LOCKOUT BOX

Abstract

The invention relates to a lockout box for locking in objects, in particular keys, comprising a container having a reception space for the objects that is open to the front; and a front-side flap that is pivotably attached to the container and that is adjustable between a closed position and an open position, with the reception space being closed in the closed position and open in the open position, wherein the container has a plurality of securing openings for attaching locking elements, in particular padlocks, in order to fix the front-side flap to the container in the closed position; and wherein the front-side flap has a front plate that is at least regionally transparent, wherein, in the open position, an information carrier in particular formed as a sheet of paper, in particular a permit to work, can be inserted behind the front plate into the front-side flap or can be attached behind the front plate to the front-side flap, and wherein a removal of the information carrier is prevented in the closed position.

Claims

1. A lockout box for locking in objects comprising: a container having a reception space for the objects that is open to the front; and a front-side flap that is pivotably attached to the container and that is adjustable between a closed position and an open position, with the reception space being closed in the closed position and open in the open position, wherein the container has a plurality of securing openings for attaching locking elements in order to fix the front-side flap to the container in the closed position; and wherein the front-side flap has a front plate that is at least regionally transparent, wherein, in the open position, an information carrier can be inserted behind the front plate into the front-side flap or can be attached behind the front plate to the front-side flap, and wherein a removal of the information carrier is prevented in the closed position.

2. The lockout box in accordance with claim 1, wherein the front-side flap is configured as a downwardly opening flap.

3. The lockout box in accordance with claim 1, wherein the front-side flap is configured as a pocket that is closed at three sides.

4. The lockout box in accordance with claim 1, wherein the front-side flap has a rear wall and the information carrier can be inserted between the front plate and the rear wall in the open position.

5. The lockout box in accordance with claim 4, wherein the rear wall has, on its front side at two mutually oppositely disposed sides, receiving grooves extending in a direction of insertion of the information carrier and optionally has, at its end disposed in the direction of insertion of the information carrier, a receiving groove extending transversely to the direction of insertion of the information carrier, in which receiving grooves the front plate is received.

6. The lockout box in accordance with claim 5, wherein the respective receiving groove is formed by a strip projecting from the rear wall, with the respective strip being angled inwardly at its free end.

7. The lockout box in accordance with claim 5, wherein the respective receiving groove is formed by a bending of a respective margin of the rear wall.

8. The lockout box in accordance with claim 4, wherein the front plate has a respective thickened portion at its rear side in the region of two mutually oppositely disposed edges with which the front plate is received in the two receiving grooves of the rear wall.

9. The lockout box in accordance with claim 4, wherein the rear wall has at least one cutout.

10. The lockout box in accordance claim 9, wherein with the rear wall has a plurality of cutouts formed above one another and/or next to one another, with the rear wall having a respective web between two cutouts formed above one another and/or next to one another.

11. The lockout box in accordance with claim 4, wherein the rear wall produced from sheet metal has, at its front side, a spring-elastic elevated portion that is produced by a sheet metal shaping process and that presses against the rear side of the front plate.

12. The lockout box in accordance with claim 1, wherein, in the closed position, the front-side flap is arranged offset to the rear in the container such that wall sections of the container have a collar which projects to the front and in which the securing openings are formed.

13. The lockout box in accordance claim 1, wherein the front-side flap is free of securing openings.

14. The lockout box in accordance with claim 12, wherein the wall sections have, at an inner side, at least one abutment for the front-side flap in the closed position.

15. The lockout box in accordance with claim 1, wherein at least one hook rail is attached to the rear side wall of the container in the reception space.

16. The lockout box in accordance claim 15, wherein a plurality of hook rails is attached above one another to the rear side wall of the container in the reception space, with a respective two hook rails attached above one another being arranged laterally offset with respect to one another.

17. The lockout box in accordance with claim 1, wherein a closure is provided that holds the front-side flap in the closed position even when locking elements are not attached.

18. The lockout box in accordance claim 17, wherein the closure is a magnetic closure.

19. The lockout box in accordance with claim 18, wherein the magnetic closure has a closure part that is attached to the inner side of the front-side flap and at least one magnet that is disposed opposite the closure part in the closed position and that is attached to the inner side of a side wall of the container, or vice versa.

Description

DRAWINGS

[0025] Advantageous embodiments of the invention are also described in the dependent claims, in the description of the Figures, and in the drawing.

