GB2571967A - A system for securing a shed - Google Patents

Abstract

The system comprises an adjustable hinged closure configured to secure an opening. The closure comprises at least one closure width adjustment mechanism. The adjustment mechanism allows the closure to fit within a variety of opening sizes. At least one hinge is included to open and close the closure. The closure also includes a lock. The system may include a bash plate 62. There may be a number of fasteners for attaching the closure inside the shed. A secondary device may be used to secure a shed window. The system may include an intruder alarm. The adjustment mechanism may be in the form of moving bolt portions 120 which are adjusted using a nut 130.

Description

A SYSTEM FOR SECURING A SHED

The present invention relates generally to a security device and a method of securing a shed and finds particular, although not exclusive, utility in garden sheds.

Garden sheds are a common storage solution for many households; however, such sheds are vulnerable to burglary and are often secured merely by a relatively small door lock.

More robust security systems already on the market need to be specifically designed for a particular size of shed else their protection can be circumvented. Conventionally, such systems would require a large range of sizes to be made available in order for all varieties of sheds to be covered.

According to a first output of the present invention, there is provided a system for securing a shed, the system comprising an adjustable hinged closure configured to secure an opening, the closure comprising at least one adjustment mechanism configured to change the width of the closure to fit the opening, at least one hinge configured to pivot the closure between an open and a closed position and a lock configured to secure the closure in the closed position.

In this way, an adaptable structure is provided that is able to be secured to any shed, regardless of the door width. This provides a layer of security beyond what is usually available. In particular, the closure may be fitted and secured inside the shed, behind a conventional door. This means that when a burglar breaks through the conventional door, they are presented with an unexpected additional layer of security which is much harder to break through. When paired with an alarm system, this extra closure can alert an owner to the break-in once the conventional door has been compromised and give them time to react to the burglar’s presence which they otherwise would not have had.

A shed may be a garden shed, Wendy House or similar structure, with enclosing walls and roof. It may be wooden, metal, a composite structure or made of any similar, suitable material.

The system may comprise the shed, where the closure is secured integrally to the shed. In this way, the system may be one unit and the closure may be harder to remove or bypass. Alternatively, the closure may be retrofitted to the shed; that is, affixed or coupled thereto. The shed and closure may be joined through the use of one or more door jambs, positioned on one or both sides of the opening. One jamb may be a lock jamb, for receiving the lock when it is thrown. One jamb may be a hinge jamb, for the hinge of the closure to be attached upon.

The system comprising a shed may further comprise a conventional door, where the closure is situated on the shed interior side of the opening, relative to the door. This provides the advantage of the closure being a secondary piece of protection, unbeknown to any burglar until they have broken through the conventional door. This can be combined with a security alarm to alert the owner of the shed to a burglar’s presence when the conventional door is comprised, whilst still preventing access to shed’s interior.

An opening may be any gap in a wall or roof, such as a door frame, skylight or a window. It may be any shape, for example a rectangle or a circle. The closure may be any size, it may have a lateral dimension of between two hundred centimetres and fifteen centimetres. In particular, it may be between one hundred and eighty centimetres and thirty centimetres, more particularly, it may be between one hundred and forty centimetres and sixty centimetres, for example, ninety centimetres. The closure may also have a longitudinal dimension, of between two hundred centimetres and fifteen centimetres. In particular, it may be between one hundred and eighty centimetres and thirty centimetres, more particularly, it may be between one hundred and forty centimetres and sixty centimetres, for example, ninety centimetres.

A closure may be a door, a gate, a large sheet of material or any other item that is sufficient to prevent a person from entering through the opening.

Secure may mean that a key is needed to enter, e.g. a metal key, token, pass code or swipe card, that it cannot be accessed without force, that the items inside the shed cannot be taken or any similar meaning.

An adjustment mechanism may be a bolt screw and locking nut, a telescopic portion, a slidable extending member or any other similar means.

