EP0076941A1

EP0076941A1 - Time locking device for safes of moneybox type and drawers of cash registers

Info

Publication number: EP0076941A1
Application number: EP82108663A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Fiorenzo Mosele
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1981-10-09
Filing date: 1982-09-20
Publication date: 1983-04-20
Also published as: AU7619281A

Abstract

There are a cover or top or door (2) provided with a circular opening (5), a cylindrical block (6) intended to be inserted in said circular opening (5) and containing a freewheel (7) fastened thereto, the shaft (24) of which is fastened to a timer (26), means (22) for locking the cover or door to the safe body (1) and means (29) for retaining in an angular position said cylindrical block (6) once it has been rotated for winding up the timer (26) in order to keep the latter in a wound condition until said retaining means (29) are released.

Description

This invention relates-to a time locking device for safes of moneybox type or drawers of cash registers or reinforced drawers adapted to contain valuables generally.
All of these containers are provided with one or more slots for introducing bank-notes therein.
The unlocking of the locking device can occur only after a predetermined period of time has elapsed and the timer has been released.
Safes of moneybox type are already known, which are provided with time locking devices having less or more complex structure and rather sophisticated conformation. Generally, they require a plurality of elements to be assembled in a substantially accurate manner in order that their operation is reliable.
All the covers or tops or doors of safes of moneybox type are provided with a lock actuated by a key for locking and unlocking the safe and with a timer which is wound up either by means of the lock key or other outer means and the run down of which can be released accordingly.
Drawer of cash registers are also known, having a small safe embodied therein, which is provided with a slot for introducing the cash surplus and the door of which is provided with a lock operating, through a rack and a freewheel, both the timer and the locking bolt of the door upon its closure and releasing the timer upon the unlocking of the device. This drawer provided with a small safe of moneybox type is disclosed and claimed in the Italian patent application No. 22756 A/81 filed on 6th July, 1981.
As already said, the disadvantages presented by the safes of moneybox type available at present in commerce are due mainly to the fact that they have a very complex structure, which are time consuming as to the assembly of the different components, with resulting high manufacturing costs.
The main object of the present invention is to obviate these drawbacks and to provide a device for time locking safes of moneybox type, which has a so simple structure as to can be assembled also by unskilled labour.
It is a another object of the present invention to provide a locking device of the abovementioned type, which is capable to be locked to the associated safe either through a conventional lock operated by a key or else through the element winding up the timer, without the use of lock keys.
It is still another object of this invention to provide a locking device of the abovementioned type, which, in the case of a safe provided of a lock operated by a key for the closure thereof, is capable of automatically closing the keyhole once the timer has been wound up, so that the lock is made inaccessible from the outside until the timer has run down.
It is a further object of this invention to provide a locking device for safes of moneybox type, which is capable of locking the safe both by means of lock bolts and by fitting of the cover or top or door within the safe body.
These and other objects of the present invention, which will be more apparent from the following description, are achieved by a time locking device for safes, which is characte rized in that it comprises a cover or top or door provided with a circular opening, a cylindrical block intended to be inserted in said circular opening and containing a freewheel fastened thereto, the shaft of which is fastened to a timer, means for locking the cover or door to the safe body and means for retaining in an angular position said cylindrical block once it has been rotated for winding up the timer in order to keep the latter in a wound condition until said retaining means are released.
According to a feature of this invention the cover or door is circular in shape and the means for locking it to the safe body comprise radial arms extending from a cup enclosing on the lower side said cylindrical block and intended to be inserted into notches provided in the safe body and provided with end stop elements for the radially extending arms, which, once they are inserted into said notches, are laterally displaced until they are out of register with respect to said notches, thereby retaining the cover or door with respect to the safe body, a lock being provided, which is operable from the outside and the bolt of which is intended to lock said radially extending arms in a position which is offset with respect to said notches.
In the case of a lock operated by a key from the outside, the freewheel shaft is fastened to a disc provided with an opening which is register with the keyhole when the timer has run down and which closes said keyhole when the timer has been wound up.
In the case of a lock which cannot be operated by a key from the outside, the lock bolt is arranged in the cup enclosing said cylindrical block and is actuated by a cam pivotally mounted in said cup and the shaft of which is connected to the freewheel shaft so that, by rotating the cylindrical block in order to wind up the timer, a simultaneous actuation of the lock bolt occurs, which locks the cover or door in the offset position with respect to said notches provided in the safe body.
According to another feature of this invention, particularly useful for drawers of cash registers, the means for locking the cover or door comprise at least a pair of lock bolts arranged in the cup enclosing said cylindrical block and actuated by a disc provided with pins intended to cooperate with said bolts and having a centre shaft connected to the freewheel shaft so that, by rotating the cylindrical block in order to wind up the timer, a simultaneous actuation of the bolts in a locking position in the safe body occurs.
Furthermore, means are provided for setting during the assembly operation or when it is desired the time of operation of the timer.
This invention will now be described in more details in connection with its preferred embodiments given merely by way of example and therefore not intended in a limiting sense, and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Fig. 1 is a top plan view of the time locking device for safes of moneybox type;
Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the device of Fig. 1 looking from the bottom;
Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the device of Fig. 1, with the components in disassembled condition in order to show the closure disc of the keyhole;
Fig. 4 is a sectional view taken along the line IV-IV in Fig. 2;
Fig. 5 is a perspective view of the device having the lock bolt actuated through a cam by the cylindrical block winding up the timer, with the cover or top removed in order to better show the various components;
Fig. 6 is a sectional view taken along the line VI-VI in Fig. 5;
Fig. 7 is a perspective view of the device provided with a plurality of lock bolts actuated by the cylindrical block winding up the timer, with the cover or top removed in order to better show the various components.
Fig. 8 is a perspective view of the device applied to a drawer of a cash register:
- Referring now to the drawings and particularly Fig. 1 through 4, there is shown the time locking device according to this invention, as applied to a body of a cylindrical safe 1 of moneybox type. This device comprises a cover or top 2 of circular shape, having a peripheral abutment surface 3 of lower thickness adapted to seat on an inwardly extendinding rim 4 of the safe.

