[0001] The present invention relates to safe deposit locker installations.
[0002] Safe deposit lockers provide an excellent facility for individual renters to safeguard
their valuables. The typical safe deposit installation comprises a rectangular array
of individually-lockable compartments (ie lockers) located within a secure vault or
strongroom. Usually, the door of each locker is equipped with a lock which requires
two separate keys to open it. One key, (different for each locker), is issued to the
respective renter, while the other key is held by the bank or other organisation which
administers the installation. The latter key, which is generally termed the "custodian"
key, may be the same for a group of lockers. The advantage of this dual-key operation
is, of course, that in normal operation both the respective renter and a member of
the custodian organisation must be present whenever a locker is unlocked. However,
the greater measure of security against forcible entry to the lockers is provided
not by the construction of the lockers themselves but by the construction of the vault
or other secure area wherein the lockers are housed and to which access is normally
strictly limited. If criminals are, by whatever means, able to gain access to the
room where the lockers are housed then it is an easy matter, relatively speaking,
to force open or penetrate the doors of typical safe deposit lockers.
[0003] It is an aim of the present invention to provide a safe deposit locker installation
with increased security against forcible entry to the lockers, assuming that access
to the locker room has been gained. More particularly the invention seeks to achieve
increased security by providing additional elements to resist opening of the locker
doors but without requiring changes in the construction of currently-produced lockers
themselves, and which additional elements are of a nature to facilitate retro-fitting
to existing installations. Preferably the use of such additional elements should not
unduly complicate the legitimate opening of any safe deposit locker in an installation
but at the same time they should offer protection against opening under duress in
a "hold-up" situation; it is furthermore desirable that such additional elements can
be arranged to release only a limited number of lockers for opening at any one time,
while the remainder of the lockers remain protected.
[0004] Accordingly the present invention provides, in a safe deposit locker installation
comprising an array of individual safe deposit lockers disposed in adjacent vertical
rows, a plurality of vertical, penetration-resistant bars borne for movement relative
to and externally of the array of lockers, each such bar being arranged to be locked
in place in front of a respective said row so as to block the doors of the lockers
in that row from opening and, when unlocked, to be displaceable from that position
so as to permit the doors of the lockers in that row to be opened.
[0005] In one arrangement the bars are borne for horizontal sliding movement immediately
in front of the array of lockers. In another, the bars are borne for pivotal movement
about respective vertical axes.
[0006] Preferably, the widths of said bars, (and where appropriate the geometry of their
pivotal mountings) are so chosen in relation to the widths of the lockers which they
protect that any one bar can be displaced from its locked position to unblock the
doors of the lockers in the respective row while the respective neighbouring bars
remain in their locked positions. In this way it can be arranged that only a limited
number of lockers in any array need be unblocked for opening at any one time.
[0007] The respective bars may be locked in place eg by means of bolts which are thrown
from the upper and lower edges of the bar into fixed detentions provided respectively
above and below the uppermost and lowermost lockers in the protected row, with the
bolts being selectively lockable in their thrown positions by means of a suitable
locking mechanism housed in the bar. Whatever form the bar-locking means may take,
in the normal arrangement where dual-key operation of the individual lockers is involved
it is preferred that the bars cannot be unlocked by a "custodian" key (but rather
by the normal renter's keys appropriate to the protected row or by separate keys issued
only to the renters), to avoid that bank staff or the like can unlock the bars if
placed under duress in a "hold-up" situation, or that a stolen or copied "custodian"
key can be used to release the bars.
[0008] Although we have spoken herein in terms of dual-key-operated lockers it is to be
understood that either or both of the renters' and "custodian" locking mechanisms
on a locker could instead be provided by or supplemented with a keyless combination
locking mechanism or any other convenient kind of code recognition means.
