AU656080B2 - A security safe - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to locking arrangements and security safes and, in particular, to a security safe which enables a user to both inexpensively and securely stow valuables and belongings.

In recent years it has become desirable to be able to securely stow handguns in police stations when the handguns are not in use. It has been known for criminals to break into police stations and steal the police officers' handguns which are kept within the police station for safekeeping. As handguns are restricted in their ownership in Australia, such theft has the deleterious consequence that undesirable elements such as criminals, are able to obtain such handguns relatively easily.

In order to prevent handguns becoming more widely available within the general community, it is desirable that handguns be safely stowed within the confines of a police station.

It is also desirable for people in general to be able to securely stow their valuables within their own home.

It i, an object of the present invention to provide a security safe .i which is able to be used to stow handguns and/or other valuables securely.

According to a first aspect of the present invention there is :'.disclosed a locking arrangement for a slidable locking post, said 20 arrangement comprising a groove extending at least partially around said post adjacent one end thereof, a padlock, a padlock receiving enclosure having a keyhole access aperture at one end through which the keyhole of said padlock can be accessed and being open only at its opposite end for insertion of the padlock into the enclosure, an opening in one side of said enclosure into which said one end of said post is insertable, wherein closing the shackle of said padlock locates said shackle in said groove and prevents withdrawal of said post from said opening.

According to a second aspect of the present invention there is disclosed a security safe comprising a housing having at least three 30 faces one of which comprises a removable cover permitting access to the housing interior, said cover having at least one plate extending into said interior when said cover is closed, an aperture in said plate and the adjacent face of said housing, a locking post slidable into and out of engagement with said aperture, and a locking arrangement as described above to maintain said post engaged with said apertures.

One embodiment of the present invention will now be described with reference to the drawings in which: HRF/0716c Fig. 1 is an inverted plan view of a security safe of a preferred embodiment, Fig. 2 is a side view of the security safe of Fig. 1, Fig. 3 is a front view of the security safe of Fig. 1, Fig. 4 is a partially cutaway cross-sectional view along the lines 4-4 of Fig. 2, Fig. 5 is a partially cutaway cross-sectional view along the lines of Fig. 1, Fig. 6 is a cross sectional view along the lines 6-6 of Fig. 1, and Fig. 7 is a cutaway cross sectional view along the lines 7-7 of Fig. 2.

As seen in the drawings, a security safe 1 of the preferred embodiment includes a generally rectangular housing 2 with a top 9, a bottom 10, two sides, a closed end and an open front end 4. The open front end 4 is closable by a cover 3. The cover 3 has a handle 28 to enable the cover 3 to be easily grasped.

The housing 2 has a pair of holes 7, 8 located one in its top 9 and one in its bottom 10. The holes 7, 8 are sized to allow a post 11 to pass therethrough. The cover 3 has a pair of plates 5, 6 welded thereto 20 which extend perpendicularly to the cover 3 and into the interior of the housing 2. The pair of plates 5, 6 are positioned on the cover 3 so that when inserted into the interior of the housing 2, the plates 5, 6 slide along the interior surface of the top 9 and the bottom 10 of the housing 2 respectively. This ensures that the cover 3 is positioned correctly onto the housing 2.

The plates 5, 6 have a holes 12, 13 respectively which align with the holes 7, 8 in the top 9 and bottom 10 of the housing 2 when the cover 3 is in its closed position. Therefore, the post 11 is able to pass through the holes 7, 8, 12 and 13 to prevent relative movement between 30 the cover 3 and the housing 2, when the housing is closed.

The security safe 1 further includes an enclosure 22 which is welded to the bottom 10 of the housing 2. The enclosure 22 opens to the rear but is enclosed on its opposite sides, its bottom and its front.

The enclosure 22 is shaped to receive a padlock 20 having its keyhole accessible through a hole 23 at the front of the enclosure 22. The padlock 20 is secured in position by a pair of grub screws 26 which pass through the bottom of the enclosure 22 and clamp the body of the padlock HRF/0716c against the bottom 10. Only when the grub screws 26 are loosened, and the post 11 removed, is the padlock 20 able to be removed from the enclosure 22.

The keyhole of the padlock 20 has a disc 24 located in front thereof. The disc 24 is freely rotatable and has a slot 25 through which the key can pass through to the keyhole. The disc 24 is made from a high carbon heat treated steel and has a high Rockwell hardness. The disc 24 sits under a lip 30 which prevents the disc 24 from being removed from the hole 23. As the disc 24 is both hardened and freely rotatable, it is thought to be near impossible to drill using conventional drilling equipment, as the drill woulo spin the disc 24 when they come into contact.

The post 11 has a circumferential groove 14 at its top 15 which assists a person using the security safe 1 to grasp and easily lift the post 11. The post 11 at its bottom 19 has a circumferential groove 18 which is able to mate with the shackle 21 of the padlok When the post 11 is in its locking position as illustrated in the drawings, the shackle 21 of the padlock 20 Is able to be slid into Its locked position whereby the shackle 21 fits snugly into a groove 18 20 thereby preventing removal of the post 11. When the security safe 1 is to be opened, the nadlock 20 is unlocked, the shackle 21 is thereby removed rearwardly to disengage the groove 18 of the post 11. Thus the post 11 is able to be slid from the housing 2 enabling the cover 3 to be removed by its handle 28.

