Abstract:
A lockable enclosure including a safe, a suitcase, a briefcase, and the like has an interior sized to receive articles and an electronic key assembly actuating a cam mechanism upon entry of a preprogrammed entry code. The cam mechanism has a cam that depresses a release lever of the a latch assembly to a position, wherein the latch assembly disengages from the lockable enclosure to allow a door to swing in an open position so as to enable access to the interior of the lockable enclosure.

Description:
PRIOR APPLICATION 
     This application is a continuation-in-part of Provisional Application of U.S. No. 60/092,746 filed on Jul. 14, 1998 and which is fully incorporated herein by reference thereto. 
    
    
     FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention relates to lockable enclosures, and, in particular, to lockable enclosures which have electronically operated locks. Specifically, the present invention relates to latch assemblies capable of preventing the electronically operated locks of lockable enclosures from an accidental release. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     It is difficult to imagine a modern life without lockable enclosures and, particularly, portable lockable enclosures. Such lockable enclosures including, for example, a briefcase, a suitcase, a portable safe and the like are typically used for storing and safe transportation of documents, jewelry, personal belongings and the like. Practically, all of these enclosures have latch assemblies of different types, some of which employ electronically operated locks that serve to prevent unauthorized access to an enclosure&#39;s interior. A reliable latch assembly for a lockable enclosure becomes even more important when the latter stores a firearm. 
     The art does supply a number of small portable safes, which may be easily carried by owners while they are travelling. 
     U.S. Pat. No. 5,416,826 to Butler discloses an electronically operated gun safe which has a drawer removably positioned with a housing to move to an open position to allow access to the contents of the drawer. This patent further describes an electronic code entry means and a processor means positioned in an interior and responsive the electronic code means for releasing a locking means to provide access to the drawer. 
     U.S. Pat. No. 4,800,822 to Adkins discloses a spring loaded ejectable drawer containing a firearm and slidably mounted within a housing. The drawer bears against a closed door of the housing, so that, upon opening of the door, the ejectable drawer is forced outwardly to present the firearm for grasping. 
     U.S. Pat. No. 5,901,589 to Cordero discloses a storage body for receiving a firearm and formed with a door, a plurality of grooves inside the storage body surrounding the door to permit it to move inwardly to an opening position. This patent further describes a spring biasing means for holding the door tightly against the storage body that is releasable by a hidden latch mechanism accessible from outside the body and opening the door. 
     It has been noticed that some of the locking mechanisms tend to voluntary release its latches when the portable safes are accidentally dropped or even deliberately positioned on its rear portions. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     With a safe including a lockable enclosure that has an interior sized to receive valuables such as guns and the like and that is provided with an inventive latch assembly, some of the drawbacks of the prior art may be overcome. The latch assembly has a means for preventing accidental release of the latch assembly when the lockable enclosure is positioned on its rear portion. 
     According to another aspect of the invention, the lockable enclosure is provided with a cam mechanism positioned in an interior of the lockable enclosure and operated to controllably release the latch assembly. 
     In accordance with another feature of the invention, the lockable enclosure has an electronic key assembly for permitting entry of a key code to enable the cam mechanism. 
     It is therefore an object of this invention to provide an improved lockable enclosure overcoming some of the disadvantages of the known prior art. 
     Still another object of the invention is to provide a lockable enclosure with a latch assembly that is secured against accidental release when the lockable enclosure is positioned on its rear portion. 
     Yet another object of the invention is to provide a lockable enclosure with a cam mechanism releasing the latch mechanism in response to a predetermined signal. 
     Still another object of the invention is to provide a lockable enclosure with an electronic key assembly enabling the cam mechanism. 
     The above and other objects, features and advantages will become more readily apparent from the following detailed description of the invention and accompanying drawings, which set forth an illustrative embodiment of the invention. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 isometric view of a lockable enclosure positioned on its bottom. 
     FIG. 2 is an exploded view of the lockable enclosure of FIG.  1 . 
     FlG.  3  is a top view of the safe shown in FIG. 1 with a portion cut away for clarity. 
     FIG. 3A is a perspective view of a latch assembly. 
     FIG. 4 is a cross sectional view of the latch assembly shown in its engaging position corresponding to a locked state of the lockable enclosure. 
