Abstract:
A locker that may either be opened in a keyed or keyless manner includes a locking mechanism formed predominantly of sheet components. The locking mechanism is designed to be carried by the frame of the locker, and is particularly suited to enable the locker to be used as an evidence locker or similar restricted access storage compartment. Various spring biases are used to force the locking mechanism to a locked position when the locking mechanism is appropriately triggered, such as by a pushbutton. The locking mechanism is designed to be substantially tamper proof and cannot be reset to an unlocked position without a key, if equipped, or access to a lock resetting lever arm that is only accessible through a rear opening of the locker.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention relates generally to locker and similar storage compartments and, more particularly, to a restricted access storage compartment particularly suited for storing evidence and/or weapons that includes a housing-carried locking mechanism adapted to prevent access to the storage compartment once the locking mechanism is actuated. 
     Evidence lockers, and similar types of storage compartments, such as property lockers, are commonly used by law enforcement organizations to store evidence, e.g., weapons, contraband, documents, etc. To limit access to the evidence and therefore preserve the chain of custody, a locked evidence locker is designed to be inaccessible by anyone other than an authorized officer, such as a property officer or evidence room clerk. Generally, there are two types of evidence lockers: key and keyless. With a keyed evidence locker, the property officer must use a key to open the front of the evidence locker and gain access to the materials stored therein. With a keyless evidence locker, a rear panel of the locker may be opened to access the interior of the storage compartment rather than opening the front of the locker. Keyless evidence lockers are used when the rear of the locker may be accessed from within a property or evidence room yet the front of the locker may only be accessed from outside the property room. Generally, such keyless evidence lockers are stacked and effectively form part of the wall of the property room. In contrast, keyed evidence lockers are stacked against, rather than forming part of, a wall of the property room. 
     In general, when evidence is to be placed into an evidence locker, a law enforcement officer, court official, or evidence clerk will place the evidence inside an opened locker. A locking mechanism carried by the door of the locker is then actuated, such as by a push button, to lock the door of the locker to the frame of the locker. The locker will remain locked until unlocked by an authorized evidence clerk or property officer. 
     Numerous advancements have been made in improving the design and functionality of evidence locker and similar restricted access storage compartment. These advancements have included improving the strength of the locker as well as the construction of the locking mechanism in an effort to make the locker more tamper-proof. Notwithstanding these advancements, there remains a need to further improve the design of both keyed and keyless lockers. There is particularly a need to design an evidence locker that can be more efficiently manufactured without sacrificing the performance of the evidence locker. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     In accordance with one aspect of the invention, the present invention is directed to a locker designed for restricted access that includes a storage member defining a storage cell having a front access opening and a front door coupled to the storage member and adapted to close the front access opening when the front door is in a closed position. The locker further includes a lock assembly carried by the frame of the locker that, when activated, causes a pair of locking members to engage the front door to secure it to the storage member thereby restricting access to the storage cell through the front access opening. 
     In accordance with another aspect, the invention is directed to a locker having a frame defining a storage compartment that includes an opening permitting access to an interior of the storage compartment. The locker also includes a door operable to close the opening to restrict access to the interior of the storage compartment. A lock is carried by the frame of the locker and is operative to lock the door to the frame. The lock includes a pair of locking members movable between a retracted position and an extended position, which are designed to be received in the frame when in the extended position. An actuator is operably linked with the pair of locking members to force the locking members from the retracted position to the extended position when actuated. 
     Various other features, objects and advantages of the invention will be made apparent from the following description taken together with the drawings. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       The drawings illustrate the best mode presently contemplated of carrying out the invention. 