[0026] The invention will be described by way of example in the following with reference to an advantageous embodiment and to the drawing. There are shown:

[0027] FIG. 1 illustrates a lockout box in accordance with the invention in a perspective view with a front-side flap in a closed position;

[0028] FIG. 2 shows the lockout box in accordance with FIG. 1, with the front-side flap adopting an open position;

[0029] FIG. 3 shows the lockout box in accordance with FIG. 1, with the front-side flap being omitted;

[0030] FIG. 4 shows the front-side flap from FIG. 1 in a rear view with a transparent front plate and a rear wall;

[0031] FIG. 5 illustrates the front-side flap in the representation in accordance with FIG. 4, with the transparent front plate being omitted;

[0032] FIG. 6 illustrates the front-side flap in accordance with FIG. 4 in a front view, with the transparent front plate being omitted;

[0033] FIG. 7 shows the front-side flap in the representation in accordance with FIG. 6, with an upper-side web additionally being omitted;

[0034] FIG. 8 shows the above-mentioned rear wall in a front view in the region of an elevated portion formed in the rear wall and projecting to the front;

[0035] FIG. 9 is a plan view of the aforesaid transparent front plate; and

[0036] FIG. 10 shows a rear wall with a closure in a rear view in accordance with an alternative embodiment of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0037] The lockout box 11 shown in FIG. 1 has a parallelepiped-shaped container 13 composed of sheet metal having a reception space 15 open to the front. The container 13 is in this respect formed by a side wall configured as a container base 17, by a side wall configured as an upper side 19 of the container, by a rear side wall 21, by a left side wall 23, by a right side wall 25, and by a front side wall section 27 arranged at the base side. The container base 17, the upper side 19 of the container, the side walls 21, 23, 25, and the front side wall section 27 define or surround the reception space 15. Furthermore, in the case of the lockout box 11, a downwardly opening front-side flap 29 is pivotably attached via a joint, namely a hinge 31, to the front side wall section 27 of the container 13.

[0038] Furthermore, a fixedly attached carry handle 33 is arranged at the outer side of the upper side 19 of the container to be able to comfortably transport the lockout box 11. As FIGS. 1 and 2 show, the front-side flap 29 is adjustable from a closed position (cf. FIG. 1) in which the reception space 15 is closed into an open position (cf. FIG. 2) in which the reception space 15 is open.

[0039] The lockout box 11 is a group lockout box. The lockout box 11 is used in a so-called group lockout in which a plurality of employees participating in a servicing, repair or cleaning of a machine or of a system or of another device have to secure and/or lock out one or more energy sources. In this respect, the individual energy sources are each locked by only one machine lock. The keys of these locks are then locked in into the lockout box 11. The lockout box 11 in particular has two intersecting insertion slots 35 at the right side wall 25 to throw keys into a lockout box 11 that is already closed or is still closed.

[0040] The front side wall section 27 is arranged offset to the rear with respect to the container base 17, to the upper side 19 of the container and to the side walls 23, 25 so that the front-side flap 29 pivotably fastened thereto is likewise arranged offset to the rear in the container 13. Sections of the container base 17, of the upper side 19 of the container and of the side walls 23, 25 that face to the front form a peripheral collar 37 which projects to the front beyond the front-side flap 29 in the closed position of the front-side flap 29 and in which a plurality of securing openings 39 are formed into which locking elements, in particular padlocks, can be hung. The side walls 23, 25 each have an angular piece 47 at the inner side that in each case serves as an abutment for the front-side flap 29 in the closed position, wherein only one of the two angular pieces 47 can be recognized in FIG. 2.

[0041] In a group lockout, each of the involved employees hangs his personalized padlock into one of the securing openings 39 with a closed front-side flap 27 and thus locks the front-side flap 29 to the container 13 in the closed position. The front-side flap 29 can then no longer be opened. The front-side flap 29 can remain free of securing openings. Each employee thus does not have to hang a lock at each locked out energy source, but rather only one at the lockout box 11, without the intention of the lockout and the security achieved by the lockout being impaired.

[0042] The energy sources can only be actuated again when all the employees have removed their personalized padlocks from the lockout box 11 again after completing their work and have thus released the front-side flap 29 again. The front-side flap 29 can then be brought into the open position again in order to remove the keys of the machine locks attached to the energy sources.

[0043] In the case of the lockout box 11, 13 securing openings 39 are respectively provided at the left side wall 23 and at the right side wall 25. Furthermore, three securing openings 39 are provided at the upper side 19 of the container and can, for example, be reserved for supervising persons. The number of securing openings 39 at the two side walls 23, 25 and at the upper side 19 of the container is merely exemplary and can each also have any desired other value.

[0044] To be able to hold the front-side flap 29 in the closed position when padlocks are not hung in, an additional closure is provided that has a first closure part 41 (cf. FIGS. 4-7) that is attached to the inner side of the front-side flap 29 or to the inner side of the rear wall 51 and that, in the closed position of the front-side flap 29, forms a snap-in connection for closing the front-side flap 29 at the container 13 with a second closure part 43 (cf. FIG. 3) that is attached to the inner side of the left side wall 19. The two closure parts 41, 43 are in this respect configured in the form of two snap hooks cooperating with one another. A push button 45 is arranged at the outer side of the upper side 19 of the container and is supported via a bolt or the like at the snap hook forming the second closure part 43. If the push button 45 is pressed, the snap hook 43 is pressed inwardly away from the upper side 19 of the container, whereby the snap-in connection is released by the snap hook forming the first closure part 41 such that the front-side flap 29 can be opened. Since the snap hook 43 is resilient, the snap hook 43 moves back into its starting position after the push button 45 has been released.