     FIG. 5 is a cross sectional view of the latch assembly similar to the one shown in FIG.  4  and illustrating the latch assembly in its release position. 
     FIG. 6 is a cross sectional view of the latch assembly provided with a stop that prevents accidental release of the lath assembly when the lockable enclosure is positioned on its rear portion. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     Referring to FIGS. 1-3, a lockable enclosure  10  is a self-contained, electronically controlled containment system, such as, for example, a safe for storing a variety of valuables including guns and the like. The safe  10  can be positioned on any generally flat surface juxtaposed with either the safe&#39;s bottom  16  or its rear side  18 . 
     FIG. 1 illustrates the safe  10  shown in its locked state and having a solid cast enclosure  12 . A lid  14 , sometimes referred to as a door, is mounted to the enclosure  12  to move to an open position as shown in FIG.  2 . The safe further has a protrusion  20  formed with a recess  21  that receives a keypad system  22  including a plurality of keys or buttons  24  used to customize a user&#39;s personal access code. As better seen in FIG. 3, the buttons are provided with standard numeric digits. By dialing the personal access, a user may access an interior of the enclosure  12 , as will be explained hereinbelow. 
     As shown in FIG. 2, the safe  10  has a top wall  26  and a receptacle part  28 , which parts when assembled form an interior of the safe sized to receive the valuables. Any suitable fasteners may do assembly of the top wall and receptacle part  28 , for example, screws  30  traversing aligned holes  32  that are formed on the top wall and the receptacle part. The safe  10  further has a mounting bracket  34  for mounting the safe  10  to a surface if the safe  10  is intended to be secured in a predetermined location. The mounting bracket is detachably secured to the bottom  16  of the safe  10  and is described in detail in a coopending application Ser. No. 09/352,220 filed concurrently with the present application. The enclosure further has a cushioned receptacle  36  secured to the receptacle part  28  and made of light durable material, for example, plastic. 
     Turning to FIG. 2, the safe  10  in accordance with one aspect of the invention, has an electronic key assembly including the keypad  22  and a processor  38 , which is only shown diagrammatically and known in the art. Typically, the processor  38  stores key code data and has an operating program located in a digital memory that is located within the processor. When a key code has been entered, it is transferred to the processor  38  via a ribbon cable  40 . If the key code matches the key code data that has been stored in the digital memory, the electronic key assembly actuates a cam mechanism as will be explained hereinbelow. The electronic key assembly also includes an alarm circuitry turning on a sound system (not shown here) indicating that an unauthorized code has been entered. This sound system is also set off when either of main  42  and spare  44  batteries is low. The main battery  42  is placed in a recessed seat  46  formed in a front portion  48  of the top wall  26 . The keypad  22  is provided with a keypad back light that is activated by pressing any of the keys  24  before the personal code is entered. 
     Although the keypad  22  and the main battery  42  are shown to be formed in respective indented regions of the top wall  14 , they may alternatively be mounted in one or more of the other outer enclosure walls provided it is exposed to the exterior of the enclosure  12  and is easily accessible by a user. 
     As mentioned above, according to another feature of the invention, the electronic key assembly actuates the cam mechanism generally indicated as  50  as seen in FIG.  2 . The key assembly includes a low rpm motor  52  actuated by the processor  38  in response to the correct key code and a reduction gear train  54  translating rotational motion of the motor&#39;s shaft to an output shaft  56 . The output shaft  56  has two cams  58 ,  60  mounted rotatably on this shaft so that the cam  60  juxtaposed with a release lever  62  may actuate it. 
     The release lever  62  is mounted on an L-shaped support  64  extending between opposite sides of the receptacle part  28  and extending from this part to provide a mounting surface for the spare battery  44  and the release lever  62 . The support  64  also serves as a reinforcing surface for the cushioned receptacle  36 . 
     As shown in FIG. 2, the enclosure is provided with a pair of pins, each mounted on a side wall and extending toward the opposite wall. Each of the pins has a torsion spring  68 , one end of which is braced against the pin. 