       In the drawings: 
         FIG. 1  is an isometric view of an array of keyless evidence lockers with each evidence locker having a multipoint locking mechanism according to one embodiment of the present invention to selectively lock the evidence lockers; 
         FIG. 2  is a rear isometric view of the array shown in  FIG. 1  with a rear door in an open position; 
         FIG. 3  is front elevation view, with portions in section, of a locking mechanism in accordance with the present invention that is incorporated into each of the evidence lockers shown in  FIGS. 1 and 2 ; 
         FIG. 4  is a side elevation view of the locking mechanism of  FIG. 3 ; 
         FIG. 5  is a rear elevation view of the locking mechanism of  FIGS. 3 and 4 ; 
         FIG. 6  is a front elevation view of a keyed locking mechanism with a top positioned keyhole according to an alternate embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 7  is a side elevation view of the keyed locking mechanism of  FIG. 6 ; and 
         FIG. 8  is a rear elevation view of the keyed locking mechanism of  FIGS. 6 and 7 . 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     A group of keyless evidence lockers stacked in an array or bank  10  is shown in  FIGS. 1 and 2 . In one representative embodiment, the four evidence lockers  12  are stacked randomly; although, the invention is not limited to such an arrangement. The evidence lockers  12  share a frame  14  that includes a top panel  16 , a base panel  18 , and a pair of side panels  20  and  22 . The frame members may be fastened together in a conventional manner, such as welding, or formed as an integrated unit in a conventional manner. Each evidence locker  12  defines a storage cell  24  having a front opening  26  and a rear opening  28 . The openings  26 ,  28  are defined by the aforementioned side panels  20 ,  22  and a cell lower panel  30  and a cell upper panel  32 . The cell lower panel  30  effectively defines the cell upper panel for the below adjacent evidence locker  12 . Similarly, the cell upper panel effectively defines the cell lower panel for the above adjacent evidence locker  12 . The front opening  26  may be closed by a door  34  connected to side panel  22  using hinges  36 . In the illustrated example, the doors  34  of each evidence locker  12  are pulled open about side panel  20  or  22  depending on what side of the bank the door  34  is located. The rear opening  28  is closed by a rear door  38  that in the illustrated embodiment is coupled to the side panel  22 , but is understood that the rear door  38  could be connected to the opposite side panel  20 . Each front door  34  has a stiffener bracket  40  that includes two slots  42 ( a ),  42 ( b ) for locking points (not shown) of a lock mechanism  44  to engage when the door  34  is locked. 
       FIGS. 3 through 5  show a keyless, multipoint locking mechanism  44  according to one embodiment of the invention. The locking mechanism  44  has a housing  46  that is integrated into the locker center divider  21  or may also be integrated into a lock mount bracket  23  when a center divider is not provided or when the door locks adjacent one of the side panels. An inner slide  48  is connected to the housing  46  and allowed to slide vertically within the interior of the housing  46 . The housing  46  also has an outer frame member  50  through which a pushbutton  52  extends. The pushbutton  52  is associated with an actuator member  54  that extends into a keyhole shaped opening  55  in the inner slide  48 . Opening  55  includes a slot portion  55 ( a ) and a circular portion  55 ( b ). The actuator member  54  has a larger diameter portion  56  and a smaller diameter portion  58 . The smaller diameter portion  58  is concentric with the larger diameter portion  56  and therefore effectively forms a ring. The larger diameter portion  56  of the actuator member  54  provides a seat for the boundary of the keyhole shaped opening  55  formed in the inner slide  48  when the inner slide  48  is in a retracted position and the smaller diameter portion  58 , or ring, provides a seat for the boundary of the keyhole shaped opening  55  when the inner slide  48  is in an extended position, as will be described. 
     A spring latch  60  interconnects the pushbutton  52  with the actuator member  54 . The spring latch  60  includes a compression spring  62 . When the inner slide  48  is in a retracted position, the compression spring  62  is extended. More particularly, the spring latch  60  includes a circlip  63  that is coupled to the pushbutton  52  and therefore linked with the actuator member  54 . When the pushbutton  52  is depressed, the spring  62  is compressed between the circlip  63  and the plate  64 . The inner slide  48  and pushbutton  52  are both biased towards the extended position. When the pushbutton is depressed it causes the smaller diameter portion  58  of the actuator member  54  to enter into the keyhole shaped opening  55  of the inner slide  48 , which in turn allows the inner slide  48  to move to its extended position. The larger diameter portion  56  of actuator member  54  is bigger than the smaller portion of the keyhole shaped slot  55 ( a ) which in turn keeps the push button depressed. When the inner slide  48  is forced back to its retracted position the larger diameter portion  56  lines up with the circular portion  55 ( b ) of the keyhole shaped opening  55  allowing pushbutton  52  to return to its extended position 
     The locking mechanism  44  also includes a pair of locking points, which in the illustrated embodiment include a pair of locking members in the form of locking bolts  66  and  68 . Locking bolt  66  is mounted on a guide pin  70  and is retained by a pair of frame members  72  and  74  in a manner that allows the locking bolt  66  to slide linearly. Similarly, locking bolt  68  is mounted on a guide pin  76  and retained by the pair of frame members  72 ,  74  in a manner that allows the locking bolt  68  to slide linearly. Each locking bolt  66 ,  68  has a guide channel  78 ,  80 , respectively, that defines a path along which the respective guide pins  70 ,  76  travel. 
