WO2004035405A2

WO2004035405A2 - Security box

Info

Publication number: WO2004035405A2
Application number: PCT/GB2003/004491
Authority: WO
Inventors: Michael Tu
Original assignee: Autosafe International Limited
Priority date: 2002-10-18
Filing date: 2003-10-17
Publication date: 2004-04-29
Also published as: GB2394171A; AU2003301416A1; GB2394171B; GB2423922B; WO2004035405A3; GB0608871D0; GB2423922A; GB0224315D0

Abstract

A security box comprising a container section (11), a lid (14) and a securing means (17), the container section having a base, sides and an opening. The container and the lid are relatively moveable between an open position and a closed position and releasably lockable together. The lid has flanged edges (24) which extend downwards against the container sides when in the closed position. The container has at least one hole (19). The securing means (17) is releasably attachable to the box and has an enlarged section (18), the enlarged section (18) being larger than at least part of the hole (19), such that the enlarged section cannot pass through at least part of the hole, and part of the hole being covered by the flanged edges (24) of the lid when the lid is in the closed position, preventing the release of the securing means.

Description

Security Box

The present invention relates to security boxes, that is, lockable boxes or safes for holding valuable items such as laptop computers.

Theft of laptop computers from cars and other vehicles is becoming a very common problem. When thieves force entry into an unattended car they try to take any valuable items that they can easily grab hold of. Even hiding the valuable items from view under seats or under the parcel shelf in the car boot is not a deterrent to thieves. Once a thief has broken into a car they will quickly check the glove box, under the seats and in the boot for any valuable items.

If a laptop computer is stolen, the laptop owner or his insurance company has to cover the cost of the stolen laptop. Not only will the computer itself have been lost, but the also data stored on it. If the data was not backed up shortly before the theft, the owner may have to spend many hours re-doing the work that was lost. Any confidential or sensitive information that was stored on the laptop will be lost and may be available to misuse by the thief or anyone else that they pass it onto. Therefore the overall cost, in time and money, of losing a laptop is often much greater than just the cost of the hardware itself.

The object of the present invention is to provide a lockable, portable box that is easy to fix inside a car and can house a laptop or other valuable items.

According to the present invention there is provided a security box comprising a container section, a lid and a securing means, the container section having a base, sides and an opening, the container and the lid being relatively moveable between an open position and a closed position and releasably lockable together, the lid having flanged edges which extend downwards against the container sides in the closed position, the container having at least one hole, the securing means being releasably attachable to the box and having an enlarged section, the enlarged section being larger than at least part of the hole, such that the enlarged section cannot pass through at least part of the hole, and part of the hole being covered by the flanged edges of the lid when the lid is in the closed position, preventing the release of the securing means.

According to another aspect of the invention there is provided a security box comprising a container section, a lid and a securing means, the container section having a base, sides, and an opening, the container and the lid being relatively moveable between an open position and a closed position and releasably lockable together, the lid having flanged edges which extend downwards against the container sides in the closed position, the container having at least one hole, the hole comprising an upper section and a smaller lower section, the securing means being releasably attachable to the box, and being elongate, with variable thickness, the dimension of the thicker part being such that the thicker part can pass through the upper hole section but cannot pass through the lower hole section, the said upper section of each hole being covered by the flanged edges of the lid when the lid is in the closed position, preventing the release of the securing means. According to another aspect of the invention there is provided a security box including a securing means, the security box being secured to a fixing on the inside of a vehicle by the securing means, to prevent removal of the box from the vehicle, and the security box having releasable attaching means such as Velcro^R™ type, to fix the box to a support surface.

