Static structures (e.g. – buildings) – Including component designed to receive a disparate article... – On shaft or tower
Reexamination Certificate
1999-09-09
2001-09-18
Horton, Yvonne M. (Department: 3635)
Static structures (e.g., buildings)
Including component designed to receive a disparate article...
On shaft or tower
C052S038000, C052S514000, C052S749100, C052S749100, C248S544000, C248S548000, C248S909000, C403S279000, C403S374400
Reexamination Certificate
active
06289636
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to the support posts used for parking meters and other devices where it is desirable to couple ease of replacement with security against vandals.
Background: Parking Meter Supports
A basic challenge with parking meters is that they are necessarily located in very exposed locations, where they may be damaged by vandalism, theft, and impacts from automobile bumpers. A secure physical connection to the ground is therefore necessary. However, it can also become necessary to remove the post for replacement (e.g., after it is struck by a car).
Seen in
FIG. 8
is a typical electronic parking meter. Meter head
42
contains a display window
41
for communication to the user, a slot
43
for the receipt of coins or tokens and optionally another slot
44
for the use of electronic cards for payment of fees. Immediately below the meter head
42
is a vault
48
within which collected payments are stored. This vault has an access door
47
, which is secured by a lock
49
. The meter head and vault are mounted on a post
52
, which is generally hollow, round, and made of galvanized steel or other heavy duty metal.
Vandalism is generally aimed at theft of the coins collected in a meter, so a great deal of engineering goes into the design of the meter head and vault to make access to the stored money as difficult as possible. Additionally, the connection of the meter head and vault to the post, as well as the connection of the post to the ground, must be very secure; the latter of these concerns will be discussed.
Because of these security needs, most parking meter posts are permanently affixed to the ground, e.g., by a concrete base
57
. Removal of such a post requires considerable labor to break down the concrete base and remove the post. To replace the post, the hole must then be cleared and refilled with concrete, and a new post set and leveled.
Co-pending application Ser. No. 09/038,218, filed Mar. 11, 1998, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,098,361, which is commonly owned by the assignee of this application and which is hereby incorporated by reference, discloses a method of mounting a parking meter post in a manner which both provides a secure, vandal-resistant mount, yet is easy for an authorized person to remove or replace if necessary. However, this method requires that a special base and slotted post be used, and cannot be used on existing posts which have already been cemented into the ground.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,798,273 to Seth Ward, which is commonly owned by the assignee of this application and which is hereby incorporated by reference, discloses one method of attaching a parking meter and vault to a post. This patent describes a joining assembly which is fastened to the vault by a bolt accessible only from the interior of the vault. The joining assembly is then inserted into a mounted post, where tightening the bolt causes toothed expansion wedges to be forced against the inside of the post by a tapering base. These toothed expansion wedges provide resistance to anyone who attempts to remove the meter and vault from the post, yet an authorized person can open the vault door and access the bolt to remove the meter and vault from the post.
Easy Parking Meter Post Replacement Without Excavation
The present application discloses a device and method of replacing an existing post by cutting off the defective post, preferably near the ground, then attaching a replacement post by means of a joining device which fits inside both the replacement post and the remaining portion of the old post. The joining device is formed of two sets of back-to-back toothed expansion wedges which are forced against the insides of the two separate sections of post to hold them together. The movement of the expansion wedges against the insides of the two posts is controlled by tightening a bolt which is reachable only by going through the upper portion of the post itself. After installing the new section of post, the meter head is installed and the joining device is only accessible by someone who has access to the vault of the meter and can therefore remove the meter head.
The disclosed innovations, in various embodiments, provide one or more of at least the following advantages:
replacement of a post does not require excavation of the concrete which holds the post in the ground;
the new post is securely held in place by a mechanism which is not accessible to vandals.
REFERENCES:
patent: 1869780 (1932-08-01), Rosener
patent: 2077769 (1937-04-01), Postlewaite
patent: 2192484 (1940-03-01), Bryan
patent: 3193059 (1965-07-01), Wallerstein
patent: 4283157 (1981-08-01), Kowalski
patent: 4798273 (1989-01-01), Ward, II
patent: 5219449 (1993-06-01), Hoshino
patent: 5642957 (1997-07-01), Lange
patent: 5893675 (1999-04-01), Lange
patent: 6098361 (2000-08-01), Roten et al.
Ward II Seth
White Kenneth R.
Formby Betty
Groover Robert
Groover & Associates
Horton Yvonne M.
POM Incorporated
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