Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
~ Docket No, ~211fJ - 1
~Zl(~454
VISION OBSTRUCTING SHIELD FOR ELECTRIC METERS
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION:
Electric utility companies meter, through a company
owned meter, the electrical energy furnished to each user.
Care has been exercised in the design and mounting of
these service meters to make it as difficult as possible
for a user to thwart or cheat the meter, or,in other
words, to steal electrical energy.
In spite of the safeguards, millions of dollars worth
of electrical energy is stolen each year. The problem is
becoming more and more acute as the rates increase and become
more burdensome to more and more users.
The inventors have discovered a method by which elec-
trical energy may be stolen without the use of wire taps,
and without leaving any telltale evidence. Obviously the
inventors will not disclose their precise method to the
public because such disclosure would reveal a simple method
for commission of the illegal act of bilking utility
companies.
The inventors did demonstrate to a utility company to
its satisfaction that electrical energy could be stolen
very easily and without leaving any telltale evidence of
such theft other than that the user will have an unusually
low bill. One of the inventors used a full month of elec-
trical energy at his residence without anything showing on
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Docket ~lu. ~2116 - 2
~2~5~
the meter, and without leaving a trace of ellidence that
electrical energy was flowing through the sealed meter
which was not recording the flow.
There are several major meter manufacturers in the
United States, and all manufacturers have produced mil-
lions of meters which have -the same latent defect.
This defect was brought to the attention of one manu-
facturer which paid a monetary award under a written
agreement under which the inventors agreed not to reveal
their method of thwarting the meter to the public, for
obvious reasons. This manufacturer remedied the defect
by design changes, and the new meters cannot be foiled
by the inventors' method.
The problem is with the estimated 200 million or
more existing meters, being used in the United States
and Canada alone, which can be thwarted by the inventor's
method. These meters could be taken out of service to be
rebuilt and reinstalled. In addition to other costs to
the meter manufacturers and utility companies, the cost
of rebuilding each meter approaches the cost of building
a new meter.
Without revealing how it is done, i-t can be stated
that it is necessary to stop the clockwork within the
sealed meter for as long as desired, and to restart the
clockwork at a selected future time. This can be done
- Docket ~lo, ~ J - ',
G454
without jumper wires, without breaking a seal, and witn-
out leaving any telltale evidence. Stopping the clock-
work has no effect on the flow of electricity through
the meter. Unless the utility's meter reader or an
inspector notices that the clockwork is not operating,
he will not even suspect that the meter is not recording
the energy flowing through the meter.
In order to know when the meter is made inoperative
to record the energy flow, it is necessary to observe
movement somewhere in the gear train. The same is also
true when again starting the recorder. Without this
visual observation, anyone tampering with the meter would
not know until the lapse of several hours whether the
recorder was operative or was non-operative. The only
element in the gear train which will give a fast indication
is the large horizontal registering ratio calibrating
disc which is driven by a magnetic field.
- - Dock~t iNo. X2116 - 4
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION ~Z1~4~4
In one broad aspect, the present invention relates to a
shield for an electric meter mounted to a base to complete and
form part of a circuit making available a supply of electricity to
a home, business or the like, which meter comprises means for
measuring the rate of flow therethrough of electricity and
providing a calibrated transmission thereo to visual read out
means embodied therein, said shield comprising a globe-like
structure having an opening by means of which it may be applied
over and about said meter, means bounding said opening by means of
which said structure may have a sealed connection thereof to the
meter base and a seal of said opening, said globe-like structure
being formed to preclude access to or visual observation of said
means for rneasuring and providing said calibrated transmission of
the rate of flow of electricity and a limited portion of said
structure being arranged to provide means for a restricted visual
observation o~ said read-out means.
The outer closed end of the shield is provided with a
suitable aperture or a transparent window through which the dials
on the meter may be read. The aperture or window should be as
small as possible, and on most meters will require a suitable
baffle to prevent observation of even a portion of a geared
element within the meter, and in particular the registering ratio
calibrating disc. The baffle must also provide protection against
use of a small mirror, such as is used by dentists. The specific
details of the shield should be tailored for a specific meter and
meter socket combination.
, ,~
Docket No. ~2116 - ~
5~
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS:
Fig. 1 is an exploded perspective depicting a con-
ventional meter mounted on an open meter socket, a shield
in accordance with the present invention, and a locking
cover;
Fig. 2 are the components of Fig. 1 in their assembled
position;
Fig. 3 is an enlarged vertical section taken along
the lines 3 - 3 and depicting one manner of limiting the
line of sight permitted by the shield of the present
invention;
Fig. 4 is a fragmentary section comparable to the
vertical section of Fig, 3 and depicting an alternate
method of limiting the line of sight;
Fig. 5 is a fragmentary section comparable to the
vertical section of Fig. 3 and depicting yet another
alternate method of limiting the line of sight;
Fig. 6 is a fragmentary section comparable to the
vertical section of Fig. 3 and depicting still another
alternate method of limiting the line of sight by using
a small window in the end of -the shield; and,
Fig. 7 is a fragmentary section comparable to Fig. 6
and having an open aperture in the end of the shield.
