Abstract:
The current disclosure discloses certain embodiments of a key holder assembly. A key holder assembly may include one or more key holders of different shapes or sizes attached to one another. A secure locking mechanism for the carabineer was invented to prevent it from accidentally opening. Each key holder assembly forms a tree structure through the fastening mechanisms and the attachment mechanism of key holders. The tree structure can be dynamically configured to reflect the relationship of the keys. Keys are attached to the tree structure which facilitates the organization of the keys. The current invention helps owners or managers of one or more residential or commercial properties to better organize keys to their properties by mapping the relationship of the keys to a tree structure and storing the keys accordingly.

Description:
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
       [0001]    Pursuant to 35 U.S.C. §119(e), this application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 61/876,728, filed Sep. 11, 2013, U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 61/877,970, filed Sep. 14, 2013, and U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 61/919,822, filed Dec. 23, 2013. The contents of the parent applications are hereby incorporated by reference. 
     
    
     TECHNICAL FIELD 
       [0002]    The disclosure relates to a mechanical device that helps users manage and organize keys for one or multiple residential or commercial properties. 
       BACKGROUND 
       [0003]    In many cases, owners and managers of one or multiple residential or commercial properties need to organize the keys for such properties. Often times the properties—and thus the corresponding keys—have complex tiered relationships, making the organizing efforts more difficult. A manager of an apartment building may need to organize a large number of keys for not only the apartments, but also for common areas such as laundry rooms and basement. It is very challenging for the manager to keep track of all the keys, retrieve specific keys promptly and accurately, and return the keys to its original place. There is an inherent tiered structure to the relationships among these keys. 
         [0004]    Conventional key accessories, such as key chains, key boxes or key cabinets, do not support the configuration of keys that resembles their inherent relationships. 
         [0005]    Typical key chains such as key rings in the market today are very simplistic. They don&#39;t have label areas. Important to organizing keys is the labeling of the keys in such a way that supports the inherent relationships among keys. Some chains are sold with labels, but these labels are in the form of separate tags. These tags are not an integral part of key chains, rather they are separate objects, most often hanging off the key chains. These separate tags result in bulky key chains. 
         [0006]    With the typical key rings, a user can manually configure several key rings into a tiered structure. But these key rings were not designed to support this type of configuration for two reasons: 1) it is difficult to attach and detach the key rings from each other on a frequent basis, 2) there is no labeling space on the key ring itself, which means the tiered structure can&#39;t be described. 
         [0007]    Some new key chain products such as the carabineer, S-biner or snap hook types are easy to attach and detach the key chains from each other, allowing easy configuration of the tiered structures. However, these key chains don&#39;t have label area built in. Therefore it is not easy for a user to label the keys and describe the tiered structure. 
         [0008]    Some inventions have been directed to mechanical devices that help organize keys. The key organizer can be a key cabinet that contains swingable key hangers, and the swing sheets that secure the key hangers. The key holder assembly supports the tiered structure of the keys. The present invention presents certain embodiments of the key holder assembly as described in the previous U.S. patent application 61/924,712. 
         [0009]    Several embodiments of this invention are illustrated in the accompanying drawings and will be described in more detail herein below. 
       SUMMARY 
       [0010]    The present disclosure relates to a key holder assembly that helps owners or managers of one or multiple residential or commercial properties to better organize keys to their properties. Similarly, this invention helps garage owners, hotel managers, and campus managers who are in possession of many keys. More specifically, the present invention supports the inherent structure of the keys by providing a labeling system and by enabling easy attachment and detachment of key chains or keys. 
         [0011]    A key holder assembly includes one or more key holders. Each key holder can be thought of as a key chain with its own unique design. Each key holder has a built-in label area, a fastening mechanism and an attachment mechanism. The key holder assembly can be configured to represent the tiered structure of the keys by connecting a key holder to another key holder, and connecting keys to the key holders. The label area contains one or more labels that describe the attached keys and therefore the key structure. The fastening mechanism can be a snap hook or a carabineer that is releasable, but may also be other mechanisms. By connecting one or more key holders (second tier) to another key holder (first tier), it creates a two-tiered structure. Similarly, one can connect one or more key holders (third tier) to a second tier key holder, thus creating a three tiered tree structure. Keys hang off the key holders in the key holder assembly. The key holder assembly can take on the shape of a tree of any breadth and depth which is described through the labeling system. 
         [0012]    In general, the present invention succeeds in conferring the following, and others not mentioned, desirable and useful benefits and objectives. 
