Safe

Abstract

 A safe is provided comprising a stationary (3) and a movable safe section (4) with access openings (5,6) and doors (8, 10) that close said access openings. Always at least one door is closed. Further the safe can comprise compartments (14-19) for receiving cash-boxes (21) wherein occupied compartments are not accessible from the side of supply.

Description

[0001] The invention relates to a safe. Safes are used among others for storing cash-boxes in super markets or the like. In such cases the contents of the pay-desks are regularly put in said cash-boxes whereafter these cash-boxes are positioned in the safe awaiting the transport to a bank or the like.

[0002] Notwithstanding the increased security obtained by this method compared to removing the money from the pay desks only at the end of the day the use of such safes still has some disadvantages. A considerable risk of hold-ups exists at the moment where the cash-boxes are transferred from the safe towards a money transportation van or the like. At the very moment of transfer bank-robbers can threaten personnel of the super market or the like or can threaten the occupants of the money transportation van. Moreover during such a transfer there often is a direct contact between the surroundings and the inner space of the super market.

[0003] It is an object of the invention to provide a safe removing said disadvantages in a simple, but nevertheless effective way.

[0004] According to the invention the safe is characterised by a stationary safe section that, at two opposite sides, is provided with respective access openings and by a safe section movable relative thereto that, in a closing position, closes both access openings and that, in its other positions, exposes said access openings, wherein further each access opening can be closed by a lockable door, said doors being mutually coupled such, that always at least one of said access openings is closed by its respective door.

[0005] It is possible for example that the safe is built-in in an outer wall of a store, wherein the one access opening is positioned at the side of the store, whereas the other access opening is positioned at the side of the safe facing the surroundings. If a cash-box or the like has to be feeded into the safe at first the movable safe section is moved towards a position exposing the access openings whereafter the door of the store-sided access opening is opened and the cash-box can be inserted into the safe. After closing this door the movable safe section can be brought back towards its closing position in which the cash-box is safely stored. If the cash-box has to be collected by the money transportation van the movable safe section is again moved to the exposure position, whereafter the door of the outwardly facing access opening is opened and the cash-box can be withdrawn from the safe. Thus the safe forms a passing-lock that never provides a direct contact between the internal space of the store and the surroundings.

[0006] According to an advantageous embodiment of the safe according to the invention it is characterised in that inside the safe a stacking rack is provided attached to the movable safe section and comprising adjoining compartments for receiving the cash-boxes, of which compartments, in an appropiate position of the movable safe section that not corresponds with the closing position, always only one compartment is aligned with at least one of said access openings, whereas the safe further comprises means for registrating the presence of the cash-boxes in the compartments, which registration means are connected with a control means for the movable safe section such, that while feeding one or a number of cash-boxes through one of said access openings only those compartments that do not yet contain a cash-box can be aligned with said access opening.

[0007] If therefore via the inwardly positioned access opening a cash-box has been feeded into one of the compartments of the stacking rack attached to the movable safe section this is registrated by the registration means. If at some later time a next cash-box has to be fed into the safe via this access opening the movable safe section is moved such under influence of the control means, that only those compartments which are not yet provided with a cash-box will become accessible via said access opening. This means that cash-boxes that are once fed at the side of the mentioned access opening cannot be withdrawn from the safe any more via the very same access opening. Removing this safe-box is only possible via the access opening positioned at the opposite side of the safe.

[0008] Further it is advantageous if the control means provides for always returning the movable safe section towards its closing position after feeding a cash-box into a compartment and before possibly exposing a next compartment for the supply of a further cash-box.

[0009] As a result a cash-box once deposited into the safe is safely stored in the safe.

[0010] Hereafter the invention will be elucidated further by means of the drawing in which an embodiment is illustrated of a safe according to the invention.

Fig. 1 shows a cross-section of an embodiment of the safe according to the invention in the closed position.

Fig. 2 shows a cross-section of the safe of fig. 1 while depositing a box into the safe, and

Fig. 3 shows a cross-section of the safe of fig 1 and fig 2 while withdrawing a box from the safe.

[0011] The safe illustrated in figure 1 is positioned in an outer wall 1,2 of a building, such as a super market or the like. The left wall portion 1 is positioned at the side facing towards the inner space of the building. The safe comprises a stationary safe section 3 and a safe section 4 that is movable upwards and downwards relative to the stationary safe section 3. Both the stationary safe section 3 and the movable safe section 4 are made of a burglar proof material known per se.

[0012] The stationary safe section 3 is at two opposite sides provided with access openings 5 and 6. The access opening 5 adjoins an opening 7 in the wall portion 1 of the outer wall. The opening 7 comprises a door 8 that can be locked. Correspondingly the access opening 6 adjoins a passage 9 in the wall portion 2 of the outer wall. This passage 9 can comprise a reinforcement section positioned in the wall portion 2 and having a central opening. The passage 9 also is closed by a door 10 that can be locked.

[0013] Apart from the effect of the doors 8 and 10 the access openings 5 and 6 are, in the closed position of the movable safe section 4 illustrated in figure 1, closed by that movable safe section 4. This means that even, if the doors 8 and 10 would be opened in an unauthorised way the inner space of the safe is not accessible.

[0014] The safe further comprises only schematicly indicated locking means 11 mounted on the movable safe section 4 that, in the locking position, can engage recesses 12 that are shaped in the stationary safe section 3. In the locking position, as illustrated in feature 1, the locking means 11 effectively prevent a motion of the movable safe section 4 relative to the stationary safe section 3.

[0015] The upward and downward motion of the movable safe section 4 is obtained by cylinder-piston assemblies 21 that, in the illustrated embodiment, extend between the stationary safe section 3 and the movable safe section 4.

