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US 11,142,928 B2Granted
Receptacle locking device
AssigneeUnited States Postal Service
InventorsJames Edmund Matthews, Joram Shenhar, Terry Martin Gingell, Donald Eugene Irwin, William Albert Tartal
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Receptacle locking devices are disclosed. A receptacle locking device having a contact arm and a pivoting feature can be pivoted from a first, unlocked position to a second, locked position, wherein the contact arm prevents opening of the receptacle door when the locking device is in the second, locked position.
Claims20
A method of locking a receptacle, the method comprising:
- inserting, into a recess of an item receptacle, a frame having a contact arm connected to a top portion of the frame;
- positioning the contact arm within the recess such that the contact arm contacts a door of the receptacle;
- securing the contact arm in position proximate the door such that the contact arm impinges on a front surface of the door;
- and
- preventing opening of the door due to the contact between the contact arm and the front surface of the door.
2 more elements
A locking device comprising:
- a frame;
- a contact arm fixedly attached to an upper portion of the frame, wherein the contact arm extends beyond an edge of the frame, wherein the contact arm is configured to fit within a recess of an item receptacle and contact a front surface of a door of the item receptacle disposed within the recess;
- a lower portion of the frame configured to contact an inner surface of the recess to retain the contact arm in position contacting the front surface of the door.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.