Safe with snap-closure
The invention relates to a safe with snap-closure comprising a plate and a protective cover. The invention also relates to a method for displaying valuables and protection thereof against theft.
Owing to the increasing criminality there is an ever increasing need to protect displayed, exhibited and stored valuables such as jeweller's goods such as precious stones and watches, as well as paintings. A number of solutions are already much in use, such as taking action after the use of closed-circuit TV and after the alarm has gone off when activated, and closed display cases for jewellery.
Each of these solutions has limitations however. Closed-circuit TV and activation of an alarm can often be circumvented. The use of display cases in the jewellery trade is useful as long as a potential customer does not show specific interest for the product displayed in a display case. When there is specific interest however, a jeweller will show goods of the same type, usually placed in or releasably mounted on a surface such as a plate, and generally the customer will even want to touch and put on the product in which he/she is interested. At that moment the whole of the displayed stock is unprotected.
The present invention has for its object to provide a solution herefor, wherein in the case of problems in a shop with valuables a displayed quantity can be immediately closed away. The present invention also provides a solution for securing valuables which hang on the wall such as paintings and photos.
The present invention therefore provides a safe with snap-closure containing a plate and a protective cover, wherein the protective cover has a roughly semicylindrical form or semispherical form which is rotatable up to 180° from the position under the plate to the position above the plate at least partially closed off by the protective cover, around a shaft running through or under the plate and connected to the plate. The bottom surface of the protective cover is generally identical in form to the plate and in the case of a semicylindrical protective cover both then have a rectangular shape and in the case of a spherical protective cover they have a round shape. Non-displayed goods can for instance be stored away in the space between the plate holder and the protective cover.
In this application a cylindrical form should be understood to mean not only a round form on the outside but also a box shape with angular sides. The position above the plate is
understood to mean that side of the plate where the valuables are located, on which they are for instance displayed or against which they are placed.
The dimension of the bottom surface of the protective cover is preferably equal to or greater than the dimension of the plate. In this case the plate with the valuables is fully secured by the safe in the snapped-shut position. If the plate is smaller than the bottom surface of the protective cover, the protective cover then as it were drops over the plate.
In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the safe with snap-closure also comprises at least one support mounted on the underside of the plate. There are preferably two supports mounted on both short sides of the plate in rectangular form such that on these sides there remains a recess through which both sides of the protective cover snap shut during closure. The supports can be fixed to the floor or on the wall so that the safe can be placed horizontally or vertically.
The safe with snap-closure preferably comprises an electromagnetic drive or a spring construction intended to cause the shaft, and thereby the protective cover, to rotate. In addition to the option of manual closure of the safe according to the invention, these constructions provide the option of automatic closure of the safe set into operation by remote triggering such as an alarm installation. The electromagnetic drive preferably comprises an electric motor provided with an electrically driven toothed wheel which engages on a toothed wheel of the shaft, wherein the shaft is provided with a second toothed wheel connected to a spring-mounted ratchet intended to prevent the possibility of the shaft being rotated in the opposing direction. Use of this ratchet prevents the possibility of the protective cover being opened by unauthorized persons.
According to a preferred embodiment according to the invention the safe with snap- closure comprises a holder in which the protective cover is situated when it is located under the plate, and which holder is optionally attached directly to the plate.
According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a device with snap-closure comprising at least two safes with snap-closure according to the invention mounted mutually abutting such that at least two protective covers rotate toward each other during rotation from the position under the plate to the position above the plate. The two protective covers preferably have a form in relation to the plate such that they do not contact the plate. The protective covers can herein also be rectangular with standing walls, wherein
the top side runs parallel to the plate. There hereby remains space open over the whole of the plate, allowing large variation in the size of the goods for protecting.
The protective covers and the holders of the device with snap-closure according to the invention comprise in particular at least one releasable element with which the size thereof can be varied and wherein the protective covers and optionally the holders and the releasable elements are provided with drilled holes.
The safe with snap-closure or a device with snap-closure according to the invention more particularly comprises a protective cover consisting of a plurality of partial protective covers connected in series, wherein on the plate are situated recesses corresponding with the edges of the partial protective covers. Protection against theft is hereby increased further. The invention also provides a method for showing valuables and protection thereof against theft, such as for instance in the case of robbery or burglary wherein the valuables are displayed on the plate of a safe or device with snap-closure according to the invention with at least one protective cover in the position under the plate, wherein as soon as there is the danger of theft at least one protective cover is rotated into the position above the plate, wherein the plate is at least partially closed off. Valuables include not only jeweller's stock but also photo cameras, electronic goods, paintings etc. These can also be displayed in front of the plate.