[0016] At the lower side of the movable safe section 4 a stacking rack 13 is suspending comprising a number of compartments 14 until 19 positioned one on top of the other for receiving cash-boxes 20.

[0017] In figure 2 a position of the movable safe section 4 relative to the stationary safe section 3 is illustrated in which it is possible to feed a cashbox 20 into the compartment 16. As can be seen the movable safe section 4 is moved upwards by the cylinder piston assemblies 21 such far, that the compartment 16, still being empty, is aligned with the access opening 5 and the opening 7 in the wall portion 1. The door 8 is opened and the cashbox 20 can be deposited in the compartment 16 according to the direction of the arrow. Further it is visible that the locking means 11 are entirely withdrawn in the movable safe section 4, such that they are disengaged with the recess 12 in the stationary safe section 3 resulting in a motion of the movable safe section 4 being possible.

[0018] In a way not shown further the doors 8 and 10 of the safe are interconnected such that always at least one access opening 5 or 6 is closed by the corresponding door 8 or 10. In the situation shown in figure 2 this means that, for door 8 is opened, door 10 is closed and cannot be opened. As a result a direct contact between the surroundings and an inner space is avoided.

[0019] The safe further comprises not illustrated means for registrating the presence of the cash boxes 20 in the compartments. Thus these registration means already have registrated that the compartments 14 and 15 already contain cash boxes 20. These registration means are connected with a control means for the movable safe section 4, wherein that control means is programmed such that the movable safe section 4 when feeding further cash boxes can only be moved upwards such far until the lowermost still empty compartment (in this case compartment 16) is aligned with the access opening 5.

[0020] After the cash box 20 is deposited in the compartment 16 the door 8 is closed whereafter the movable safe section 4 is moved back towards the position illustrated in figure 1. Hereby it is possible that the control means is programmed such that this return motion towards the position shown in figure 1 is carried out automatically. However, it is possible too that, for example if a number of cash boxes has to be deposited in the safe in one operation, the movable safe section 4 moves downwards only such far until the compartment 17, which is empty too, is aligned with the access opening 5.

[0021] Figure 3 shows the position of the safe in which a cash box 20 is withdrawn from this safe.

[0022] Now the movable safe section 4 is moved upwards by the cylinder-piston assemblies 21 such far that the compartment 15, in which the upper most cash box 20 is positioned, is aligned with the access opening 6 and the passage 9 in the wall portion 2. The door 10 is opened, and this means that door 8 is locked. Now it is possible to remove the cash box 20 from the safe.

[0023] After removing the cash box 20 from the compartment 15, the movable safe section 4 can be moved upwards further until the cash box 20 in the compartment 14 is accessible. After having emptied the entire safe like this the safe can be filled with empty cash boxes in the reverse order, thus starting with the compartment 14 and next the compartments 15, 16, 17, 18 and 19. Next these empty cash boxes can be removed at the inner side via the access opening 5.

[0024] Operating the safe according to the invention can occur by means of not shown control panels at the inner side and at the outer side. The mentioned registration means can be directly connected with these control panels. Moreover a printing unit can be connected with the control panel, which printing unit can print out data about the deposit of cash boxes in the safe.

[0025] The invention is not restricted to the embodiment shown before, but can be varied widely within this scope of the invention. Thus it is possible that instead of doors 8, 10 in the outer wall 1,2 doors are provided at both sides of each compartment 14 until 19. It is again necessary, however, that only one door of each compartment can be opened whereas the other door is locked then. Further in the illustrated embodiment the programming of the control means can be such, that a motion of the movable safe section 4 is only possible if both doors 8 and 10 are closed. Like this it can be avoided that the safe is damaged by a motion
of the movable safe section while depositing a cash box. Further the risk of injuries due to misuse is lowered.

Claims

1. Safe, characterised by a stationary safe section (3) that, at two opposite sides, is provided with respective access openings (5,6) and by a safe section (4) movable relative thereto that, in a closing position, closes both access openings and that, in its other positions, exposes said access openings, wherein further each access opening (5,6) can be closed by a lockable door (8,10), said doors being mutually coupled such, that always at least one of said access openings is closed by its respective door.

2. Safe according to claim 1, for receiving cash boxes (20) or the like, characterised in that inside the safe a stacking rack (13) is provided attached to the movable safe section (4) and comprising adjoining compartments for receiving the cash-boxes, of which compartments, in an appropiate position of the movable safe section (4) that not corresponds with the closing position, always only one compartment is aligned with at least one of said access openings (5,6), whereas the safe further comprises means for registrating the presence of the cash-boxes in the compartments (14-19), which registration means are connected with a control means for the movable safe section (4) such, that while feeding one or a number of cash boxes (20) through one of said access openings (5,6) only those compartments that do not yet contain a cash-box can be aligned with said access opening.

3. Safe according to claim 2, characterised in that the control means provides for always returning the movable safe section (4) towards its closing position after feeding a cash-box into a compartment (14-19) and before possibly exposing a next compartment for the supply of a further cash-box.

4. Safe according to one of the claims 1-3, characterised in that the doors (8,10) are provided in the access openings (5,6) of the stationary safe section (3).

5. Safe according to claim 2 or 3, characterised in that the doors comprise doors that are positioned at the ends of the compartments (14-19).

6. Safe according to one of the claims 2-5, characterised in that the movable safe section (4) is movable upwards and downwards, wherein the compartments (14-19) are positioned one on the top of the other.

7. Safe according to one of the claims 1-6, characterised by locking means (11) for locking the movable safe section (4) in its closing position.

8. Safe according to one of the claims 1-7, characterised that the movable safe section (4) can be moved by at least one cylinder-piston assembly (21).

9. Safe according to one of the claims 1-8, characterised that the movable safe section (4) can be moved only then if the doors (5,6) are closed.

Drawing