GB2109046A - Locking assembly - Google Patents

Abstract

A locking assembly comprises a hasp 1, a staple 2 and a housing 3. The housing 3 is provided with an opening 7 through which the hasp 1 may be passed into the housing so as to abut and lie adjacent an apertured plate 5 within the housing. Upon closing, the staple 2 passes through both the plate aperture 6 and the hasp aperture 10 into the housing where it may be lockingly engaged by a padlock (not shown) which is shielded from attack by the housing. In alternative embodiments (not shown) the housing is closed at the front end thereof and locking means such as a rotary or mortise lock are mounted within the housing and are operable to engage the staple so as to prevent opening. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Locking assembly This invention relates to locking assemblies of the so-called staple and hasp type in which a staple is mounted to a first part to be locked, e.g. a door frame, and a hasp is mounted to the other part, e.g. a door. Upon closing, the staple is adapted to extend through an aperture in the hasp and the two may be locked together by means of a padlock.

Such locking assemblies are very well known and have a particular advantage over other locking arrangements in that an assembly may be readily mounted to for example a door and frame not previously adapted to include a lock without the need for any modifications to either the door or the frame. However, it is generally acknowledged that with known locking assemblies of this type the various components will inevitably be vulnerable to tampering since they are all externally exposed.

Thus, various methods and means are available to a prospective intruder to break the lock the most common of which involve hack-sawing through the staple and/or through the locking bar of the padlock or alternatively levering or forcing the staple from the wall by means of a chisel or the like. Additionally, the staple may simply be struck by a hammer in a lateral direction which can cause it to be pulled from the wall.

It will be seen, therefore, that, while known locking assemblies of this type provide an obvious deterrent, they will not prevent a determined intruder from entering and do not therefore provide adequate security for, e.g. storage warehouses containing items of significant value.

It is therefore an object of this invention to provide an inproved locking assembly of this type wherein the aforesaid problems concerning ease of external tampering are reduced.

Accordingly, viewed from a first aspect the invention provides a locking assembly comprising a hasp, a staple and a housing, the hasp and staple being respectively mountable to two relatively movable parts to be locked, and the housing having an opening through which the hasp may be passed into the housing, and means in the housing adapted to abut the hasp and defining an opening through which and through the hasp aperture the staple extends on closing into the housing where it may be lockingly engaged by a padlock at least a part of which is shielded by the housing from attack.

Thus, in use and when locked, the end of the hasp, the staple and the padlock are all at least partially shielded by the housing which may be for example of steel plate and as such access for tampering with the heretofore vulnerable components of the assem bly is considerably reduced.

Preferably, the housing co-operates with the hasp so as to at least partially transmit lateral stresses imposed on the housing to the hasp mounting. Thus, the opening in the housing is preferably adapted to snugly receive the hasp and the hasp is provided with an abutment adapted to limit movement of the hasp into the housing so as to correctly align the apertures. With the hasp fitting snugly within the housing, lateral stresses imparted externally to the housing may be transmitted to the hasp rather than bear directly on the staple. This represents an additional security feature in that if an attempt were made to force the lock by striking the housing in a lateral direction with a hammer then the stresses would not be imparted directly to the staple and instead would be largely absorbed by the hasp mounting, which is generally more secure than the staple mounting.

Preferablythe means in the housing adapted to abut the hasp comprises an apertured plate extending across the housing adjacent the housing opening; the plate is advantageously above the opening so that in use, in the locked position, the hasp lies adjacent and is concealed below and shielded by the plate.

Preferably, the housing includes a peripheral wall the lowermost portion of which is adapted to fit .snugly over a mounting plate of the staple which mounting plate is preferably partially embedded into the surface to which it is mounted. In this way any lateral stresses imparted to the housing in addition to being absorbed by the hasp mounting will be directly absorbed by the staple mounting plate.

Thus, the staple itself is further protected from such lateral stresses. Furthermore, the staple may not be levered from, e.g. a door frame, by forcing a flat chisel or the like beneath the housing and between the staple and the frame since the chisel, once passed beneath the housing, will simply abut the edge of, and thus cannot be slid underneath the plate.

In a preferred embodiment, the housing has a generally cylindrical peripheral wall in which the opening in the form of an elongate slot is formed.

The invention also extends to the provision of locking means mounted within the housing adapted for engagement with the staple. Thus viewed from a second aspect the invention provides a locking assembly comprising a hasp, a staple and a housing, the hasp and staple being respectively mountable to two relatively movable parts to be locked, and the housing having an opening through which the hasp may be passed into the housing, and means in the housing adapted to abut the hasp and defining an opening through which and through the hasp aperture the staple extends on closing into the housing, locking means being being fixedly mounted within the housing adapted to lockingly engage the staple in the closed position.

