Safe locking mechanism

A safe for retaining articles such as guns and the like, comprising:

• an enclosure formed with an interior sized to retain the articles;
• a door mounted to the enclosure to enable access to the interior;
• a latch assembly located within the interior between the enclosure and the door and releasably engaging the enclosure in a closed position of the door, the latch assembly having:
• a housing removably mounted to an underside of the door, said housing having a bottom provided with a cavity, and a rear wall,
• a latch slidably mounted in the housing,
• a stop received in the cavity and freely displaceable therein,
• a pair of spaced apart grooves opening toward the rear wall of the housing,
• two compression springs, each received in the respective groove and braced against the rear wall and the latch to resiliently bias the latch away from the housing;
• a cam mechanism mounted within the interior of the enclosure and juxtaposed with the latch assembly in the closed position of the door;
• and
• an electronic key assembly for permitting entry of a key code and operatively connected to the cam mechanism, the cam mechanism being actuated in response to the entry of the key code to release the latch assembly from engagement with the enclosure and to open the door.

A safe for retaining articles such as guns and the like, comprising:

• an enclosure formed with an interior sized to retain the articles;
• a door mounted to the enclosure to enable access to the interior;
• a latch assembly located within the interior between the enclosure and the door and releasably engaging the enclosure in a closed position of the door, the latch assembly having a housing provided with a bottom, which has a cavity and with a rear wall, a stop received in the cavity and freely displaceable therein;
• a cam mechanism mounted within the interior of the enclosure and juxtaposed with the latch assembly in the closed position of the door, the cam mechanism having a release lever pivotally mounted in the interior of the enclosure, and a cam rotatably mounted in the interior and being in continuous contact with the release lever so as to enable it to swing toward and away from the latch assembly;
• and
• an electronic key assembly for permitting entry of a key code and operatively connected to the cam mechanism, the cam mechanism being actuated in response to the entry of the key code to release the latch assembly from engagement with the enclosure and to open the door.

A safe for retaining articles such as guns and the like, comprising:

• an enclosure having an interior sized to receive the articles and a rear portion;
• a door mounted pivotally to the enclosure to enable access to the interior;
• a latch assembly releasably engaging the enclosure upon closing the door, the latch assembly having a housing and a ball bearing freely displaceable within the housing;
• and
• an electronic key assembly for permitting entry of a key code and cooperating with the latch assembly upon closing the door so as to displace the latch assembly out of engagement with the enclosure in response to the entry of the key code, the ball bearing being displaceable to disable voluntary retraction of the latch assembly within the housing to prevent an accidental release of the enclosure upon placing it on the rear portion.

A safe for retaining articles such as guns and the like, comprising:

• an enclosure having an interior sized to receive the articles and a rear portion;
• a door mounted pivotally to the enclosure to enable access to the interior;
• a latch assembly releasably engaging the enclosure upon closing the door, the latch assembly having a housing and a stop freely displaceable within the housing;
• a cam mechanism mounted within the interior of the enclosure, the cam mechanism being juxtaposed with the latch assembly when the door is closed and being actuatable by the electronic key assembly to displace the latch assembly out of engagement upon entering the key code, the cam mechanism having a release lever pivotally mounted in the interior of the enclosure, and a cam rotatably mounted in the interior and being in continuous contact with the release lever so as to enable it to swing toward and away from the latch assembly;
• and
• an electronic key assembly for permitting entry of a key code and cooperating with the latch assembly upon closing the door so as to displace the latch assembly out of engagement with the enclosure in response to the entry of the key code, the stop being displaceable to disable voluntary retraction of the latch assembly within the housing to prevent an accidental release of the enclosure upon placing it on the rear portion.

A lockable enclosure for retaining articles, the lockable enclosure being selected from the group consisting of a suitcase, a briefcase, and a safe and comprising:

• an interior sized to receive the articles;
• a housing mounted within the interior of the lockable enclosure;
• a latch assembly adapted to engage the lockable enclosure in a closed position thereof and slidably received in the housing;
• a cam mechanism mounted within the interior and juxtaposed with the latch assembly in the closed position of the lockable enclosure to controllably displace the latch assembly out of engagement into the housing;
• a ball bearing freely displaceable in the housing under a gravitational force to position itself between the housing and the latch assembly so as to arrest retraction of the latch assembly into the housing thereby preventing an accidental release of the lockable enclosure;
• and
• an electronic key assembly for permitting entry of a key code and operatively connected to the cam mechanism to actuate it in response to the entry of the key code.