Locks – Portable
Reexamination Certificate
1998-05-18
2001-06-12
Gall, Lloyd A. (Department: 3627)
Locks
Portable
C070S058000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06244080
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an improvement to an antitheft lock assembly to be used with an object to be protected against theft, which may be a personal computer or some other expensive commodity having an engaging slot cut through the wall of the housing thereof, of the type having a lock main body including a cylinder that comprises a rotary hook shaft such that, as the rotary hook shaft is inserted into the engaging slot and the cylinder lock is operated with a matching key, the extreme anchor section of the rotary hook shaft is made unremovable from the object through the engaging slot to prevent the object from being wrongfully taken away if the wire rope extending from the lock main body is wound around a pillar or some other immovable object on the site.
2. Prior Art
Various lock assemblies of the type under consideration have been proposed, including those that are currently commercially available (as the one disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,327,752). They typically comprise a lock main body
1
and a binding wire rope
2
extending from it as shown in
FIG. 7
of the accompanying drawings. The stranded wire
2
a
of the wire rope
2
has a loop
2
c
at the front end thereof with a fixture
2
b
fitted to the root of the loop
2
c.
The lock main body
1
may or may not be made to pass through the loop
2
c
before the binding wire rope
2
is secured to an immovable object such as a pillar of the building by means of the loop
2
c
, while the lock main body
1
is unremovably inserted into and secured to an engaging slot H arranged in the object B to be protected against theft, which may be an expensive commodity for sale such as a portable computer, once it is locked as will be described hereinafter.
Referring to
FIG. 7
, the lock main body
1
comprises a cylinder lock
1
A of a known type constituted by a cylindrical outer shell
1
a
, a cylindrical inner shell
1
b
and a pin tumbler
1
c
(not shown) and an aligning cap
3
covering a rear portion of the cylindrical outer shell
1
a
from behind in such a way that it is axially and outwardly slidable relative to the cylindrical outer shell
1
a
by distance S. Additionally, as shown, a rotary hook shaft
1
d
axially extends from the rear end of the cylindrical inner shell
1
b
as integral part thereof.
The rotary hook shaft
1
d
includes an axial core rod
1
f
aligned with the lock main body
1
and extending rearwardly through the rear center hole
3
a
of the aligning cap
3
, said rotary hook shaft
1
d
being adapted to rotate by a predetermined angle of limitation, e.g., 90 degrees, as the matching key is operated in the keyhole
1
e
of the cylindrical inner shell
1
b
, and an extreme anchor section
1
g
extending perpendicularly relative to the axial core rod
1
f.
A pair of anti-revolution arms
4
a
,
4
b
are arranged oppositely with the axial core rod
1
d
interposed therebetween and extend from the rear center hole
3
a
of the aligning cap
3
to just in front of the extreme anchor section
1
g,
the distance between the outer peripheral edges of the paired anti-revolution arms
4
a
,
4
b
being substantially equal to the lateral length L of the extreme anchor section
1
g.
Additionally, a pair of radially extending plate sections
4
c
are arranged within the aligning cap
3
and extend radially from and perpendicularly relative to the respective anti-revolution arms
4
a
,
4
b
to abut a rear end control projection
1
i
projecting from the rear wall surface
1
h
of the cylindrical outer shell
1
a
to confine the revolution of the rotary hook shaft
1
d
to a predetermined extent. The anti-revolution arms
4
a
,
4
b
and the radially extending plate sections
4
c
constitute an anti-revolution mechanism
4
. A spring is disposed between the radially extending plate sections
4
c
and the inner wall surface
3
b
of the rear wall of the aligning cap
3
.
In the arrangement of
FIG. 7
, an angle limiting cam
6
is arranged at and engaged with the rear end of the cylindrical inner shell
1
b
to rotate together by the predetermined control angle as the key is operated. More specifically, the angle of rotation of the cylindrical inner shell
1
b
is limited by a pair of stopper projections (not shown) arranged on the angle limiting cam
6
as one of the stopper projections abuts the rear end control projection
1
i
at a time.
The rear surface
6
a
of the angle limiting cam
6
is held in contact with the front surfaces of the radially extending plate sections
4
c
under pressure as the latter are urged by the spring
5
. At the same time, the aligning cap
3
is also urged by the spring
5
to project rearward by a predetermined length S until the leftmost edge of slide slot
3
c
of the aligning cap
3
abuts stopper
1
j
projecting radially from the cylindrical outer shell
1
a.
With an antitheft lock assembly having configuration as described above, the lock main body
1
is made to pass through the loop
2
c
and the stranded wire
2
a
of the wire rope
2
is wound around a pillar. Then, after ensuring that the paired anti-revolution arms
4
a
,
4
b
of the anti-revolution mechanism
4
and the extreme anchor section
1
g
of the rotary hook shaft
1
d
are aligned to indicate an unlocked condition of the assembly, they are pushed into the engaging slot H of the object B and the front ends of the anti-revolution arms
4
a
,
4
b
are engagedly held in place in the engaging slot H to prevent the lock main body
1
from being unintentionally rotated. Under this condition, the extreme anchor section
1
g
of the rotary hook shaft
1
d
should have passed and projecting from the engaging slot H.
Note that the antitheft lock assembly is adapted to accommodate variations in the thickness d of the outer frame of the object B to be protected against theft because the aligning cap
3
is axially movable against the resilient force of the spring
5
. Thus, as the key (not shown) is operated to rotate the cylindrical inner shell
1
b
by the angle of limitation (90 degrees in the illustrated example), the extreme anchor section
1
g
is also turned to become perpendicular relative to the anti-revolution arms
4
a
,
4
b
and puts the assembly into a locked condition. Then, the lock main body
1
b
cannot be pulled out of the object B, which may be a portable computer or some other expensive commodity, so that it is securely held against theft. Note that, in
FIG. 7
, reference numeral
7
denotes a flange for preventing the cylindrical inner shell
1
b
from slipping out of the cylindrical outer shell
1
a
as it abuts the rear wall surface
1
h
of the cylindrical outer shell
1
a.
In
FIG. 7
, the base section of the wire rope
2
is firmly secured in a coupling hole
2
g
running perpendicularly relative to the axis of the lock main body
1
in a rotary coupling section
2
f
projecting from an annular ring
2
e
that is rotatably arranged near the front end of the lock main body
1
.
More specifically, a coupling sleeve
2
h
is fitted to the base end
2
d
of the wire rope
2
and provided at the end thereof with an anti-escape hook
2
i
that becomes engaged with an anti-escape notch
2
j
formed on the annular ring
2
e
as the coupling sleeve
2
h
is inserted into the coupling hole
2
g.
FIGS. 8A and 8B
show another known antitheft lock assembly obtained by modifying the assembly of
FIG. 7
such that, while the paired anti-revolution arms
4
a
,
4
b
extend from the aligning cap
3
through the rear center hole
3
a
thereof in
FIG. 7
, the anti-revolution arms of this assembly project from the rear wall of the aligning cap
3
.
Thus, as the key is operated in the cylinder lock
1
A, the rotary hook shaft
1
d
including the axial core rod
1
f
and the extreme anchor section
1
g
located at the remote end of the axial core rod
1
f
to show a T-shaped lateral view rotates by 90 degrees from the state shown in
FIG. 8A
to get into a locked condition as shown in
FIG. 8B
, where the extreme anchor section
1
g
is perpen
Gall Lloyd A.
Jacobson Price Holman & Stern PLLC
Sugatsune Industrial Co. Ltd.
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