the present invention provides a tank retaining bracket which includes a housing 10 which is generally at least partially cylindrical in overall shape and which defines an access opening 12 defined in one end thereof . the opposite end of housing 10 is usually at least partially closed by an end panel 14 . four individual housing walls are preferably includes in the overall configuration of housing 10 . the housing walls specifically include , preferably , a first housing wall 16 , the second housing wall 18 , the third housing wall 20 and the fourth housing wall 22 . housing 10 preferably includes these four walls 16 , 18 , 20 and 22 oriented extending parallel with respect to each other . housing 10 also defines an interior chamber means 24 which is in fluid flow communication with respect to the access opening 12 . access opening 12 provides access to this interior chamber means 24 defined within the housing 10 to facilitate positioning of a tank 94 therewithin . preferably the housing defines a plurality of housing aperture means therein . these housing aperture means can preferably or alternatively include an end hole 30 positioned within the generally central portion of the end panel 14 as well as a plurality of longitudinal slot means 28 defined at various locations by the housing walls . these longitudinal slot means 28 can provide a means for facilitating securement of the housing 10 of the gas retaining means of the present invention with respect to environment structure in various positions and orientations . in this manner a gas tank or canister 94 can be secured conveniently in a readily accessible position with respect to a gurney or stretcher . housing 10 also preferably defines a locking opening 32 in at least one of the walls 16 , 18 , 20 or 22 thereof into which a locking mechanism 52 may be positioned to facilitate locking of a gas canister or tank 94 within the interior chamber 24 of housing 10 thereof as desired . preferably locking hole 32 will be defined in the first housing wall 16 adjacent said access opening 12 . a mounting means 34 is also preferably included for facilitating mounting of the housing 10 of the gas tank retaining means with respect to environmental structure . one form of mounting means could be a strap extending through one or more of the longitudinal slots 28 defined in the housing 10 . such a strap can also be positioned extending around any conveniently available environmental structure to facilitate mounting of the mounting means 34 of the present invention as desired . housing aperture means 26 such as end holes 30 or longitudinal slot means 28 can also be included in order to provide ventilation and / or cooling if needed in a particular application . the preferred configuration the present invention includes a mounting means 34 which is designed to be securable with respect to various available portions of emergency transport equipment such as a stretcher or gurney 98 . the mounting means 34 preferably includes a first mounting bracket 36 and a second mounting bracket 38 which can be secured to the stretcher 98 at two different positions for maintaining of the housing 10 securely with respect thereto such as to provide a rigidly retained means for holding a tank 94 securely with respect thereto preferably while in any position or , particularly , while extending in a generally horizontal direction as shown in fig1 . the first mounting bracket 36 will preferably include a first mounting bracket aperture 40 which is generally square or rectangular in cross - section and which can be clamped about a portion of the structure of a stretcher 98 . similarly , the second mounting bracket 38 will define a second mounting bracket aperture 42 which is generally square or rectangular which aperture is defined to grasp around a portion of the structure of the stretcher 98 . alternatively , whenever the portion of the stretcher 98 which needs to be secured with respect thereto is of round cross section , a first mounting bracket insert can be positioned within the first mounting bracket aperture 40 and a second mounting bracket insert 46 can be positioned within the second mounting bracket aperture 42 to thereby be securable with respect to a generally round portion of the structure or gurney 98 and , in this manner , provide more universal capabilities for mounting of the gas tank retaining means of the present invention . in this manner securement with respect to a generally arcuate or rounded portion of the structure of a stretcher 98 is made possible along with the capability for securement to a square - shaped section of a stretcher 98 . one of the most important aspects of the present invention is the unique construction of the locking mechanism 52 . the locking mechanism 52 will include a locking frame 54 which defines a locking frame aperture 56 extending therethrough . the locking frame aperture 56 is surrounded by a frame mounting rim 58 . this mounting rim 58 will include a plurality of frame mounting rim apertures 60 positioned therewithin to secure the frame mounting rim 58 of the locking mechanism 52 with respect to the housing 10 . a plurality of frame mounting screws 62 will be included which are mated with frame mounting nuts 64 . as such , positioning of the frame mounting screws 62 through a portion of the housing 10 will facilitate securement with respect thereto . in detail , the individual frame mounting screws 62 will extend through the frame mounting rim aperture 60 and through a mated opening in the housing 10 . thereafter each of the frame mounting screws 62 so positioned will include a frame mounting nut 64 attached to the inner end thereof thereby fixedly securing of the locking frame 54 of the locking mechanism 52 with respect to the housing 10 at