To lock the security safe 1, the cover 3 is replaced, the post 11 is inserted through the holes 7, 8, 12 and 13, and the washer 16 is seated into the frame 17. The shackle 21 is then pushed home by poking one or more fingers through the opening at the rear of the enclosure 22 to lock the padlock 20. The post 11 is locked into position by the 30 action of the shackle 21 within the groove 18. Thus the post 11, and hence the cover 3, are prevented from being removed from the housing 2.

Due to the inability of anyone to access the padltck 20 in its position when locked because of the enclosure 22, the security safe 1 of the preferred embodiment is considered to be tamper proof. The position of the keyhole behind the disc 24 also increases the difficulty in trying to "pick" the padlock 20 to gain access to the security safe 1.

HRF/0716c The foregoing describes only one embodiment of the present invention, and modifications obvious to those skilled In the art can be made thereto without departing from the scope of the present invention.

For example, the post 11 can also have an aligning washer which extends radially from the side of the post 11. Such a washer is only a preferable feature, and the washer preferably has a square periphery which enables the washer to sit in a correspondingly square frame which can be welded onto the housing 2. The hole in the washer is slightly offset from the centre and therefore the washer can only be seated into the frame when the post 11 is correctly aligned. The frame can also take the form of a square cavity milled into the housing 2. Nhen the post 11 is in position the washer and frame mate together, and rotation of the post 11 is prevented.

In another example, the locking arrangement of the post 11 and enclosed padlock 20 can be used in a variety of ways for other applications. One such application is to securely lock a locking bar into position in a locking arrangement for use with gates and the like.

In one such use, the locking arrangement can be used to lock a locking chain, where the post 11 is connected to one end of the chain while the 20 other end of the chain is passed through the shackle of the padlock located within a small housing. In such circumstancess the small housing is located adjacent the padlock enclosure.

In a further embodiment the housing 2 can be a hollow cylinder instead of a hollow tube of rectangular cross section. In this case the cover 3 and end of the housing 2 are substantially circular discs. The enclosure 22 and post 11 are as illustrated.

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Claims (9)

1. A locking arrangement for a slidable locking post, said arrangement comprising a groove extending at least partially around said post adjacent one end thereof, a padlock, a padlock receiving enclosure having a keyhole access aperture at one end through which the keyhole of said padlock can be accessed and being open only at its opposite end for insertion of the padlock into the enclosure, an opening in one side of said enclosure into which said one end of said post is insertable, wherein closing the shackle of said padlock locates said shackle in said groove and prevents withdrawal of said post from said opening.

2. A locking arrangement as claimed in claim 1, wherein said groove extends circumferentially around said post.

3. A locking arrangement as claimed in one of claims 1 or 2, wherein a disc is located alongside the keyhole access aperture adjacent said keyhole of said padlock, said disc being freely rotatable and having a slot through which the key can pass through to ti.e keyhole.

4. A locking arrangement as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein said padlock is secured in position in said enclosure by at least one grub screw passing through said enclosure and clamping said padlock within said enclosure.

5. A locking arrangement as claimed in any one of the preceding claims, wherein said post is prevented from rotation by a lug which is received in a slot therefor. .r

6. A security safe comprising a housing having at least three faces one of which comprises a removable cover permitting access to the housing interior, said cover having at least one plate extending into said interior when said cover is closed, an aperture in said plate and the adjacent face of said housing, a locking post slidable into and out of engagement with said aperture, and a locking arrangement as claimed in any one of the preceding claims to maintain said post engaged with said apertures.

7. A safe as claimed in claim 6 wherein four of said faces are rectangular, have a substantial longitudinal extent, and are arranged to form a tube, and said remaining faces are rectangular and are arranged to close the ends of said tube.

8. A safe as claimed in claim 6 wherein said one face comprises a substantially circular disc which closes one end of a hollow cylindrical HRF/0716c body forming a second of said faces, and a third substantially circular disc which closes the other end of said body.

9. A locking arrangement substantially as described with reference to the accompanying drawings. A security safe substantially as described with reference to the accompanying drawings. DATED this FIFTEENTH day of JUNE 1993 Michael Bernard Sullivan Patent Attorneys for the Applicant SPRUSON FERGUSON *b r *i HRF/0716c A Security Safe ABSTRACT A locking arrangement and a security safe incorporating the locking arrangement are disclosed. The safe has a housing with six faces one of which is closable by a cover which has a graspable handle The cover has a pair of plates which are positioned within the housing when the cover is in position. Each of the plates has one of a pair of holes (12,13) which align with holes located on two faces (9,10) of the housing when the cover is in position. A post (11) is able to pass through the holes (7,8,12,13) to prevent relative movement between the cover and the housing when the housing is closed. The safe further includes an enclosure (22) which is welded to one face (10) of the housing The enclosure (22) is shaped to receive a padlock having its keyhole accessable through a hole (23) at one end of the 15 enclosure The post (11) has a circumferential groove (14) which o. mates with the shackle (21) of the padlock (20) to prevent withdrawal of the post (11) from the holes (7,8,12,13) when the padlock (20) is locked. Fig. a S 4 r. 6 0 HRF/0716c