The rotation of the protective cover into the position above the plate is preferably brought about automatically using an alarm installation. In addition to a burglar alarm or attack alarm, a movement detector or metal detector can also be included under alarm installation. For the protection of jewels displayed in glass display cases in the safe with snap-closure according to the invention it is possible for instance to envisage triggering thereof by a movement detector arranged on the glass. At the entrance to a jeweller or museum where safes or devices with snap-closure according to the invention protect jewels, precious stones and watches respectively paintings, a metal detector can advantageously trigger snap closure of the safes or devices when a quantity of metal is detected which points to a weapon.
The safe with snap-closure and the device with snap-closure according to the invention therefore wholly fulfils the general wish of retailers of valuable goods and owners
of museums exhibiting paintings and the like to be able to display the valuable goods and paintings on the one hand but to also be able to protect them properly on the other.
The material from which the safe with snap-closure is manufactured is not critical and can be steel, aluminium and plastic such as lexane or polycarbonate. Nor are the dimensions critical; with a semicylindrical form of the protective cover the bottom surface is generally about 50 cm - 2m by 10 cm - 50 cm, for instance 25 cm by 1 m.
The present invention will be further elucidated hereinbelow with reference to the annexed figures of two preferred embodiments, in which:
figure 1 shows an oblique top view of a safe with snap-closure in open position (left) and snapped-shut position (right) with plate (1), supports (2) and protective cover (3),
figure 2 shows an oblique top view of the protective cover (3) and holder (4) of the device with snap-closure with a support beam (5) for connecting the holder to the plate,
figure 3 shows an oblique top view of a device with snap-closure in open position (left) and snapped-shut position (right) with protective covers (3), holders (4) and a rectangular bottom plate overlapping (6) both holders,
figure 4 is an oblique top view of releasable elements of holders (left) and protective covers (right) of the device with snap-closure as shown in figure 3 with middle parts 7, 8 respectively and end parts 10, 11 respectively with drilled holes (9),
figure 5 shows at the top holder (4) and protective cover (3),
at the bottom: an oblique top view of a device with snap-closure in open position (left) and snapped-shut position (right) with non-symmetrical protective covers (3), holders (4) and a rectangular bottom plate overlapping (6) both holders,
figure 6 shows the electromechanical drive and shaft of the safe and device with snap- closure: under the plate on a support beam (5) an electric motor (12) is fixed to the shaft on which a toothed wheel (13) is mounted, which toothed wheel engages on toothed wheel (15) connected to shaft (14) fixed to the protective cover, on which shaft another toothed wheel (16) is situated on the other side which engages on a ratchet (17).
The figures are otherwise schematic and not drawn to scale. For the sake of clarity some dimensions in particular may be exaggerated to a greater or lesser extent. Corresponding parts are designated as far as possible in the figures with the same reference numerals.
The safe with snap-closure as shown in figure 1 serves by way of illustration of a safe with a semicylindrical protective cover. On the short sides of plate 1 can be seen recesses along which the protective cover 3 can be rotated. In the protective cover 3 of the device with snap-closure as shown in figure 2, a recess is shown for support beam 5 to the left of the drilled hole for the shaft which runs through the centre line of the semicylinder, of which only the toothed wheel is shown.
Figure 3 shows a device with snap-closure with holders and also protective covers of mutually differing dimensions in order to demonstrate the flexibility in the dimensions of the device with snap-closure. The releasable elements of the holder and protective cover as shown in figure 4 show the same; using fixing means suitable for the drilled holes, these elements can be fixed to each other and thereby form holders and protective covers of different dimensions.
The device with snap-closure as shown in figure 5 is comparable to that of figure 2; here however, the long sides of the protective cover and holder have recesses so that in the snapped-shut situation the protective covers lie mutually abutting above the plate, so that there remains open space over the whole plate suitable for the protection of a large item therein.
Figure 6 shows a method of electromechanical driving of the shaft. The specific action of the spring-mounted ratchet 17 is that it prevents the undesired opening of the safe
but not closing thereof, since only one rotation direction of the shaft is possible. Only by pressing in the ratchet 17 can the safe be opened.
It will be apparent to the skilled person that the inventive concept allows a wide application and is certainly not limited to the given embodiments, which serve only by way of illustration. In the above stated embodiments the emphasis is laid on the protection of particular goods, but this should certainly not be interpreted as being limitative.