Title of Invention

"TAMPER PROOF METER BOX WITH PUSH FIT ARRANGEMENT FOR KILOWATT HOUR METER"

Abstract The box is without any hinges. The cover of the box is made to sit on the base at suitable places, and the base and cover are provided with female and male self locking arrangements. When the cover is pressed on the base the self locking male part gets pushed into the female portion and the cover gets locked onto the base. By this means the box can not be opened except by means of force during which it will damage or break the locking system. The box cover will then become loose and openable. The damaged / broken locking studs will record the tampering.
Full Text FIELD OF INVENTION :-
The Invention describes an improved Meter Box for Electrical Energy Meter (Kilowatt Hour Meters), Conventional Boxes are used for attaching lid/cover to the body of a box by hinges. The Box can be opened or closed by rotating the cover around the hinges. In this invention hinges are eliminated altogether. The cover of the Box is made to sit on the base a suitable places on the base and cover are provided with Female & Male self locking arrangements. When the cover is pressed on the base the self locking male part gets pushed into the female portion & the cover gets locked on to the base. By this means the Box can not be opened except by means of force during which it will damage or break the locking system. The box cover will then become loose and opehable. The damaged / broken locking studs will record the tampering. The box gets damaged on opening and becomes unsuable. PROBLEMS WITH PRIOR ART:-
1. Both attaching and detaching of cover/lid by means of
conventional hinge is cumbersome and time consuming.
2. For conventional system, after long use of the hinge, the screw gets
rusted and jammed. For replacement of the old hinge with a new
one, the process is time consuming & cumbersome.
3. The conventional system involves fixing the panels of the hinge to
the edge of the cover/lid and the edge of the box by means of
screw/rivets or welding.
4. Existing arrangements of providing hinges on the box makes it
vulnerable to opening of Box & thereby tampering of the
equipments inside.

5. In the existing arrangement the tampering of the box can not be
detected as nothing breaks or gets damaged.
6. The equipment inside is open for tampering.
7. In the existing arrangement the user is tempted to open the box as
the same cannot be detected. The opening of the box does not
leave any sign of tamper.
8. Since the box is openable it is open for pilferage.
How this invention seeks to solve the problem The invention relates to providing Male and Female self locking studs / pillars / inserts arrangement on the base & cover of the box. To describe the locking system refer to Exhibit No.l which show a locking stud. It has two finger type locking male parts on both sides of the stud. These male parts are made of suitable materials to give flexibility that is it can be pressed slightly when pressed at the top of locking surface. These are made in a design that when the pressure is released it comes back to its original position and gets locked in a female recess.
One end of this locking stud is pushed in a built up lock fitting place provided in the cover -Exhibit 3 in one box -one or more such locking studs can be provided. In the exhibit -3 four such studs have been provided. These studs get locked when pushed into the lock fitting place and become rigid with the cover. The cover gets closed on the base.
In another option, only one ended locking stud can be provided & the other part can form the integral part of the cover, that is, the cover and locking stud form one component only. In this case one end form

a part and parcel of the cover and the locking stud protrude from the
cover.
To provide locking a female locking part is provided. The basic
design is in Exhibit 2. In this it may be seen that female locking part
consists of a hollow pipe type construction having hole from one end
and an under cut is made in the hollow construction to provide
female locking surface.
In exhibit 3 shows locking studs are pushed in the locking place at
four corners of the cover. In exhibit 4, female locking parts are
provided at four places.
Exhibit 5 - shows as to how the cover is positioned on top of base and
aligned as shown in exhibit 6. When pushed further from top the box
gets locked up as shown in exhibit 7.
To show the locking system a cross section of one locking system as
shown in exhibit 8 is taken and a detailed push fit locking system
section is shown in exhibit no.9.
The locking studs get locked at Point A and B and if pulled up
forcibly, then the studs will get broken. Once the studs get broken, it,
therefore, registers the tampering.
The male locking stud can either be provided on cover or on base and
similarly stud on either base or cover, as it may be convenient. The
broken lock studs become evidence for tampering of the meter box.
Having the locks broken the meter box becomes unusable as the
cover cannot be pushed back on the base. The broken stud locks
provide a clear indication of tampering of the meter box.
Features to achieve existing problem solving
The basic construction of tamper proof meter box with push fit arrangement, as explained above is simple and practical as shown in the exhibit 1 to 9. The fixing of the self push fit boxes does not require any screw rivets or welding. The installation is easy and the invention is, therefore, much suitable and convenient for meter boxes for kilowatt hour meters or similar type of usages where detection of tampering is important.
Statement of Invention
1. An improved tamper proof Meter Box with push fit arrangement for
Kilowatt hour meters comprising:
A tamper proof meter box openable only by use of external force, having a base and cover moulded with engineering plastics which provides shockproof and tamperproof system.
Suitable number of self locking male and female studs on all four sides of box, depending on size of the box, and of suitable shapes and sizes for push fit arrangement.
Rubber fixing channels forming part of the moulding, with rubber gasket all around in rubber fixing channel for protection against ingress of water and dust.
Locking arrangement provided for locking cover with base of the box.
2. An improved tamper proof Meter Box with push fit arrangement for
Kilowatt hour meters as claimed in 1 wherein bus bars, CBs, MCCBs,
isolators, switching system, latching relays, contactors / GSM-CDMA
modem, control system, PLCC and similar other equipments can be housed
suitably.




I CLAIM
1 . An improved tamper proof Meter Box with push fit arrangement for Kilowatt hour meters comprising:
A tamper proof meter box openable only by use of external force, having a base and cover moulded with engineering plastics which provides shockproof and tamperproof system,
Suitable number of self locking male and female studs on all four sides of box, depending on size of the box, and of suitable shapes and sizes for push fit arrangement,
Rubber fixing channels forming part of the moulding, with rubber gasket all around in rubber fixing channel for protection against ingress of water and dust,
Locking arrangement provided for locking cover with base of the box,
2. An improved tamper proof Meter Box with push fit arrangement for
Kilowatt hour meters as claimed in 1 wherein bus bars, CBs, MCCBs,
isolators, switching system, latching relays, contactors / GSM-CDMA
modem, control system, PLCC and similar other equipments can be housed
suitably.
3. An improved tamper proof Meter Box with push fit arrangement for
Kilowatt hour meters as claimed in 1 to 2 as claimed in any of the
preceding claims.

Documents:

1184-del-2006-abstract.pdf

1184-del-2006-claims.pdf

1184-del-2006-correspondence-others.pdf

1184-del-2006-correspondence-po.pdf

1184-del-2006-description (complete).pdf

1184-del-2006-drawings.pdf

1184-del-2006-form-1.pdf

1184-del-2006-form-18.pdf

1184-del-2006-form-2.pdf

1184-del-2006-form-3.pdf

1184-del-2006-form-5.pdf

1184-del-2006-form-9.pdf


Patent Number 208816
Indian Patent Application Number 1184/DEL/2006
PG Journal Number 33/2007
Publication Date 17-Aug-2007
Grant Date 10-Aug-2007
Date of Filing 12-May-2006
Name of Patentee DHARAM PAL GUPTA
Applicant Address B-396, NEW FREENDS COLONY, NEW DELHI-110065, INDIA.
Inventors:
# Inventor's Name Inventor's Address
1 DHARAM PAL GUPTA B-396, NEW FREENDS COLONY, NEW DELHI-110065, INDIA.
PCT International Classification Number B65D 81/38
PCT International Application Number N/A
PCT International Filing date
PCT Conventions:
# PCT Application Number Date of Convention Priority Country
1 NA