Model 'c' Watchclock Keyholder

Abstract

A captive key on a chain with respect to a storage tube from which the key is temporarily removed for application to a watchman's clock.

Description

This invention relates to devices for registering a watchman's time at a watch station, and has particular reference to a key device for registry with a watchman's clock to establish the time at which a watchman is at a particular watch station.

In industrial, mercantile, and other establishments, it is necessary to safeguard people, premises, and property, that a watchman proceed on rounds of inspection and presence, at intervals and degrees of detail established according to the requirements of particular situations. Some situations may be suitably covered by a few day or night trips by the watchman, well spaced in time and at regular intervals. Other situations may require inspections at short intervals or irregular intervals, or both.

In the course of such inspection rounds, it has been found necessary to establish a time record in which the watchman checks in at each of a series of watch stations. Such a record protects the watchman as well as his employer for insurance purposes or to establish presence in relation to time of events such as fire, burglary, or other happenings of note in the matter of establishing time of occurrence.

Such time record is established by using a watchman's clock, which he carries with him, and keys for time registry of the clock, with each key permanently located at a significant station, so that such stations are suitably spaced along the watchman's route. The clock is provided with suitable recording means, and each key applies its own individual identification to such recording means, so that time and watch-station identification are brought together to permanently record when the watchman was at each of the watch stations.

In the past, such watch stations have comprised a metal watch box, with a door which is opened to reach a watchclock key located therein on a chain which has one end secured within the box with a key secured to the other end of the chain.

These stations are rather remarkably disadvantageous and involved for a watchman to use. He must open the door, remove the key, apply the key to his clock, replace the key, and then shut the door of the box. As a practical matter, the key is often left dangling beside or beneath the box, with the door left open. This unsightly situation often results, further, in the key and chain impinging on the wall adjacent the box. Most such installations are featured by scratches or holes, or paint removal, from areas adjacent the watch box. The door hinges become worn and the door itself liable to hang in unsightly fashion, scratched or dented by the key and chain, or itself hitting and damaging the support wall or the box itself. Some watchclock keyholders are boxes with hinged covers, and some are mounted in wall recesses. All are subject to inconvenience in handling and unsightliness.

The MODEL `C` WATCHCLOCK KEYHOLDER is an entirely new concept; it has no doors or covers to open and close or boxes in which to hang the key and fold the chain. The Model `C` WATCHCLOCK KEYHOLDER is simple and has no moving parts. In one form, it consists of a vertical stainless steel 1/2 -inch I.D. tube 101/2 inches long in which a watchclock keychain with a brass weight fastened to it is enclosed; when the key is returned to a 3 inch vertical slot in the rear top of the tube, the brass weight pulls the chain down into the tube. The vertical tube is supported by two horizontal 1/2 -inch O.D. tubes, 1 inch long, which are attached 3 inches from the top and 3 inches from the bottom of the tube. They project out from a 3/16 -inch stainless steel plate 12 inches high by 11/2 inches wide which is attached to the wall by two screws.

Improvements of this invention over prior art watchclock keyholders:

1. APPEARANCE--The simple, modern design of the MODEL `C` WATCHCLOCK KEYHOLDER will blend with the esthetics of any office or decor. The stainless steel finish should blend well with the trim of the appointments of the office or building in which it is installed.

2. ADVANTAGES--It does not damage the wall when the key is allowed to swing free, as it will strike the tube or baseplate. Even when not returned to the holder, the unit is still neat-looking.

3. DURABILITY--There is nothing to wear out as there are no moving parts; there is no paint to chip and there is nothing to rust or oxidize. It is very strong and durable, being made of heavy-gauge stainless steel.

4. APPLICATION--It is much easier to use. The chain does not get twisted because the free-floating brass weight at the end of the chain keeps it straight.

5. VERSATILITY--It is easy to install, with only two screws to hold it to the wall, and can easily be moved to a new location if desired.

6. COST--Since it is made of stock stainless steel tubing and flat stainless steel baseplate and is simple to assemble, it provides a quality device at low cost.

Other objects and advantages of this invention will be in part apparent and in part pointed out hereinafter and in the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective of a watchclock key station according to this invention;

FIG. 2 is a side elevation of the structure of FIG. 1, with the key and chain within the storage tube;

FIG. 3 is a central vertical section of the structure of FIG. 1, broken horizontally;

FIG. 4 is an alternate form of the top of the storage tube of FIG. 1, showing a flared top opening side slot for receiving the key tab; and

FIG. 5 is a schematic top view of the storage tube and key therein, according to this invention.