A hinge may be a loop and spigot, a barrel hinge, a spring hinge, a living hinge or any other suitable hinging means.

A lock may comprise a lock throw and a lock keep. The lock may be a padlock, a pin tumbler lock, a deadbolt or any other means of locking.

The system may include at least one bash plate provided adjacent to the opening.

A bash plate may provide an end point for the closure, to allow it to remain in a closed position in order to be locked and allow no further travel past this end point. This gives the advantage that a heavy closure does not swing freely and swing into a user, as well as providing extra stability when locked.

Where the system comprises a shed, the bash plate may be provided on a lock jamb.

The system may further comprise fasteners for fixing the system to the inside of the shed.

Fasteners may be bolt screws, high strength adhesive, rivets or any other similar fixing means. This gives the advantage of further strengthening the system and making it more difficult for a burglar to break through. It also provides more stability in the system when the closure is opened and closed.

The system may also include a secondary securing device for at least one shed window.

A secondary securing device may be bars across the window to prevent entry or an extra layer of shatterproof material on the inside of the window. This allows further security when a shed has windows, which can be an additional entrance for burglars, and prevents the windows from being compromised.

The system may further comprise an intruder alarm for use in the shed.

The alarm may be triggered by sensing movement, by using at least one infrared, ultrasound, infrasound, microwave or similar sensor. This provides the advantage of alerting an owner once the conventional shed door has been compromised and can further deter a burglar from attempting to get through the secure closure.

The above and other characteristics, features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, which illustrate, by way of example, the principles of the invention. This description is given for the sake of example only, without limiting the scope of the invention. The reference figures quoted below refer to the attached drawings.

Figure 1 is a front view of a gate for positioning behind a conventional shed door.

Figure 2 is a view from above, showing the gate and a conventional shed door.

The present invention will be described with respect to certain drawings but the invention is not limited thereto but only by the claims. The drawings described are only schematic and are non-limiting. Each drawing may not include all of the features of the invention and therefore should not necessarily be considered to be an embodiment of the invention. In the drawings, the size of some of the elements may be exaggerated and not drawn to scale for illustrative purposes. The dimensions and the relative dimensions do not correspond to actual reductions to practice of the invention.

Furthermore, the terms first, second, third and the like in the description and in the claims, are used for distinguishing between similar elements and not necessarily for describing a sequence, either temporally, spatially, in ranking or in any other manner. It is to be understood that the terms so used are interchangeable under appropriate circumstances and that operation is capable in other sequences than described or illustrated herein.

Moreover, the terms top, bottom, over, under and the like in the description and the claims are used for descriptive purposes and not necessarily for describing relative positions. It is to be understood that the terms so used are interchangeable under appropriate circumstances and that operation is capable in other orientations than described or illustrated herein.

It is to be noticed that the term “comprising”, used in the claims, should not be interpreted as being restricted to the means listed thereafter; it does not exclude other elements or steps. It is thus to be interpreted as specifying the presence of the stated features, integers, steps or components as referred to, but does not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps or components, or groups thereof. Thus, the scope of the expression “a device comprising means A and B” should not be limited to devices consisting only of components A and B. ft means that with respect to the present invention, the only relevant components of the device are A and B.

Similarly, it is to be noticed that the term “connected”, used in the description, should not be interpreted as being restricted to direct connections only. It means that there exists a path between an output of A and an input of B which may be a path including other devices or means. “Connected” may mean that two or more elements are either in direct physical contact, or that two or more elements are not in direct contact with each other but yet still co-operate or interact with each other. For instance, wireless connectivity is contemplated.

Reference throughout this specification to “an embodiment” or “an aspect” means that a particular feature, structure or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment or aspect is included in at least one embodiment or aspect of the present invention. Thus, appearances of the phrases “in one embodiment”, “in an embodiment”, or “in an aspect” in various places throughout this specification are not necessarily all referring to the same embodiment or aspect, but may refer to different embodiments or aspects. Furthermore, the particular features, structures or characteristics of any embodiment or aspect of the invention may be combined in any suitable manner, as would be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art from this disclosure, in one or more embodiments or aspects.