a position with the locking mechanism 52 extending through the locking opening 32 defined in housing 10 . the frame of the locking mechanism 52 will include a first locking ear 66 and a second locking ear 68 spatially disposed apart from one another on opposite sides of the locking frame aperture 56 as best shown in fig1 , 5 , 10 , 11 and 12 . the first locking ear 66 will include a first locking ear aperture 70 defined therein and second locking ear 68 will define a second locking ear aperture 72 extending therethrough . the first locking ear aperture 66 and the second locking ear aperture 68 will be axially aligned or registered with respect to one another and be adapted to receive a pivot axle 82 extending therethrough to provide an axis about which a pivot member 74 can rotate . pivot member 74 will be positioned within the locking frame aperture 56 of the locking frame 54 and will be pivotally movable between a locked position 100 and an unlocked position 102 . pivot member 74 preferably defines a pivot member slot 76 extending therethrough to receive a resilient biasing means 80 such as a locking spring . pivot member 74 also defines a pivot channel means 78 extending completely therethrough which is adapted to receive said pivot axle 82 extending therethrough to facilitate pivotal movement of said pivot member 74 between the unlocked position 100 and the locked position 102 . the pivot axle 82 will preferably be positioned extending through the pivot channel means 78 and also through the first locking ear aperture 70 and the second locking ear aperture 72 in order to provide an axis about which the pivot member 74 is capable of pivoting between the locked position 100 and the unlocked position 102 , respectively . preferably a pivot channel means 78 will be defined in the pivot member 74 with the pivot axle 82 extending therethrough to facilitate pivotal movement thereof . a resilient biasing means 80 such as a lock or coil spring or the like will be preferably positioned within the pivot member slot 76 . by positioning of the lock spring 80 within the pivot member slot in position extending around the pivot axle 82 , the resilient biasing means 80 will adapted to continuously urge the pivot member 74 toward the locked position . in the locked position a pivot member protruding section 75 defined on pivotal member 74 will protrude inwardly into the interior chamber means 24 to cause the pivot member 74 to extend inwardly to lock the gas canister 94 in place therewithin . the pivot member protruding section 75 of pivot member 74 will also define a pivot member tank abutment surface 79 thereon which is generally planar and is adapted to abut a tank as it passes into or out of said interior chamber means 24 . pivot member abutment surface 75 is adapted abut a tank 94 as it moves through access opening 12 for placement thereof within said interior chamber means 24 . as the tank 94 moves into the bracket it will contact pivot member abutment surface causing the pivot member 74 to move and pivot toward the locked position 100 . the construction of the pivot axle 82 will preferably include a pivot axle head 84 at one end thereof and a hole through the opposite end such that a pivot axle cotter pin or other similar clamping device can extend therethrough for maintaining the pivot axle 82 in position . when positioned properly pivot axle 82 will be extending through the first locking ear aperture 70 and through the pivot channel means 78 and through the pivot slot 76 in the pivot member 74 into the pivot member slot 76 and finally through the second locking ear aperture 72 and outwardly therefrom after which point the cotter pin is attached . the resilient biasing means 80 will be positioned preferably around pivot axle 80 as it extends through pivot member slot 76 to continuously urge movement of pivot member toward the locking position . in this manner firm mounting of the pivot member 74 is achieved while pivotal movement thereof between the locked position 100 and the unlocked position 102 is achievable . it must be understood , however , that the resilient biasing means 80 will establish the steady state position of the pivot member 74 to be continuously forcibly urged toward the locked positioned 100 . to facilitate movement of the pivot member 74 to the unlocked position manually , a handle 88 such as a releasing lanyard will be movably attached with respect to the pivot member 74 . preferably a lanyard pin 92 will extend through the pivot member slot with the handle 88 movably and securely attached to the lanyard pin 92 . in this manner the exertion of force manually on the handle or releasing lanyard 88 will exert sufficient power to overcome the force of the locking spring 80 and , thus , will cause the pivot member 74 to pivot to the unlocked position 102 . it is important that the extent of movement of the pivot member 74 toward the unlock position 100 be specifically defined and be limited which is achieved by the defining of a pivot member locking abutment section 96 thereon which will abut the rear section frame mounting rim 58 to limit the extent of movement responsive to the steady state locking force . in the preferred configuration of the pivot member 74 will be configured such that it allows the gas canister to be automatically locked in place merely by the insertion of the canister completely inwardly within the chamber 24 . as the canister is urged inwardly initially through the access opening 12 the outside surface of the canister will contact the outwardly facing inclined surface of the pivot member 74 . in this manner pivot member 74 will be urged by the force exerted thereon by the exterior wall of the canister 94 to move toward the unlocked position and allow insertion of the canister