FIGS. 1 through 3 thus illustrate one form of this invention; FIG. 4 is an alternate structure; and FIG. 5 schematically illustrates a concept generic to all forms of the invention.

In FIGS. 1 through 3, a vertically disposed storage tube 10 is mounted on a wall panel 11 by horizontal support legs 12. The rectangular panel 11 is secured to a support wall (not shown) by screws 13. An assemblage of a chain 14, a key 15 on the outer end of the chain, and a weight 16 on the inner end of the chain, are stored in the tube 10 when not in use.

FIG. 3 illustrates such storage, with the weight 16 at the bottom of the tube 10, supported by a turned-in lip 17 of the lower opening of the tube. A turned-in lip 18 of the upper opening of the tube prevents the key assemblage from being fully removed from the tube by restraining the weight 16 when the chain 14 is fully extended.

From the top of the tube 10, a downwardly extending slot 19 is provided on the back of the tube to receive the lateral tab 20 of the key 15. Thus, as in FIGS. 2, 3, and 5, the shank of the key is fully within the tube when stored, while the tab 20 extends laterally out of the back of the tube so that it is readily grasped for removal, although essentially hidden while stored. The slot 19 is, in FIG. 1, shown as formed with straight, essentially parallel walls, while the alternate structure of FIG. 4 shows the slot 19 with a flared, widened top opening 21 as a means of providing easier storage of the key 15.

Thus, as in FIG. 1, the key assemblage may be withdrawn and applied to a watchman's clock 22 to register the time at that watchstation. If for any reason, the key assemblage is simply dropped, or not restored in the tube, the chain length is such that the key 15 will ordinarily bump against the stainless tube 10, and not the wall to which the panel 11 is secured.

The key 15 ordinarily has some form of identification number or symbol thereon (not shown) to identify the watch station to which it belongs. This number or symbol is made part of the record within the clock 22 when the key is inserted and used therein.

This invention, therefore, provides a uniquely useful watchkey station device, which is simple, decorative and sturdy, and in which the key-and-chain assemblage is essentially fully hidden when stored, and yet presented for easy access and removal, and simple and easy restorage. The key assemblage, including the weight 16 is easily rotatable within the tube 10 so that the chain does not get knotted or jammed even with repeated or unusually twisting use.

Claims

What is claimed is:

1. (A watchclock key station according to claim 1) for use in the actuation of watchmen's clocks, a watchclock key station assembly comprising, in combination, a sleevelike body for vertical mounting, and a key-and-chain assembly for storage in said sleevelike body when not in use; wherein said key comprises a shank and an operating tongue and said sleevelike body is a tube with a side slot at the top thereof for receiving said operating tongue of said key.

2. (A watchclock key station according to claim 1) for use in the actuation of watchmen's clocks, a watchclock key station assembly comprising, in combination, a sleevelike body for vertical mounting, and a key-and-chain assembly for storage in said sleevelike body when not in use; wherein a wall-mounting bracket is attached to said sleevelike body, with a slot in said bracket for receiving the head of a screw in a wall as a hidden mounting near the top of said sleeve body, and a second mounting screw at the bottom of said sleevelike body, said second mounting screw being hidden by said key-and-chain assembly when said assembly is stored in said sleevelike body.

3. (A watchclock key station according to claim 1) for use in the actuation of watchmen's clocks, a watchclock key station assembly comprising, in combination, a sleevelike body for vertical mounting, and a key-and-chain and chain assembly for storage in said sleevelike body when not in use; wherein (said) a weight is secured to one end of said chain, and said key is secured to the other end of said chain, said key-and-chain assembly being freely rotatable in said sleevelike body when said chain is extended.

4. (A watchclock key station according to claim 1) for use in the actuation of watchmen's clocks, a watchclock key station assembly comprising, in combination, a sleevelike body for vertical mounting, and a key-and-chain assembly for storage in said sleevelike body when not in use; wherein a bracket is provided to mount said sleevelike body on a wall and in spaced relation from said wall, and wherein the length of said key-and-chain assembly is essentially equal to the length of said sleevelike body.