Abstract:
The present invention is an electronically controlled self-storage over-lock system that uses distributed processing to allow management to automatically over-lock tenants&#39; units when their accounts become delinquent or when storage units are not rented. Once the self-storage unit door is locked by the over-lock system, tenants cannot access their units their accounts are brought current. Preferably, the over-lock, when in the locked position, prevents movement of the self-storage unit door hasp.

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED PATENTS  
       [0001]     The priority benefit of U.S. provisional patent application Ser. No. 60/564,839, filed Apr. 23, 2004, is claimed. 
     
    
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0002]     The present invention relates generally to electronic security systems and to electronic over-lock systems for self-storage units in particular.  
         [0003]     In the U.S., a burglary currently occurs every 13 seconds. Accordingly, security systems have gained popularity for homeowners and businesses alike. For businesses that lease spaces, a security system is a necessity to compete in the marketplace. Whether it is the lease of apartments, office space, industrial space or self-storage facilities, the ability to attract new customers is greatly dependent upon a reliable security system to protect the tenants&#39; valuable assets.  
         [0004]     For self-storage facilities a reliable security system is important, not only to attract new tenants, but also to retain existing tenants. The term self-storage facility describes one or more freestanding buildings, each having a plurality of individual storage units that are typically rented on a monthly basis. In many of these facilities, tenants are responsible for the security of the units they have rented. Accordingly the tenant will put a padlock on the door to the unit to prevent theft.  
         [0005]     If a tenant becomes delinquent in the payment of rent, the facility manager is required to place a second lock, or “over-lock” on each unit. This over-lock is used to keep the tenant from accessing the unit until the past due rent is paid. There is thus an increased need for decreasing the manpower associated with the application and removal of over-locks and a desire to automate the process. For example, if a typical self-storage facility consists of five hundred units and during any month, there are 15% of the tenants in arrears, the manager of the self-storage facility must place over-locks on the seventy-five units. These over-locks must also be removed when the tenant brings the account current. Applying and removing over-locks is time-consuming and costly because it includes the manager&#39;s time to over-lock the unit and unlock the unit along with the costs associated with the over-locks themselves.  
         [0006]     There is also a desire to automate the payment process and allow the customer to pay rent via a remote process. If the customer decides to make a rent payment when the office is closed, perhaps via a web payment or an automated payment machine. If the manager has over-locked the self-storage unit, then the customer cannot gain access to their unit immediately after making the payment. The delay between payment and removal of the over-lock is aggravating to tenants who may then demand immediate attention.  
         [0007]     Many self-storage facilities will also place over-locks on vacant units to prevent these units from being used by non-paying customers. This creates a similar problem for the self-storage owner. The owner must maintain an adequate supply of over-locks for vacant units and managers must be available to remove the over-locks for new tenants when they rent a self-storage unit. Moreover, if a self-storage owner wants to rent a self-storage unit via a remote process, the customer does not have access to the self-storage unit until the vacant unit over-lock has been removed.  
         [0008]     However, in view of the above, there still remains a need for an electronically-controlled self-storage system that provides facility managers and owners with capabilities that are not possible with the conventional methods.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0009]     According to its major aspects and briefly described, the present invention is an electronically controlled self-storage over-lock system. Although the system will be described with respect to its application in self-storage facilities, it is clear that the system could be used anywhere an over-lock system is required, such as hotel rooms, apartment buildings, and storage containers and lockers, if permitted by law. Each unit in the facility is preferably equipped with a locking device that is mounted on the inside of the door that can be activated to prevent access to the unit. The locking device controls the movement of the door hasp, which is mounted to the door, and does so preferably electronically, remotely and wirelessly. If the locking device is in the locked position, then the hasp cannot be moved and, accordingly, the door will not open. If the locking device is in the unlocked position, then the hasp can be moved and the door can be opened.  
