Lock protector
OwnerGarry L. Catlininventor
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A method of protecting a lock on the latch of a shipping container or trailer door without modifying the door latch includes a ring having a bar that is connected at both ends to the inside of the ring. The bar has an aperture dimensioned similarly to the bore on the retainer and handle elements of the door latch. The ring has a rim on one side including a saddle at each end of the bar so that when the rim is placed over the latch the saddles straddle the handle and the bores on the bar, the handle and the retainer are aligned. A shackle of a lock is placed through the bores on the handle, bar and retainer. The ring prevents cutting tools from directly accessing the shackle thereby protecting the lock.
Claims2
A method of protecting a lock on a latch of a shipping container door or trailer door comprising:
- Rotating a latch handle against a catch plate so that a first bore on the latch handle concentrically aligns with a second bore on a retainer;
- A ring is provided that has a bar spanning across a diameter of the ring;
- The bar is permanently affixed to an interior surface of the ring at each end of the bar;
- The bar has a third bore;
- The ring has a first rim and a second rim;
- The first rim on the ring has a first saddle adjacent to a first end of the bar and a second saddle adjacent to a second end of the bar;
- The first rim is placed over the handle so that the first saddle and the second saddle straddle the handle and the first bore and second bore and third bore are concentrically aligned;
- A shackle of a preselected padlock is secured through the first bore and the second bore and the third bore;
- The distance between the third bore and the second rim is greater than a height of the shackle so that the shackle of the padlock cannot be directly accessed by a cutting tool.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.