Lock apparatus for meter socket cover

Abstract

A lock apparatus for a utility service enclosure with a cover mountable over a sidewall includes an attachment member having a pair of spaced legs and aligned apertures formed in the legs. A fastener is extensible through the aperture in the one leg disposed interiorly of the enclosure when the attachment member is mounted over the sidewall of the enclosure and deforms the sidewall into engagement with the aperture in the other leg. A flange extending from the attachment member interengages a body having a lip overlaying the cover to inhibit removal of the cover from the enclosure. A lock is engageble with the body and the flange to lock the body to the attachment member.

1 . An utility enclosure apparatus comprising:
 a utility enclosure having a housing with a sidewall and an opening;   a cover mountable to the housing to close the opening:   a clip having first and second spaced legs, the clip mountable over the sidewall of the enclosure with the first leg disposed interiorly of the enclosure and the second leg disposed exteriorly of the enclosure;   a first aperture formed in the first leg of the clip;   a second aperture formed in the second leg of the clip, the second aperture coaxial with the first aperture;   a clip attachment member threadingly extensible through the first aperture in the first leg of the clip into forced sidewall deforming engagement with a portion of the sidewall of the enclosure; and   a bulge formed by the clip attachment member in the sidewall extending outward from the sidewall into the second aperture in the second leg of the clip to lock the clip to the sidewall of the enclosure.   
     
     
         2 . (canceled) 
     
     
         3 . The apparatus of  claim 1  wherein:
 the clip attachment member has a shaft with a first end, an opposed second end, and a threaded portion extending from the first end.   
     
     
         4 . The apparatus of  claim 1  wherein further comprising:
 a rotation imparting feature carried on the clip attachment member.   
     
     
         5 . The apparatus of  claim 4  wherein the rotation imparting feature comprises:
 at least one radially extending arm.   
     
     
         6 . The apparatus of  claim 5  wherein:
 the at least one arm has a length disposed in interference with the cover when the cover is mounted on the sidewall of the enclosure to prevent substantial rotation of the clip attachment member in the direction to unthread the clip attachment member relative to the first aperture.   
     
     
         7 . (canceled) 
     
     
         8 . The apparatus of  claim 1  wherein:
 the first and second legs of the clip have parallel portions extending from an interconnecting end wall; and   the first and second apertures formed in the parallel portions.   
     
     
         9 . The apparatus of  claim 1  wherein the clip further comprises:
 a flange extending from the second leg.   
     
     
         10 . The apparatus of  claim 9  further comprising:
 a lock member;   a body configured to receive the flange of the clip for inter-engaging the body and the clip, the body having a lip overlaying the enclosure cover; and   a bore extending through the body for receiving a lock member in engagement with the flange of the clip.   
     
     
         11 . The apparatus of  claim 10  wherein the clip further comprises:
 an aperture formed in the flange alignable with a bore in the body for receiving a lock member.   
     
     
         12 . An utility enclosure apparatus comprising:
 a utility enclosure having a housing with a sidewall and an opening;   a cover mountable to the housing to close the opening;   a mount having first and second spaced legs, the mount adapted to be mountable over the sidewall of the enclosure with the first leg disposed interiorly of the enclosure and the second leg disposed exteriorly of the enclosure;   a first aperture formed in the first leg of the mount;   a second aperture formed in the second leg of the mount;   an attachment member extensible through the first aperture in the first leg of the mount and adapted into forced engagement with the sidewall of the enclosure and deforming a portion of the sidewall of the enclosure to create a bulge in the sidewall extending from the sidewall into the second aperture in the second leg of the mount to lock the mount on the sidewall of the enclosure; and   the attachment member including a portion engagable with the cover of the utility enclosure when the attachment member is deformably engaged with the sidewall of the utility enclosure to inhibit disengagement of the attachment member away from the sidewall of the utility enclosure after the cover has been mounted on the utility enclosure by interference of the portion of the attachment member with the cover of the utility enclosure during disengagement movement of the attachment member from the sidewall of the enclosure.   
     
     
         13 . The apparatus of  claim 12  wherein the portion of the attachment member comprises:
 a manually rotatable head on the attachment member; and   at least one arm radially extending from the head.   
     
     
         14 . The apparatus of  claim 13  further comprising:
 the at least one arm has a length to interfere with the cover when the cover is mounted on the sidewall of the enclosure to prevent substantial rotation of the attachment member in the direction to disengage the attachment member from the enclosure sidewall.   
     
     
         15 . The apparatus of  claim 12  further comprising:
 a lock body engageable with the second leg of the mount;   a lockable and unlockable lock member mountable in the lock body to releasably lock the lock body to the mount; and   a lip carried on the lock body and disposed over the cover when the cover is mounted on the utility enclosure to lock the cover on the utility enclosure.   
     
     
         16 . The apparatus of  claim 15  further comprising:
 a flange extending from the second leg of the mount; and   the lock body engageable with the flange to enable the lock member to be releasably locked to the flange.   
     
     
         17 . An utility enclosure apparatus comprising:
 a clip having first and second spaced legs, the clip mountable over the sidewall of the enclosure with the first leg disposed interiorly of the enclosure and the second leg disposed exteriorly of the enclosure;   a first aperture formed in the first leg of the clip;   a second aperture formed in the second leg of the clip and co-axially aligned with the first aperture;   a threaded shaft extensible through the first aperture in the first leg of the clip into engagement with the sidewall of the enclosure; and   a bulge formed by the engagement of the threaded shaft with the sidewall, the bulge extending from a portion of the sidewall into the second aperture in the second leg of the clip to lock the clip to the sidewall of the enclosure; and   a head fixedly carried on the shaft for facilitating manual rotation of the shaft.   
     
     
         18 . The apparatus of  claim 17  further comprising:
 the head includes at least one arm having a length to interfere with the cover when the cover is mounted on the sidewall of the enclosure to prevent substantial rotation of the shaft in the direction to disengage the shaft from the sidewall of the enclosure.   
     
     
         19 . A method of locking a cover to a wall of a utility enclosure comprising the steps of:
 providing a clip having first and second spaced legs, a first aperture formed in the first leg of the clips; and a second aperture formed in the second leg of the clips;   mounting the clip over the wall of the enclosure with the first leg disposed interiorly of the enclosure and the second leg disposed exteriorly of the enclosure;   extending a clip attachment member through the first aperture in the first leg of the clip into forced engagement with and deforming a portion of the wall of the enclosure to form a bulge extending from the wall into the second aperture in the second leg of the clip to lock the clip to the sidewall of the enclosure; and   mounting the cover on the enclosure such that the cover overlays a portion of the clip.