     The locking bolts  66 ,  68  are biased toward an extended position via an extension spring  82  that urges the inner slide  48  toward the extended or locked position. The extension spring  82  is interconnected between the housing  46  and the inner slide  48 . When the inner slide  48  is in the retracted position, the extension spring  82  is extended. Likewise, movement of the inner slide  48  to the extended position compresses the extension spring  82 , which biases the inner slide  48  toward the extended position. 
     A rear release cam assembly  84  is used to place the inner slide  48  in the retracted position, which also results in the extension of the pushbutton  52  and the retraction of the locking bolts  66 ,  68 . The cam assembly  84  includes a cam member  86  that is coupled to the inner slide  48  by a clevis pin  88 . The clevis pin  88  extends through a compression spring  90  that is sandwiched between the inside surface of the front frame member  50  and the cam member  86 . A lever arm  92  is pinned to the cam member  86  and is used to retract the inner slide  48  and extend pushbutton  52 . The lever arm  92  is of sufficient length to extend to the rear opening  28  of the storage cell  24 . Thus, a property clerk can move the locking mechanism  44  to its unlocked position by pulling on arm  92  to rotate the cam member  86  upward, which resets the door  34  to its unlocked state. 
     Operation of the locking mechanism  44  will now be described in a series of steps. For purposes of description, the steps will begin with opening of the evidence locker  12  to place evidence therein and conclude with the unlocking of the evidence locker  12  by a property clerk without use of a key. 
     First, an officer, court official, or other authorized evidence handler chooses an empty, unlocked evidence locker  12 . The locking mechanism  44  is in an unlocked position characterized by the pushbutton  52  being an extended position and the locking bolts  66  and  68  being in retracted positions. The positions of the pushbutton  52  and the bolts  66 ,  68  is a function of the position of the inner slide  48  being forced into a retracted position by cam member  86 . 
     Once the evidence is placed into the storage cell  24  of the evidence locker, the door  34  is closed and the pushbutton  52  is depressed to lock the door  34  to the locker frame  14 . When the pushbutton  52  is depressed, the actuator member  54  moves linearly away from the front frame member  50 . The larger diameter portion  56  of the actuator member  54  moves through the opening in the inner slide  48  until the boundary of the opening seats in the ring or smaller diameter portion  58  of the actuator member. The change in diameter of the actuator member  54  allows the bias of spring  82  to force the inner slide  48  from a retracted position to an extended position. In this regard, the guide pins  70 ,  76 , which are connected to the inner slide  48 , effectively move closer to the actuator member  54  by a distance equal to the distance between the center of the circular diameter portion  55 ( b ) of the keyhole shaped opening  55  and the center of the slot portion  55 ( a ) of the keyhole shaped opening  55 . This movement of the guide pins  70 ,  76  allows the bolts  66 ,  68  to move transversely with the movement of the inner slide  48 , by operation of movement of the guide pins  70 ,  76  along guide channels  78 ,  80 , respectively. This transverse movement of the locking bolts  66 ,  68  forces the locking bolts  66 ,  68  into engagement with corresponding slots in the stiffener bracket  40  on the door  34  thereby locking the door  34  closed. Moreover, since the pushbutton  52  is retracted, further depressing of the pushbutton  52  has no impact on the locking mechanism  44 . In other words, the locking mechanism  44  cannot be unlocked by depressing pushbutton  52 . 
     The front door  34  can only be unlocked by a property office or similar authorized personnel using the lever arm  92  that is accessible only through the rear opening  28 , as described above. The lever arm  92  effectively resets the locking mechanism  44  by retracting the locking bolts  66 ,  68  and extending the pushbutton  52  by moving the inner slide  48  from its extended position to its retracted position. It should be noted that the terms “extended” and “retracted” relative to the position of the inner slide  48  correspond to the position of the locking bolts  66 ,  68  rather than the position of the inner slide  48 . In this regard, the “retracted” position of the inner slide  48  is, in effect, the first or unlocked position and the “extended” position of the inner slide  48  is, in effect, the second or locked position. 
     One skilled in the art will appreciate that the locking bolts  66 ,  68  extend into dedicated slots  42 ( a ),  42 ( b ) in the stiffener bracket  40  on the door  34  and that the lock mechanism is securely mounted to the locker frame  14 . The locking bolts  66 ,  68  thus prevent the door  34  from being pulled away from the locker frame  14 . The locker frame has an integral stop  93  that holds the door  34  flush with the face of the cabinet and it keeps the door  34  being pushed into the frame. It will be appreciated that the door  34  has a handle  95  that can be used as a door pull for grasping the door  34  and pulling it open. 