Cover 2 is provided at the centre with a bore 5 receiving a cylindrical block 6 containing a freewheel 7 force fitted in a centre blind hole 8. The cylindrical block 6 is prevented to get out of the cover 2 by a flange 9 abutting a step 10 provided on side wall of the bore 5 and it is retained against this step by aspring washer 11, which is disposed between the block bottom and a lower closure cup 12.
This cup is provided with three radially extending arms 13, arranged at 120⁰ to each other and provided with holes 14 intended to receive a screw 15 for securing the cup 12 to the cover 2.
The cover 2 has an opening or keyhole 16 for the passage of a key to be inserted in a cylindrical lock 17, which is secured to the lower wall of the cup 12 and the bolt 18 of which is adapted to enter the seat 19 of a member 20 fastened to the safe body, in order to lock the cover 2 thereto.
The locking of the cover 2 to the safe body is obtained through three notches 21 provided on the rim 4 of the safe body and arranged at 120⁰ to each other so as to receive the three radially extending arms 13 of the cup 12 enclosing the cylindrical block 6 and secured to the circular cover 2.
, Once the radially extending arms 13 are entered the associated notches 21, the cover 2 is slightly rotated with respect to the safe body,= so that the cover 2 is locked thereto. To this purpose a pair of stop elements 22 and 23 are provided, which are laterally applied to a notch 21 and act end means for the rotation of cover 2 in the locking direction (22) and in the unlocking direction (23), respecti. vely. When the radially extending arm 13 abuts the stop element 22, the lock bolt is properly aligned with its seat 19 and the lock 17 can be locked in order to latch cover 2.
The shaft 24 of the freewheel is connected to the shaft 25 of a timer 26 secured to the cup 12 so that, by rotating the cylindrical block 6 in a direction the timer can be wound up, whereas the free rotation in the opposite direction of the block 6 is permitted by the freewheel 7. In order to be able to rotate the block 6 a semicircular handle 27 is provided, which is pivotally mounted to the block and is provided with a centre finger 28 adapted to be inserted in a mating depression 28 provided on the cover 2 in order to prevent the timer 26 to run down. To aid the lifting of the handle 27 a small arched depression 30 is provided in the upper surface of block 6, which is intended to receive a fingernail of the user.
Inside of the cup 12 a disc 31 is provided, which has a centre cylindrical recess 32 adapted to receive the cylindrical block 6 and a hole 33 which, when the timer is not in a wound condition, is in register with the keyhole 16 of lock 17, thereby permitting the key to be inserted into the lock 17. Disc 31 is firmly connected to the shaft 24 of the freewheel 7 so that, by rotating the block 6, also the disc 31 rotates, such that the hole 33 is brought out of register with the keyhole 16 and therefore the key can no longer be inserted into the lock 17. In this manner the lock 17 is made inaccessible from the outside, which represents a great advantage and offers a greater safety to the safe.
The operation is very simple.
Once the various components forming the locking device according to this invention have been assembled (see Figs. 2 and 4), it is applied on the circular opening of the cylindrical body of the safe so that the radially extending arms 13 of the cup 12 enter the associated notches 21, then the cover 2 will be slightly rotated so that the arm 13 associated to the notch 21 provided with the stop elements 22, 23 abuts the stop element 23 (Fig. 2), then the key will be inserted into the keyhole 16, which now is in register with the hole 33 of the disc 31, thereby permitting the key to be inserted into the lock 17. At this point the key is actuated so that the lock bolt 18 will enter the seat 19 of member 20 fastened to the safe body.
The locking device is now in a locked condition. Now, the key will be removed and the handle 27 lifted from its seat and by means of this handle the cylindrical block 6 together with the freewheel 7 are rotated until it will be stopped by a screw 34 in the side wall of cup 12, which acts as a setting element for the winding time of the timer 26, by abutting a stop element (not shown) provided for this purpose in the recess 32 of disc 31. This screw can be positioned upon the assembly of the device and can be displaced at will by the user in order to have the desired winding up time for the timer 26. Now, the block 6 will be rotated in the opposite direction and the handle 27 will be placed in the original position in which it is retained due to the engagement of the finger 28 in its seat 29.
