Patent Publication Number: US-2003227179-A1

Title: Electric meter security lock

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS  
     [0001] This application claims the benefits of prior filed, co-pending provisional patent application Serial No. 60/387,614 filed Jun. 11, 2002. 
    
    
     
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0002] This invention relates generally to sealing rings for electric watt-hour meters. More particularly, the invention relates to a sealing ring for an electric watt-hour meter with security means to prevent tampering.  
       [0003] Various types of security locking devices are known in the art for attaching together the ends of a contractible sealing ring placed around a cover for the watt-hour meter. A very simple and well-known type of sealing ring employs radial flanges on each of the terminating spaced ends of an annular member. Each of the flanges has an opening aligned with a similar opening on the other flange. The flanges are pulled together and a security locking member placed through the aligned holes and locked. Various types of security locking members, such as snap locks or barrel locks are known in the art and usually comprise a proprietary type lock requiring a special removal tool to prevent tampering.  
       [0004] Another type of well-known sealing ring made by several different manufacturers is shown in FIG. 1. In this sealing ring, two substantially identical U-shaped housings are riveted on opposite ends of an annular band. Aligned apertures or slots are formed in the sidewalls of each housing. An additional slot in each housing receives a floating nut insert having a threaded aperture formed centrally therein. A threaded screw with a screw head is captively mounted in one insert in one housing. The opposite threaded end of the fastener is threadingly engagable with the threaded aperture in the insert in the other housing. The inserts are loosely held, so that they can compensate for any misaligmnent of the housings. The end of the fastener opposite the screw head has an elongated slot which is rotatably alignable with the apertures in the sidewalls of one housing to receive a wire seal or plastic padlock after the sealing ring has been mounted about the mating mounting flange.  
       [0005] Still another type of prior art sealing ring is illustrated in FIG. 2. This sealing ring is more fully described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,851,038, issued Dec. 22, 1998 to Robinson et al., the description of which is incorporated herein by reference. In the Robinson et al. patent, a sealing ring for an electric watt-hour meter apparatus has first and second housings mounted on opposed ends of an annular band. A fastener extends through a threaded aperture in an end wall of one housing into threaded engagement with an aperture in an end wall of the opposed housing to fixedly engage the ends of the sealing ring. A plurality of radially intersecting slots in one end of the fastener are alignable with apertures in one of a plurality of sidewalls of one of the housings for receiving a security device. Screwdriver receiving slots are formed in each of the first and second ends of the fasteners. An axial slot is formed in the second end of the fastener and alignable with apertures in the sidewalls of the other housing for receiving a security device. An enlarged head end on the fastener enables finger rotation of the fastener. The end walls have an elongated upper end forming a finger grip surface to facilitate movement of the first and second housings toward each other.  
       [0006] While the aforementioned sealing rings are satisfactory in connection with the particular type of security lock that they are designed for, it would be desirable to have a universal sealing ring that would accommodate more than one type of security locking device.  
       [0007] Accordingly, one object of the present invention is to provide an improved sealing ring for electric meters having multiple means for receiving security locking members.  
       [0008] Another object of the invention is to provide an improved sealing ring which will receive either type of commonly used security locks, i.e., a snap lock fastener, a barrel lock fastener, or a threaded fastener adapted for a wire seal or plastic padlock.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0009] Briefly stated, the invention is practiced by providing a sealing ring for electric meters having multiple means for receiving security locking members, said sealing ring comprising a substantially circular contractible ring member, having adjacent terminating ends, said ring member adapted to seal the electric meter against tampering when the adjacent ends are pulled toward one another, a first lock assembly attached to one terminating end having a first radially projecting flange member, a second lock assembly attached to the other terminating end having a second radially projecting flange member, a first security lock reception passage extending through the first and second flanges and adapted to receive a first security locking member, and a second security lock reception passage extending through the first and second flanges and adapted to receive a second security locking member, said first and second reception passages being spaced apart sufficiently so as to serve for either alternate or simultaneous usage. One reception passage is preferably equipped with floating nut inserts in each flange to accommodate threaded fasteners. Another reception passage is designed to receive either a snap lock or a barrel lock. 
     
    
    
