Existing industrial and commercial equipment are often provided with lockout devices as a standard safety measure for locking and securing hazardous energy. It is sometimes obligatory and desirable to lock equipment such as heavy electrical switch gears, fluid system components, such as valves, pressure regulators etc., to facilitate the restriction of access to the equipment in such a way that access is provided only when several people are present.
Conventionally, several of the lockout devices or group locks utilize a shackle for engagement with a hasp (or locking bracket or similar structure) and a plurality of padlock-accepting holes to prevent removal of the lockout from the hasp to allow multiple users to prevent unauthorized use of the device. In such case, each person is given a padlock and key which is different from those given to the other persons so that to gain access, everyone must be present to remove the padlocks from the lockout devices.
Further, the existing group locks do not provide any restriction for accessing the key slot of the padlocks, therefore the padlocks are susceptible to be tampered. Also, the existing group locks do not provide any arrangement of sequential locking or unlocking of the padlocks. Therefore, it is feasible to establish a sequence of locking or unlocking, thereby improving workplace safety.
The present disclosure is directed to overcome one or more limitations of the prior art devices.
USPTO Backgrounds
USPTO Backgrounds