Thus, in use, the hasp is introduced into the housing via the opening and the housing is then urged against the staple so that the staple passes through both said apertures into the housing. The locking means engages the staple and prevents removal of the housing and the hasp therefrom. The requirement of a separate padlock as the securing means is therefore avoided.

Preferably, the housing is closed at the front end thereof remote in use from the door or wall so that when locked the locking means, the staple and the end of the hasp are enclosed within and completely concealed by the housing. Thus, there exists no access for tampering with the various individual locking components of the assembly and the only externally visible feature associated with the locking mechanism which is required is a key receiving aperture formed in or communicable with the locking means.

As with embodiments in accordance with the first aspect of the invention discussed above, the opening in the housing is preferably adapted to snugly receive the hasp whereby the housing co-operates with the hasp to transmit any lateral stresses imposed on the housing to the hasp mounting rather than directly to the staple.

In one embodiment, the means adapted to abut the hasp comprises an apertured plate which extends across the housing adjacent the opening, which may conveniently be in the form of a slot formed in a peripheral wall of the housing, whereby in the locked position the hasp lies closely adjacent the plate. The hasp may conveniently be provided with an abutment adapted for engagement with the peripheral wall which serves to limit movement of the hasp into the housing so as to correctly align the apertures. A bottom portion of the housing peripheral wall is preferably adapted to fit over a mounting plate of the staple which plate is preferably partially embedded into the mounting surface.The locking means may take any convenient from although in this embodiment it preferably comprises a pin and tumbler rotary lock having a rotatable locking cam adapted for engagement with the staple which, in this arrangement, is in the form of a hook-like member.

In an alternative embodiment, the housing is generally rectangular and has side walls adapted to abut in use the side edges of the hasp. In this embodiment, the means adapted to abut the hasp comprises an apertured plate extending at least partially across the interior of the housing and adapted in use to underlie the end of the hasp. The hasp is preferably provided with an abutment adapted to engage the end of the apertured plate so as to correctly align the apertures. It will be seen that lateral stresses imposed on the housing will again be largely transmitted to the hasp mounting as a result of the side walls of the housing bearing against the hasp. Again, part of the housing wall may be adapted to directly engage a mounting plate ofthe staple so that stresses are additionally transmitted to the mounting plate.

In this embodiment, the locking means may conveniently comprise a mortise lock having a locking shaft engageable with the staple. The lock body is preferably mounted against the front wall of the housing and overlies the housing opening. A lock body securing plate preferably extends beneath the lock between two opposed shoulder portions of the housing side walls and retains the lock body in position. The securing plate may additionally be adapted to abut the top of the hasp and is spaced from the apertured plate so as to define a channel for snugly receiving in use, the end of the hasp.

Optionally, a further strengthening plate be be provided overlying the lock body so as to protect the lock mechanism from possible attack by drilling through the front of the housing.

In both the above embodiments, the assembly when locked is of smart appearance since the lock mechanism and the staple are completely concealed by the housing.

Some embodiments of the invention will now be described by way of example only with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a perspective view of a first embodiment of the invention showing the various components in the unlocked position.

Figure 2 is a cross-sectional view of the locking assembly shown in Figure 1 in the locked position.

Figure 3 is a view similar to Figure 2 but showing a second embodiment of the invention.

Figure 4 is a view similar to Figure 3 only showing a third embodiment.

Figure 5 is a perspective view from underneath on a slightly enlarged scale of the housing for the embodiment of the invention illustrated in Figure 4.

Referring firstly to Figure 1, there is shown a locking assembly including a hasp, 1 a staple 2 and a housing 3 having a generally cylindrical peripheral wall 4. A plate 5 having a slot-like aperture 6 is provided within the housing 3 and overlies a slot 7 formed in the lower portion of the peripheral wall 4.

The hasp 1 includes a mounting portion 8 adapted to be secured to for example a door by means of screws, which is hingedly attached to a portion 9 having an aperture 10. An arcuate abutment surface 11 having a similar radius of curvature to the outer surface of the housing peripheral wall 4 is formed on the underside of the portion 9 of the hasp. The staple 2 includes an aperture 12 adapted to receive a conventional padlock or the like (not shown) and is securable to for example a wall by means of a circular mounting plate 13 which is of similar radius to the inside surface of the housing peripheral wall 4.

