Abstract:
Two embodiments of a guard are provided for protecting a padlock securing stanchion levers in their door locking position. An opening in the front wall of the guard permits its use with padlocks having long shackles as well as those with regular length shackles while retaining the compactness not normally retained for the extended length of the shackles. The preferred construction lock guard has a pitched roof and a pair of legs on its laterally outer sides extending downwardly behind the stanchion lever at laterally opposite sides of the stanchion latching mechanism that increase stability, rigidity of the housing and protection of the latches.

Description:
RELATED APPLICATIONS 
   Applicant claims the benefit of U.S. provisional patent application 60/855,976 filed Nov. 1, 2006, for a Lock Guard for Long Shackle Padlock Over Handle. 

   BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
   Thieves who break into moving vans, tractor trailers and other cargo containers use a variety of tools such as sledge hammers, acetylene cutting torches, saws, grinders and the like. The bolt cutter is a favored tool of burglars for cutting padlocks because of its portability and reduced time, light and sound generation; thus there is a need to protect padlocks used on containers, moving vans, semi-trailers, truck trailer units and storage facilities. Tractor trailers with twin rear doors are secured by a pair of vertical stanchions, at least one of which has a locking handle or lever, which is normally secured by padlock to prevent rotation of the stanchion, thus maintaining the doors in a locked condition. It is also desirable to provide protection for padlocks securing similar operating levers of doors of containers or storage facilities. It is desirable to keep the lock guard relatively small to make it more difficult for thieves to access the lock. Additionally, it is important to some container owners, due to the high value or sensitivity of their loads, to shield the retainer catch and pivoted locking latch because those components can be cut to gain entry while leaving the lock untouched. 
   BACKGROUND ART 
   Various attempts have been made to protect padlocks securing stanchion locking levers for roll-up doors and the like. U.S. patents showing devices attempting to protect padlocks include Eberly U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,581,907 and 4,898,008; Ankovitz U.S. Pat. No. 1,224,404; Ellington U.S. Pat. No. 1,248,293; Sole U.S. Pat. No. 5,737,946; Santini U.S. Pat. No. 6,622,533; Stroudtman U.S. Pat. No. 6,581,419; Brammall U.S. Pat. No. 6,519,982; Hamilton U.S. Pat. No. 6,010,166; Emmons U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,118,149 and 6,009,731; Van Buren U.S. Pat. No. 6,357,266 and Gogel U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,201,027 and 7,201,028. The rear wall of the lock guard of Santini U.S. Pat. No. 6,622,533 includes a back wall having a pair of handle engaging members used to hook the lock guard to the locking handle. 
   SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
   The herein disclosed lock guard shrouds the padlock&#39;s shackle when fully engaged and secured so as to protect the lock from unauthorized tampering when securing a semi-trailer or container door in its closed position. The security device allows the door to be secured with both a padlock and said lock guard in seconds. The relatively long vertical length of the guard envelops and protects the retainer catch and latch and locking the guard&#39;s downwardly extending securing tabs at its laterally opposite sides extending below and behind the locking handle secures the guard in its protecting position. The lock guard has a pitched roof to deflect physical attack. By providing a latching abutment and a narrow vertical slot in the front wall, the lock guard can be used in conjunction with a longer shackled padlock without providing the normal offset in expanded fore and aft width. It allows the insertion of the longer shackle into a locking tab hole in a functionally and significantly smaller housing dimension. The slot&#39;s design is sufficiently narrow as to prevent insertion of an adult human finger and the overall design is such that fingers and hands are not only not needed for inclusion of the lock in the guard on the secured enclosure but also thwarted by its compact design. Additionally, the lock guard is fully portable and does not require a time sensitive feeding of the locking handle through the guard, as required by a prior art guard. The device capitalizes on the hinged shackle of the padlock. The guard is not directly secured to the door. It does allow for a broader range of length of padlock shackles, it does engulf and protect the lock&#39;s shackles, and independent movement of the guard is severely retarded by the securing tabs that are slid behind the door&#39;s locking handle and which work in concert with both the locking handle and the associated padlock to thwart excessive movement. 