[0009] These and other features of the invention will now be more particularly described,
by way of example, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:
Figure 1 is a perspective view of part of a safe deposit locker installation equipped
with locking bars in accordance with one embodiment of the invention;
Figure 2 is a vertical section through one of the locking bars of Figure 1;
Figure 3 is a perspective view of part of a safe deposit locker installation equipped
with locking bars in accordance with another embodiment of the invention;
Figure 4 is a schematic plan view of part of the installation of Figure 3; and
Figure 5 is a vertical section through one of the locking bars of Figure 3.
[0010] With reference to Figure 1 there is seen part of a safe deposit locker installation
including two rectangular arrays of lockers 1 disposed against adjacent walls inside
a bank vault or the like secure room. The lockers themselves are of purely conventional
construction, with outwardly-hinging doors 21 provided with dual-key operated locks
22. In each array the lockers are disposed in adjacent vertical rows, such as those
designated R
1 - R
10 for one of the arrays in Figure 1.
[0011] Immediately in front of each locker array there are located a series of vertically-extending,
horizontally- slidable, locking bars 2. As more clearly seen in Figure 2, each bar
2 is suspended at its upper end by pairs of rollers 3 (two pairs for each) which run
in a track 4 fixed to a support member 5, the latter being rigidly mounted to the
top of the locker array and (by means of struts 6 and 7) to the adjacent wall and
ceiling of the vault. At its lower end the bar 2 is guided by two rollers 8 which
run in a track 9 fixed to a plinth 10 which latter is rigidly mounted to the usual
locker plinth 11 and to the floor of the vault. As seen in Figure 1 there is one bar
2 for each vertical locker row, and each bar can be locked in place in front of a
respective row so as to block the doors of the lockers in that row from opening. To
this end pairs of bolts 12 and 13 (Figure 2) can be thrown from the upper and lower
ends of a lockcase 14 at the rear of each bar, into appropriately-spaced fixed detentions
15 and 16 welded into the top support member 5 and bottom plinth 10 respectively.
These bolts are thrown and withdrawn by an external handle 17 provided on each bar
(Figure 1) through a suitable mechanical transmission housed in the respective lockcase
14, of which many forms will suggest themselves to those skilled in the art and of
which details are omitted in Figure 2. This boltwork can be selectively locked in
the thrown condition by a respective lock provided in each bar 2 (of which the key
entrances are indicated at 18 in Figure 1).
[0012] The front of each bar 2 is armoured to resist penetration by mechanical and thermal
cutting tools. In a preferred embodiment this protection is provided by a slab 19
of security barrier material comprising a cast matrix of high thermal conductivity
metal (eg aluminium) in which are embedded nuggets of very hard and refractory material
(such as sintered or fused alumina), while the sides of the lockcase 14 behind this
armoured layer may be protected, at least in the region of the lock, by plates of
hardened steel.
[0013] It will be appreciated that so long as a bar 2 remains in place in front of its row
of lockers 1 the doors of those lockers cannot be forced open and even if a locker
door should be cut through around the sides of a bar the bar will impede removal of
the locker's contents, particularly when full-width inner containers such as indicated
at 20 in Figure 1 are used. To obtain legitimate access to any particular locker the
bar 2 for the respective locker row is unlocked and slid sideways on the tracks 3
and 9 to lie clear of the corresponding row - as indicated for the bar of row R
5 in Figure 1 - and the locker door 21 can then be unlocked and opened in the normal
manner. In the illustrated embodiment the width of the bars 2 is slightly less than
one third of the width of the individual lockers 1 so that, as shown, a single bar
2 can be displaced (to either side) from its blocking position to permit opening of
the doors in its locker row, without requiring any displacement of the next adjacent
bars. Only a strictly limited number of lockers (ie one vertical row) need therefore
be unblocked at any one time in normal operation.