Similarly, it should be appreciated that in the description various features of the invention are sometimes grouped together in a single embodiment, figure, or description thereof for the purpose of streamlining the disclosure and aiding in the understanding of one or more of the various inventive aspects. This method of disclosure, however, is not to be interpreted as reflecting an intention that the claimed invention requires more features than are expressly recited in each claim. Moreover, the description of any individual drawing or aspect should not necessarily be considered to be an embodiment of the invention. Rather, as the following claims reflect, inventive aspects lie in fewer than all features of a single foregoing disclosed embodiment. Thus, the claims following the detailed description are hereby expressly incorporated into this detailed description, with each claim standing on its own as a separate embodiment of this invention.

Furthermore, while some embodiments described herein include some features included in other embodiments, combinations of features of different embodiments are meant to be within the scope of the invention, and form yet further embodiments, as will be understood by those skilled in the art. For example, in the following claims, any of the claimed embodiments can be used in any combination.

In the description provided herein, numerous specific details are set forth. However, it is understood that embodiments of the invention may be practised without these specific details. In other instances, well-known methods, structures and techniques have not been shown in detail in order not to obscure an understanding of this description.

In the discussion of the invention, unless stated to the contrary, the disclosure of alternative values for the upper or lower limit of the permitted range of a parameter, coupled with an indication that one of said values is more highly preferred than the other, is to be construed as an implied statement that each intermediate value of said parameter, lying between the more preferred and the less preferred of said alternatives, is itself preferred to said less preferred value and also to each value lying between said less preferred value and said intermediate value.

The use of the term “at least one” may mean only one in certain circumstances. The use of the term “any” may mean “all” and/or “each” in certain circumstances.

The principles of the invention will now be described by a detailed description of at least one drawing relating to exemplary features. It is clear that other arrangements can be configured according to the knowledge of persons skilled in the art without departing from the underlying concept or technical teaching, the invention being limited only by the terms of the appended claims.

A gate 10 for securing a shed is shown in Figure 1. The gate 10 is comprised of two rectangular sections 20, a first located at the bottom of the gate 10 and a second located at the top of the gate 10. The rectangular sections 20 have a length that is equal to the width of the gate 10 and a width that is roughly 30% of the size of the sections’ length (the width orientated vertically). The rectangular sections 20 are orientated such that they extend horizontally. In alternative arrangements to those shown in the figures, the or each rectangular section 20 may have a width less than 10% the size of the section’s length, in particular less than 5% the size of the sections length, more particularly less than 3%. The rectangular sections 20 are joined by vertical reinforcing bars 30, allowing a person to see through the gate 10 and meaning that the gate 10 can be made from a strong material without being too heavy. There are eight vertical bars 30, spaced evenly across the width of the gate 10; however, it is to be appreciated that in alternative arrangements there may be more or fewer than eight vertical bars. The bars 30 are joined in the middle of the gate 10 by a horizontal cross bar 40 which adds stability to the structure of the gate 10. In alternative embodiments, some or all of the reinforcing bars 30 may be orientated diagonally (not shown); that is, oblique relative to the horizontal cross bar 40. In this way, a frame may be made from two vertical reinforcing bars 30 and the upper and lower rectangular sections 20, with diagonal reinforcing bars 30 spanning the frame thus constructed.

