Patent Publication Number: US-10309128-B2

Title: Changeable lock cover

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application is a continuation-in-part of applicant&#39;s application Ser. No. 62/373,771 filed Aug. 11, 2016 the entire contents of which is hereby expressly incorporated by reference herein. 
    
    
     STATEMENT REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT 
     Not Applicable 
     THE NAMES OF THE PARTIES TO A JOINT RESEARCH AGREEMENT 
     Not Applicable 
     INCORPORATION-BY-REFERENCE OF MATERIAL SUBMITTED ON A COMPACT DISC 
     Not Applicable 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Field of the Invention 
     This invention relates to improvements in a changeable lock-cover. More particularly, the present changeable lock-cover provides a cosmetic cover for a combination or key lock with an easily removable and replaceable cover to provide a unique and protective personality to the lock. 
     Description of Related Art Including Information Disclosed Under 37 CFR 1.97 and 1.98 
     For many people locks provide a level of protection for secured items. With the exception of the combination or the key, combination locks and key locks can all appear to have a similar appearance. For children or others that use a lock, most locks lack personality, and with the exception of a combination or key, the lock essentially appear the same. Over the years there have been a number of patents that have been issued to provide a cosmetic or ornamental cover or jacket to a lock. These provide a protective covering, but don&#39;t provide for a personalization. 
     A number of patents and or publications have been made to address these issues. Exemplary examples of patents and or publication that try to address this/these problem(s) are identified and discussed below. 
     Over the years there have been a number of different design patents for shells or protective coverings of locks. Specifically, some of these ornamental designs are found in U.S. Design Pat. D326,046, D345,094, D379,059, D406,045, D437,542, D446,441, D455,639, D569,226. While these patents provide an ornamental appearance to cover a lock, they are for the protection of the lock and do not provide any interchangeability of the front face, nor do they provide for interchangeability of parts. 
     U.S. Pat. No. 8,201,427 issued on Jun. 19, 2012 discloses a Lock Housing. The lock housing operates on a lock drawer where the lock drawer system includes a cabinet drawer having a front wall including a front surface and a rear surface and a combination lock on the drawer with a combination lock dial. While this lock housing provides a cosmetic cover and further provides an opening for a key, dial and combination viewing window, the cover does not have interchangeable faces to customize the housing. 
     What is needed is a changeable lock-cover that can be easily installed and removed from a combination or key lock and also provides for an interchangeable face, image or other indicia. The proposed changeable lock-cover provides the solution with a cover that can be easily personalized. 
     BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     It is an object of the changeable lock-cover to operate with a combination or with a separate version/configuration for a key type lock. Minor geometry differences can be accommodated with the housing that can be made out of a hard plastic or a flexible material that conforms around the lock. The cover also provides some protection from physical and environmental conditions. 
     It is an object of the changeable lock-cover for the lock-cover to be easily installed and removed from a combination or key lock. The retention of the housing is with magnets, snaps or other temporary securing mechanism. This allows a person to quickly and easily customize the cover of the lock with a color or style of their own choosing. The housing essentially hinges over the housing of the lock. A person can pull apart the closure to move the cover to another lock or to change the cover to a different color or style. 
     It is another object of the changeable lock-cover for the housing to have an interchangeable face or indicia. The interchangeable face or indicia is held on at least one side of the housing and can be changed separately from the lock-cover. The face or indicia can take a number of different configurations including, but not limited to letters, colors, faces, insignias, moving components, lights, pictures and others. The face or indicia all have a common securing mechanism to the lock-cover that allows them to be easily purchased, traded and changed by the user without requiring replacement of the base lock-cover. 
     It is still another object of the changeable lock-cover for the mechanism that retains the face or indicia that is weaker than the mechanism that holds to housing closed. This allows the user to remove the face or indicia without opening the lock housing cover and potentially dropping the enclosure. One preferred closure and retention mechanism is with magnets where the attraction force can be adjusted and further the magnetic force centers the magnetic polls to make assembly simpler. 
     Various objects, features, aspects, and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description of preferred embodiments of the invention, along with the accompanying drawings in which like numerals represent like components. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING(S) 
         FIG. 1  shows a combination lock in the changeable lock-cover. 
         FIG. 2  shows an exploded view of a lock and the changeable lock-cover. 
         FIG. 3  shows a rear view of the cover displaced from the main housing. 
         FIG. 4  shows a front view of the cover displaced from the main housing. 
         FIG. 5  shows a front assembled view. 
         FIG. 6  shows a cover with indicia. 
         FIG. 7  shows a key lock that accepts the cover. 
         FIG. 8  shows a rear view of the cover. 
         FIG. 9  shows another embodiment of a removable lock cover that requires a key for removal of the removable cover. 
         FIG. 10  shows an exploded view of the removable cover that requires a key for removal of the removable cover. 