         [0013]    The key holder assembly can be configured to closely represent the tiered structure of the keys by connecting a key holder to another key holder, and connecting keys to the key holders, thus forming the key holder assembly with the tiered structure. The key holder assembly can take on the shape of a tree of any breadth and depth which is described through the labeling system. 
         [0014]    The key holder assembly has the following features:
       1) built-in label areas that are small enough to be space efficient but big enough to for a user to write on a label and put the label onto a label area;   2) a mechanism to easily attach and detach key holders or keys from each other;   3) a secure locking mechanism when the carabineer is in a locked position. The gate can&#39;t be accidentally opened, otherwise keys fall out. The present invention addresses this issue with a special design of the wire clip of a carabineer. Alternatively, through the modification to the carabineer tip, the same goal can be achieved.   4) a configurable multi-tiered tree structure that reflects the inherent structure of the keys and can be labeled through a labeling system.       
 
         [0019]    From a user point of view, a user can re-configure the key holder assembly easily by attaching and detaching the key holders or the keys. For instance, he can remove a specific key holder from a key holder assembly and later return the key holder to the key holder assembly. The adhesive labels can be placed onto the label area of the key holders. 
     
    
     
       DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS 
         [0020]      FIG. 1  shows the schematic tiered structure of the property keys in an apartment building 
           [0021]      FIG. 2  shows the releasable fastening mechanism of a carabineer. 
           [0022]      FIG. 3  Shows the unlocked and locked positions of the fastening mechanism in  FIG. 2 . 
           [0023]      FIG. 4  shows front and side views of the locking mechanism with a wire clip as shown in  FIG. 3 . 
           [0024]      FIG. 5  shows different views of the wire clip of  FIG. 4  as a standalone component. 
           [0025]      FIG. 6  Shows a slightly different embodiment of the wire clip of the locking mechanism. 
           [0026]      FIG. 7  shows various views of a key holder. 
           [0027]      FIG. 8  shows a side and a top view of the key holder in  FIG. 7 . 
           [0028]      FIG. 9  shows a key holder assembly where keys hangs off the key holder. 
           [0029]      FIG. 10  shows another key holder assembly where second tier key holders hang off the first tier key holder. 
           [0030]      FIG. 11  shows a front view of another key holder. 
           [0031]      FIG. 12  shows another key holder assembly where keys hang off the key holder. 
           [0032]      FIG. 13  shows another key holder assembly where second tier key holders hang off the first tier key holder. 
           [0033]      FIG. 14  shows a front view of another key holder. 
           [0034]      FIG. 15  shows a wire clip and the carabineer tip of the fastening mechanism as a locking mechanism. 
           [0035]      FIG. 16  shows another key holder assembly where second tier key holders hang off the first tier key holder. 
           [0036]      FIG. 17  shows another key holder assembly where second tier key holders hang off the first tier key holder. 
           [0037]      FIG. 18  shows a front view of another key holder. 
           [0038]      FIG. 19  shows another key holder assembly where second tier key holders hang off the first tier key holder. 
           [0039]      FIG. 20  shows a front view of another key holder. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       [0040]    The preferred embodiments of the present disclosure will now be described with reference to the drawings. Identical elements in the various figures are identified, as far as possible, with the same reference numerals. Such embodiments are provided by way of explanation of the present invention, which is not intended to be limited thereto. In fact, those of ordinary skill in the art may appreciate upon reading the present specification and viewing the present drawings that various modifications and variations can be made thereto without deviating from the innovative concepts of the invention. 
         [0041]    For clarity purposes, some identical elements in the same figure are not all marked. Marking of one of the identical elements serves as an indication for the reference to the other elements. 
         [0042]      FIG. 1  shows the inherent structure of properties keys in an apartment building. The keys can be organized based on the inherent structure such as by floors and by units. If these keys were hang row by row, as they are typically hang in a typical key cabinet, then it bears no resemblance to the inherent structure. Different buildings or properties have their own inherent structures with different depth and width. Being able to support various structures dynamically through configuration is the key. 
         [0043]      FIG. 2  shows the releasable fastening mechanism  110  of a carabineer with a wire clip  175 , carabineer tip  1705  and a carabineer frame  172 . The wire clip and the carabineer tip together form the locking mechanism so that the gate doesn&#39;t accidentally open. The wire clip has the built-in tension to lean towards to the carabineer tip. So under normal condition, the gate is always closed. To further secure the lock, the carabineer tip has an indentation to receive the wire clip. 
