Patent Grant
10514236
The detachable shield for tactical equipment box generally relates to law enforcement equipment and more specifically to a shield that locks upon a box storing weapons therein.
For centuries, merchants, banks, corporations, people of means, and others have transported high value cargo. The cargo has such value that its container must survive a failure of its transportation and corruption of persons who handle it. High value cargo travels within containers of great strength and limited access to open them.
In olden days, high value cargo, such as gold or jewels, travelled in strongboxes. Such strongboxes had a rigid construction with reinforced edges and intricate locking mechanism. Even if a strongbox fell off a transport vehicle or the vehicle caught fire, the strongbox kept its cargo safe. In modern times, high value cargo travels in armored vehicles with less corruptible handlers and guards.
High value cargo also includes firearms and other weapons. These weapons assist law enforcement officers to carry out their duties. Law enforcement officers travel in various vehicles, automotive, aircraft, and watercraft. Such officers predominantly use upgraded sedans and now SUV. In those vehicles, weapons face transportation risks much like cargo of the olden days. In those vehicles, weapons face new risks from skilled thieves and perhaps gunrunners for extra-legal groups.
Law enforcement officers deal with active shooter situations more and more often. In those situations, a person or persons have opened fire on civilians and law enforcement must respond instantly. Law enforcement officers, also called first responders, do not have the luxury of time to travel to the police armory and load up emergency gear and special equipment prior to responding: the public expects them there already. Special units, like SWAT, take time to muster and then respond. SWAT teams generally have a small percentage of people responding to an emergency. That leaves patrol officers, your typical cop, to protect the public, instantly. Patrol officers must have their specialized weapons and safety equipment immediately available to them, in their patrol cars, so to respond safely and instantly to an active shooter situation, a riot, and the like. Any and all on duty officers must have the proper equipment, with them, to respond to these active shooter, terrorist, and other calls. At the same time, police automotive vehicles become smaller as the amount of police equipment grows.
The rising number of active shooter situations and fluctuating terrorist threats call for more law enforcement officers to respond differently than in the past, the recent past no less. Law enforcement officers must respond directly to the scene, such as the Boston marathon bombing, the Sandy Hook, Conn. school shooting, and the Aurora, Colo. movie theater shooting. Law enforcement officers must have all of their active shoot equipment that they may need to deploy. And the equipment must remain secure within a vehicle but transfer readily from one vehicle to the next as a law enforcement officer transfers. The need for preparation and swift response has expanded from just the patrol units and SWAT teams to others. Even off-duty officers must have the preparation and equipment to respond directly to a scene. Management of law enforcement, such as command staff, administrators, and detectives must also prepare and equip themselves to respond to a scene as well. As these various persons prepare and respond to a scene, security of the equipment and convenience to a law enforcement officer become critical to effective and safe deployments.
An urgent need exists to provide police and other law enforcement with a way to transport and then secure emergency tactical gear in patrol vehicles. Such gear includes rifles, shotguns, other firearms, ballistic helmets, hard armor plates and plate carriers, ammunition, personal ballistic shields, and the like.
Police officers face an additional problem currently. Over half of the new police and law enforcement vehicles have the form of SUVs and trucks rather than the traditional sedans with trunks. Because of the lack of trunks in the current SUVs and trucks a need exists to secure and conceal tactical gear and equipment and ballistic shields.
Current events involving protests, near riots, and riots have rapidly increased deployments of police and law enforcement. Those deployments have more officers transporting more gear than in the past. The tactical protective gear, equipment, and weapons carried in police and law enforcement vehicles have a selection and arrangement made by each officer. This gear largely reflects the individual preferences of each officer rather than traditional generic or standard “in every car” equipment, commonly seen as first aid kits, blankets, fire extinguishers, and the like. Transporting all of the individual equipment, such as helmets, plates, ballistic shields, plate carriers, and weapons, to and from a patrol vehicle must be secure, rapid, and easy for the officers. Merely carrying all of these tactical items, gear, and equipment with other officer gear would call for multiple trips by an officer to and from a police department headquarters and his vehicle at the start and end of each shift for each officer.
Over the years, various containers for weapons have appeared. Army units utilize racks with locking arms, cables, and chains to store weapons in arms rooms protected by JSIIDS, joint service interior intrusion detection system, or other systems. Once a weapon is removed from an arms room, a soldier has physical contact with it at all times. However, a law enforcement officer generally keeps his weapon holstered to avoid alarming the public. A law enforcement officer has additional weapons stored in his vehicle or other location ready for the “load and respond” call to reach him. Various suppliers have provided metal lockers of hardened steel with locking mechanisms and hingedly connected steel lids. The lockers have a size and a weight suitable for lifting and placement into a vehicle trunk. Preferably the lids remain connected to the box and some models have a self closing lid. If a law enforcement officer has a shield, it fits within the prior art box and occupies a portion of the box's volume.