   
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     The invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which: 
       FIG. 1  is a perspective showing the rear doors of a semi-trailer secured by stanchions, one of which has an operating lever secured by a lock protected by a lock guard of this invention; 
       FIG. 2  is a front view of the installed lock guard shown in  FIG. 1 ; 
       FIG. 3  is a side view of the installed lock guard shown in  FIG. 2 ; 
       FIG. 4  is a section taken on line  4 - 4  in  FIG. 2 ; 
       FIG. 5  is a rear view of the lock guard shown in  FIG. 2 ; 
       FIG. 6  is a bottom view of the lock guard shown in  FIG. 2 ; 
       FIG. 7  is a side view of the lock guard shown in  FIG. 2 ; 
       FIG. 8  is a side view of a second embodiment lock guard; 
       FIG. 9  is a vertical section showing the lock guard of  FIG. 8  installed in a lever securing position, and 
       FIG. 10  is a vertical section showing a padlock being connected to the lock guard of  FIGS. 2 through 7 . 
   

   DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
   The lock guard  11  shown in  FIGS. 1 through 7  and  10  has particular utility in protecting a lock shackle padlock  34  securing an operating lever  13  pivotally connected to a vertical stanchion  14  of a semi-trailer  16  shown in  FIG. 1 . As illustrated, a stanchion lever  14 ′ also has an operating lever  13 ′ and a lock guard  11 ′. The stanchion lever  13  of the semi-trailer truck  16  is pivotally connected to the stanchion  14  on a horizontal axis and, as shown in FIGS.  1  through  4 , is flat on the side near the secured door  17  and is flat on the side facing away from the door  17 . As shown in  FIGS. 3 and 4 , the lever  13 , in its locking position, is nested in an upwardly open recess  18  of a locking flange  21  projecting from the exposed side of a latch plate  22  secured to the door  17  by bolt like fasteners  23 ,  24 . The stanchion lever  13  is secured in its illustrated door locking position by a retainer latch  26  pivotally connected to the latch plate  22  by the fastener  24 . The locking flange  21  and the pivotable retainer latch  26  have vertically alignable annular openings  31 ,  32 , respectively, in their locking positions, through which a shackle  33  of a padlock  34  extends, as shown in  FIG. 6 , to maintain the lever  13  in its stanchion locking position. As illustrated in  FIGS. 1 through 7  and  10  the lock guard  11  has a housing which includes a vertical front wall  41 , a pair of parallel vertical side walls  42 ,  43  rigidly secured to and extending rearwardly at right angles from the front wall  41 , a double pitched roof  46  rigidly secured to the upper ends of the front wall  41  and the side walls  42 ,  43 . The laterally opposite sides of the roof slope upwardly from the sidewalls  42 ,  43  at 45 degree angles converging in a fore and aft extending peak. The sloping roof  46  is designed to deflect sledge hammer blows impacted by thieves. As shown in  FIGS. 3 and 7 , side wall  42  includes a bottom open rectangular notch  52  at its lower rear corner and as shown in  FIGS. 4 and 10  side wall  43  includes a similar notch  53  at its lower rear corner. The bottom open notches  52 ,  53  accommodate the lever  13  when the lock guard  11  is in its installed position, as shown in  FIGS. 3 and 4 . The lock guard  11  is also provided with a partial bottom floor  56  which may have a central notch  57  at its rear end. The horizontal bottom floor  56  is rigidly secured at its front and laterally opposite sides to the front wall  41  and side walls  42 ,  43 . The partial bottom floor  56  limits access and reinforce the side walls  42 ,  43 . The notch  57 , if included, accommodates the case  35  of the long shackle padlock  34 . The lock guard  11  includes a horizontal retainer tab  61 , rigidly secured to the front wall  41  and the side walls  42 ,  43 , which has an annular vertical opening  62  for reception of the shackle  33  of the padlock  34 . A horizontal abutment or abutment plate  66  is rigidly secured to the walls  41 ,  42 ,  43  and is disposed above the retainer tab  61  so as to provide an abutment which is engaged by the shackle  33  when it is desired to lock the padlock  34  in its installed condition shown in  FIG. 4 . 