       FIGS. 6 through 8  show a keyed locking mechanism  100  according to an alternate embodiment of the invention. The keyed locking mechanism is similar to the locking mechanism  44  described above, but requires a key for unlocking rather than a rear panel accessible lever arm as in the embodiment of  FIGS. 3 through 5 . The locking mechanism  100  has a housing  102  that includes a front frame member  104 . The front frame member includes a tube lock  106  and an opening  108  that can house a tube lock for an alternate handed lock. Openings  106 ,  108  correspond to the same openings  94 ,  96  of the front frame member  50  of the previously described keyless locking mechanism  44 . Thus, for locking mechanism  100 , one of the openings is used as a keyhole  106  and the other is used for the alternate handed lock. In this regard, the same housing can be used for both keyless and keyed embodiments. 
     The housing  102  is designed to be integrated into a center divider or other locker frame member. An inner slide  112  is connected to the housing  102  and allowed to slide vertically within the interior of the housing  102 . A pushbutton  114  extends through an opening  115  in the front frame member  104  centrally between the keyhole  106  and extra  103 . The pushbutton  114  is associated with an actuator member  116  that extends into an opening  117  in the inner slide  112 . The actuator member  116  has a larger diameter portion  118  and a smaller diameter portion  120 . The smaller diameter portion  120  is concentric with the larger diameter portion  118  and therefore effectively forms a ring. The larger diameter portion of the actuator member  116  provides a seat for the boundary of the opening  117  formed in the inner slide  112  when the inner slide  112  is in a retracted position and the smaller diameter portion of the actuator member  116 , or ring, provides a seat for the boundary of the opening  117  when the inner slide  112  is in an extended position, as will be described. 
     A spring latch  122  interconnects the pushbutton  114  with the actuator member  116 . The spring latch  122  includes a compression spring  124 . When the inner slide  112  is in a retracted position, the compression spring  124  is extended. More particularly, the spring latch  122  includes a circlip  125  that is coupled to the pushbutton  114 . When the pushbutton  114  is depressed, the spring  124  is compressed between the circlip  125  and plate  126 . The inner slide  112  and the pushbutton  114  are both biased towards the extended position. When the pushbutton is depressed it causes the smaller diameter portion of the actuator member  116  to enter into the keyhole shaped opening of the inner slide  112 , which allows the inner slide  112  to move to its extended position. The larger diameter portion of the actuator member  116  keeps the pushbutton in the depressed position. When the inner slide  112  is forced back to its retracted position, the larger diameter portion of the actuator member  116  lines up with the larger portion of the opening  117  thereby allowing the pushbutton  114  to return to its extended position. 
     The locking mechanism  100  also includes a pair of locking points, which in the illustrated embodiment include a pair of locking members or bolts  128  and  130 . Locking bolt  128  is mounted on a guide pin  132  and is retained by a pair of frame members  134  and  136  in a manner that allows the bolt  128  to slide linearly. Similarly, locking bolt  130  is mounted on a guide pin  138  and retained by the pair of frame members  140 ,  142  in a manner that allows that bolt  130  to slide linearly. Each locking bolt  128 ,  130  has a guide channel  144 ,  146 , respectively, that defines a path along which the respective guide pins  132 ,  138  travel. 
     The locking bolts  128 ,  130  are biased toward an extended position when the inner slide  112  is in the extended or locked position by operation of an extension spring  148 . The extension spring  148  is interconnected between the housing  102  and the inner slide  112 , and is compressed when the inner slide  112  is in the extended position so as to bias the inner slide  112  toward the extended position. 
     The keylock assembly  110  includes a lock tube  150  that houses a barrel  152  that is linked with a cam assembly  154 . When the appropriate key is inserted into the barrel  152  and rotated, the cam member assembly  154  returns the inner slide  112  to its unlocked position which retracts the bolts  128 ,  130  and extends the pushbutton  114 . In this regard, a key inserted into barrel  152  and rotated imparts functionality similar to the lever arm described above. 
     It will be appreciated that the locking bolts described herein may take the form of flanges, pins, or other shaped locking points and, as such, the present invention is not limited to a particular shape or geometry for the locking bolts. 
     The present invention has been described with respect to an evidence locker but it is understood that the invention may also be applicable with other types of lockable storage compartments or containers. Additionally, while keyless and keyed evidence lockers have been described and shown, it is understood that the invention is also applicable with lockers and the like that may be unlocked electronically using a keypad, key-fob, or other type of electronic device. 
     Various alternatives and embodiments are contemplated as being within the scope of the following claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter regarded as the invention.