The prior art has also provided various gun safes, gun cabinets, and upright lockers. These containers keep guns under lock and key however the containers and their doors do not lend themselves to lifting and loading into the trunk of a patrol car.
The detachable shield for tactical equipment box has a rectangular form with an outer surface and an opposite inner surface, a long first edge and a mutually parallel and spaced apart second edge, at least two hinges upon the first edge that cooperate with second hinges mounted to a box, a second lock component that cooperates with a prime lock component mounted to a box opposite the second hinges, and a handle joined to the inner surface. The first hinges, handle, and second lock component join to the shield without fracturing it as with ballistic bolts, pan headed mechanical fasteners, or adhesives. The first hinges separate from the second hinges so that a law enforcement officer can take the shield from the box for use as a protective device from projectiles. In an alternate embodiment, the second component joins to the inner surface along with a reinforcing strip along the second edge.
The shield of the invention cooperates with other components to function as a portable single container that stores critical deployment gear of a law enforcement officer, including a rifle, other weapons, ammunition, ballistic helmet, body armor, and the like. The container has a box of a size that fits into the trunks of sedans used for law enforcement and into the rear areas of SUVs. The box has handles upon its four sides so that a law enforcement officer can carry the box and transfer it between one vehicle to another. The box includes solid D-rings or other feature that provides for securement, using a cable, of the box to the vehicle. The securement meets or exceeds federal regulatory standards.
The invention's shield maximizes the equipment that can be stored within a box equipped with the shield. The shield allows off duty officers to store their prescribed equipment safely in their homes so it remains available for “load and respond” situations. The invention's shield also cooperates with a programmable lock with key override. The invention's shield removes quickly from the remainder of a box so that a law enforcement officer has complete access within the box to its contents. The shield of the invention, though functioning as a lid to the box, also operates as an NIJ certified ballistic shield.
The present invention provides secure storage and has the unique feature of the lid detaching quickly. The lid then provides a portable ballistic shield. The lid of the present invention has an aluminum outer shell, an additional ballistic lining, or backing material, and a handle, or strap, so an officer can carry the shield and later hold the lid as a personal shield. The aluminum outer surface works with the ballistic lining to provide various ballistic threat levels of protection.
The present invention conceals it ballistic shield into the lid's design and form. The present invention then both secures the ballistic shield to a box and hides the ballistic shield from view. The concealment happens from the lid's lack of identification as a ballistic shield but rather it has the appearance of an ordinary box lid when seen from the outside.
The present invention has a volume of space to hold all of the individual gear of an officer within it. Because the lid of the invention serves as a ballistic shield, the entire kit of an officer can be transported back and forth from the police department headquarters to a patrol vehicle in a single trip. The invention allows an officer to keep all of the equipment secure while locked within the box of the present invention.
There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, the more important features of the invention in order that the detailed description thereof that follows may be better understood and that the present contribution to the art may be better appreciated. The present invention also includes a plurality of handles for the shield, lighting upon the shield, windows within the shield, a length less than five feet, and cooperative securement with cable to vehicle systems. The shield of the invention in cooperation with a box provides an all in one secure storage, ease of handling and loading into a vehicle, ease of transport, and an integral ballistic shield. With the shield operating as a lid for the box, the shield saves on volume within the box for use by other equipment. The shield permits stacking of boxes upon it for storage at a police armory and more often at the home of a law enforcement officer. Additional features of the invention will be described hereinafter and which will form the subject matter of the claims attached.
Numerous objects, features and advantages of the present invention will be readily apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art upon a reading of the following detailed description of the presently preferred, but nonetheless illustrative, embodiment of the present invention when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. Before explaining the current embodiment of the invention in detail, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its application to the details of construction and to the arrangements of the components set forth in the following description or illustrated in the drawings. The invention is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced and carried out in various ways. Also, the phraseology and terminology employed herein are for the purpose of description and should not be regarded as limiting.
One object of the present invention is to provide a detachable shield for tactical equipment box that operates as a lid upon a weapons strongbox and as a shield for an officer.
Another object is to provide such a detachable shield for tactical equipment box that detaches abruptly from the remainder of the strongbox.
Another object is to provide such a detachable shield for tactical equipment box that has a quick disconnect and mounting system which has a specific steel bracket kit installed in a patrol vehicle that has cooperating holes and attachments in the box for an officer to quickly secure the invention to a patrol vehicle.