Referring additionally now to Figure 2, in use the hasp 1 and the staple 2 are respectively mounted to two relatively movable parts to be locked, for example a door and a door frame. As shown in Figure 2, the mounting plate 13 of the staple 2 is partially embedded into the surface to which it is mounted. In order to locktheassembly,theaper- tured portion 9 of the hasp 1 is introduced into the housing via the slot 7. The housing 3 is slid on to the portion 9 until the abutment surface 11 of the hasp engages the outer surface of the lower portion of the peripheral wall 4whereupon the aperture 10 in the hasp is aligned with the aperture 6 in the plate 5. It will be seen that in this position the hasp and the housing are snugly inter-engaged with the portion 9 of the hasp abutting the under surface of the plate 5.

The portion 9 of the hasp is then closed against the staple 2, as in the case of conventional locking assemblies, whereupon the staple passes through both the apertures 6, 10, and communicates with the interior of the housing where it may be lockingly engaged by a padlock.

It will be seen that the padlock, the staple and the end of the hasp are all at least partially shielded form attack by the housing and it is not possible for a prospective intruder to, for example, hacksaw through the arm of the padlock or through the staple.

Furthermore, the interaction between the housing and the hasp is such that any lateral forces imposed on the housing will be at least partially transmitted to the hasp rather than to the staple. The staple is further protected from such forces by the fact that the bottom of the peripheral wall 4 fits over and abuts the staple base portion 13 and as such lateral forces will be partially absorbed directly by the base portion 13 rather than the staple itself.

As seen in Figure 2, the base portion 13, being partially embedded in the mounting surface, cannot be prised from the wall by sliding a chisel or the like beneath the peripheral wall 4 of the housing since the chisel would simple abut the step 14 formed by the base portion 13 adjacent the peripheral wall 4 and therefore could not be slid underneath the base portion 13.

Turning now to Figure 3 a second embodiment of the invention is illustrated. In this embodiment, the cylindrical housing is closed at its front end by means of a front wall 15 which mounts a conventional rotary cylinder lock 16 which is secured in an opening in the front wall 15 by means of a lock nut 17. The hasp 1 and the staple 2 in this embodiment are the same as those illustrated in Figure 1 although the staple is cut away at one side, as shown in dotted lines in Figure 1,so as to be generally C-shaped.

The locking procedure in this embodiment is the same as for the Figure 1 embodiment except that instead of engaging the staple with a padlock, when in the closed position a key is inserted ito the cylinder lock 16 and rotated so that a locking cam thereof engages the staple aperture 12 via the cutaway portion of the staple. It will be seen that in this embodiment the aforesaid advantages concerning security are equally fulfilled and furthermore the locked assembly has a particularly smart external appearance since all the locking components are concealed within the housing. This also represents a further increase in security since there remain no externally visible parts which may be tampered with or interfered with in any way. In particular, no part of the assembly may be easily gripped in an attempt to pull the staple mounting plate 13 from the surface to which it is mounted.

A third embodiment of the invention is illustrated in Figures 4 and 5 and in this embodiment the housing 19 is generally rectangular in shape. The housing 19 is provided with a plate 20 having an aperture 21 adapted to be aligned in use with a corresponding aperture formed in the hasp 22. The hasp 22 is introduced into the housing via an opening 23 adjacent the plate 20. In the locked position shown in Figure 4, the plate 20 underlies the apertured portion of the hasp, unlike the embodiments shown in Figures 1 and 3, and an abutment surface 24 formed on the underside of the hasp abuts the end of the plate 20. In this embodiment, the side walls 25, 26 of the housing abut the edges of the hasp 22 so as to ensure a snug fit between the hasp and the housing.

The locking means in this embodiment comprises a mortise lock 27 having a shaft 28 adapted for engagement with the staple. The lock 27 is held in position by means of a plate 29 extending between two shouldered portions 30 secured to the side walls. As seen in Figure 4, the plate 29 abuts the top surface of the hasp 22 in the locked position and furthermore defines a channel between the plate 29 and the plate 20 adapted to snugly receive the end of the hasp 22. The plate 29 is secured to the shouldered portions 30 by means of screws or rivits 31 and to prevent the heads of the screws or rivets 31 fouling with the top surface of the hasp 22 in the locked position, recesses 32 are provided in the shouldered portions. Correspondingly shaped indentations are formed in the plate 29 in which the heads of the screws or rivets 31 are disposed.

In all the embodiments described above, the lock means is at least partially shielded from attack by the housing. Furthermore, lateral forces imposed on the housing, for example by striking it with a hammer, are transmitted partially to the hasp mounting 8 by the interaction between the housing and the hasp, and to the mounting plate of the staple owing to direct engagement between the-bottom of the housing and the mounting plate. Thus, such lateral stresses do not bear on the staple itself or on the lock means, whether it is padlock as in the case of the Figure 1 embodiment or a rotary or mortise lock as shown in the Figure 3 and Figure 4 embodiments.