The invention will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the drawings, of which,

Figure 1 shows a view of an open security box, secured to a fixing;

Figure 2 shows a side view of an aperture in a wall of the security box;

Figure 3 shows a side view of a closed security box;

Figure 4 shows a cross-section through the rear wall, lid and hinge of the security box;

Figure 5 shows a cross-section though a side wall or the front wall of the security box;

Figure 6 shows a plan view of the base of the security box;

Figure 7 shows an open security, box secured within a car boot;

Figure 8 shows a closed security box, resting on its rear wall, secured within a car boot. Referring to figure 1, an open security box 10 is shown. The box has a rectangular base, with a front wall 11, a rear wall 12 and two opposing side walls 13, projecting upwards from the base. The box has a lid 14, hinged to the top of the rear wall 12 of the box, by a stainless steel strip hinge 15. The lid has a lock 16 to lock the box in the closed position, the lock fixing the lid to the front wall of the security box.

A flexible steel rope cable 17, with enlarged ends, is used to secure the security box to a fixed object. Ball bearings 18, having a greater diameter than the thickness of the cable, have been very firmly pressed onto the two ends of the steel cable. The ball bearings have been forced onto the ends of the cable so firmly that it would not be possible for someone to pull the balls off the cable.

The security box has a plurality of identical keyhole shaped apertures 19 spaced along the top of the front wall and the side walls. Referring to figure 2, each aperture is located at a fixed distance 20 from the top of the security box wall. Each keyhole shaped slot 19 is a single fully enclosed hole comprising an upper circular part 21 a lower part 22. The lower part of the aperture 22 has two parallel edges extending downwards from the upper part and is closed off by a semi-circular end.

The upper circular part 21 has a larger diameter than that of the lower elongated semi-circular part 22. The diameter of the cable ends 18 is slightly larger than the diameter of the lower part 22 but smaller than that of the upper part 21 of the keyhole shaped apertures 19. The cable diameter is smaller than the diameters of both the upper parts and the lower parts of the keyhole apertures. The enlarged ends of the cable can pass through the larger upper part 21 of each keyhole aperture 19 but not through the lower, smaller part 22. The cable itself can pass freely through both the upper and lower parts of the apertures 19.

The security box is locked to a fixed object using the cable 17. Both of the cable ends 18 are releasably attachable to the box via the keyhole shaped apertures. To secure the security box, the cable is passed through a fixing of some sort, for example a luggage loop 23 in the boot of a car. When the security box lid is open, one of the cable ends is inserted into the box, from the outside, through the upper part of a keyhole aperture and the second of the cable ends is inserted through the upper part of another keyhole aperture. The cable ends are releasably held in the box and are prevented from falling out of the apertures as the ends have a larger diameter than the lower part of the apertures.

The lid of the security box is closed and the security box locked using the lock 16 in the top of the lid. The three non-hinged edges of the lid have flanged edges 24, which when the lid is in the closed position, extend downwards over the front wall and two side walls of the box. Referring to figure 3, when the lid is in the closed position the flanged edges of the lid fully cover the upper part of each aperture 21, but do not cover the lower part of each aperture 22. In this way, when the lid of the security box is locked closed, it is not possible to remove the cable from the box as the cable ends 18 are too large to pass through opening formed by the lower part of the apertures 22. It is only possible to remove the cable by passing the cable ends out through the upper part of the apertures 21 and this is only possible when the security box lid is open. The flanged edges of the lid could alternatively extend downwards over the inside rather than the outside of the front wall and two side walls, to cover the upper part of each aperture 21 when in the closed position.

The security box can easily be detached from the object it is fixed to. This is done by unlocking and opening the lid, then removing one or both of the cable ends from the box, by passing the end or ends through the upper part of the keyhole shaped aperture that the end was inserted into, and unhooking the cable from the object it is fixed to.

Referring again to figure 1, there are four keyhole shaped slots 19 evenly spaced along the top of each of the two side walls 13 and there are two in the top of the front wall 11 of the security box, each equally spaced from the centre of the top of the front wall. The cable ends can be inserted into the box at any two of the ten apertures spaced around the box walls. The variation in the position of cable insertion and the flexibility of the steel rope cable allow the security box to be fixed around loops or objects of varying sizes. The security box could of course have any number of keyhole shaped apertures 19 spaced around the tops of the walls, and could have apertures located in the rear wall.

