Patent ID: 7412856

Claim:
A lock guard for a padlock with a shackle locking a stanchion lever to a container closure having a latch plate pivotably supporting a retainer having an opening for reception of the shackle, said lock guard comprising: a housing including a pair of laterally spaced fore and aft extending vertical side walls, a double pitched roof rigidly secured to the upper ends of said side walls with its peak extending in a fore and aft direction, a vertical front wall, rigidly secured to the forward ends of said side walls and to the forward end of said roof, said front wall including a vertically extending elongated slot too small for fingers but large enough to permit said shackle of said padlock to be partially extended therethrough during attachment of said padlock to and detachment of said padlock from said lock guard, a horizontal locking tab secured to said front and side walls above said slot and extending rearwardly from said front wall, said locking tab including an elongated opening wider than the width of said shackle and sufficiently long to allow rotation of said shackle, a notch in the lower rear corner of each of said side walls, and a pair of L-shaped brackets at laterally opposite sides of said side walls having first corresponding legs rigidly secured to said walls in horizontal alignment with, and structurally an extension of, said locking tab and second corresponding legs at the rear of said guard extending downwardly behind said stanchion lever.