Another object is to provide such a detachable shield for tactical equipment box that has a lid of a rectangular shape so officers may quickly stack, hold, or position multiple ballistic lids horizontally, or vertically, thus providing a wall of ballistic protection to a phalanx of officers behind it.
Another object is to provide such a detachable shield for tactical equipment box that has a quick fastening device to assist in connecting and positioning multiple ballistic box lids to form a larger combined shield or a shield of a certain shape.
Another object is to provide such a detachable shield for tactical equipment box made and distributed at a price suitable for purchase by law enforcement officers and various departments and agencies through retail stores, catalog supply houses, government contracting and procurement, and the like.
These together with other objects of the invention, along with the various features of novelty that characterize the invention, are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this disclosure. For a better understanding of the invention, its operating advantages and the specific objects attained by its uses, reference should be had to the accompanying drawings and descriptive matter in which there is illustrated a preferred embodiment of the invention.
In referring to the drawings,
The same reference numerals refer to the same parts throughout the various figures.
The present art overcomes the prior art limitations by providing a detachable shield for tactical equipment box. A tactical equipment box, or box, may take on many forms. However, as firearm weapons have a generally elongated and slender shape, boxes have a similar elongated shape, preferably rectangular prismatic.
Upon the back 3 generally spaced opposite the bottom 5, the box has at least two, and up to and including nine second hinges 6. The Applicant prefers three second hinges 6 as shown. The second hinges have a mutual spacing selected for even load distribution to the back 3 and to a shield later shown. Opposite the second hinges, the front 2 has a prime component 7 of a lock assembly. This prime component has a cylinder for keyed access and an electronic portion for combination access. The prime component has an aperture, not shown, to receive a secondary component upon the shield later shown.
Having referred to the shield previously,
Upon the first edge, the shield has a plurality of first hinges 12 of the same number as the second hinges previously shown. The first hinges cooperate with the second hinges so that the shield pivots upwardly from the box towards the back so that a law enforcement officer may access the contents within the box. Because the first hinges join to the shield, the shield may separate from the box as desired by the law enforcement officer.
When a law enforcement officer removes the shield 10 from the box 1, the shield appears in a bottom view in
The shield also has a second component 17 of the lock generally opposite the first hinges, that is, upon the second edge 14. The second component joins to the shield as do the first hinges as in ballistic bolts, an adhesive, rivet, and the like. The second component extends outwardly from the plane of the shield, that is, towards the reader so it may engage the prime component of the lock. The second component has a hook like, hasp like, or other shape suitable for clasping with the prime component of the lock. This figure shows one second component because having a single lock speeds a law enforcement officer when unlocking the shield from the box.
However, as described above, the shield seeks to limit the opportunity for a thief to pry between it and the box. A single second component may present an unbraced length of the second edge 14 so that a thief may pry it. In an alternate embodiment, the shield includes a reinforcing bar merged into it along the second edge 14.
And turning to
Opposite the bottom 5, the front 2, the back 3, and the two sides 4 define a rectangular opening of a set width and length. The opening has a size of approximately sixteen inches by thirty six inches where the sides have approximately sixteen inches in width and the front and the back have approximately thirty six inches in length. The box closes the opening with a snug fitting lid 52 of a rectangular shape proportional to that of the opening and thus the box.
Existing shields do not fit into or within existing boxes and thus an officer stores an existing shield separate from a box. An existing shield remains visible as separate from the other contents within the rear of a patrol vehicle. The lid, along with closing the box, serves as a ballistic shield. This lid, or shield, generally has a flat, somewhat planar form with a perimeter 52a and a lip 53 upon the perimeter. The lip 53 extends generally perpendicular to the remainder of the shield. The lip overlaps the upper edges of a box's front 2, and sides 4, as a return 53a, approximately one inch in depth. The box also has a thin top plate 59 generally parallel and spaced apart to the bottom 5 and extending inwardly from the back. The top plate has a width less than three inches and a length similar to that of the width of the back, nearly thirty six inches. The top plate joins to the two sides using welding, adhesive, machining, mechanical connection and the like. The top plate permits a portion of the lip to rotate against it and then close the opening as later shown in
Opposite the bottom 5, each side 4 has an edge 4a at the opening. The edge extends from the front 2 rearwardly to a notch 60 proximate the back and opposite the front. The notch has a partially triangular shape with a narrow depth towards the front and a wider depth towards the back. The notch has its maximum depth below the top plate 59. The notch on each side receives a pin 61 from the lid that functions as a hinge so that an officer may open and close the lid 52 over the opening upon the box 1.
