Device for locking and releasing objects intended for public use, such as luggage carts

A device for locking and releasing objects intended for public use, especially objects intended to be put at public disposal free of charge, such as luggage carts in a railway station or an airport, or shopping carts in self-service stores, such objects capable of being taken directly from a common storage station and returned to the storage station,

• said device including a locking apparatus in the form of a casing and adapted to be affixed to a part of each object,
• attaching means for affixing said locking apparatus to a part of each object,
• a connecting lock having male and female means secured to respective longitudinal endmost portions of said casing forming said locking apparatus, for locking each object to an adjacent object or to a fixed point in compact storage position, and
• a slit provided in said casing through which a coin or the like is introduced to allow unlocking of said locking apparatus and release of the object by exerting a pull thereon,
• said locking apparatus being arranged to return the coin or the like when the object is returned to the storage station and is locked by said connecting lock to the adjacent object or to the fixed point,
• wherein said female means is constituted by a clamp comprising two unsymmetrical jaws, and said male means is constituted by a connecting bar secured to the object or to the fixed point, and having a diameter perfectly calibrated so that said male means can fit in between said jaws,
• wherein said connecting bar secured to the object comprises a first portion in the form of a hollow cylinder and a second portion forming a cylindrical shoulder integral with said first portion,
• wherein said portions are mounted on a support arbor removably secured to the endmost portion of said casing of said locking apparatus with the first hollow cylindrical portion having a diameter corresponding to said calibrated diameter to allow said cylindrical portion to fit into a first one of said jaws of the locking apparatus of an adjacent object, the second jaw being so shaped as to allow said second cylindrical shoulder, having a calibrated diameter, to bear thereon, the removal of said support arbor from the endmost portion of said casing permitting direct release of the adjacent object from said object, both forming part of a rank of objects locked to one another, in order to disrupt said rank,
• and wherein said connecting bar remains inserted between the two jaws of the locking apparatus of the adjacent object once said support arbor is removed.

A device for locking and releasing objects intended for public use, especially objects intended to be put at public disposal free of charge, such as luggage carts in a railway station or an airport, or shopping carts in self-service stores, such objects capable of being taken directly from a common storage station and returned to the storage station,

• said device including a locking apparatus in the form of a casing and adapted to be affixed to a part of each object,
• attaching means for affixing said locking apparatus to a part of each object,
• a connecting lock having male and female means secured to respective longitudinal endmost portions of said casing forming said locking apparatus, for locking each object to an adjacent object or to a fixed point in compact storage position, and
• a slit provided in said casing through which a coin or the like is introduced to allow unlocking of said locking apparatus and release of the object by exerting a pull thereon,
• said locking apparatus being arranged to return the coin or the like when the object is returned to the storage station and locked by said connecting lock to the adjacent object or to the fixed point,
• wherein said female means is constituted by a clamp comprising two unsymmetrical jaws, and said male means is constituted by a connecting bar secured to the object or to the fixed point, and having a diameter perfectly calibrated so that said male means can fit in between said jaws,
• wherein said locking apparatus comprises
• a slide provided with a tongue blocking said clamp in locked position so as to lock said connection lock connecting the object to the adjacent object or to the fixed point,
• an internal blocking member fixing said slide and being movable to a non-blocking position by coming into contact with an edge of the coin introduced within said slit,
• wherein said connecting bar secured to the object comprises a first portion in the form of a hollow cylinder and a second portion forming a cylindrical shoulder integral with said first portion,
• and wherein said portions are mounted on a support arbor removably secured to the endmost portion of said casing of said locking apparatus adjacent to a free end of said slide and spaced from the latter, with the first hollow cylindrical portion having a diameter corresponding to said calibrated diameter to allow said cylindrical portion to fit into a first one of said jaws of the locking apparatus of an adjacent object, the second jaw being so shaped as to allow said second cylindrical shoulder, having a calibrated diameter, to bear thereon, the removal of said support arbor from the endmost portion of said casing permitting direct release of the adjacent object from said object, both forming part of a rank of objects locked to one another, in order to disrupt said rank,
• said connecting bar remaining inserted between the two jaws of the locking apparatus of the adjacent object once said support arbor is removed.