         [0044]      FIG. 3  shows the unlocked and locked positions of the fastening mechanism  110 . Due to the fact that the fastening mechanism  110  has both the unlocked and unlocked positions, it is called a releasable fastening mechanism. The carabineer tip  1705  has an inside edge  17056  and an outside edge  17055   
         [0045]    The wire clip  175  has three main parts: the head end  1751 , the trunks  1753  and the tail ends  1752 . The head end and the trunks form an angle at the point of the bend  17514 . The bend  1757  separates the head end and the trunks. The bend typically has an angle between 30 to 90 degrees. The bend is formed so that the head end forms a loop which can wrap around the inside edge and the outside edge of the carabineer tip. The angle less than 30 degrees typically makes it harder for the head end to wrap around the carabineer tip. 
         [0046]    As shown in  FIG. 3 , in an unlocked position, the entire head end  1751  is inside of the inside edge  17056 . In a locked position, a portion of the head end (e.g., the tip of the head end  1756 ) is inside of the inside edge while the bend  1757  is outside of the outside edge  17055 . In this locked position, the head end is considered to wrap around the carabineer tip. 
         [0047]      FIG. 4  shows the locking mechanism of the releasable fastening mechanism  110  which utilizes the wire clip  175  to snap into position. The figure shows the side view of the wire clip  175 . The way the wire clip  175  works is that it has the spring to lean outward away from the releasable fastening mechanism  110  due to the tension in the wire itself. Therefore, the normal position of the wire clip  175  is to lean against the carabineer tip  1705 , thus securely locking the releasable fastening mechanism  110 . Pushing on the wire clip  175  against the carabineer tip  1705  allows the carabineer tip to squeeze through the wire clip and enter into a locked position. Pushing on the wire clip  175  away from the carabineer tip unlocks the fastening mechanism, thus allowing keys or key holders to go through. 
         [0048]      FIG. 4  also shows the side view of the wire clip  175 . The wire clip comprises the head end, the trunks and the tail ends. The tail ends of the wire clip are attached to the carabineer frame and can rotate along the surface of the carabineer frame. The tail ends  1752  comprise a first tail end  17521  and a second tail end  17522 . The trunks  1753  comprise a first trunk  17531  and a second trunk  17532 . The first trunk is between the head end and the first tail end, and the second trunk is between the head end and the second tail end. The head end  1751  of the wire clip  175  is shown to have an oval-shaped loop  17511  and two necks  17513 . The necks  17513  form an opening  17512 , where the first trunk and the second trunk close in ( 17514 ) and then flare out ( 17515 ). Typically, the opening  17512  is smaller than the width of the carabineer tip so that the carabineer tip has to squeeze through to enter inside the loop of the head end. The flaring out of the trunks ( 17515 ) is to help the carabineer tip align better against the necks so that it guides the carabineer tip to squeeze through. 
         [0049]    The design of the head end  1751  is intended to do the following
       1) The head end can wrap around both the inside and outside edges of the carabineer tip.   2) The carabineer tip  1705  to squeeze through the necks  17513  so that the carabineer tip  1705  enters inside the oval-shaped loop  17511  when it is in a locked position   3) The necks  17513  are to secure the locked position so that the gate won&#39;t accidentally open.       
 
         [0053]    Practically speaking, to lock, a user will use his finger to push/pull the trunks  1753  against the carabineer tip  1705 . There could be a clicking sound when the carabineer tip  1705  squeezes through the necks  17513  and lands inside the oval-shaped loop  17511 . To unlock, the user will use his finger to push/pull against the trunks  1753  in opposite direction away from the carabineer tip  1705 . Again there could be a clicking sound when the carabineer tip  1705  squeezes through the necks  17513  and lands outside of the oval-shaped loop  17511 . 
         [0054]      FIG. 5  shows the wire clip of  FIG. 4  as a standalone component in the pre-installation views. The side view in the pre-installation view shows the shape of the head end clearly. The two tail ends are apart in its natural state, forming a gap  1757  in the front view before installation. When the wire clip is installed into the carabineer as shown in  FIG. 4 , the two tail ends are forced to come close towards each other, closing the gap  1757 . This creates the tension in the wire clip. As a result, the head end of the wire clip  1751  leans towards the right in the front view of this figure. Stub  1758  is formed after the wire clip is installed on the carabineer as shown in the side view after installation. The stub prevents the wire clip ends from slipping out the holes on the carabineer frame. The same design for pre-installation and after-installation applies to the embodiment in  FIG. 6  as well. 
