Latching apparatus for an electronic lockbox
US11802421B2 · kind B2 · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Feb 3, 2023 |
| Grant date | Oct 31, 2023 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Feb 3, 2043 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG07C2209/62
- WIPO fieldCivil engineering
- WIPO sectorOther fields
Abstract
An electronic lockbox includes a latching apparatus that uses a rotary actuator with multiple positions to achieve multiple locking states. Multiple positions of the actuator are detected, using optical sensors. The locking mechanism includes an outer sleeve and an inner cylindrical barrel that are coupled with torsion springs. The lockbox has a shackle and a key bin that include latch pins which are retained by the inner barrel when in the locked state, and the barrel can be rotated to either release the shackle or to release the key bin that typically holds a building's key. During insertion of a latch pin into the rotatable barrel, a first interior protrusion is sufficiently wide such that after the first latch pin has been inserted into the barrel and has become latched, the first latch pin does not unlatch itself as the second latch pin is inserted and rotates the rotatable barrel during the second latch pin insertion.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.