[0014] Turning now to Figures 3 and 4 there is seen part of another safe deposit locker
installation including two rectangular arrays of lockers 101 disposed against adjacent
walls inside a bank vault or the like secure room. The lockers themselves are of purely
conventional construction, with outwardly-hinging doors 102 provided with dual-operation
locks 103 of a known type comprising a key-operated "custodian" mechanism plus a renters'
mechanism released by turning a key and entering a specified combination on three
dials 104. In each array the lockers are disposed in adjacent vertical rows, such
as those designated R'
1 - R'in for one of the arrays in Figure 3.
[0015] By virtue of the protrusion of the lock dials 104 from the locker doors in this arrangement
it is not readily practicable to equip this installation with sliding locking bars
as described above with reference to Figures 1 and 2. Accordingly in this embodiment
there are associated with each locker array a series of vertically-extending, hinged
locking bars 105. Each bar is mounted at its upper and lower ends to transverse cantilever
arms 106 which are in turn pivoted by pins 107 to fixed structure above and below
the uppermost and- lowermost lockers 101 in the array. More particularly, and as shown
in Figure 5, the upper pivot pin 107 is borne in a block 108 welded to a mounting
member 109 which is rigidly attached to the top of the locker array and (by means
of struts 110) to the adjacent rear wall of the vault; attachment points may also
be provided to the ceiling of the vault. The lower pivot pin 107 is borne in a block
111 welded to a plinth 112 which is rigidly attached to the usual locker plinth 113
and to the floor of the vault.
[0016] As seen in Figure 3 there is one bar 105 for each vertical locker row, and each bar
can be locked in place in front of a respective row so as to block the doors of the
lockers in that row from opening. To this end pairs of bolts 114 and 115 (Figure 5)
can be thrown from the upper and lower ends of a lockcase 116 at the rear of each
bar, into appropriately-spaced fixed detentions 117 and 118 provided in the blocks
108 and 111. As before, these bolts are thrown and withdrawn by an external handle
119 provided on each bar (Figure 3) through a suitable mechanical transmission housed
in the respective lockcase 116, and this boltwork can be selectively locked in the
thrown condition by a respective key lock provided in each bar 105 (of which the key
entrances are indicated at 120 in Figure 3). Also as in the case of the previous embodiment,
the front of each bar 105 is armoured to resist penetration by mechanical and thermal
cutting tools, preferably by means of a slab 121 of security barrier material comprising
a cast matrix of high thermal conductivity metal in which are embedded nuggets of
very hard and refractory material, while the sides of the lockcase 116 behind this
armoured layer may be protected, at least in the region of the lock, by hardened plates.
[0017] Once again it will be appreciated that so long as a bar 105 remains in place in front
of its row of lockers 101 the doors of those lockers cannot be forced open and even
if a locker door should be cut through around the sides of a bar the bar will impede
removal of the locker's contents, particularly when full-width inner containers such
as indicated at 122 in Figure 3 are used. To obtain legitimate access to any particular
locker the bar 105 for the respective locker row is unlocked and swung outwardly away
from the lockers to lie clear of the doors 102 of that row, and the chosen locker
can then be unlocked and opened in the usual way. This is indicated for the bar of
row R'
S in Figure 3 and is indicated also in Figure 4 where the loci of opening movement
of the illustrated bars are shown at 105' and the loci for the corresponding locker
doors are shown at 102'. Figure 4 also shows that the "hand" of the hinges for the
bar 105 in row R'
10 - ie at the corner where the two locker arrays meet - is reversed as compared with
the other rows R'
1 - R'g in the same array to permit unobstructed opening of that bar. The geometry of
the mountings of each bar 105 is arranged so that any one bar can be unlocked and
swung away from its corresponding row of lockers without disturbing the neighbouring
bars; only a strictly limited number of lockers (ie one vertical row) need therefore
be unblocked at any one time in normal operation.