         [0010]     An administrator manages the electronically controlled over-lock system for use in connection with a self-storage facility. The system comprises: a plurality of self-storage units, each having an electronically activated over-lock; at least one input device (e.g., a card reader, keypad, proximity reader, biometric, display and/or touch screen, etc.) for allowing authorized users, namely tenants and prospective tenants, to communicate with the system; at least one over-lock control unit which is in communication with each electronically-activated over-lock; a computer controlled by the system administrator for maintaining a database of authorized users and the over-lock information for each self-storage unit; a system control device in communication with at least one over-lock control unit and with the computer.  
         [0011]     The authorized user may access the system to verify that the over-lock has been activated, and then make a payment using the input device to deactivate the over-lock. Once the payment is received, the administrator may cause the computer to enter that fact into the database and to signal the system control device to switch the status of the over-lock from activated to deactivated. The system control device generates a signal to the over-lock control unit for that particular tenant&#39;s storage unit. The over-lock control unit deactivates the over-lock, thereby permitting the tenant to move the hasp on the door of the storage unit and open the storage unit door.  
         [0012]     A major advantage of the present invention is that the electronically activated over-lock system will reduce the labor requirements for managing a self-storage facility. This advantage derives from the fact that the over-locks can be switched between activated and deactivated conditions without going to each storage unit and manually performing the over-lock process. The system will automatically lock or unlock the over-locked based on the status of the unit and the status of the customer.  
         [0013]     Another major advantage of the present invention is that the self-storage system is able to rent storage units to new tenants and to accept payments from delinquent tenants, and then provide access to storage units at the same time. The electronically activated over-lock will automatically lock or unlock the over-locks based on the status of the unit and the status of the customer without onsite personal.  
         [0014]     These and other features and their advantages will be apparent to those skilled in the art from a careful reading of the Detailed Description of Preferred Embodiments, accompanied by the following drawings. 
     
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0015]     In the drawings,  
         [0016]      FIG. 1  is a schematic overview of the electronically activated over-lock system according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention.  
         [0017]      FIG. 2  is a schematic overview of the electronically activated over-lock system installed on a self-storage unit, according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention.  
         [0018]      FIG. 3  is a detailed schematic of the electronically activated over-lock system, according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention.  
         [0019]      FIG. 4  is a detailed drawing of the door lock mechanism, according to the preferred embodiment of the present invention. 
     
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION  
       [0020]     The present invention is an over-lock security system. Although the system will be described with respect to its application in self-storage facilities, it is clear that the system could be used anywhere an over-lock system is useful.  
         [0021]     Referring to  FIGS. 1 and 2 , each self-storage unit  10  is equipped with an over-lock  100  that is preferably mounted on the inside of self-storage unit  10 , as seen best in  FIG. 2 , but, using a wireless connection, over-lock  100  may be mounted on the outside of unit door  700 . Each over-lock  100  can have optional equipment including a lock status indicator  200  and an over-lock indicator  300 . Each over-lock  100  can be switched remotely and wirelessly via an over-lock control unit  400  between opened (unlocked) or closed (locked) positions, based on the current status of the unit and customer, which status is available to a controller  600  having access to a computer database  500 . Communication between the over-lock  100  and the over-lock control unit  400  can be accomplished via wiring or wireless medium with wireless communication preferred. If a person attempts to forcibly open self-storage unit  10  and over-lock  100  contains lock status indicator  200 , then a signal is generated by indicator  200  indicating that a forcible entry has been made. Over-lock indicator  300  displays the current status of unit  10 . Specifically, it may contain a panel that employs light emitting diodes (LEDs) to indicate that door  700  to unit  10  is open, closed, locked or unlocked.  
         [0022]     As best seen in  FIG. 2 , there is shown a schematic overview of the over-lock system installed in self-storage unit  10 . The over-lock device  100  can be mounted on the inside of the self-storage unit. The door hasp  900  is mounted on a self-storage door  700 .  
