US3522829A - Secreting holder - Google Patents

Description

United States Patent [72] Inventor: Donald Weintraub 102-50 62nd Road, Forest Hills, New York [21] Application No.: 765,545 [22] Filed: Oct. 7, 1968 [45] Patented: Aug. 4, 1970 [54] SECRETING HOLDER 5 Claims, 5 Drawing Fig.

[52] US. Cl. 150/40, 206/195, 224/4246 [51] Int. Cl. A45c 11/32 [50] Field ol'Search 150/40, 37; 206/19.5A; 224/4246, 26, 26-3, 27, 4-2, 4-3, 58

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,970,729 2/1961 Allen 224/58X 3,047,139 7/1962 Jacoff.... 206/56 A3 3,294,299 12/1966 Brennan... 224/4514 3,302,678 2/1967 Leguillon 150/40 FOREIGN PATENTS l,266,75l 6/196] France 150/40 Primary Examiner- Donald F. Norton Attorney Robert W. Fiddler ABSTRACT: A secreting holder for hiding keys or the like in a secure hidden position where they will be accessible only to those knowing their location. The holder is preferably formed of two overlying sheets of thermoplastic material edge sealed to each other to form a pocket therebetween. One of the sheets is formed with an access slit through which keys, coins, or the like objects which it is desired to hide may be inserted into the pocket formed between the sheets. A locking slot is extended through an attaching portion of the holder formed at an end of the body remote from the access slit with the body portion drawn through the locking slot to surround a wire or the like member to which the holder is secured.

Patented Aug. 4, 1970 INVENTOR Y DONALD WEINTRAUB Mmm ATTORNEY.

U.S. PATENT 3,522,829 SECRETING HOLDER BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to the art of secret storage receptacles, and more particularly to an inexpensive receptacle for keys, coins or the like small objects for maintaining such objects in a secure hidden position where they will be accessible only to those aware of the location of the holder and its mode of utilization. I

A variety of situations exist in which it is desired to hide an object in a fashion such that it is readily accessible to those aware of its location, but is otherwise hidden from view, and securely protected from loss. It has thus been found desirable to provide means whereby a key, or money may be secreted on some accessible portion of an automobile, so that in the event that the automobile owner finds himself locked out of the car, he can find a spare key to open the car, or some change to call for emergency help. Such secreting key holders, may of course be employed in hiding a spare'key providing access to homes, business establishments, or any other place requiring a key for access.

To this end, receptacles such as shown by U.S. Patent No. 2,487,897 to Rozsa have been evolved providing a small box like container adapted for securement to any hidden place. The problem with these prior art secreting receptacles such as exemplified by Rozsa are that they require tools for their installation, and are relatively expensive.

With a view to overcoming the installation problem, secreting receptacles have been evolved particularly adapted for use in connection with automobiles in which securement of the receptacle to a hidden portion of the automobile is accomplished magnetically. However, with these magnetically attachable receptacles, it has been found that the vibration of the automobile,.often results in dislodgement and loss of the receptacle. Further the expense of these magnetically attachable receptacles prevents their really widespread use.

An additional problem presented by the prior artreceptacles is that they are clearly identifiable as a receptacle, and unauthorized persons have been known to lift the hoods of automobiles seeking such receptacles to gain access to the automobile.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION It is with the above considerations in mind, that the present hidden, for ready access to those aware of the location and v operation of the holder.

It is accordingly a primary object of this invention to'provide an improved secreting holder in which a keyor the like maybe unobtrusively hidden in a secure position, accessible only to those aware of the location and operation of the holder. 1

A further object in the invention is to provide a secreting holder for keys or the like which may be securely positioned on a wire without the use of tools.

A further object of the invention is to provide a secreting holder which may be positioned on a wire or the like in a fashion such that its presence will not be obvious.

It is a further object of the invention to provide a secreting holder for keys or the like which may be inexpensively fabricated so as to implement its widespread distribution.

These and other objects of the invention which will become hereafter apparent are achieved in accordance with the invention by forming the holder of two blanks of superposed thermoplastic material such as sheet vinyl, or the like. The blanks are preferably of a T-shaped configuration, each sealed to the other along their edges. The cross portion of the T provides an attaching portion and is formed with a locking slot extending through both layers of material. The leg portion of the T provides a body portion defining a pocket, and access to the pocket is provided through an access slit formed in one of the sheets employed in forming the holder.

A feature of the invention resides in the fact that the use of inexpensive thermoplastic permits such low cost of production, that the holder lets itself to use as a premium give-away.