On the left of the gate 10, there is a lock jamb 50; however, it is to be appreciated that the gate may be configured with the lock jamb on the right of the gate such that the gate may be made as a mirror image of the gate 10 shown in the figures. The lock jamb 50 is a tall, thin metal strip that has a height equal to the gate 10 and is an intermediary for connecting the gate 10 to a shed. The lock jamb 50 has three bash plates 60, 62 located upon it. A first bash plate 62 is located at a similar height to the horizontal cross bar 40, roughly halfway up the height of the gate 10. The other two bash plates 60 are then spaced equidistant above and below the first bash plate 62, one bash plate 60 at a height close to that of the base of the top rectangular section 20 on the gate 10 and the other bash plate 60 at a height close to that of the top of the bottom rectangular cross section 20 on the gate 10.

The gate 10 can connect to the lock jamb 50 by means of a lock 70. The lock 70 is comprised of a housing 80 located on the gate 10, between the left hand side of the gate 10 and one of the vertical bars 30, with its base touching the horizontal cross bar 40. The lock housing 80 has height and width roughly equal and the housing 70 comprises a keyhole and a lock throw 82. There is a lock keep located on the first bash plate 62, such that when the lock throw 82 is thrown, the lock 70 is secure.

On the right hand side of die gate 10, there is a hinge jamb 90. The hinge jamb 90 is a tall, thin metal strip that has a height equal to the gate 10 and is an intermediary for connecting the gate 10 to a shed. The hinge jamb 90 has two hinges 100 located upon it, a first hinge located roughly a quarter of the height up the hinge jamb 90 from the ground, and a second hinge located roughly three quarters of the height up the hinge jamb 90 from the ground. The hinges 100 are comprised of a hinge spigot 102, which is a small vertical peg for placement of a loop over, and a large nut 104, to fasten on top of any loop placed on the spigot 102. Each hinge 100 is connected to the gate 10 via an adjustable bolt system 110.

The adjustable bolt system 110 is comprised of a bolt 120 and a locking nut 130. The bolt 120 has a loop 122 on one end, such that it can be placed over the hinge spigot 102, and is threaded on the other end. There are holes through the side of the gate 10 at the same height as the hinges 100, allowing the bolt 120 to be placed horizontally through the gate 10 such that the loop 122 is on the outside of the gate and the threaded end is positioned inside the gate 10, between two vertical bars 30. The locking nut 130 is attached to the threaded end of the bolt 120 and thus the bolt system 110 is made integral with the gate 10. When the loop 122 is placed over the hinge spigot 102, the large nut 104 is placed on top and seals the loop in place, created the working hinge 100 for the gate 10. The design of the bolt 120 and locking nut 130 means that the nut 130 can be locked in any position along the thread of the bolt 120. By changing the position of the nut 130, the horizontal displacement of the loop 122 with respect to the side of the gate 10 can be increased or decreased. This can give the effect of widening the size of the opening that the gate 10 can cover, increasing the distance between the lock jamb 50 and the hinge jamb 90.

The lock jamb 50 and the hinge jamb 90 have four holes 140 each through the 10 material, spaced equally along the height. These holes 140 allow fasteners to be placed through to connect the jambs 50, 90 to a shed.

Figure 2 shows the gate 10 positioned inside a shed, behind a conventional shed door 150. The lock jamb 60 and the hinge jamb 90 are fastened to the inside of the shed door frame 160. The lock 70 is adjacent to the bash plate 62 on the lock jamb 50. This 15 arrangement means that when the conventional shed door 150 is opened, the gate 10 will be still securely sealed.

Claims (5)

1. A system for securing a shed, the system comprising:

an adjustable hinged closure configured to secure an opening, the closure comprising:

at least one adjustment mechanism configured to change the width of the closure to fit the opening and at least one hinge configured to pivot the closure between an open and a closed position; and a lock configured to secure the closure in the closed position. .

2. The system of claim 1 further comprising at least one bash plate provided adjacent to the opening.

3. The system of claim 1 or claim 2 further comprising fasteners for fixing the system to the inside of the shed.

4. The system of any preceding claim further comprising a secondary securing device for at least one shed window.

5. The system of any preceding claim further comprising an intruder alarm for use in the shed.