The timer is thereby locked until the handle 27 will be again released, by removing the finger 28 from its seat 29. At this point the timer 26 will begin to run down, thereby rotating the disc 31 in the opposite direction until, when the timer has run down, the hole 33 of disc 31 will be again in register with the keyhole 16, thereby permitting the key to be inserted into the lock 17 to unlock it and to allow the cover 2 to be rotated in the opposite direction until the concerned radially extending arm 13 will be in abutment with the stop element 22, which permits the cover 12 to be removed and the safe to be opened.
In Figs. 5 and 6 there is shown another embodiment of the invention, in which the lock 17, and therefore the keyhole 16 and the disc 31 are omitted, and a bolt 18 is provided, which is connected to a frame 60 having a square- shaped configuration provided with an inclined plane 61 adapted to engage a cam means 50 fastened to the shaft 24 of the freewheel 7 by means of any suitable fastening means. The bolt 18 is guided in its movement through a slot 62 provided in the side wall of the cup 12.
The operation is the following.
Once the cover 2 of the locking device has been applied and locked as hereinbefore described by rotating the cover 2 until the concerned radially extending arm 13 will be in abutment with the stop element 23, the cylindrical block 6 will be rotated as already described, thereby winding up the timer 26 and simultaneously causing the bolt 18, through the cam 50 cooperating with the inclined plane 6₁, to enter the seat 19 in the member 20 fastened to the safe body 1. Once the timer has been wound up the above described operations are carried-out.
It should be noted, in this connection, that instead of providing a radial seat 29 only for the finger 28 of the handle 27 rotating the cylindrical block 6, a plurality of radially extending seats 29 could be provided in order to lock the block in the angular pos.ition, required for the desired wind time of the timer.
Fig. 7 shows another embodiment of the invention, parti cularly suitable for doors of safes embodied in drawers of cash registers, shown by way of example in Fig. 8.
In this case a cover or door 2 having a rectangular shape is provided. The cover 2 is associated to the small safe 90 applied to a drawer 91 of a cash register 92 having the usual money compartments 93 and 94. This safe 90 is provided with the conventional slot 95 for introducing the cash surplus. In a circular opening 96 of the cover or door 2 the cylindrical block 6 for actuating the timer is inserted. However, in this/case the shaft 24 of the freewheel 7 actuates a disc 65 provided with three posts (not shown), which engage in notches of three bolts 70, 71, 72 of a conventional lock 67 of the type having three bolts perpendicular to each other, this lock 67 being secured to the bottom wall of the cup 12 provided with the three radially extending arms 13 to be fastened to the cover 2. These bolts are mounted so as to slide through slots 66. By rotating the block 6 the simultaneous movement of the three bolts 70, 71, 72 is obtained which enter the associated seats provided in the safe body of the cash register drawer. The cylindrical block will simultaneously wind up the timer and then it will be locked in the above described manner. When the block 6 is unlocked and the timer will begin to run down, the latter will cause the three bolts 70, 71, 72 to be retracted into the cup 12 through the three posted disc, until the safe door will be unlocked and can be opened.
From the foregoing it will be apparent that the time locking device according to the invention offers great advantages over the known devices of this kind since it can be applied both to be locked by a lock and through the cylindrical block winding up the timer.
Furthermore, this device is comprised of relatively simple elements, which are easily assembled and of reliable operation.
While this invention has been described and shown in connection with three embodiments only,.it should be understood that various changes and modifications can be made thereto without departing from the scope of the following claims.

