Road structure – process – or apparatus – Pavement – Vault cover-closure
Reexamination Certificate
2000-03-29
2002-08-20
Neuder, William (Department: 3673)
Road structure, process, or apparatus
Pavement
Vault cover-closure
C070S169000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06435763
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a key hole insertion of a manhole cover (including a handhole cover) formed at a manhole including a handhole, to a manhole cover locking apparatus equipped with the key hole insertion, to a manhole cover locking system, to a method for unlocking the manhole cover, and to a control system for opening and closing the manhole cover.
2. Description of Related Art
In recent years, according to highly developing road functions due to increase of property occupying roads and management incidental facilities such as a water supply and sewer systems, electric power systems, communications systems, and gas systems, and due to wide ranges of management information, collection of information and work on site where at work or the like becomes complicated, troublesome, and inefficient Therefore, constructions cannot be advanced without collecting and reading such information sources as maps or reports of each manager of property occupying roads.
To deal with this situation, road management systems utilizing a computer mapping have been promoted these days. With the system, each manhole cover has an IC chip storing the management data of roads, road management incidental facilities and property occupying roads; the field manager or field constructor can read the information related to the field management operation with a non-contact or contact reader. This technology has been proposed for realizing a better effectiveness of the rapid and accurate patrol, on site examination, construction, on-site meeting or the like.
Meanwhile, because the conventional locking apparatus for the manhole cover has relatively simple locking mechanism in which a tool is inserted from outside through a key hole formed in the manhole for locking or unlocking, an IC chip containing the management data of the management data of roads, road management incidental facilities or the property occupying roads is not sufficiently secured.
According to an prior art disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication Heisei No.6-4199, a locking apparatus to prevent easily opening of manhole cover is described as shown in
FIG. 22
(
a
), in which a rotatable locking portion
52
rotatably mounted to a cover body serving as a manhole cover engages with an engaging portion
54
of a supporting frame
53
to lock the manhole cover
51
and in which, to unlock the cover body
51
serving as a manhole cover, a tool, not shown, is inserted through an upper inserting opening
55
formed in the cover body
51
serving as a manhole cover and pushed downward enough to engage with a locking portion
52
through a lower inserting opening
56
of the locking portion
52
and thereafter pulled to release the locking portion
52
from the engaging portion
54
of the supporting frame
53
.
Mounted detachably from the cover body
51
serving as a manhole cover in a holding seat
57
placed in the lower portion of the cover body
51
serving as a manhole cover is a locking body
58
shown in
FIG. 22
(
b
) detachably from the cover body
51
serving as a manhole cover to prevent the insertion of the tool which is not shown. A lock base
59
having a head-shaped lock portion
59
a
is secured to the holding seat
57
, and the locking body
58
is inserted through the upper inserting opening
55
of the cover body
51
serving as a manhole cover and mounted in such a manner that the lock portion
59
a
of the lock base
59
is contained inside an insertion chamber
58
a
formed on the bottom of the locking body
58
. A key
60
is inserted in the locking body
58
and subsequently turned to engage the lock piece
58
b
formed at the locking body
58
with the lock portion
59
a
of the lock base
59
, thereby locking the cover body
51
serving as a manhole cover with the locking body
58
.
The locking body
58
has an openable and closeable key cover
58
c
on a top of the locking body
58
, and the key cover
58
c
is fastened to the locking body
58
by a polygonal wrench or the like.
To open the cover body
51
serving as a manhole cover, the firmly fixed key cover
58
c
is to be loosed enough to open the key cover
58
c
to move its position from the upper insertion opening
55
to be on the cover body
51
serving as a manhole cover, and then the lock piece
58
b
is released from the lock portion
59
a
by inserting and turning the key
60
in the locking body
58
, resulting in unlocking the locking body
58
.
After the locking body
58
is removed from the upper insertion opening
55
of the cover body
51
serving as a manhole cover, a tool, not shown, is inserted through the upper insertion opening
55
of the cover body
51
serving as a manhole cover and forcibly pushed downward enough to engage with lower insertion opening
56
of the locking portion
52
; pulling the tool causes the locking portion
52
to be released from the engaging portion
54
of the supporting frame
53
, thus opening the cover body
51
serving as a manhole cover.
According to the structure above, when the cover is closed and in a locked position, the upper insertion opening
55
is filled with the key cover
58
c
of the locking body
58
, and any tool or bar cannot be inserted unless the locking body
58
is removed. Because the key cover
58
c
conceals the key hole through which the key
60
is inserted into the locking body
58
, and because the key cover
58
c
is firmly fastened by a polygonal wrench or the like to the locking body
58
, the locking body
58
cannot be removed without special tools such as the polygonal wrench or the key
60
, and therefore, it is preventable that the manhole cover is easily open.
The prior art above, however, raises problems that works are not easy due to increase of locking and unlocking steps because the key cover
58
c
for concealing the key hole is fastened by a polygonal wrench or the like to prevent the key
60
from becoming unable to be inserted due to grit in the key hole of the key cover
58
in which the key
60
is inserted.
It is also a problem that because the locking and unlocking states of each manhole cover cannot be managed in an integrated manner that the security of the manhole's inner facility might not be maintained when the operator leaves the site without unlocking or forgets locking the cover.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is an object of the present invention to provide a key hole insertion for a manhole cover, a manhole cover locking apparatus equipped with the key hole insertion, a manhole cover locking system, an unlocking method, and a control system for opening and closing the manhole cover in which the key hole insertion rejectable an external access is detachably fitted to the key hole, in which a control chip mounted in the key hole insertion receives an unlocking command sent from outside, thus approving the opening and closing of the manhole cover, in which then a locking unit mounted in the key hole insertion, based on the command transmitted from the control chip, can unlock the key hole insertion from the key hole to lock the manhole cover surely and securely with the simple structure, in which only a person or group authorized to unlock can unlock, and in an electronic locking assembly can be easily added to the conventional locking apparatus of a conventional manhole cover with no electronic locking assembly.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an opening and closing control system of a manhole cover, in which a central control apparatus sends an unlock signal to the key hole insertion detachably fitted to the key hole formed in the manhole cover body and capable of rejecting an external access to integrally manage a locking or unlocking conditions of the manhole covers, and in which the system provides a simple structure, but achieves locking in a sure and strict way.
The key hole insertion according to the invention has a locking apparatus cap detachably fitted to the key hole mounted in the manhole cover for rejecting an external access through the key hole, a co
Fujii Takashi
Hyodo Nakamaro
Kato Toshinari
Namioka Hironori
Sakane Tetsushi
Haneda Humepipe Co., Ltd.
Neuder William
Singh Sunil
Townsend & Banta
LandOfFree
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