[0018] As previously indicated, it is desirable that the bars 2 or 105 in either of the
above-described embodiments should not be capable of unlocking by a "custodian" key,
to guard against loss in a "hold-up" situation or if a "custodian" key should become
compromised. It is preferred that each bar 2/105 requires a different key to pass
its own lock, and that the keys for this purpose are issued only to the renters of
lockers in the corresponding vertical row. The keys for this purpose can be additional
to the normal renters' keys or the bar lock and the individual locks 22/103 for each
locker in the same row can be suited such that the normal renter's key for any locker
in that row will also unlock the corresponding bar 2/105.
[0019] If desired, each bar 2 or 105 can embody a detector device to trigger an alarm in
the event of an attack on the bar. In a simple form the detector may comprise a cord
running in a narrow tube between the slab 19/121 and the external skin of the bar,
and cnnected to a microswitch so that if the cord is cut, or slackened due to distortion
of the bar, the alarm will be triggered by the switch.
1. A safe deposit locker installation comprising an array of individual safe deposit
lockers (1;101) disposed in adjacent vertical rows (Rl - R10: R'l - R'10); characterised by a plurality of vertical, penetration-resistant bars (2;105) borne
for movement relative to and externally of the array of lockers, each such bar being
arranged to be locked in place in front of a respective said vertical row so as to
block the doors (21;102) of the lockers in that row from opening and, when unlocked,
to be displaceable from that position so as to permit the doors of the lockers in
that row to be opened.
2. An installation according to claim 1 wherein said bars (2) are borne for horizontal
sliding movement immediately in front of the array of lockers (1).
3. An installation according to claim 2 wherein the widths of said bars (2) are so
chosen in relation to the widths of the lockers (1) which they protect that any one
bar can be displaced sideways from its locked position to unblock the doors of the
lockers in the respective row (Rl - R10) while the respective neighbouring bars remain in their locked positions.
4. An installation according to claim 1 wherein said bars (105) are borne for pivotal
movement about respective vertical axes (107).
5. An installation according to claim 4 wherein the widths of said bars (105) and
the geometry of their pivotal mountings (106,107) are so chosen in relation to the
widths of the lockers (101) which they protect that any one bar can be swung away
from its locked position to unblock the doors (102) of the lockers in the respective
row (R'1 - R'10) while the respective neighbouring bars remain in their locked positions.
6. An installation according to claim 4 or claim 5 wherein each said bar (105) is
mounted by cantilever arms (106) to a respective pair of pivotal bearing means (107)
which are located respectively above and below the uppermost and lowermost lockers
(101) in the array and spaced laterally from the respective bar.
7. An installation according to any preceding claim wherein the individual lockers
(1;101) in a said row (R1 - R10; R'1 - R'10) are equipped with dual-operation locks (22;103) which require recognition of both
a respective "renter's" key or other code means and a "custodian" key or other code
means to unlock, and the respective said bar (2;105) is equipped with a lock (18;120)
which cannot be unlocked by said "custodian" key or other code means.
8. An installation according to claim 7 wherein the lock (18;120) of the respective
said bar (2;105) can be unlocked by each "renter's" key or other code means of the
individual lockers (1;101) in said row (R1 - R10; R'1 - R'10).
9. An installation according to claim 7 wherein the lock (18;120) of the respective
said bar (2;105) can only be unlocked by a key or other code means different both
from said "custodian" key or other code means and from each "renter's" key or other
code means of the individual lockers (1;101) in said row (R1 - R10; R'1 - R'10).
10. An installation according to any preceding claim wherein each said bar (2;105)
is adapted to be locked in place by means of bolts (12,13;114,115) thrown from the
upper and lower edges of the bar into fixed detentions (15,16; 117,118) provided respectively
above and below the uppermost and lowermost lockers (1;101) in the protected row (R1 - R10; R'1 - R'10); and the bar houses a locking mechanism for selectively locking said bolts in their
thrown positions.
ll. An installation according to any preceding claim wherein each said bar (2;105)
incorporates a penetration-resistant slab (19;121) comprising a cast matrix of high
thermal conductivity metal in which are embedded particles of a very hard and refractory
material.