completely to a position for retaining thereof defined within the interior chamber 24 . once the canister 94 moves to a position beyond the location of the locking mechanism 52 the pivot member 74 will move inwardly to return to the locking position 100 extending into the interior chamber means 24 . additionally , most of the gas canisters 94 used with the present invention will include a reduced diameter neck portion 95 . this reduced diameter neck portion will be movable along with the tank 94 to a position adjacent and perhaps beyond the location of the locking mechanism 52 responsive to positioning of the canister to the completely inserted position within the interior chamber 24 . the reduced diameter neck portion 95 will then allow the pivot member 74 to initiate pivoting toward the locked position 100 and in this manner provide a means for automatically retaining of the canister 94 within the housing 10 without requiring the user to pull on the releasing lanyard 88 . thereafter , if it is desired to remove the canister 94 from the housing 10 , manual force needs to be exerted upon the releasing lanyard 88 to overcome the continuous bias exerted by resilient biasing means 80 which tends to urge movement of pivot member 74 toward the locked position 100 in order to allow tank 94 to exit from the interior chamber 24 past the position of locking mechanism 52 . in the preferred configuration of the present invention the housing 10 will define a housing axis 118 extending longitudinally therethrough from access opening 12 axially through said interior chamber means 24 adjacent said first housing end 114 toward the second housing end 116 and terminating at the end panel 14 thereadjacent . in this manner the housing axis 118 will extend generally down the axial middle of the interior chamber means 24 in a longitudinal direction . an important characteristic of the present invention is in the configuration of the pivot member 74 . pivot member 74 will define a pivot channel means 78 extending therethrough which is in aligning registration with respect to the first locking ear aperture 70 and the second locking ear aperture 72 in such a manner as to be adapted to receive the pivot axle 82 positioned extending therethrough responsive to positioning simultaneously through the first locking ear aperture 70 and the second locking ear aperture 72 . pivot member 74 is also configured in such a manner as to define a pivot member slot 76 therein in full fluid flow communication with respect to the pivot channel means 78 . the pivot member 74 will also preferably be pivotally movable about the pivot axle 82 between a locked position 100 and an unlocked position 102 . in the locked position 100 the pivot member 74 will be adapted to extend into the interior chamber means 24 and in the unlocked position 102 pivot member 74 will be removed therefrom . preferably pivot member 74 will include a pivot member protruding second 75 which is movable through the locking frame aperture 56 in order to extend into the interior chamber means 24 for locking a tank 94 in the interior chamber means 24 responsive to movement of the pivot member 74 to locked position 100 . the pivot member protruding section 75 also is movable to a position removed from and exterior with respect to the interior chamber means 24 responsive to movement of the pivot member 74 to the unlocked position 102 to facilitate movement of a tank 94 through the access opening 12 for placement and removal with respect to the interior chamber means 24 . in the preferred configuration of the present invention the resilient biasing means 80 will comprise a coil spring which is positioned extending around the pivot axle 82 within the pivot chamber means 78 and within the pivot member slot 76 . the configuration of the pivot member 74 will be such that the pivot member protruding section 75 defines the pivot abutment surface 79 which is adapted to abut a tank 94 passing through the access opening 12 during movement of the tank 94 into the interior chamber means 24 . preferably the pivot member abutment surface 79 will be generally planar . the configuration of the frame mounting rim 58 is important because of the interaction thereof with respect to the pivot member 74 of locking mechanism 52 . in particular , the frame mounting rim 58 will preferably define a front section 112 thereof and a rear section 110 thereof . frame mounting rim 58 will also define a first side section 120 of rim 58 and a second side section 122 of rim 58 . first side section 120 will extend between the rear section 110 and the front section 112 of frame mounting rim 58 and the second side section 122 will also extend between the rear section 110 and the front section 112 but at a position spatially disposed from the location of the first side section 120 . in this manner the rear section 110 , front section 112 , first side section 120 and second side section 122 of the frame mounting rim 58 will define the locking frame aperture 56 extending therethrough . the interaction between the pivot member 74 and the frame mounting rim 58 is an important characteristic of the present invention . in particular , the pivot member 74 includes a pivot member protruding section 75 which includes a pivot member locking abutment section 97 which is movable into abutment with respect to the front section 112 of frame mounting rim 58 responsive to movement of pivot member 74 to the locked position 100 in order to prevent pivoting of the pivot member 74 beyond the proper position for locking responsive to force exerted by the resilient biasing means 80 on the pivot member . furthermore the pivot member protruding section 75 will include a pivot member unlocking abutment section 96 which is movable into abutment with respect