Claims

1. Time locking device for safes' of moneybox type and for drawers of cash register, characterized in that it comprises a cover or top or door provided with a circular opening, a cylindrical block intended to be inserted in said circular opening and containing a freewheel fastened thereto, the shaft of which is fastened to a timer, means for locking the cover or door to the safe body and means for retaining in an angular position said cylindrical block once it has been rotated for winding up the timer in order to keep the latter in a wound condition until said retaining means are released.

2. Time locking device as claimed in claim 1, character ized in that the cover or door is circular in shape and the means for locking the cover or door to the safe body comprise radial arms extending from a cup enclosing on the lower side said cylindrical block and intended to be inserted into notches provided in the safe body and provided with end stop elements for the radially extending arms, which, once they are inserted into said notches, are laterally displaced until they are out of register with respect to said notches,thereby retaining the cover or door with respect to the safe body, a lock being provided, which is operable from the outside and the bolt of which is intended to lock said radially extending arms in a position which is offset with respect to said notches.

3. Time locking device as claimed in claim 1, character ized in that in the case of a lock operated by a key from the outside, the freewheel shaft is fastened to a disc provided with an opening which is in register with the keyhole when the timer has run down and which closes said keyhole when the timer has been wound up.

4. Time locking device as claimed in claim ₁, character ized in that in the case of a lock which cannot be operated by a key from the outside, the lock bolt is arranged in the cup enclosing said cylindrical block and is actuated by a cam pivotally mounted in said cup and the shaft of which is connected to the freewheel shaft so that, by rotating the cylindrical block in order to wind up the timer, a simultaneous actuation of the lock bolt occurs, which locks the cover or door in the offset position with respect to said notches provided in the safe body.

5. Time locking device as claimed in claim 1, character ized in that the means for locking the cover or door comprise at least a pair of lock bolts arranged in the cup enclosing said cylindrical block and actuated by a disc provided with pins intended to cooperate with said bolts and having a centre shaft connected to the freewheel shaft so that, by rotating the cylindrical block in order to wind up the timer, a simultaneous actuation of the bolts in a locking position in the safe body occurs.

6. Time locking device as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that means are provided for setting during the assembly operation or when it is desired the time of operation of the timer.

7. Safe of the moneybox type, characterized in that it is provided with the time locking device as claimed in the preceding claims.

8. Small safe of cash register drawers, characterized in that it is provided with the time locking device as claimed in the claims 1-6.