The lid has two mutually parallel and spaced apart longitudinal edges that parallel the front 2 and the back 3 of the box 1. Perpendicular to the longitudinal edges, the lid has two mutually parallel and spaced apart lateral edges that parallel the sides of the box. The longitudinal edges have a first lip 54 adjacent to the front 2 and an opposite second lip 55 spaced away from the first lip for placement adjacent to the top plate 59 and still proximate back, and a third lip 56 adjacent to the side 4 on the left of the box and an opposite fourth lip 57 adjacent to the side 4 on the right of the box as later shown. The first lip, the second lip, the third lip, and the fourth lip extend downwardly, that is, towards the bottom 5 of the box for about one inch.
More particularly, the second lip 55 hangs beneath the lid but does not join to the third lip and the fourth lip. The second lip has a narrow notch spacing it from the third lip and the fourth lip so that the lid may close upon the box and the edges 4a of the sides 4 may rest between the third lip, the fourth lip, and the second lip. The third lip and the fourth lip each have a pin 61 that extends perpendicular to the third lip and the fourth lip and mutually inwardly. The pins are generally spaced beneath the below the remainder of the lid. Though a pin in notch as a hinge has been described, the Applicant foresees other separable pivoting connections for use between the lid and the sides of the invention.
While concealing its cargo and purpose from an erstwhile thief, the box of the invention also has its lid 52 ready for use by an officer as a ballistic shield. Such a shield has a handle 16 here shown beneath the lid, that is, within the four lips 53. The handle attaches to the lid at two points 51 using rivets, carriage bolts, other mechanical means, adhesives, and the like.
The lid 52 also has a first component 62 of a lock. The first component attaches to the lid opposite the lip 53 and more particularly opposite the second lip 55 that is towards the front 2. The first component has an upward rim 63 as later shown in
Turning the box 1 of this alternate embodiment,
The first lip, the third lip, and the fourth lip each have a return and a snug overlap as at 53a with the front, the right side, and the left side respectively. The overlap is approximately one inch to deter prying. The second lip 55 has a flush arrangement adjacent to the top plate 59. This flush arrangement also deters prying by a thief or other unauthorized person.
With the lid closed upon the box, the first component 62 of the lock engages the second component 64, not shown. The first component has a generally centered position relative to the front and a position close to the front 2 for ease of officer use. The rim 63 of the first component extends upwardly from the lid as shown, that is, opposite the other lips, collectively lip 53. Proximate the right side in this figure, the lid 52 has two points 51 showing the attachment of the handle 16 concealed within the box 1.
Looking into the box 1 from the front 2,
A further alternate embodiment of the lid appears in
Opposite
And, opposite
To what purpose do the four lips have male components and female components? Officers using multiple lids, such as in riot control deployment, may take two adjacent lids and interlock them using the male components 12 of a first lip of one shield to the female components 58 of a second lip of a second shield in assembling a horizontal shield wall. Each lid has a male component 12 on the third lip 56 of the left side 4 shown in
And,
A container for weapons and police equipment has a box with a front, a mutually parallel and spaced apart back, two sides mutually parallel and spaced apart sides, a bottom, a top plate opposite the bottom and proximate the back, the sides being perpendicular to the front. The box then has a lid of ballistic material pivoting upon the top plate, the lid having a closed position upon the front and the sides wherein the lid is coplanar with the top plate, an open position spaced above the front and the sides wherein the lid attains an angle to the bottom, and a detached position wherein the lid separates from the box for independent usage by a user. The lid has a perimeter and a lip hanging beneath the perimeter and the lid cooperates with the box to present an ordinary appearance to avoid alerting another to its contents all while the lid serves as a bulletproof shield for a user.
The lip has components of a first lip, a spaced apart second lip, a third lip and a mutually parallel and spaced apart fourth lip, the third lip and the fourth lip being perpendicular to the first lip. With the lip in the closed position, the first lip overlaps a portion of the front, the third lip overlaps a portion of one of the sides, and the fourth lip overlaps a portion of the other of the sides, wherein each of the first lip, the third lip, and the fourth lip have a return over the box. Also with the lip in the closed position, the first lip overlaps a portion of the front, the third lip overlaps a portion of one of the sides, and the fourth lip overlaps a portion of the other of the sides, and each of the first lip, the third lip, and the fourth lip have a return over the box along with the second lip being adjacent to the top plate. In the open position of the lid, or bulletproof shield, the first lip is spaced outwardly from the front, the third lip is spaced outwardly from one of the sides, and the fourth lip is spaced outwardly from the other of the sides, while the second lip is adjacent to the top plate and the lid rotates outwardly from the box upon the second lip. The second lip has a generally L shaped cross section.
