Patent Application
20220030200
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The disclosure relates to security devices and more particularly pertains to a new security device for preserving security of a public building.
The prior art relates to security devices including a variety of drop box devices that are lockable and which can be unlocked with a variety of pre-determined security means for storing an object for an authorized recipient. The prior art discloses a method for controlling access to a secured area. The prior art discloses an electronic doorbell device that is in communication with a personal electronic device. The prior art discloses a method of securely storing a package for an authorized recipient.
An embodiment of the disclosure meets the needs presented above by generally comprising a drop box that is positionable adjacent to an entrance of a public building for receiving an object to be delivered to a recipient inside the public building. A communication unit is positioned adjacent to the drop box and the communication unit is in communication with the person when the person approaches the drop box. The communication unit is in communication with a surveillance station in the public building to facilitate the person to communicate with an authorized representative in the public building.
There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, the more important features of the disclosure in order that the detailed description thereof that follows may be better understood, and in order that the present contribution to the art may be better appreciated. There are additional features of the disclosure that will be described hereinafter and which will form the subject matter of the claims appended hereto.
The objects of the disclosure, along with the various features of novelty which characterize the disclosure, are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this disclosure.
The disclosure will be better understood and objects other than those set forth above will become apparent when consideration is given to the following detailed description thereof. Such description makes reference to the annexed drawings wherein:
With reference now to the drawings, and in particular to
As best illustrated in
The drop box 12 has a bottom wall 20 and an outer wall 22 extending upwardly therefrom. The outer wall 22 has a distal edge 24 with respect to the bottom wall 20 to define an opening 26 into the drop box 12 to receive the object 18 intended to be delivered to the recipient inside the public building 16. The outer wall 22 has a first lateral side 21 and a second lateral side 23, and each of the first lateral side 21 and the second lateral side 23 may each have a plurality of air holes 25 extending therethrough.
A lid 28 is hingedly coupled to the drop box 12 for opening and closing the drop box 12. The lid 28 has a lower edge 30, a forward wall 31 a first lateral wall 32 and a second lateral wall 33. The lower edge 30 rests on the distal edge 24 of the outer wall 22 of the drop box 12 when the lid 28 is closed. Additionally, the lower edge 30 is spaced from the distal edge 24 when the lid 28 is opened. The lid 28 has a pair of wings 34 which each extends laterally away from a respective one of the first lateral wall 32 and the second lateral wall 33 of the lid. A handle 35 is coupled to the forward wall 31 of the lid 28 for gripping by a user to open and close the lid 28.
A plurality of legs 36 is provided and each of the legs 36 is coupled to and extends downwardly from the drop box 12 where to support the drop box 12 above a support surface 38. Each of the legs 36 is positioned on the bottom wall 20 of the drop box 12 and each of the legs 36 has a distal end 40 with respect to the bottom wall 20. A plurality of feet 42 is each coupled to the distal end 40 of a respective one of the legs 36 and each of the feet 42 is oriented perpendicular to the respective leg 36. Each of the feet 42 has a top surface 44 and a bottom surface 46, and the top surface 44 is coupled to the distal end 40 of the respective leg 36. In this way the bottom surface 46 of each of the feet 42 rests on the support surface 38.
Each of the feet 42 has an aperture 48 extending thorough the top surface 44 and the bottom surface 46. A plurality of fasteners 50 is provided and each of the fasteners 50 is extendable through the aperture 48 in a respective one of the feet 42. In this way each of the fasteners 50 can engage the support surface 38 for attaching the feet 42 to the support surface 38. Each of the fasteners 50 may comprise a bolt or other type of releasable fastener. As is most clearly shown in
A communication unit 52 is provided and the communication unit 52 is positioned adjacent to the drop box 12. The communication unit 52 is in communication with the person when the person approached the drop box 12. Additionally, the communication unit 52 is in communication with a surveillance station 54 in the public building 16 to facilitate the person to communicate with an authorized representative in the public building 16. The communication unit 52 comprises a housing 56 that is positioned adjacent to the drop box 12, and the housing 56 has a front face 58 that is directed toward the drop box 12.
The communication unit 52 includes a video camera 60 that is coupled to the housing 56 to capture imagery of a person approaching the drop box 12. The video camera 60 is in communication with a surveillance station 54 inside the public building 16. In this way the video camera 60 facilitates the authorized representative in the public building 16 to visually identify the person approaching the drop box 12. The video camera 60 is positioned on the front face 58 of the housing 56 and the video camera 60 is electrically coupled to a power supply 62 comprising an electrical system of the public building 16.
The communication unit 52 includes a call button 64 that is movably coupled to the housing 56 thereby facilitating the call button 64 to be depressed by a user. The call button 64 is electrically coupled to the surveillance station 54 inside the public building 16 to facilitate the surveillance station 54 to emit an audible alert when the call button 64 is depressed. In this way the authorized user is notified that the person has approached the drop box 12.
The communication unit 52 includes a microphone 66 is coupled to the housing 56 to detect words spoken by the user. The microphone 66 is electrically coupled to the surveillance station 54 to facilitate the authorized user to hear the person. The communication unit 52 includes a speaker 68 that is coupled to the housing 56 to emit audible sounds outwardly therefrom. The speaker 68 is electrically coupled to the surveillance station 54 to emit words spoken by the authorized user that can be heard by the person. In this way the authorized user can be instructed to deliver the object 18 in the drop box 12 to the recipient in the public building 16.
In an alternative embodiment 70 as is most clearly shown in
In use, the person approaches the drop box 12 and the person places the object 18 in the drop box 12. The person depresses the call button 64 to notify the authorized representative that the person has placed the object 18 in the drop box 12. Thus, the authorized representative can communicate with the person to find out the intended recipient for the object 18. The authorized representative exits the public building 16 to retrieve the object 18 from the drop box 12 and subsequently deliver the object 18 to the intended recipient. In this way the security of the public building 16 is not compromised by people entering the public building 16 to drop off the object 18, such as a parent entering a public school to drop off a text book that a student has forgotten.
With respect to the above description then, it is to be realized that the optimum dimensional relationships for the parts of an embodiment enabled by the disclosure, to include variations in size, materials, shape, form, function and manner of operation, assembly and use, are deemed readily apparent and obvious to one skilled in the art, and all equivalent relationships to those illustrated in the drawings and described in the specification are intended to be encompassed by an embodiment of the disclosure.
Therefore, the foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the disclosure. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the disclosure to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the disclosure. In this patent document, the word “comprising” is used in its non-limiting sense to mean that items following the word are included, but items not specifically mentioned are not excluded. A reference to an element by the indefinite article “a” does not exclude the possibility that more than one of the element is present, unless the context clearly requires that there be only one of the elements.