         [0055]      FIG. 6  shows another embodiment of the wire clip with slightly different necks  17513 . The trunks at the necks close in to form the narrow opening  17512 , however the trunks don&#39;t flare out as shown in  FIG. 4 . An opening  17512  can be designed to have just the right width so that the carabineer tip  1705  can squeeze through. The most important thing is that the carabineer tip  1705  stays inside the oval-shaped loop  17511  when it is in a locked position. 
         [0056]      FIG. 7  shows a front view of a key holder  100 , wherein the key holder  100  comprises: a label area  120  having at least one label  125 ; two carabineers  170  and  140 . The label area  120  can be a solid plate. Label  125  can be adhesive labels made of paper, poly or other materials. Label  125  can be placed onto the label area. In this preferred embodiment, the two carabineers are identical, but facing opposite directions. Either one of them can be used as a fastening mechanism or an attachment mechanism. In this case, carabineer  170  is considered to have a releasable fastening mechanism attached to the top of the label area  120  and is capable of attaching to a higher tier key holder above it or to another abject such as a belt loop or bag; Carabineer  140  has a releasable attachment mechanism attached to the bottom of the label area  120  (carabineer  140 ) and is capable of attaching lower tiered key holders or keys to itself. In this preferred embodiment, both carabineers  170  and  140  utilize a wire clip  175  as a locking mechanism. Furthermore, the wire clip  175  on the top right corner of this figure is positioned similar to the wire clip positioned in the front view of  FIG. 4 . The head end of the wire clip leans to the right against the carabineer tip  1705 . 
         [0057]      FIG. 8  shows the side view and the top down view of the key holder. 
         [0058]      FIG. 9  shows a key holder assembly  99  that comprises a key holder  100  and keys  300  that are hanging off the key holder via carabineer  140  with a releasable attachment mechanism. There is one label here that can be used to label the group of keys below. Alternatively, there could be multiple labels in a label area that label the keys below in the same order that the keys are. 
         [0059]      FIG. 10  shows a key holder assembly  99  wherein the first tier comprises a key holder  100  and the second tier comprises a number of key holders  100  of a different size, preferably a smaller size. The second-tier key holders  100  attach to the first tier key holder  100  via the fastening mechanism of carabineer  170 . There is one label in the first tier that can be used to label the group of keys below such as 11 Maggie Ave (a property address). There are three labels in the second tier that can be used to label the group of keys below such as Floor 1, Floor 2 and Floor 3. Alternatively, there could be multiple labels in a label area that further label the keys below. 
         [0060]      FIG. 11  shows a front view of another key holder  400 , wherein the key holder  400  comprises: a label area  120  having at least one label  125 ; a carabineer  140 ; a fastening mechanism  190 . The label area  120  can be a solid plate. Label  125  can be adhesive labels made of paper, poly or other materials. Label  125  can be placed onto the label area. In this preferred embodiment, since the fastening mechanism  190  is a loop with no opening, it is only capable of attaching itself to a higher tier key holder with a releasable attachment mechanism. The carabineer  140  is capable of attaching lower tiered key holders or keys to itself. The carabineer  140  utilizes a wire clip  175  similar to the one in  FIG. 2 . 
         [0061]    The difference between  FIG. 7  and  FIG. 11  is the fastening mechanism. FIG.  11 &#39;s fastening mechanism  190  doesn&#39;t have an unlocked position. Therefore it is not releasable. However, it is potentially more cost effect to manufacture. Additionally, it occupies much less space than the releasable fastening mechanism in carabineer  170  in  FIG. 2 . It is important for the key holders to take up as little space as possible while still allowing the labels to be big enough to write on. 
         [0062]      FIG. 12  shows a key holder assembly  99  that comprises a key holder  400  and keys  300  that are hanging off the key holder via the fastening mechanism of carabineer  140 . There is one label here that can be used to label the group of keys below. Alternatively, there could be multiple labels in a label area that label the keys below in the same order that the keys are. 
         [0063]      FIG. 13  shows a key holder assembly  99  wherein the first tier comprises a key holder  100  and the second tier comprises a number of key holders  400 . The second-tier key holders  400  attach to the first tier key holder  100  via the fastening mechanism  190 . There is one label in the first tier that can be used to label the group of keys below such as 11 Maggie Ave (a property address). There are three labels in the second tier that can be used to label the group of keys below such as Floor 1, Floor 2 and Floor 3. Alternatively, there could be multiple labels in a label area that further label the keys below. 