Another feature of the inventionresides in the fact that the dimensioning of the holder is such that it may readily be formed to give the impression of a loose piece of electrical friction tape, so as to permit its ready blending into its enviroment, thereby permitting the hiding of the holder by attaching it to a wire.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING The specific details ofa preferred embodiment of the invention, and their mode of functioning will be particularly pointed out in clear, concise and exact terms in conjunction with the accompanying drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a plan view of the secreting holder shown prior to its positioning for use;

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view along the longitudinal axis of the holder shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view through the holder shown as it is being folded about a wire or the like for positioning;

FIG. 4 is a plan view of the holder shown in position on a wire, or the like shown in phantom, with a key shown in phantom in position in the holder; and

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view along the longitudinal axis of the holder as shown in FIG. 4

Like numerals in the various figures will be employed to designate like parts.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring now more particularly to the drawings, the holder 10, as shown in FIGS. l and 2 is illustratively shown as formed by two superposed blanks of thermoplastic material II and 12, preferably of a T-shaped peripheral contour, heat sealed along their edges 13.

The heat sealing edge 13 serves to join the superposed sheets 11 and 12 into a unitary structure with a pocket 15 between the sheets 11 and 12. The pocket 15 is formed in body portion 16, or the leg of the T-shaped holder 10. An access slit I7 is cut in one of the walls of the body portion 16, with slit 17 preferably not extending to the edges of the body portion, but of a dimension sufficient to accommodate any object which it is intended to insert into the holder.

An attaching portion 20 is formed by the cross bar of the T- shaped member, as best seen in FIG. 1 with locking slot 21 extending through both layers of sheets forming the holder.

The aforedescribed holder 10, as will be'apparent to those skilled in the art may be fabricated in a variety of fashions. However, in terms of contemporary materials, and production techniques, it lends itself particularly to economic fabrication from thermoplastic sheet materials such as vinyl or the like which may readily be stamped out to the desired configuration. Though a T-shaped configuration has been shown and described, and found preferable, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that a variety of different shapes may be employed within the scope of the. invention. The only requirements dictating shape are that the body portion 16 be formed of a dimension such as to accommodate the object to be secreted, and the attaching portion 20 be of a dimension such as to accommodate a locking slot 21 through which the body portion 16 may be trained. Two of the sheets of thermoplastic material are superposed and heat sealed along their edges to form pocket 15 between the two sheets. Access slit 17 may be cut either before or after joining the two sheets, and locking slot 21 is preferably cut either simultaneously with, or after heat sealing so as to insure the fact that the locking slot 21 passes completely through both layers of the material.

OPERATION In use, a key or the like, as shown in phantom in FIGS. 1 and 4 is inserted into access slit 17 so as to lie in pocket 15, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 4. it will of course be apparent to those skilled in the art that the key must be slid into the pocket a distance such that the head underlies the pocket portion below the slit as shown in FIG. 1 and the key is thereafter worked back so that the head underlies the portion of the pocket wall beneath the slit, as viewed in FIG. 4.

Either before or after the key is inserted into the pocket, the holder may be secured to a wire or the like by training the body portion 16 through locking slot 21, with the wire, as seen in FIGS. 3, 4, and S encircled by the attaching portion 20 and body portion 16.

It is thus seen that a simple inexpensive secreting holder'has been provided serving to provide means for securely maintain-- ing an object such as a key or the like in a hidden position at:- cessible only to those aware of the location of the holder and its mode operation.

The above disclosure has been given by way of illustration and elucidation and not by way of limitation, and it is desired to protect all embodiments of the herein disclosed inventive concept within the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A secreting holder for keys or the like, said holder comprising: a flexible walled body portion having two spaced walls defining a pocket therebetween, one of said walls having an access slit through which an object to be stored may be inserted into said pocket; an attaching portion on one end of said body portion hingedly secured thereto, said attaching portion having a slot of a dimension permitting the passage therethrough of said body portion, to permit a wire or the like elongate member to be sandwiched between said body portion and said attaching portion for securement of said holder to said elongate member.

2. A holder as in Claim 1 in which said access slit is formed at a distance spaced from the edges of said body portion.

3. A holder as in Claim 1 formed of a T-shaped configuration with said body portion formed by the leg of the T and said attaching portion-formed by the cross part of the T.

4. A holder as in Claim 1 which is formed by two superposed congruent sheets of thermoplastic material; and a heat seal is formed at the peripheral boundaries of said sheets to join them with the sheets forming said spaced walls defining a pocket therebetween.

5. A holder as in Claim 4 in which said sheets are of a T- shaped configuration.

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