It would be very difficult for a thief to open up the security box. The base, walls and lid of the box are made of heavy gauge steel. The vertical corners of the box and lid are continuously welded and smoothed to give them extra strength. A standard anti-drill lock is used, to prevent the lock 16 from being broken using a drill. The hinge 15 runs along the full length of the top of the rear wall of the box. Referring to figure 4, the hinge strips 40 are fitted to the inside of the lid and the rear wall using clinch studs 41 and Nyloc nuts 42, to ensure the hinge is held fast to the box. Each strip of the hinge is fixed to the rear wall or lid in five places. The heads of the clinch studs lie flush with the outside surface of the rear wall or lid, and they are therefore extremely difficult to lever off and remove.

The flanged edges of the lid 24 rest flush against the sides of the box, when the lid is in the closed position therefore it is very difficult for anyone to lever the lid off the box. Referring to figure 5, the entire length of the top of the side walls and the front wall of the security box have been bent over to form a platform 50 which extends towards the inside of the box. The innermost edge of each platform is bent perpendicular to the platform, forming a downwards extending portion 51, extending towards the base of the box. The platform 50 is 20 mm wide and the downwards extending portion 51 is 7mm wide. The presence of the platform and downward extending portion ensures that the top edges of the walls are not sharp and are therefore not liable to scrape the users hands or the objects being put into or taken out of the box. The platform also gives extra strength to the walls of the box.

Referring to figure 6, the box has a number of Velcro^R™ pads 60 stuck to its base 61. The Velcro^R™ pads 60 are made up of many hooks, which fix to a caφeted surface on the floor of a vehicle boot and prevent the security box from slipping around whilst in transit. The pads 60 do not hold the security box too strongly to the vehicle boot, and therefore it is easy to lift the box up and away from the boot floor. The pads 60 are attached to the security box using a very strong adhesive. Velcro^R™ pads having a strong adhesive backing could be supplied with the security boxes for the user to stick where they wish. To hold the security box to an uncarpeted surface, Velcro^R™ pads could be attached to the box and corresponding pads attached to the support surface, to engage with the pads on the box and keep the box in place. Referring to figure 7, an open security box 10 is shown fixed via the cable 17 to a luggage loop 23 in a car boot 73, with the lid of the box uppermost. The Velcro pads would be fixed to the base of the box to prevent it from slipping around in the vehicle boot. The security box has a handle 70 on the front wall 11 which is easily accessible to pick the box up from this position.

Referring to figure 8, a closed security box 80 is shown, secured to a luggage loop 23 a car boot 73, with the front wall 11 of the box uppermost. The security box is resting on its rear wall, thereby taking up less space than when it rests on its base and leaving more room for other luggage to be stored in the boot. With the security box in this position, the Velcro pads would be fixed to the rear wall of the security box.

The security box of the present invention is very easy to fit to a vehicle as no tools, bolts or screws are needed to fix the security box to the inside of a car. The security box can be fixed to the car in seconds simply using the cable, saving the cost of having a safe professionally fitted in the car. It can be secured to luggage loops, which are fixed steel loops, present in the boots of virtually all modern vehicles, for the puφose of fixing luggage to. The cable can also be secured around the seat frame or any other suitable object in the car. The security box can be used in a hotel room or other location by simply securing it, using the cable, to a suitable fixed object.

The security box is portable, weighing 6.65 Kg. It can easily be carried from the car using the carrying handle. Referring to figure 1, a handle 70 is present on the front wall of the security box. The handle is mounted on a plate 71, which is recessed slightly in the front wall of the box so that the handle lies flat against the surface of the front wall. The plate is fixed to the front wall using button head socket screws 72, which are very difficult to remove. The handle is sprung so that when the handle is released it springs back against the plate 71. When the security box is not in use or being transported, the cable can be locked inside. The handle could of course be located on the lid of the box or on any other wall of the security box.