   As shown in  FIGS. 2 ,  3  and  4 , the lock guard  111  surrounds and protects the latch plate  22  and the pivoted retainer latch  26  as well as the padlock  34 . As shown in  FIG. 2 , the lock guard  11  is horizontally wider than the latch plate  22  and the retainer  26  latch in its illustrated locking position. A pair of L-shaped brackets  71 ,  72  have horizontal legs  73 ,  74  welded to the laterally outer sides of the side walls  42 ,  43 , respectively. The horizontal legs  73 ,  74  are in horizontal alignment with, and are structurally an extension of, the retainer tab  61 . The L-shaped brackets  71 ,  72  at the rear of the lock guard housing have downwardly extending vertical legs  76 ,  77  which are insertable vertically downward behind the stanchion lever  13 , thereby retaining the lock guard  11  close to the door  17  in a protective position relative to the padlock  34 , the latch plate  22  and the pivotable retainer latch  26 . The legs also resist attempts to remove the lock guard  11  by pry bars. The horizontal legs  73 ,  74  of the brackets  71 ,  72  also reinforce the side walls  42 ,  43  and the retainer tab  61 . The lock guard  11  is designed for use with either the illustrated long shackle padlock  34  or a regular length shackled padlock, not shown. A vertically elongated slot  81  is provided in the front wall  41  in which the shackle  33  of the long shackle padlock  34  is temporarily inserted, in order to permit the unhinged leg of the shackle  33  to be inserted in the opening  62  in the retainer tab  61 , while retaining succinctness and restricting the normal expansion of lock guard  11  to accommodate such length lock guard shackle  33 . The slot  81  is slightly wider than the diameter of the shackle  33 , but too narrow for an adult human finger. 
   A second type of stanchion lever  113  shown in  FIG. 9 , has a horizontally projecting reinforcing ridge  118  with a vertical opening  133 . A second embodiment lock guard  111 , shown in  FIGS. 8 and 9 , is particularly suited for use in guarding the padlock  34  used to secure the stanchion lever  113 . The presence of the ridge  118  requires notches  152 ,  153  in the side walls  142 ,  143  which have a wider horizontal width than the notches  52 ,  53  of the lock guard  11 . In other respects the lock guard  111  is similar to the lock guard  11 . The lock guard  111  includes L-shaped brackets  171 ,  172 , similar to brackets  71 ,  72 , which have downward extending legs  176 ,  177  which hook behind the stanchion lever  113  in the same manner as the legs  76 ,  77  of the lock guard  11  hooked behind the stanchion lever  13 . The latch plate  122  shown in  FIG. 9 , to which the retainer latch  126  is pivotally connected, includes a locking flange  121  with a pocket  124  for the receiving stanchion lever  113  in its locking position. The pivotable retainer latch  126  and the stanchion lever  113  have alignable openings  132 ,  133  for reception of the shackle  33  of the padlock  34 . The front wall  141  of the lock guard  111  includes a vertically elongated opening  181 . Guard  111  also includes a retainer tab  161  with a vertical opening  162  for the shackle  33  of the padlock  34  and an abutment plate  166 . 
     FIG. 10  illustrates the utility of the vertically elongated opening  181  in the front wall  141  of the lock guard  111 , whereby the shackle  33  is temporarily placed at least partially in the opening  181  during insertion of the shackle  33  through the opening  162  in the retainer tab  161  in preparation of securing the stanchion lever  113 . The shackle  33  is also insertable into the opening  181  when removing the padlock  34  from the lock guard  111 . An abutment  166  is rigidly secured to the side walls  142 ,  143  and the front wall  141  and is disposed above the horizontal retainer tab  161 . 
   Having hereby described the subject matter of the present invention, it should be apparent that many substitutions, modifications and variations of the invention are possible in light of the above teaching. It is therefore to be understood that the invention as taught and described herein is only to be limited to the extent of the breadth and scope of the appended claims.