         [0064]      FIG. 14  shows a front view of a key holder  500 , wherein the key holder  500  comprises: a label area  120  having at least one label  125 ; a releasable fastening mechanism  180  and an attachment mechanism  141 . The label area  120  can be a solid plate. Label  125  can be adhesive labels made of paper, poly or other materials. Label  125  can be placed onto the label area. The releasable fastening mechanism uses a wire clip  185  as a locking mechanism. The attachment mechanism  141  is attached to the bottom of the label area  120  and is capable of providing a rack for the lower tiered key holders to hang off. Since attachment mechanism  141  is a loop with no opening, keys can&#39;t hang directly off it. Keys with rings or key holders that have a releasable fastening mechanism can hang off it. The attachment mechanism of 141 has an S-shaped rack  1411 . The S shape lies on the horizontal plane with two ends of the S attached to either side of the attachment mechanism frame. 
         [0065]      FIG. 15  shows the locking mechanism of the releasable fastening mechanism  180  which utilizes a wire clip  185  to snap into position. The wire clip  185  doesn&#39;t have the necks  17513  in  FIG. 4 . Instead, the fastening mechanism&#39;s carabineer tip  1802  has an oval-shaped loop where the wire clip  185  passes through the opening  1801  and snaps into position. The opening is just big enough for the wire clip to squeeze through. This figure also shows a front view of the wire clip  185 . 
         [0066]      FIG. 16  shows a key holder assembly  99  wherein the first tier comprises a key holder  500  and the second tier comprises a number of key holders  100 . The second-tier key holders  100  attach to the first tier key holder  500  via its releasable fastening mechanism. The S-shape of the rack  1411  as shown in  FIG. 14  allows the second-tier key holders to turn almost parallel to each other and to the first-tier key holder so that the entire key assembly can be flattened for easy storage. Without the S-shape, often times the second-tier key holders tend to be orthogonal or on an angle to the first-tier key holder. 
         [0067]      FIG. 17  shows a key holder assembly  99  wherein the first tier comprises a key holder  700 , the second tier comprises a number of key holders  100  and the third tier comprises a number of keys  300 . The second-tier key holders  100  attach to the first tier key holder  700  via its releasable fastening mechanism. Keys  300  attach to the second-tier key holders via the attachment mechanism. The difference between key holder  700  and the key holder  500  is the locking mechanism. Key holder  700  has the wire clip  175  as shown in  FIG. 2 . 
         [0068]      FIG. 18  shows a front view of a key holder  800 , wherein the key holder  800  comprises: a label area  120  having at least one label  125 ; a carabineer  170  and a carabineer  140 . The label area  120  can be a solid plate. Label  125  can be adhesive labels made of paper, poly or other materials. Label  125  can be placed onto the label area. Both the releasable fastening mechanism and the releasable attachment mechanism use a wire clip  175 . The carabineer  140  is attached to the bottom of the label area  120  and is capable of attaching lower tiered key holders or keys to itself. As compared to key holder  100 , key holder  800  has a bigger or broader carabineer  140  so that more keys or key holders can hang off it. 
         [0069]      FIG. 19  shows a key holder assembly  99  wherein the first tier comprises a key holder  800 , the second tier comprises a number of key holders  100  and the third tier comprises a number of keys  300 . The second-tier key holders  100  attach to the first tier key holder  800  via its releasable fastening mechanism. Keys  300  attach to the second-tier key holders via the attachment mechanism. 
         [0070]      FIG. 20  shows a front view of a key holder  900 , wherein the key holder  900  comprises: a label area  120  having at least one label  125 ; a releasable fastening mechanism  160  and an attachment mechanism  141 . The label area  120  can be a solid plate. Label  125  can be adhesive labels made of paper, poly or other materials. Label  125  can be placed onto the label area. The releasable fastening mechanism  160  is a snap hook. The snap hook can be rotatable. The snap hook has a trigger  165 . When the trigger  165  is pressed down, it pulls open the gate via a spring on the inside. When the trigger  165  is released, the fastening mechanism is locked. The attachment mechanism  141  is attached to the bottom of the label area  120  and is capable of providing a rack for the lower tiered key holders to hang off. Since attachment mechanism  141  is a loop with no opening, keys can&#39;t hang directly off it. Keys with rings or key holders that have a releasable fastening mechanism can hang off it. The attachment mechanism of  141  has an S-shaped rack  1411 . The S shape lies on the horizontal plane with two ends of the S attached to either side of the attachment mechanism frame. 
         [0071]    Although the above embodiments have been described with a certain degree of particularity, it is to be understood that the present disclosure has been made only by way of illustration and that numerous changes in the details of construction and arrangement of parts may be resorted to without departing from the spirit and the scope of the invention.