~ocket 1'lO. ~21L6 - 6
45~
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT:
Fig. 1 depicts one of several types of standard meter
sockets 5 such as are used by all electrical utility com-
panies. Standard meters, of which meter 7 is an example,
are provided with male prongs which engage sockets in the
meter socket 5. The meter socket is provided with a hinged
cover 9 which is closed when the meter is in place, and is
locked or sealed in place by the utility at the time of
meter installation. The meter is provided with a flange
to prevent removal of the meter when the hinged cover is
secured in place.
The present invention consists of a shield 10 which
slips over the transparent glass globe which extends from
the installed meter. The shield is provided with a flange
retaining means comparable to the flange on the meter,
and when the cover 9 is closed, the cover prevents removal
of both the shield and the meter. When the cover 9 is
closed against the flange on the shield, the shield is
gripped very tightly, and the shield cannot be rotated
on the meter. However, and if desired, the shield may
be provided with additional means for preventing rotation
of the shield in its mounted position on the meter socket.
Such non-rotatable retention means are well known in
the art and require no further description.
The shield may be made of any material which will blur
or obstruct the vision sufficiently to prevent observation
` ~ocket ~lo. ~211~) 7
::~2~L~r45j~
of movement within the meter. The ideal material is very
dark or opaque plastic material or fiberglass which will
permit the injection molding of the shields.
The shield 10 is provided with a light transmitting
passage such as a window 12 which is best shown in Fig. 3.
The window may be made of a transparent material such as
glass or clear plastic material, and positioned in the
shield to permit reading of the dials on the meter. As
shown in Figs. 1 - 3, the shield is provided with an
external hood 14 positioned to be at the top portion of
the shield, and extending outwardly a sufficient distance
to prevent the external observation of any po}tion of the
registering ratio calibra,ting disc 16 within the meter.
If desired, the window 12 may be omitted to leave an
aperture for reading the dials on the meter. When using an
aperture through which a small mirror may be manipulated,
the shield should be provided with a suitable internal
baffle 18 to block viewing the front portion of the regis-
tering ratio calibrating disc 16 by use of a mirror.
Fig. 4 depicts a modification of the shield 10. The
closed end of the modified shield 20 has an aperture formed
by inwardly extending walls 22 which support a transparent
cupped window 24. As depicted, the flange or rim of the
cupped window prevents outward movement of the window, and
- the window is restrained from inward movement by resting
Docket No. X2116 - ~
~2~5~
against the globe of the meter 7. The walls 2~, being
made of opaque material, will prevent the use of a mir-
ror device for observing any movement of the ratio
calibrating disc 16.
Fig. 5 depicts a second modification of the shield lO.
The closed end of the modified shield 30 has an aperture
formed by inwardly extending walls 32 terminating at the
inner end in an angular flange as indicated. A transparent
window 34 is provided with conventional retaining tabs
which snap aroundthe flange on the walls 32 and hold the
window in place.
On the modifications depicted by Figs. 4 and 5, internal
baffles are not required because the opaque walls supporting
the windows act as baffles. Furthermore, the windows prevent
insertion of a mirror.
Fig. 6 depicts yet another modification of the shield lO.
The closed end of modified shield 40 contains a transparent
window 42 which may be made to be integrally located in the
closed end of the shield at the time the shield is injection
molded. If desired, the shield may be provided with an inter-
nal baffle 44.
Fig. 7 depicts still another modification of the shield lO.
The closed end of the modified shield 50 contains an
aperture 52 through which the dials of the meter 7 may be
read. Since a mirror may be manipulated through the aperture
52, an internal baffle 54 should be provided.
~ Docket ~lo, ~211~
54~
All the shields should be provided with a drain
aperture at the bottom of the shield to prevent any
possible accumulation oE water within the shield.
Although some elements of meters have been standardized
to permit interchangability of meters made by various
manufacturers,there is some variation in the location of
dials and other meter elements. For this reason shields
should be configured to fit specific meter applications.
This also applies to baffles which may or may not be re-
quired in any particular application.
On many types of meters, a shield, especially the
species depicted in Fig. 7, may be used inside the globe of
the meter as easily as on the outside of the globe. The
baffle 54 would fi-t against the face of the recording
mechanism through which the dial shafts pass, and would
effectively prevent observation of the registering ratio
calibrating disc 16. The internal shield could be instal-
led at the usage site by pulling the meter, removing the
glass globe, inserting the shield inside the globe, and
then reinstalling the meter. A shield for internal use
need not be as heavy as a shield for external use. Such
a shield may be made from heavy opaque paper since it is
not exposed to the elements or to vandalism. A shield
for internal use would have the same configuration as
the shield depicted in Fig. 7, except that it is slightly
smaller to fit the inside of the globe.
Docket ~lo. 8Zll~ - lr~
~LZ~
The use of a shield in accordance with the present
invention is not a certain cure or a remedy which will
prevent the bilking of an electric utility. However,
it does provide a very effective deterrent which will
make such bilking very much more difficult. Since it
is necessary to see whether or not meter elements are
moving in order to know whether or not the meter is
registering, the cheat will not know whether or not
he has stopped the meter, or whether or not he has
again started the meter at a future time. A utility
inspector can break ~he seal, slip off the shield,
and can then readily determine whether or not the utility
is being bilked at that particular time.
It is to be understood that the embodiments of the
present invention as shown and described are to be regarded
merely as illustrative, and that the invention is susceptible
to variations, modifications and changes, without regard to
specific construction methods, within the scope of the
appended claims.
