Locking system with multiple latches

A system for lockingly closing and securing a portable lockbox to an underlying base, the system comprising:

• the lockbox, wherein the lockbox includes a box body and a cover for closing the box, and
• the base having a recess within which the lockbox can be securely fixed, the recess being sized and configured to receive a portion of the lockbox;
• wherein the cover comprises at least one locking tab extending therefrom, the at least one locking tab having a bore formed therethrough adjacent a distal end thereof, wherein the cover further comprises a rotatable handle fixedly associated with a correspondingly rotatable shaft extending into the interior of the box body,
• wherein the box body comprises a sidewall and a bottom, and an open side opposite the box body bottom, the open side being sized and shaped to conform with the cover so as to be selectively closable thereby, wherein the box body includes a corresponding at least one bore formed through the sidewall at a location corresponding to the bore formed through the at least one locking tab of the cover when the cover is situated to close the open side of the box body,
• wherein the recess comprises a sidewall and a bottom in a configuration corresponding to the sidewall and bottom of the box body, wherein the recess is provided with a locking system for lockingly retaining the lockbox in the recess,
• wherein the locking system comprises:
• a central actuation mechanism;
• and
• a number of latch mechanisms corresponding to the number of locking tabs associated with the cover, each latch mechanism being operably connected to the central actuation mechanism via a respective flexible connector, each latch mechanism comprising an elongate latching member constructed and arranged to be selectively extended along a direction of extension of the elongate latching member into a latching position and retracted into a release position and in correspondence with an operation of the central actuation mechanism,
• wherein each latch mechanism is located in the base adjacent to the sidewall of the recess in a location corresponding to the at least one bore formed through the sidewall of the box bottom, the sidewall of the recess also having a bore formed therethrough permitting the latching member of the at least one latching mechanism to be selectively extended and retracted through the bore of the sidewall of the recess so that the latching member further selectively extends through and retracts from the at least one bore formed in the box body sidewall and the bore formed in the at least one locking tab, thereby selectively retaining the box body relative to the recess and the cover relative to box body;
• wherein each respective flexible connector comprises an inner flexible cable slidably disposed within an outer flexible tubular sheath, wherein a first end of the inner cable is connected with an end of the corresponding latching member and a second end of the inner cable is operably connected with the central actuation mechanism, such that extension and retraction of the latching member corresponds with extension and retraction of the inner cable within the outer sheath obtained by operation of the central actuation mechanism;
• wherein the central actuation mechanism comprises:
• a base plate;
• a drive member rotatably mounted on the base plate, the drive member being operably engageable with the rotatable shaft of the cover when the cover is situated to close off the open side of the box body;
• and
• a cable pull member pivotably connected to a peripheral portion of the drive member, the cable pull member including an engaging portion for engaging respective second ends of the inner cables of the flexible connectors opposite the first ends of the inner cables connected to the respective latching members;
• wherein the drive member is rotatable between a latching position in which the latching members are extended and a release position in which the latching members are retracted, wherein the release position of the drive member is located such that it causes the cable pull member connected thereto to move in a direction that pulls the inner cables engaged by the engaging portion;
• wherein the central actuation mechanism is selectively lockable in a state in which the plurality of latch mechanisms and the drive member are in the latching position.