         [0023]     The door hasp  900  is manufactured to allow for external padlocks to be placed on the exterior of the door. When the door hasp  900  is in the closed position, it will extend through doorframe  800  and through over-lock  100 . Over-lock  100 , based on the signal from over-lock control unit  400 , will unlock or lock door hasp  900  by allowing or not allowing it to be retracted through the door frame  800 , respectively. It is apparent that other methods can be used by over-lock  100  for securing the position of door hasp  900 , such as using a pin to extend through a hole in door hasp  900 .  
         [0024]     Referring to  FIG. 3 , there is shown a schematic of over-lock  100 . It consists of an actuator  101 , which could be a motor or solenoid, connected to a linkage  102 . Linkage  102  is connected to a door hasp lock mechanism  103 . Door hasp lock mechanism  103  has a slot  104  dimensioned to allow door hasp  900  to pass through. Hasp  900  has a notch  106  formed therein and aligned with door hasp lock mechanism  103 . When over-lock  100  is in the closed or locked position, door hasp lock mechanism  103  is lowered into notch  106  so that door hasp  900  cannot be removed, and thus prevent the opening of door  700 . When over-lock  100  is in the open or unlocked position, door hasp lock mechanism  103  is disengaged from notch  106  and thus allows door hasp  900  to be moved, and thus allowing the opening of door  700 . Lock status alarm  200 , if provided, uses a magnet  105  to detect the position of door hasp  900  in reference to door hasp lock mechanism  103 . Magnet  105  is used by over-lock control unit  400  to monitor the position of door hasp  900  and to emit an alarm. It will be obvious that other methods to detect the position of door hasp  900  could be used, such as hall-effect sensors. Lock status indicator  300  is mounted on the outside of storage unit  10  and contains indicators such as Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs), lamps or other devices to indicate whether door  700  is open or closed. Lock status indicator  300  interfaces with over-lock control unit  400  to provide real-time status display of over-lock  100  positioning.  
         [0025]     Computer  600  can access database  500  of units, authorized users and their accounts to determine if storage units  10  are rented or not and, if rented, whether the account is delinquent or not. If (1) storage unit  10  is not rented OR (2)(a) storage unit is rented AND (b) the account associated with that unit is delinquent, over-lock  100  is locked, otherwise it is unlocked.  
         [0026]     Computer  600  may be directly connected to the database  500  or may be remotely located and communicate to the database  500  via various methods (wireless, internet, etc.) When a tenant&#39;s account becomes delinquent, the computer  600 , will update the database  500  and send a signal to over-lock control unit  400 . Over-lock control unit  400  then engages over-lock  100  preventing door hasp  900  from being moved. Preventing movement of door hasp  900  prevents the tenant from having access to self-storage unit  10 .  
         [0027]     When a tenant makes a payment and brings a delinquent account current, computer  600 , will update database  500  and send a signal to over-lock control unit  400 . Over-lock control unit  400  disengages over-lock  100  allowing door hasp  900  to be moved. Movement of door hasp  900  allows the tenant access to self-storage unit  10 .  
         [0028]     When self-storage unit  10  becomes vacant, computer  600  updates database  600  and simultaneously sends a signal to over-lock control unit  400 . Over-lock control unit  400  then engages over-lock  100  preventing door hasp  900  from being moved and preventing self-storage unit  10  from being accessed. If storage unit  10  is rented to a new tenant then the computer  600 , will update database  500  and sends a signal to over-lock unit  400 , which disengages over-lock  100  and allows door hasp  900  to be moved for access to the self-storage unit.  
         [0029]     It is intended that the scope of the present invention include all modifications that incorporate its principal design features, and that the scope and limitations of the present invention are to be determined by the scope of the appended claims and their equivalents. It also should be understood, therefore, that the inventive concepts herein described are interchangeable and/or they can be used together in still other permutations of the present invention, and that other modifications and substitutions will be apparent to those skilled in the art from the foregoing description of the preferred embodiments without departing from the spirit or scope of the present invention.