to the rear section 110 of the frame mounting rim 58 responsive to movement of the pivot member 74 to the unlocked position 110 in order to prevent pivoting of the pivot member 74 beyond this unlocked position responsive to force exerted by manual force being exerted on the handle to overcome the force exerted by the resilient biasing means 80 on the pivot member 74 . furthermore , it is preferable that the pivot member locking abutment section 97 be positioned adjacent to the pivot member tank abutment surface 79 extending outwardly therefrom . it is further important that the pivot member unlocking abutment section 96 be positioned adjacent to the pivot member tank abutment surface 79 and extending outwardly therefrom at a position spatially disposed from the pivot member locking abutment section 97 . it is further preferable that the pivot member tank abutment surface 79 be positioned between the pivot member unlocking abutment section 96 and the pivot member locking abutment section 97 . furthermore the present invention should preferably include a lanyard pin 92 mounted in the pivot member 74 at a position extending through the pivot member slot 76 wherein the handle 88 such as a lanyard can be movably attached to the lanyard pin 92 by extending therearound preferably to facilitate manually powering movement of the pivot member 74 toward the unlocked position 102 . in the preferred configuration of the present invention the pivot member 74 will preferably define the pivot member slot 76 oriented extending therethrough in a direction extending approximately parallel with respect to the housing axis 118 to facilitate pivotal movement of the pivot member 74 between the locked position 100 and the unlocked position 102 . furthermore the pivot member 74 is preferably configured such that the pivot channel means 78 is oriented extending therethrough in a direction extending perpendicularly with respect to the housing axis 118 and perpendicularly with respect to the pivot member slot 76 to further facilitate pivotal movement of pivot member 74 between the locked position 100 and the unlocked position 102 . the configuration of the frame mounting rim 58 can also be critical to certain preferred aspects of the present invention . in particular , the first side section 120 and the second side section 122 should extending approximately parallel with respect to one another and be spatially disposed from one another with the locking frame aperture 56 positioned therebetween and with said rear section 110 and said front section 112 extending therebetween at spatially distant locations from one another . with this configuration the first locking ear 66 will be fixedly secured to and possibly integral with respect to the first side section 120 and extending outwardly therefrom . furthermore the second locking ear 68 will preferably be fixedly secured to and possibly integral with respect to the second side section 122 and extending outwardly therefrom in order to facilitate pivotal movement of the pivot member 74 about the pivot axle 82 . there are certain preferred structural characteristics for the housing of the present invention and preferably the housing 10 will include a first housing wall 16 , a second housing wall 18 , a third housing wall 20 and a fourth housing wall 22 . first housing wall 16 will preferably be generally planar and second housing wall 18 will preferably attach to the first housing wall 16 and extending outwardly therefrom . preferably the second housing 18 will preferably be arcuate . the third housing wall 20 will preferably be attached to the first housing wall 16 at a position spatially disposed from the second housing wall 18 and extending outwardly therefrom . third housing wall 20 will also preferably be arcuate in shape . a fourth housing wall 22 will also preferably be included which is generally planar and it will be positioned such that it generally extends between the second housing wall 18 and the third housing wall 20 and is attached thereto at positions spatially disposed from the position on attachment of the first housing wall 16 thereto . with this configuration it is preferable that the second housing wall 18 and the third housing wall 20 will be concave facing inwardly toward the housing axis 118 to facilitate retaining of a cylindrical tank 94 within the interior chamber means 24 . the housing 10 of the present invention also further preferably includes a plurality of housing apertures 26 therein which primarily will include longitudinal slots 28 but also can include end holes 30 defined in the end panel 14 . these holes are for ventilation to allow moisture to exit from the interior chamber 24 during usage . while particular embodiments of this invention have been shown in the drawings and described above , it will be apparent that many changes may be made in the form , arrangement and positioning of the various elements of the combination . in consideration thereof , it should be understood that preferred embodiments of this invention disclosed herein are intended to be illustrative only and not intended to limit the scope of the invention .
the gas tank retaining device of the present invention is particularly usable for retaining oxygen cylinders with respect to emergency equipment such as mobile stretchers that need to be transported in vehicles . security of heavy oxygen or gas tanks is achieved by providing a housing with an access opening and a uniquely configured locking mechanism for retaining a generally cylindrical tank preferably in a horizontal orientation . the locking mechanism is steady state biased in a closed or retaining position for holding the tank within the housing and can be moved to a releasing position responsive to manual manipulation thereof .