The security box is around 450 mm wide, 342 mm deep and has a height of 170 mm. The box can adequately house a laptop case, containing a laptop computer. Security boxes of larger or smaller dimensions can be made depending on the contents to be housed inside. The inside of the security box is fitted with a foam lining to protect the contents from damage whilst the security box is in use.

In an alternative embodiment of the invention, the cable for securing the box to the fixing, instead of having two enlarged ends, forms a closed loop, having one or more enlarged sections. The enlarged sections can pass through the upper sections of the keyhole shaped apertures, but not through the lower sections, and therefore the enlarged sections can constrain the cable within the security box.

The securing means for securing the box to a fixing may be a flexible cable, or it may be made of rigid material.

In a further alternative embodiment of the invention, the security box is attached to the vehicle or other fixing by a cable or other rigid securing means, which has one end releasably attached to the security box and one end fixed to the vehicle. The securing means is attached to the security box, via a keyhole shaped aperture, when the box lid is open. When the box lid is closed, the cable is secured within the box and cannot be removed.

The apertures for receiving the securing means may be keyhole shaped apertures or slots. The top of the side walls and front wall of the security box have one or more slots, having three sides enclosing the opening and one top side which is open. The slot width is smaller than the thickness of the cable ends, but greater than the width of the cable. The cable can be inserted in the security box, when the lid is open, by inserting the cable downwardly into the slots, through the top opening, such that the cable end is inside the box. When the lid of the security box is closed, the flanged edges of the lid cover the open, top edges of the slots and prevent the cable end from being removed from the security box.

Claims

1. A security box comprising a container section, a lid and a securing means, the container section having a base, sides and an opening, the container and the lid being relatively moveable between an open position and a closed position and releasably lockable together, the lid having flanged edges which extend downwards against the container sides in the closed position, the container having at least one hole, the securing means being releasably attachable to the box and having an enlarged section, the enlarged section being larger than at least part of the hole, such that the enlarged section cannot pass through at least part of the hole, and part of the hole being covered by the flanged edges of the lid when the lid is in the closed position, preventing the release of the securing means.

2. A security box comprising a container section, a lid and a securing means, the container section having a base, sides, and an opening, the container and the lid being relatively moveable between an open position and a closed position and releasably lockable together, the lid having flanged edges which extend downwards against the container sides in the closed position, the container having at least one hole, the hole comprising an upper section and a smaller lower section, the securing means being releasably attachable to the box, and being elongate, with variable thickness, the dimension of the thicker part being such that the thicker part can pass through the upper hole section but cannot pass through the lower hole section, the said upper section of each hole being covered by the flanged edges of the lid when the lid is in the closed position, preventing the release of the securing means.

3. A security box including a securing means, the security box being secured to a fixing on the inside of a vehicle by the securing means, to prevent removal of the box from the vehicle, and the security box having releasable attaching means such as Velcro^R™ type, to fix the box to a support surface.

4. A security box according to claim 1 or 2 wherein the container has two or more holes.

5. A security box according to claim 4 wherein the holes are located in at least two sides of the box.

6. A security box according to claim 4 wherein the holes are located in at least three sides of the box.

7. A security box according to claim 4 wherein each side of the box that contains holes contains two or more holes.

8. A security box according to any preceding claim wherein the securing means is flexible.

9. A security box according to any preceding claim wherein the security box is attached to a fixing on the inside of a vehicle.

10. A security box according to any preceding claim wherein the box has releasable attaching means, such as Velcro^R™ type, to fix the box to a support surface.

11. A security box according to any preceding claim wherein the box has a lining to protect the contents of the box.

12. A security box substantially as herein described and illustrated.

13. Any novel and inventive feature or combination of features specifically disclosed herein within the meaning of Article 2H of the International Convention (Paris Convention).