Vault door

Abstract

An improved vault door is disclosed which includes a movable bracket as a part thereof, the bracket preventing the door from being installed in an incorrect position which could result in improper closure of the door.

Description

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to a vault door which is applicable for use with a vault housing, the vault door having a plurality of locking bars which secure it to slots in the vault housing. More particularly, this type of improved vault door is uniquely suited for use with a coin operated telephone housing in which the opening of the vault housing which receives the door includes a plurality of tongues which extend into the opening.

In the prior art vault doors and vault housing arrangements the vault door and consequently the corresponding opening have been generally rectangular in shape and hence the vault door may be inserted upside down or 180.degree. rotated from the proper orientation. In some of the prior art arrangements if the vault door is inserted upside down, an attempt to lock the door into place by rotating its cam plate may cause the door to jam or become wedged in the vault housing. The improved vault door of the present invention incorporates a movable bracket on one of the locking bars which prevents the vault door from being installed incorrectly. One of the advantages of the present invention is that the bracket used to prevent the incorrect installation of the vault door may be easily added to existing vault doors to prevent there incorrect installation into the vault housing.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The vault door of the present invention includes the rim around the periphery thereof which is inserted between the vault housing and a plurality of tongues which extend outwardly from the vault housing. A plurality of locking bars within the vault door are moved by a cam into apertures in the tongues adjacent thereto to lock the door into place on the housing. In order to prevent the vault door from being installed upside down and hence resulting in a jamming condition when the cam is rotated to lock the door into place in the vault housing, a slideable bracket is inserted on the locking bar which, when the door is correctly installed, it is facing upward. With the sliding bracket in place on the locking bar, when the door is installed in the correct position the bracket by gravity slides downward and allows the door to be installed easily. However, if the door is rotated 180.degree. and attempted to be installed, the bracket slides downward and restricts the bottom of the door from moving inward since the ends of the bracket prevent the tongue exiting from the bottom of the housing opening from sliding between the rim of the vault door and a guide arm from the mounting plate on the interior of the door. Hence with the bracket in place, an attempt to install the vault door in an upside down position will make it very obvious to the installer that he is attempting to install the door in an incorrect position since the lower portion of the door will not slide inward the same amount as the upper portion of the door.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING

FIG. 1 illustrates the improved vault door of the present invention oriented in the upright position and adjacent to the front portion of the vault housing into which the vault door may be inserted.

FIG. 2 illustrates the vault door in perspective showing it in the inverted position to illustrate how the vault door bracket has moved to prevent the vault door from being fully inserted into the opening in the housing when it is in the inverted position.

FIG. 3 illustrates the vault door bracket in perspective view.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Referring to FIG. 1, there is illustrated vault housing 1, shown in the partially cut away view, illustrating the front portion showing opening 2 into which, for example, a coin box may be inserted when the vault is employed in a coin telephone. A plurality of tongues 3 extend inward from housing 1 toward the center of opening 2, and then outward toward the front of the vault housing and in so doing define a groove 4 between tongues 3 and the adjacent portion of vault housing 1. Each tongue 3 includes an aperture 5 into which locking bars, which will be described subsequently, are inserted to lock the vault door into place.

Shown adjacent to vault housing 1 in FIG. 1 is vault door 6 which is illustrated in the upright or correct position for installation into opening 2 of the vault housing 1. Vault door 6 includes a front surface (not shown) and rim 7 which extends rearward from the front surface. When vault door 6 is installed in the vault housing 1, rim 7 extends inward and nests in grooves 4. A mounting plate 8 is secured on the inner surface of vault door 6 and includes a plurality of outwardly extending guide arms 9 which support the free ends of locking bars 10. Each locking bar 10 includes along the inner end thereof a stud 11 which rides in cam slot 12 of cam 13. An opening (not shown) is included in the front of vault door 6 into which a special tool may be inserted for rotating cam 13 to move locking bars 10 inward and outward. As viewed in FIG. 1, cam 13 has been rotated fully counter-clock-wise and thus has moved locking bars 10 fully inward. With cam 13 in this position, vault door 6 may be installed into opening 2 and in so doing the tongues 3 will slide between the inner surface of rim 7 and the outer most surface of guide arms 9. With the vault door 6 fully in place, cam 13 may be then rotated in the direction of arrow to cause locking bars 10 to move outward and extend through apertures 5 in their corresponding tongues 3, and hence lock vault door 6 into place the housing 1.