[0045] Alternatively, the closure can be configured as a magnetic closure as shown in FIG. 10. The closure then has a closure part 71 in the form of a present C-shaped sheet metal closure plate that is attached to the inner side of the front-side flap 29 or to the inner side of the rear wall 51 and that, in the closed position of the front-side flap 29, forms a magnetic connection for closing the front-side flap 29 at the container 13 with two magnets 73 that are each attached via an angular piece 75 to the inner side of the upper side 19 of the container. In this respect, the two magnets 73 simultaneously act as an abutment for the front-side flap 29.

[0046] Furthermore, the front-side flap 29 is configured as a receiver for an information carrier in particular formed as a sheet of paper, in particular a permit to work, in the form of a pocket that is closed at three sides and that is upwardly open, as explained in more detail in the following. A permit to work is an information carrier, in particular a sheet of paper, on which the activities to be carried out within the framework of the group lockout, the hazards arising in so doing, and the safety precautions correspondingly to be taken are in particular documented. This permit to work can be securely closed in the lockout box 11 by the keys of the machine locks, whereby the initially mentioned advantages result.

[0047] For this purpose, the front-side flap 29 has a transparent front plate 49 produced from acrylic glass, in particular a front panel, and a rear wall 51 produced from sheet metal, between which the permit to work can be inserted from above, i.e. from the end disposed opposite the hinge 31, in the open position of the front-side flap 29. The permit to work is therefore inserted behind the transparent front plate 49 and is easily readable through the transparent front plate 49. In FIGS. 1 and 4, the front plate 49 is not shown as transparent for the purpose of a better representability. The permit to work cannot be removed in the closed position of the front-side flap 29.

[0048] The rear wall 51 has, on its front side at two mutually oppositely disposed sides, a respective receiving groove 53 into which corresponding longitudinal edges of the transparent front plate 49 engages and into which the transparent front plate 49 had previously been inserted. The two receiving grooves 53 are produced by a bending of the margins of the rear wall 51 correspondingly cut to shape and in this respect each form a strip that is angled in an L shape and that projects from the rear wall 51 in the direction of the transparent front plate 49. The same applies to a transversely extending receiving groove 55 which is formed at the lower end of the rear wall 51 and in which the transparent front plate 49 is likewise received. Compared to FIG. 8, an upper-side web 65 is omitted in FIG. 7 to which a handle 67 for the front-side flap 29 is attached to actuate the front-side flap 29 so that the two receiving grooves 53 are better recognizable.

[0049] As can be seen from FIG. 9, the transparent front plate 49 has a respective step-shaped thickened portion 57 at its rear side in the region of its two mutually oppositely disposed longitudinal edges with which the transparent front plate 49 engages into the two receiving grooves 53 of the rear wall 51. The spacing between the transparent front plate 49 and the rear wall 51 can thus be increased in the region in which the permit to work is received, whereby the insertion of the permit to work is facilitated.

[0050] The rear wall 51 is not formed over the full surface, but is rather provided with three rectangular cutouts 59, in particular punched-out portions, that are arranged above one another and that each extend horizontally, whereby the weight of the rear wall 51 can be reduced. A respective horizontal web 61 extends between the cutouts 59 to provide a sufficient stiffness of the rear wall 51. Furthermore, a vertically extending web 77 can be provided for each of the cutouts 59 and, for example, divides the respective cutout 59 in the middle, as shown in FIG. 10. Such vertical bars 77 are advantageous since it can thus be prevented that the permit to work gets caught at the horizontally extending lower edges of the cutouts 59 during the insertion.

[0051] As can in particular be seen from FIG. 8, a spring-elastic elevated portion 63 that was produced by a corresponding sheet metal shaping process is formed at the front side in one of the horizontal webs 61 of the rear wall 51. The spring-elastic elevated portion 63 presses against the rear side of the transparent front plate 49 so that both the transparent front plate 49 and the inserted permit to work are securely held.

[0052] Finally, a plurality of hook rails 69 are attached above one another to the rear side wall 21 of the container 13 in the reception space 15, with the keys of the machine locks, on the one hand, and the machine locks themselves or the personalized padlocks, on the other hand, respectively being able to be hung onto said hook rails 69. The hook rails 69 are in this respect arranged laterally offset from one another so that as many machine locks and/or personalized padlocks as possible can be stored at the same time.