lip and an area of said plate inwardly removed from said first channel to permit rotation of said tray between an open position wherein said first side wall of said tray is substantially parallel to said plate and adjacent to said first channel thereof and a closed position wherein said first and second side walls thereof are located at right angles to said plate and intermediately to said first and second channels, with said lip extending into the interior of said second channel; and key means operable from the outside to force said latch means into a position wherein it projects through said recess into the interior of said second channel.

3. A strong box comprising a plate of cast metal having first and second integral channels formed along opposite side edges thereof, a tray of cast metal having oppositely located first and second side walls spaced from each other to fit snugly into the space defined by and between said first and second channels, said first sidewall having an outwardly turned longitudinally extending lip formed along its bottom edge and said second side wall having a longitudinally extending shallow recess formed in its bottom edge, latch means hingedly supported from V the inner surface of said second side wall for rotation from a retracted position into a position wherein it projects through said recess, spring means yieldably holding said latch means in said retracted position thereof; plural series-connected hinge means interposed between and having their free ends secured respectively to the bottom edge of said first side wall and said lip thereof and an area of said plate inwardly removed from said first channel to permit rotation of said tray between an open position wherein its side walls are substantially parallel to said plate and said first side wall lies adjacent to said first channel and a closed position wherein said first and second side walls are located at right angles to said plate and intermediately of, and closely adjacent to, said first and second channels, respectively, with said lip extending into the interior of said first channel and said recess in alignment with the interior of said second channel, camming means operable to force said latch means into its projected position through said slot into the interior of said second channel, and lock means mounted in said plate and operable from without for actuating said carnming means when said tray is in said closed position thereof.

4. A strong box comprising a plate of cast metal having first and second integral channels formed along opposite side edges thereof, a tray of cast metal having oppositely located first and second side walls spaced from each other to fit snugly into the space defined by and between said first and second channels, said first side wall having an outwardly turned lip formed along its bottom edge and said second side wall having a longitudinally extending shallow recess formed in its bottom edge, latch means hingedly supported from the inner surface of said second side wall for rotation from a retracted position into a position wherein it projects through said recess, spring means yieldably holding said latch means in said retracted position thereof; means for swinging said tray from an open position wherein its side walls are substantially parallel to said plate and said first side Wal-l lies adjacent to said first channel into a closed position wherein said first and second side walls are located at righ-t angles to said plate and intermediately and of closely adjacent to said first and second channels, respectively,

with said lip extending into the interior of said first channel and said recess being in alignment with the interior of said second channel including a double leaf hinge having one leaf rigidly connected to the bottom edge of said lip, 21 second double leaf hinge having a leaf thereof rigidly connected to an area of said plate removed from said first channel, and a third double leaf hinge having its leaves rigidly connected to the free leaves of said first and second hinges, respectively; can'nming means operable to force said latch means into its projected position extending through said slot into the interior of said second channel, and lock means mounted in said plate and operable from without for actuating said camming means when said tray is in said closed position thereof.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 82,658 9/1868 Stuhlfrager 16-163 949,751 2/ 1910 Broughto-n 232-15 1,050,776 1/ 1913 Lowrie 109-70 1,631,934 6/1927 Moifett 232-4 1,844,978 2/1932 Renaud 16-163 1,905,082 4/1933 Wuebling 16-163 2,426,649 9/1947 Shann 232-16 2,580,401 1/ 1952 Br-oussard 232-7 2,591,271 4/1952 Levereth 220-34 2,695,195 11/1954 ODiay 220-34 3,026,023 3/1962 Hirschfeld 232-4 3,181,780 5/1965 Abbott 232-1 FRANK B. SHERRY, Primary Examiner.

FRANCIS K. ZUGEL, Examiner.

Claims

1. A STRONG BOX COMPRISING A PLATE HAVING CONFRONTING FIRST AND SECOND CHANNELS FORMED ALONG OPPOSITE SIDES THEREOF, A TRAY HAVING OPPOSITELY LOCATED FIRST AND SECOND SIDE WALLS SPACED FROM EACH OTHER TO FIT INTO THE SPACE DEFINED BY AND BETWEEN SAID FIRST AND SECOND CHANNELS, SAID FIRST SIDE WALL HAVING AN OUTWARDLY TURNED LIP FORMED ALONG ITS BOTTOM EDGE AND SAID SECOND SIDE WALL HAVING A RECESS, LATCH MEANS HINGEDLY SUPPORTED ADJACENT SAID SECOND SIDE WALL, PLURAL SERIES-CONNECTED HINGED MEANS INTERPOSED BETWEEN, AND HAVING THEIR OPPOSITE ENDS SECURED, RESPECTIVELY, TO SAID FIRST SIDE WALL AND AN AREA OF SAID PLATE TO PERMIT ROTATION OF SAID TRAY FROM AN OPEN POSITION INTO POSITION WHEREIN SAID FIRST AND SECOND SIDE WALLS THEREOF ARE LOCATED AT RIGHT ANGLES TO SAID PLATE AND INTERMEDIATELY OF SAID FIRST AND SECOND CHANNELS.