If vault door 6 is installed in vault housing 1 in the orientation illustrated in FIG. 1, cam 13 may be freely rotated to lock and unlock door 6. However, with some vault housings if vault door 6 is installed incorrectly, that is upside down, this orientation being illustrated in FIG. 2, an attempt to lock the locking bars through apertures 5 of the respective tongues may result in jamming vault door 6 in housing 1. To make the incorrect orientation obvious to the installer, anti-jamming bracket 14 has been incorporated into vault door 6. As illustrated in FIG. 1, anti-jamming bracket 14 has been installed on the upper locking bar 10. Anti-jamming bracket 14 includes a base portion 15 having slot 16 therein which allows bracket 14 to freely move up and down on locking bar 10. A pair of legs 17 extend upward from base 15 and are of a length such that with door 6 in the position shown, the free ends of legs 17 do not extend beyond the outer surface of guide arm 9 and hence vault door 6 may be freely installed on vault housing 1 with the upper tongue 3 sliding between the inner edge of rim 7, the outer surface of guide arm 9 and the free ends of legs 17. It will be noted in FIG. 1 that base portion 15 rests on the edge of cam 13 which limits the downward travel of bracket 14.

Now referring to FIG. 2, vault door 6 has been rotated 180.degree. and an attempt to install vault door 6 in this orientation, that is with locking bar having anti-jamming bracket 14 thereon in the downward position, will be prevented by anti-jamming bracket 14. With vault door 6 in the position illustrated in FIG. 2, anti-jamming bracket 14 will slide downward on locking bar 10 and the free ends of legs 17 will come to rest on the inner surface of rim 7. That this orientation of vault door 6 is incorrect will become obvious to the installer since legs 17 of anti-jamming bracket 14 will prevent the tongue 3 on the lower edge of opening 2 from sliding between the lower surface of guide arm 9 and the inner surface of rim 7. The incorrect positioning of vault door 6 will be evidenced by the fact that the lower portion of vault door 6 will extend outward noticably further than the upper end of the vault door.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of anti-jamming bracket 14, illustrating the bracket in greater detail than is possible in FIGS. 1 or 2. In addition to opening 16 in base 15 and legs 17, it will be noted in FIG. 3 that anti-manning bracket 14 also includes lip 18 which is folded downward from base 15 when slot 16 is produced. Lip 18 serves to stabilize anti-jamming bracket 14 on locking bar 10 since it eliminates the freedom of movement about locking bar 10.

It is of course understood that the embodiment described herein is merely illustrative of the principles of the invention and that a wide variety of modifications thereto may be affected by persons skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

Claims

I claim:

1. An improved door for use with a housing including an opening, a plurality of tongues extending from said housing into said opening forming a groove between said housing and said tongues, said door including a rim around the outer edge thereof, said rim being adapted to fit into said groove, said door further including a plurality of locking bars operatively mounted thereon and selectively engagable with said tongues to lock said door into place on said housing, the improvement comprising an anti-jamming bracket slideably connected to one of said bars, said bracket including an arm extending outward in the direction of the free end of said bar whereby when said door is incorrectly positioned for installation into said opening, said bracket slides down said bar so that upon attempted installation of said door into said opening said bracket strikes the tongue in the area of the opening adjacent thereto and prevents complete installation of said door into said opening.

2. The improved door as claimed in claim 1 wherein said bracket includes a base portion having an aperture through which said locking bar extends, said bracket further including a lip extending from said base adjacent to said aperture in close proximity to said locking bar whereby said bracket is stabilized on said locking bar.

3. The improved door as claimed in claim 1 wherein said bracket includes a substantially flat base portion having an aperture therein adapted to slideably engage one of said bars and includes a pair of legs each extending from the opposite ends of said base.

4. The improved door as claimed in claim 3 wherein said legs are oriented from said base at an angle of substantially 90.degree..