     DRAWING  
     [0010] The invention will be better understood by reference to the following description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawing, in which:  
     [0011]FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a prior art security locking device for a sealing ring,  
     [0012]FIG. 2 is a perspective view of another type of prior art security locking device for a sealing ring,  
     [0013]FIG. 3 is a plan view of my improved sealing ring,  
     [0014]FIG. 4 is a side elevation view taken along lines IV-IV of FIG. 3,  
     [0015]FIG. 5 is a plan view of the sealing ring with a threaded fastener in place,  
     [0016]FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional side elevation view taken along lines VI-VI of FIG. 5,  
     [0017]FIG. 7 is a plan view of the sealing ring as used with a snap lock or barrel lock type of security locking device,  
     [0018]FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional side elevation view taken along lines VIII-VIII of FIG. 7, and  
     [0019]FIG. 9 is a plan view of the sealing ring with the threaded fastener of FIG. 5 shown in a different position, and including protective finger caps.  
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
     [0020]FIGS. 1 and 2 have already been discussed as representative of the prior art. Referring to FIGS. 3 and 4, a sealing ring  10  comprises a metal annular member with a web  12  and side flanges  14 ,  16 . The sealing ring  10  has terminating ends  18 ,  20  adjacent but spaced from one another so as to be contractible about the cover for the watt-hour meter (not shown). A first lock assembly shown generally as  22  is attached to the end  18  and a second lock assembly  24  is attached to the other end  20 . Lock assemblies  22 ,  24  are preferably die cast of zinc alloy, while ring member  10  is preferably of stainless steel. The construction of the two lock assemblies  22 ,  24  is substantially identical and will be better understood by reference to FIG. 4, in which lock assembly  24  is seen in elevation view.  
     [0021] Lock assembly  24  includes an arcuate upper web  26 , which is attached to the web  12  of ring  10  by suitable means such as rivets  28 . Depending from the arcuate web is a radially extending box-shaped flange structure as seen in FIG. 4 comprising sidewalls  29 ,  30  divided into two passages by a central web  32 . By this means, each of the lock assemblies  22 ,  24  define aligned passages in the flange members extending through the first and second flanges. These comprise a radially inner security lock reception passage  34  and a radially outer security lock reception passage  36  (FIG. 4). The lock assembly  22  is substantially identical to lock assembly  24  discussed above.  
     [0022] The radially inner or first security lock reception passage  34  in each flange is adapted to receive a threaded member as follows. A floating nut insert  38  and a similar floating nut insert  40  are loosely retained in the sidewalls in order to correct for misalignment. Inserts  38 ,  40  are well known in the art, and are prevented from rotating by tabs such as  40   a . The sidewalls of the flange members define apertures  42 ,  44  in order to pass security wires through the threaded member after it has been attached.  
     [0023] The radially outer or second security lock reception passage  36  is adapted to receive a snap lock or a barrel lock by providing appropriately dimensioned holes  46 ,  48 , in each of the respective flanges. These holes are made slightly over-sized so as to accommodate some misalignment of the snap lock when it is put in place.  
     [0024] Referring now to FIG. 5 and FIG. 6 of the drawing, the reference numbers previously used in FIGS. 3 and 4 are applicable and are not repeated unless used in the description. In FIG. 5, a threaded security locking device is shown generally at reference number  50 . The threaded member  50  comprises a knurled head  52 , a cylindrical shank  54 , a threaded section  56 , and a terminating end  58 . The terminating end defines an elongated slot  60 .  
     [0025] The threaded member is applied first through alignment insert  40  and then the spaced ends  18 ,  20  of ring  10  are squeezed together. This may be facilitated by pinching together the projecting flange ends. The threaded member  50  is then threaded through both floating alignment nut  40  and floating alignment nut  38  until shank  54  abuts nut  40 . The wire of a plastic lock  62  passes through the slot  60  and is attached to the lock, in order to detect whether the threaded member  50  has been removed.  
     [0026] Thus, the radially inner security lock reception passage  34  receives the threaded member as a first security locking member. Use of the second radially outer security lock reception passage  36  will be illustrated by reference to FIGS. 7 and 8 of the drawing. While a snap lock is illustrated in the drawing the explanation is equally applicable to a barrel lock.  
     [0027] As seen in FIG. 7, a snap lock shown generally at  64  has been secured in the aligned openings  46 ,  48  of the radial flanges of lock assemblies  22 ,  24  respectively. Snap lock  64 , when disassembled comprises two members. The first member shown at  66  on the left is designed to be inserted into the second member shown at  68  on the right. Member  66  has a shank  70  that has a special end piece (not shown). The end piece is received inside a special receptacle on the right hand member  68 , so as to lock the two members  66 ,  68  firmly together when shank  70  is inserted. These may only be disassembled using a special tool. Various types of proprietary snap locks and barrel locks are available in the prior art, and are well-known, commercially available items.  
     [0028] Referring back to FIG. 5, the plastic lock  62  is not intended to be a positive physical block to removal of the threaded member  50 , but serves as an anti-tampering or detection device only. There are a number of similar anti-tamper detection devices on the market.  
     [0029] Reference to FIG. 9 of the drawing shows the threaded fastener  50  of FIG. 5 rotated 90° degrees to expose another elongated slot  61  near the knurled head  52  and hiding the elongated slot  60 . A different type of commercially available anti-tamper detecting lock  63  is inserted through slot  61  and secured according to the proprietary method employed by the manufacturer of the device  63 .  
     [0030] In order to facilitate squeezing the ends of the contractible ring  10  together, protective rubber or plastic finger caps  72 ,  73  may be slipped over the radial extensions of the flanges to protect the fingers and cover up the radially outer passage  36  when only the radially inner passage  56  is being employed.  
     [0031] In operation, the two ends  18 ,  20  are pulled together and snap lock  64  is assembled to hold them in place. Passages  34 ,  36  are spaced from one another so that, if desired, two types of security locks may be simultaneously employed. The threaded member may be employed passing through passage  34  as described previously in FIGS. 5 and 6, while the snap lock remains in place as illustrated in FIGS. 7 and 8. This gives an extra degree of security against tampering.  
     [0032] Thus there has been described a sealing ring with multiple means for receiving security locking members by providing lock assemblies through radially projecting flange members with at least two security lock reception passages extending through the first and second flanges. The first and second reception passages are spaced apart sufficiently so as to serve for either alternate or simultaneous usage. While the reception passages in the present preferred embodiment are radially disposed with respect to one another, it is within the purview of the present invention to locate the passages at the same radial location, but axially spaced from one another.  
     [0033] It should be apparent that power utility companies will enjoy considerable savings with the invention, since one sealing ring will serve for use with three different types of security locking devices. Hence it will not be necessary to carry inventories of different kinds of sealing rings for different applications.  
     [0034] While there is described what is considered to be the preferred embodiment of the invention, other modifications will become apparent to those skilled in the art, and it is desired to secure all such modifications within the scope of the present application.