     Referring to FIGS. 4-6, the release lever  62  is preferably made of resilient material, for example, plastic and is mounted pivotally on the support  64  to swing about a fulcrum  66  formed on a lower end of the release lever. To provide a continuous contact between the cam  60  and the release lever  62  a spring element  68  is braced against the L-shaped support  64  and extends toward the release lever  62  to bias it against the cam  60 . Thus, a cam follower  70  of the release lever follows displacement of the cam  60  bringing an outer T-shaped end  72  (FIG. 3) of the release lever into engagement with a latch assembly  74 , as will be explained hereinbelow. 
     According to another aspect of the invention, the latch assembly generally denoted as  74 , is mounted to an underside of the door  14  and extends under a flange  27  of the top wall  26  in a closed position of the door  14 , as shown in FIG.  4 . 
     Particularly, the latch assembly  74  is comprised of a bracket  76  having generally a U shape. A plate  78 , better seen in FIG. 5, covers the bracket  76  to form a compartment  77 , which is defined between a bottom  80  of the bracket and the plate  78 . The bracket and the plate  78  are formed with aligned holes receiving fasteners (not shown) for attaching the latch assembly  74  to the underside of the door  14 . The compartment  77  receives a latch  82  and a spring element  83  that biases the latch  82  outwardly from the bracket. In order to arrest displacement of the latch from the compartment  77 , FIGS. 3 and 3A illustrate the bottom  80  of the bracket  76  having end portions  84  extending toward the plate  78 . These portions  84  form stops, which cooperate with recessed portions  88  of the latch  82  in the closed position of the door  14 , and allow only a beveled edge  81  (FIG. 5) of the latch  82  to extend over the bracket toward the flange  27  of the enclosure. A rear portion of the latch  82  is formed with a pair of spaced grooves  90  (only one is shown) which receive ends of the spring elements  83  respectively. Opposite ends of the spring elements urge against a rear wall of the bracket. 
     The bottom  80  of the latch assembly  74  has a cavity  85  which is formed substantially midway between the recessed portions  88  of the latch  82  and extends downwardly therefrom and between a front edge  92  of and a rear wall  94  of the bracket  76 . As a result, space formed between the latch  82  and the cavity  85  receives a ball bearing  96  that is freely displaceable in the cavity under the latch  82  in a substantially horizontal position of the safe  10  shown in FIGS. 4 and 5. 
     Since the safe  10  is portable and can be used for travel or relocation, the user may either accidentally drop the safe on its rear side  18  (FIG. 6) or intentionally position the safe on this rear side. In this position of the safe, the ball bearing  96  freely rolls to occupy space between the rear wall  94  of the bracket  76  and a rear side of the latch  82 , as shown in FIG. 6 to prevent rearward displacement of the latch  82 . 
     Although the cam mechanism  50  and the latch assembly  74  have been described to be mounted to the enclosure  12  and to the door  14  respectively, it is clear that their respective positions can be easily reversed. 
     The safe operates in the following manner. Upon placing valuables in the cushioned receptacle  36 , the user simply pushes the door  14  downwardly to its closed position. During angular displacement of the door  14 , the flange  27  of the enclosure&#39;s top wall  26  comes in contact with the beveled edge  81  of the latch  82  that retracts into the compartment  77  of the bracket  76 . Having reached a closed position, the latch, under the action of the spring force of spring elements  83 , advances away from the rear wall  94  of the bracket to abut an underside of the flange  27 , thus engaging the latch with the enclosure. 
     To open the safe, the user dials the access code activating the processor  38  which, in turn, actuates the cam  60  to rotate at a 180° angle from a position shown in FIG. 4 to a position shown in FIG.  5 . In this latter position the release lever  62  overcomes a force exerted by the leaf spring  68  to displace the latch rearwardly toward the back wall  94  of the bracket  76 , thus releasing the latch assembly  74  from the enclosure. As a result, the door  14  swings up to its open position. 
     Although the latch assembly is described to operate the safe  10 , it is easy to see that such latch assembly can reliably lock a variety of suitcases, briefcases, bags and the like. It is also possible to utilize the disclosed latch assembly with any lockable item that can be placed in a position in which voluntary release of a latch is possible. 
     It is intended that the flowing claims defined the scope of the invention and the structures within the scope of these claims and their equivalents be covered thereby.