Locks – Operating mechanism – Using a powered device
Reexamination Certificate
2001-09-06
2003-08-05
Knight, Anthony (Department: 3676)
Locks
Operating mechanism
Using a powered device
C070S281000, C070S282000, C070S278700, C292S144000, C292S137000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06601418
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an improved structure of electric lock operatable with DC instead of AC, and controlled with a coded chip.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Locks are essential to the protection of human properties, so there have been so many kinds of locks in the market. Among these mechanically operated locks such as cylinder locks and modern electrically operated locks are the most prevailing types.
FIG. 1
is a schematic plane view of a conventional electrically operated lock commonly installed on a door. When the door is closed and in locked state, a tongue piece
11
is projected out, and a latch
12
located at the center thereof is retained by a circular detent washer
13
equipped at the center of a sub-lock case facing against a main lock case so that the latch
12
is captured. When unlocking the lock, by pushing a push button
14
, and the latch
12
is released to retreat into the main lock case, thus the door can be opened.
Further detailed construction of a conventional electric lock is shown in FIG.
2
. As shown in
FIG. 2
, two electromagnetic coils
15
,
16
, an actuated rod
17
, a detention arm
18
, and a tongue piece operation mechanism
3
are included in the main lock case. The actuated rod
17
is hinged to a pivot axis
171
and laid ahead of the electromagnetic coils
15
and
16
so that it is attracted by the coils
15
and
16
to move horizontally when the coils
15
and
16
are energized. The detention arm
18
approximately disposed perpendicular to the actuated lever
17
, is also hinged to a pivot axis
181
and retains the front end of the actuated lever
17
with a jaw formed at its front terminal thereof, while its hinged end at the axis
181
is formed into a recessed breach
182
to trap one side of an inverse U shaped (
) frame
31
of the tongue piece operation mechanism
3
.
The tongue piece operation mechanism
3
is composed of the inverted U-shaped frame
31
, the latch
12
, the tongue piece
11
, a follower member
32
and a connecting rod
33
. The inverted U-shaped frame
31
is formed into a narrow slot shape for the latch
12
to tunnel to and fro. The rear portion of the latch
12
is spirally encircled with a coil spring
34
whose one end is secured to the inner side of the rear ledge of the inverted U-shaped frame
31
. The front leg of the inverted U-shaped frame
31
stands ahead of the first erecting member
321
of the follower member
32
. A second erecting member
322
located behind the first erecting member
321
at a proper distance. The connecting rod
33
tunnels through the two erecting members
321
and
322
and is equipped with a coil spring
331
around its rear portion.
For understanding the operation principle of this lock, reference should be made to FIG.
3
. When the lock is in the locked state with is latch
12
retained by the detent washer
13
in the sub-lock case, the
frame
31
exerts a backward pulling force by restoring force of the elongated spring
34
. When unlocking, the electromagnetic coils
15
,
16
are energized to attract the actuated rod
17
moving horizontally, the detention arm
18
is released to rotate in the counter clockwise direction. At this moment, the
frame
31
retreats backward together with the erecting member
321
, follower member
32
and the tongue piece
11
and therefore the unlocking operation is completed. In the unlocked state, the spring
331
is compressed to store energy therein by the retreated tongue piece operation mechanism
3
ready for next coming locking operation.
However, a conventional electric lock constructed as such has the following apparent shortcomings:
1. A considerably strong current is required to attract the actuated rod with a larger torque because the two electromagnetic coils are necessarily installed near the pivoted axis of the actuated rod for operation.
2. Instead of DC, an AC power source is needed to supply such a large current, that necessitates an installation of large and long conductors
36
pulled through the door frame
38
to a power distribution box
37
(see FIG.
4
). In this version, the outer appearance of the door frame
38
is spoiled and cost of labor and material is increased by such additional equipment. Besides, peeling of the jacket of the defected conductors
36
may probably lead to an accident.
3. To carry a key along is always bothersome; inadvertent loss of the key may result in loss of property and security as well. A mechanical key is not so dependable as a burglar or any person who happens to pick up the lost key might duplicate it.
In view of the above described shortcomings inherent to the conventional mechanical locks, the inventor of the present invention thus conducted intensive research and experimentation on electric locks. Through years of professional engagement in the manufacturing of related products, the inventor was finally proved to be present a much improved structure of electric lock of the present invention.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
One objective of the present invention is to provide an improved structure of electric lock which employs only one electromagnetic coil and a DC power source for operating the lock instead of using two coils and an AC source.
The present invention is also aimed at operating an actuated rod with operating an amplified driving torque produced by the only one coil and a DC power source through elaborate arrangement of mutual positions between a driving rod and the actuated rod.
In addition, the key function of the present invention can controlled by a coded chip attached thereon.
To achieve the above mentioned objectives, the improved structure for electric lock comprises a tongue piece operation mechanism, an actuated rod, a detection arm, an electromagnetic coil and an electric circuit. The tongue piece operation mechanism further includes a tongue piece, a latch, a follower member and a connecting rod. The electromagnetic coil is situated at the same side of tongue piece operation mechanism with a driven rod tunneling through its center thereof. The driving rod is equipped with a spirally coiled spring at its rear end, and its front end is urging the bottom end of the extended portion of the actuated rod so that the electromagnetic coil is able to drive the driven rod to unlock and open the door with internally contained dry battery unit an thus the inconvenience of laying big conductors for AC current is eliminated. Finally, a read head is provided at a proper position in the lock case for reading the chip code of the key before unlocking.
REFERENCES:
patent: 4262504 (1981-04-01), Inoue
patent: 4656850 (1987-04-01), Tabata
patent: 5862693 (1999-01-01), Myers et al.
patent: 5876073 (1999-03-01), Geringer et al.
patent: 6079755 (2000-06-01), Chang
patent: 6260392 (2001-07-01), Geiger
Boswell Christopher
Knight Anthony
Troxell Law Office PLLC
LandOfFree
Structure for electric lock does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Structure for electric lock, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Structure for electric lock will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-3117275