Each of the sides has a notch opposite the bottom and the front. The second lip has two pins, generally coaxial, mutually spaced apart, and oriented outwardly wherein each of the pins rests upon one of the notches. The lid, or bulletproof shield, pivots upon the pins from the closed position to the open position. The lid separates from the box as an officer pulls the lid lifting the pins from the notches.
The lid has a first component and the front has a second component so that the first component and the second component cooperate to secure the lid upon the box when in the closed position. The lid also has a shield handle upon it generally oriented downwardly with the lip and not visible out of the box when the lid is in the closed position. Each of the sides has a box handle thereon generally oriented in a direction outwardly of the lip. The lid also has an outer layer including the first lip, the second lip, the third lip, and the fourth lip and an inner layer locating opposite the outer layer wherein the outer layer has ballistic protection and the inner layer provides backing.
To assist with combining two or more shields, the lid or ballistic shield has at least two male components upon the first lip, at least two female components upon the second lip, at least one male component upon the third lip, at least one female component upon the fourth lip. The components connect adjacent shields when one of the male components on a first lid cooperatively connects with one of the female components on a second lid thus allowing multiple lids to form a horizontal shield and multiple lids to form a vertical wall. Each of the male components readily connects with each of the female components for rapidly assembly of a horizontal shield and a vertical wall and also readily separates from each of the female components for abrupt disassembly of a horizontal shield and of a vertical wall.
This invention has a further alternate embodiment with a quick disconnect and mounting system. This system has a specific steel bracket kit installed in a patrol vehicle and cooperating holes and attachments in the box of the present invention for an officer to quickly secure the invention to a patrol vehicle.
From the aforementioned description, a detachable shield for tactical equipment box has been described. The detachable shield for tactical equipment box is uniquely capable of securing to a box sufficiently to meet federal weapons storage regulations and removing readily from the box for use as a shield against projectiles. Further, the detachable shield for tactical equipment box may also have additional hinge points and a reinforced second edge. The detachable shield for tactical equipment box and its various components may be manufactured from many materials, including but not limited to, polymers, such as nylon, polypropylene, polyvinyl chloride, high density polyethylene, polypropylene, ferrous and non-ferrous metal foils, their alloys, ceramics, and composites.
Various aspects of the illustrative embodiments have been described using terms commonly employed by those skilled in the art to convey the substance of their work to others skilled in the art. However, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the present invention may be practiced with only some of the described aspects. For purposes of explanation, specific numbers, materials and configurations have been set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the illustrative embodiments. However, it will be apparent to one skilled in the art that the present invention may be practiced without the specific details. In other instances, well known features are omitted or simplified in order not to obscure the illustrative embodiments.
Various operations have been described as multiple discrete operations, in a manner that is most helpful in understanding the present invention, however, the order of description should not be construed as to imply that these operations are necessarily order dependent. In particular, these operations need not be performed in the order of presentation.
Moreover, in the specification and the following claims, the terms “first,” “second,” “third” and the like—when they appear—are used merely as labels, and are not intended to impose numerical requirements on their objects.
The above description is intended to be illustrative, and not restrictive. For example, the above-described examples (or one or more aspects thereof) may be used in combination with each other. Other embodiments can be used, such as by one of ordinary skill in the art upon reviewing the above description. The Abstract is provided to allow the reader to ascertain the nature of the technical disclosure. Also, in the above Detailed Description, various features may be grouped together to streamline the disclosure. This should not be interpreted as intending that an unclaimed disclosed feature is essential to any claim. Rather, inventive subject matter may lie in less than all features of a particular disclosed embodiment. Thus, the following claims are hereby incorporated into the Detailed Description, with each claim standing on its own as a separate embodiment. The scope of the invention should be determined with reference to the appended claims, along with the full scope of equivalents to which such claims are entitled.
As such, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the conception, upon which this disclosure is based, may readily be utilized as a basis for the designing of other structures, methods and systems for carrying out the several purposes of the present invention. Therefore, the claims include such equivalent constructions insofar as they do not depart from the spirit and the scope of the present invention.
This nonprovisional application claims priority to pending non-provisional application Ser. No. 14/683,941 with a filing date of Apr. 10, 2015 which claims priority to provisional application No. 61/978,589 with a filing date of Apr. 11, 2014 and all are owned by the same inventor.
| Number | Name | Date | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| D441954 | Parker | May 2001 | S |
| 20080047860 | Shane | Feb 2008 | A1 |
| 20140000495 | Spencer | Jan 2014 | A1 |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20170052001 A1 | Feb 2017 | US |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 61978589 | Apr 2014 | US |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parent | 14683941 | Apr 2015 | US |
| Child | 15288865 | US |