         FIG. 11  shows an inside plan view of the front, the removable cover and the key. 
         FIG. 12  shows a plan view of the front without the removable cover. 
         FIG. 13  shows a perspective view of the removable cover. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
       FIG. 1  shows a combination lock in the changeable lock-cover. The combination lock has a dial area  19  with a knob  18 . A user turns the knob  18  to enter the combination. This type of combination lock is very common in schools. The lock has a shackle  17  that fits through an opening in a cabinet or other apparatus that is being locked. The combination must be correctly entered and one side of the shackle is lifted to remove the shackle  17  from the locker. The lock fits inside of the changeable lock-cover and the shackle  17  fit through an opening or channel  22  in at least one of the housing pieces. A magnet in the back  25  of the housing (not shown in this figure) holds the combination lock against the back of the housing to prevent the housing from falling off the lock when the housing is opened. The side walls  24  of the rear housing essentially surround the combination lock with the shackle passing through the housing. Most of combination locks of the type shown have similar geometry and size and combination locks from different manufacturers can be used with the housing. 
     An inner wall  24  has a smaller concentric diameter from the outer wall  23 . The inner wall  24  provides a step for clearance of the outer wall  40  of the front housing. A hinge  51  pivots on a hinge pin  50  to allow the front housing to swing over and away from the rear housing. The front housing can swing down or to the side. The front housing has a clearance  42  for the shackle when the front housing is secured over the rear housing. The rear housing has a magnetic clasp  21  secured in a wall  29  that is attracted to a complimentary magnetic clasp  41  in a wall  46  in the front housing. These magnets keep the housings closed, and when closed they block access to the combination dial  19  and knob  18 . To access the combination dial  19  and knob  18 , a gentle pull of the front housing will overcome the magnetic attraction to gain access to the interior of the housing. A recess  48  surrounds the knob  18  to provide a flattened face to the lock-cover. 
     A removable cover  60  is temporally secured to the front housing. The removable cover  60  is retained with a keyed system having a front face elevated wall  43  with a flat  62  that fits through an opening in the front housing and is turned so the flat contacts a wall surface  45  that prevents further rotation and the cover is secured. The cover can be changed, interchanged or replaced for style, to add personality or a cosmetic difference. Further description of the cover  60  is included later in this document. 
       FIG. 2  shows an exploded view of a lock and the changeable lock-cover. This figure shows the combination lock  20  with the rear housing, front housing and cover. The combination lock  20  is shown with a shackle  17  connected to the lock housing with the combination dial  19  and the knob  18 . The vertical portions of the shackle  18  fit into the openings  27  that provide clearance for the shackle. To insert the shackle into the rear housing the combination lock  20  is opened and the vertical portions of the shackle  17  is inserted into one opening  27 . 
     A magnet  28  is secured into the recess  26  in the back of the rear housing. This magnet  28  attracts to the metal housing of the lock  20  to hold the combination lock seated in the back housing. Another magnet  21  is placed at the top of the rear housing to keep the front cover closed. The magnetic attraction of the top magnet  21  is not as strong as the magnet  28  that holds the combination lock in the housing. The weaker magnet  21  ensures that the combination lock remains held in the rear housing when the front housing is opened or closed. The bottom of the rear housing a hinge with a through hole that retains a hinge pin  50  that allows the front housing to hinge from the rear housing. The hinge pin is shown on the bottom of the housings, but can also be located on the side of the housings. 
     The front housing has a loop  52  that connects to the hinge pin  50 . The front housing hinges from the hinge pin  50  to provide access to the combination dial. Magnet  41  in the front housing attracts to the magnet  21  in the rear housing to keep the front housing closed on the rear housing. It is contemplated that only one part  21 / 41  is a magnet and the other component  21 / 41  is steel or other metal that attracts to the magnet. A recess  42  on the front housing clears the vertical portion of the shackle  17 . The front housing has an opening  43  for a key  44 . The key  44  allows the cover  60  to engage and retain the cover in the front housing. The cover  60  shown has indicia  61  that adds personality to the cover. While a keyed cover is shown and described, the cover could also be retained with magnets or other mechanism, including but not limited to snaps, tabs or others. 
       FIG. 3  shows a rear view of the cover displaced from the main housing The bulge  47  in the rear  25  of the back housing holds the magnet  28 , not shown in this figure. The shackle  17  is shown extending from the front  40  and rear housing. The hinge pin and hinge support  51  is shown at the bottom of the housing that hinges to the front housing  40 . The rear portion of the cover  60  shows the key tabs  62  that engage in the front housing. 
