Patent Application
20240209675
This invention was not federally sponsored.
Ryan Curtis, citizen of USA, resident of Rancho Santa Margarita, CA.
This invention relates to the general field of protective and storage boxes, and more specifically to locking case covers that can be used to effectively and easily secure a case with valuables inside.
The present invention is a case cover that has a top portion, a bottom portion, and two sides that are connected to each other to create a cavity into which a case containing valuables such as guns or drones can be inserted, and then secured with a hasp the attaches to the bottom of the case and has a hole that lines up with a loop on the upper case, thereby allowing a person to put a padlock through the loop to secure the case inside the cover. The cage is preferably made from steel or another tough material, and the cage is designed to snugly retain the case within its confines, thereby minimizing damage to the contents from rattling or shaking. The invention has several embodiments allowing for attachment of the cover to a vehicle or other large object, and there are also embodiments allowing for the length, width and height of the cover to be adjusted for different sizes of cases.
There are cases intended to protect delicate items, such as guns and drones, from the weather. However, these cases often do not have adequate means to protect the cases from being opened, or just stolen. Such a theft would leave the owner poorer for the experience, and in the cases of stolen guns, potentially legally liable—both situations being undesirable for the owner. Thus, there has existed a long-felt need for a cover that both protects the contents of a case against the case being opened and removed, and also protects the entire case from being stolen.
The current invention provides just such a solution by having a simple, metal case cover that has a top and bottom portion that are connected to each other to create a cavity into which a case containing valuables such as guns or drones can be inserted, and then secured with a hasp the attaches to the bottom of the case and has a hole that lines up with a loop on the upper case, thereby allowing a person to put a padlock through the loop to secure the case inside the cover. The invention has several embodiments allowing for attachment of the cover to a vehicle or other large object, and there are also embodiments allowing for the length, width and height of the cover to be adjusted for different sizes of cases.
There is prior art that attempts to rectify this problem.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 7,004,365 to Ingram for a transport cage with enclosed case describes a transport cage (“cage”) and enclosed case combination, wherein the cage is adapted to attach to a vehicle rack where the cage functions simultaneously as a transport container and as a supplemental rack. The cage comprises a first and second tubular framework respectively defining an open box (“box”) and a lid. The lid can move between an open and closed position with respect to the box. In the preferred embodiment the cage is designed to accommodate a rifle case. At least one connector enables the cage to be connected to a vehicle rack. The first or second tubular framework enables additional items to be attached to the cage such that the cage acts as a supplemental rack. The cage and case combination is particularly suited to carrying additional items on an ATV rack thereby extending the carrying capacity of an ATV rack. This invention, however, is overly cumbersome and lacks the ability to adjust to different sizes of cases.
U.S. Pat. No. 9,951,551 to Stack Arms LLC for a portable storage safe with flexible internal locking cage describes a method for securing a storage safe formed from a flexible fabric having a generally rectangular closeable outer shell, at least one longitudinal cable conduit channel and at least one latitudinal cable conduit channels and a plurality of wire cables of predefined length substantially disposed within said cable conduit channels wherein said longitudinal and latitudinal cables traverse the interior surfaces of the outer shell and further wherein said wire cable ends extend beyond said cable conduit channels; adjustable cable locks in operative contact with each wire cable end; at least one storage container disposed within said outer shell, wherein the wire cables are positioned within said wire conduit channels are drawn down upon and tightened on said storage container to form a wire cage and said each adjustable cable lock engages the opposite end of said wire cables end to securely lock the wire cables in place and further comprising a plurality of voids on a lower surface thereof and a separate cable segment and adjustable lock for securing said safe to a structure tie down. This product, however, is made from a flexible fabric which presumably could be cut through to steal the contents of the storage safe and requires wire cables to actually secure the contents. This is considerably more complicated than the current invention.
Finally, Chinese Patent No. 107143216 for a Container cage and container locking mechanism describes a container-locking mechanism on a container cage, with a complicated combination of locks and action bars with tapered ends and lock collars. As with the other prior art cited in this application, this patent describes an overly complicated means to secure items in a cover or cage.
A first object of the invention is to provide a simple, inexpensive means by which a case owner can prevent the case from being opened or stolen.
A second object of the invention is to provide an adjustable cover that can be enlarged or contracted to fit a variety of sizes of cases.
A third object of the invention is to have means by which the case cover can be permanently or removably attached to a large object such as a pickup truck bed
There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, the more important features of the invention in order that the detailed description thereof may be better understood, and in order that the present contribution to the art may be better appreciated. There are additional features of the invention that will be described hereinafter and which will form the subject matter of the claims appended hereto. The features listed herein and other features, aspects and advantages of the present invention will become better understood with reference to the following description and appended claims. The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute part of this specification, illustrate embodiments of the invention and, together with the description, serve to explain the principles of the invention.
It should be understood the while the preferred embodiments of the invention are described in some detail herein, the present disclosure is made by way of example only and that variations and changes thereto are possible without departing from the subject matter coming within the scope of the following claims, and a reasonable equivalency thereof, which claims I regard as my invention.
Several preferred forms of the invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings.
The general concept of the invention is to provide a cover that is closed on five sides and open in the front, thereby allowing a case to be inserted into the cavity. There is some means by which the front of the cover can be removably secured to prevent a thief from simply pulling the case out, or opening the case to remove the valuables. The invention also provides some means by which the device can be secured to a larger object, such as the bed of a pickup truck.
The present invention is a cover designed to secure a case against both outright theft and opening of the case to remove valuables such as guns or drones.
While the foregoing written description of the invention enables one of ordinary skill to make and use what is considered presently to be the best mode thereof, those of ordinary skill will understand and appreciate the existence of variations, combinations, and equivalents of the specific embodiment, method, and examples herein. The invention should therefore not be limited by the above-described embodiment, method, and examples, but by all embodiments and methods within the scope and spirit of the invention.
Many aspects of the invention can be better understood with references made to the drawings below. The components in the drawings are not necessarily drawn to scale. Instead, emphasis is placed upon clearly illustrating the components of the present invention. Moreover, like reference numerals designate corresponding parts through the several views in the drawings. Before explaining at least one embodiment of the invention, it is to be understood that the embodiments of the invention are not limited in their application to the details of construction and to the arrangement of the components set forth in the following description or illustrated in the drawings. The embodiments of the invention are capable of being practiced and carried out in various ways. In addition, the phraseology and terminology employed herein are for the purpose of description and should not be regarded as limiting.
It should be understood that while the preferred embodiments of the invention are described in some detail herein, the present disclosure is made by way of example only and that variations and changes thereto are possible without departing from the subject matter coming within the scope of the following claims, and a reasonable equivalency thereof, which claims I regard as my invention.
All of the material in this patent document is subject to copyright protection under the copyright laws of the United States and other countries. The copyright owner has no objection to the facsimile reproduction by anyone of the patent document or the patent disclosure, as it appears in official governmental records but, otherwise, all other copyright rights whatsoever are reserved.
This Utility patent application claims priority back to U.S. Provisional No. 63/434,867, filed Dec. 22, 2022, the contents of which are incorporated by reference.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 63434867 | Dec 2022 | US |
