Lockout Box with Integrated Permit Storage to Prevent Misplacement
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Solution Overview
Problem
There is a risk of misplaced or lost permits to work during group lockouts, which can lead to premature cancellation of safety measures, as they are not always readily available and can be misplaced or forgotten.
Innovation Solution
A lockout box design that incorporates a pivotable front-side flap with a transparent front plate, allowing for the secure insertion and visibility of a permit to work, which is locked in with machine lock keys until work is completed, ensuring it remains accessible and visible at all times.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the permit to work is stored separately from the lockout box, then it can be accessed independently, but it risks being misplaced or lost
Solution Approach 1:
The patent combines the permit to work storage with the lockout box by providing a receptacle within the lockout box specifically designed to hold the permit to work. This merging ensures that the permit to work is always stored together with the keys, eliminating the risk of misplacement or loss while maintaining reliable availability during group lockout operations.
2Ease of operation
If the permit to work is made visible through a transparent flap, then it can be viewed without opening the lockout box, but the security and protection of the document may be compromised
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by making only the flap containing the permit to work transparent, while the rest of the lockout box remains opaque. This selective transparency allows the permit to work to be viewed without opening the box while maintaining security and protection for the document. The transparent portion is localized precisely where needed for visibility.
3Reliability
If the lockout box structure is made more complex to include integrated permit storage, then the permit to work is secured, but the device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent achieves secure storage of the permit to work by integrating it into the existing lockout box structure, which serves multiple functions: securing keys, providing a locked container, and now also housing the permit to work. The receptacle for the permit to work is incorporated within the same locking mechanism and container structure, avoiding the need for separate storage systems and minimizing additional complexity.
Data Source
AI summary
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.