       FIG. 4  shows a front view of the cover displaced from the main housing and  FIG. 5  shows a front assembled view. The cover  60  is removable and interchangeable without requiring replacement of the entire lock-cover. Removal of the cover  60  exposes the knob  18  of the combination lock. The shackle  17  is shown extending from the rear  25  and front housing, and the shackle can be placed through a locker. The bottom of the housing has a hinge pin  50  and the top of the housing has a wall that houses  46  magnetic catch. The front housing shows the opening  43  with the key slot  44  that provides securing of the front cover  60 . In the embodiment shown, the front cover can be secured on the front housing in either of two orientations, 180 degrees apart, but other embodiments can allow for only a single orientation or orientations of more than two 180-degree orientations. These figures show indicia of the letter “A”, but other indicia are contemplated. 
     Different indicia  61  is contemplated as well having the housing and/or cover made with/from a neoprene sleeve alternative. Other variations can be Neon-paint or plastics. It is further contemplated that the cover or housing has LED lights that are activated by twist and lock of faceplates. There can also be a plush series for the cover and housing components where all of the components are interchangeable. It is further contemplated that the cover can be powered to provide a clock/time function or motion activated/holographic/simple mechanical movement of ears or tail/something programmable like simple tech, maybe digital messages or mood emoji&#39;s. There can also be custom orders for the cover indicia for pictures of people, pics or pets that are printed, removable or laser engraved. The cover can have a surface texture of Burberry, camouflage, matte, metallic, gloss, wood, bling, etc. A consumer can create aftermarket customizable parts/bling/lettering/painting kits with LOCK-ITS system) like scrapbooking. The cover can be a licensed logo for sports teams or organization including, but not limited to, NBA, NFL, WWE, MLB, MLS, Warner Brothers studios, Disney, Marvell, DC Comics, etc. 
       FIG. 6  shows a cover with indicia,  FIG. 7  shows a key lock that accepts the cover and  FIG. 8  shows a rear view of the cover. This is an embodiment for a key lock  16  cover where the key is inserted into the key hole  72 . The shackle  17  extends out of the top of the housing. The construction of the housing is similar to the housing previously described with a front and back housing that is hinged on one side and has a magnetic closure  73  the maintain the housing in a closed orientation. In this embodiment, the cover  70  is retained on the housing with magnets  71  that attract to the magnets  74  in the front housing. The cover  70  can be easily installed and removed by pulling away the magnetic attraction. This magnetic attraction is less than the magnetic attraction of the housing closure  73  to ensure that the main housing does not open with the front cover is removed. The faceplate/front cover  70  can also be magnetically stores on refrigerator or inside of locker. 
       FIG. 9  shows another embodiment of a removable lock cover  80  with indicia  61  that requires a key  90  for removal of the removable cover  80  and  FIG. 10  shows an exploded view of the removable cover  80  that requires a key  90  for removal of the removable cover  80 . In these figures, the hasp  17  is shown extending out of the enclosure with the hinge  51  that retains the front housing  49  to the rear housing. The cover  80  has an opening  81  on the bottom of the cover  80 . Within the removable cover  80  are deformable tabs  82  that retain the cover in the front housing  49 . A key  90  slides into an opening  59  between the front housing  49  and the cover  80 . 
     The key  90  has tangs  91  that deform the deformable tabs  82  of the cover  80  to allow the removable cover  80  to be vertically slid  99  off of the front housing  49 . The tangs  91  of the key  90  pass between the top face  84  and the surrounding face  83 . Insertion of the key  90  is stopped when key  90  wall  93  contacts the wall  86  of the front housing  49 . The key  90  has an optional hole  92  to allow the key  90  to be held on a keyring, string or the like. 
       FIG. 11  shows an inside plan view of the front  49 , the removable cover  80  and the key  90 ,  FIG. 12  shows a plan view of the front housing  49  without the removable cover  80  and  FIG. 13  shows a perspective view of the cover  80 . While  FIG. 11  shows the removable cover  80  installed and retained in the front housing  49 ,  FIG. 12  shows the front housing  49  without the cover. In  FIG. 11 , the key  90  is inserted  98  into between the front housing  49  and the cover  80 . 
     When the key  90  is properly inserted with the wall  93  of the key  90  in contact with the wall  86  of the front housing  49 , the tangs  91  and ramps  94  side between the walls  89  of the front housing  49  and push out the deformable tabs  82  of the removable cover  80 . This opens the saddle  87  from the tabs  88  in the removable cover  80  to allow the cover  80  to be vertically removed from the front housing  49 . While a key  90  is required to remove the cover, ramps  96  allow the deformable tabs  82  to deform and engage the removable cover  80  onto the front housing  49 . The deformable tabs  82  slide through an opening  95  in the front housing  49 . 
     Thus, specific embodiments of a changeable lock-cover have been disclosed. It should be apparent, however, to those skilled in the art that many more modifications besides those described are possible without departing from the inventive concepts herein. The inventive subject matter, therefore, is not to be restricted except in the spirit of the appended claims. 
     SEQUENCE LISTING 
     Not Applicable.