Claims (26)

1. A locking assembly comprising a hasp, a staple and a housing, the hasp and staple being respectively mountable to two relatively movable parts to be locked, and the housing having an opening through which the hasp may be passed into the housing, and means in the housing adapted to abut the hasp and defining an opening through which and through the hasp aperture the staple extends on closing into the housing where it may be lockingly engaged by a padlock at least a part of which is shielded by the housing from attack.

2. A locking assembly as claimed in claim 1 wherein the housing co-operates with the hasp so as to at least partially transmit lateral stresses imposed on the housing to the hasp mounting.

3. A locking assembly as claimed in claim 1 or 2 wherein the hasp is provided with an abutment adapted to limit movement of the hasp into the housing so as to correctly align the apertures.

4. A locking assembly as claimed in any of claims 1 to 3 wherein the means adapted to abut the hasp comprises an apertured plate which extends laterally across the housing adjacent the housing opening.

5. A locking assembly as claimed in claim 4 wherein the plate lies above the housing opening.

6. A locking assembly as claimed in any of the preceding claims wherein the housing includes a peripheral wall a lowermost portion of which is adapted to directly engage a mounting plate of the staple whereby lateral stresses imposed on the housing are at least partially transmitted to the staple mounting plate.

7. A locking assembly as claimed in claim 6 wherein the staple mounting plate in use is part tally embedded into the surface to which it is mounted.

5. A locking assembly as claimed in claim 6 or 7 wherein the housing peripheral wall is generally cylindrical.

9. A locking assembly comprising a hasp, a staple and a housing, the hasp and staple being respectively mountable to two relatively movable parts to be locked, and the housing having an opening though which the hasp may be passed into the housing, and means in the housing adapted to abut the hasp and defining an opening through which and through the hasp aperture the staple extends on closing into the housing, locking means being fixedly mounted within the housing adapted to lockingly engage the staple in the closed position.

110. A locking assembly as claimed in claim 9 wherein the housing is closed at the front end thereof.

11. A locking assembly as claimed in claim 9 or 10 wherein the housing co-operates with the hasp so as to at least partially transmit lateral stresses imposed on the housing to the hasp mounting.

12. A locking assembly as claimed in claim 9, 10 or 11 wherein the housing includes a peripheral wall a lowermost portion of which is adapted to directly engage a mounting plate of the staple whereby lateral stresses imposed on the housing are at least partially transmitted to the stable mounting plate.

13. A locking assembly as claimed in claim 12 wherein the staple mounting plate in use is partially embedded into the surface to which it is mounted.

14. A locking assembly as claimed in any of claims 9 to 13 wherein the means adapted to abut the hasp comprises an apertured plate which extends laterally across the housing adjacentthe housing opening.

15. A locking assembly as claimed in claim 14 wherein the hasp is provided with an abutment adapted for engagement with the peripheral wall of the housing so as to limit movement of the hasp into the housing and correctly align the apertures.

16. A locking assembly as claimed in any of claims 9 to 15 wherein the locking means comprises a pin and tumbler rotary lock having a rotatable locking cam adapted for engagement with the staple, the staple being in the form of a hook-like member.

17. A locking assembly as claimed in any of claims 9 to 13 wherein the housing is generally rectangular and has side walls adapted to abut in use the side edges of the hasp.

15. A locking assembly as claimed in claim 17 wherein the means adapted to abut the hasp comprises an apertured plate extending laterally partially across the interior of the housing and adapted in use to underlie the end of the hasp.

19. A locking assembly as claimed in claim 18 wherein the hasp is provided with an abutment adapted to engage the end of the apertured plate so as to correctly align the apertures.

20. A locking assembly as claimed in claim 17, 18 or 19 wherein the locking means comprises a mortise lock having a bolt engageable in use with the staple.

21. A locking assembly as claimed in claim 20 wherein the body of said mortise lock is mounted against a front wall or the housing and overlies said opening, the body being secured within the housing by means of a mounting plate extending between two shouldered portions of the housing side walls.

22. A locking assembly as claimed in claim 21 wherein the mounting plate is spaced from said apertured plate to snugly receive the end of the hasp therebetween.

23. A locking assembly as claimed in claim 20,21 or 22 further comprising an armoured protecting plate overlying the mortise lock.

24. A locking assembly substantially as herein described with reference to Figures 1 and 2 of the accompanying drawings.

25. A locking assembly substantially as herein described with reference to Figure 3 of the accompanying drawings.

26. A locking assembly substantially as herein described with reference to Figures 4 and 5 of the accompanying drawings.