Cable lock

Details Cable lock Cable lock

2000-03-17

2001-07-24

Barrett, Suzanne Dino (Department: 3627)

Locks

Portable

Fetters

C070S049000, C070S233000

Reexamination Certificate

active

06263711

ABSTRACT:

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a cable lock, and more particularly to a cable lock for a bicycle.
2. Description of Related Art
Referring to
FIG. 7
, a conventional cable lock in accordance with the prior art comprises a steel cable (
40
) and a latch assembly (
50
). One end of the cable (
40
) is securely connected to one end of the latch assembly (
50
). A latch bolt (
42
) is axially attached to the other end of the cable (
40
) and can be detachably inserted into a locking hole (
52
) defined in the periphery of the latch assembly (
50
). A lock unit is mounted in the latch assembly (
50
) to securely hold the latch bolt (
42
) in the locking hole (
52
). With such an arrangement, the cable (
40
) can circle around a tree, a post or the like to keep the bicycle with the cable lock appropriately mounted from being stolen . In addition, a keyhole is defined in the latch assembly (
50
). When the corresponding key is inserted into the keyhole and turned to unlock the lock unit, the latch bolt (
42
) will be released from the locking hole (
52
).
Generally, when the cable lock is not extended and locked around an object, the cable (
40
) will curl into a plurality of circles due to the flexibility and resiliency of the cable (
40
). However, when the cable (
40
) is extended around an object and locked into the latch assembly (
50
), the cable (
40
) will form a single loop because there is not enough slack in the cable (
40
) for it to curl into the smaller loops. However, the resiliency of the cable exerts a restoring force on the cable (
40
), which increases the difficulty of locking or unlocking the cable lock.
To overcome the shortcomings, the present invention tends to provide an improved cable lock to mitigate or obviate the aforementioned problems.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The main objective of the invention is to provide an improved cable lock having a cable and a latch assembly. The latch assembly includes a body, a latch bolt, a lock post and a cylinder. One end of the cable is permanently fixed to the body. A latch bolt axially connected to the free end of the cable can be detachably inserted into the body. The lock post is rotatably mounted in the body to securely lock the latch bolt. The cylinder has a keyhole defined in one end of the cylinder, a spindle rotatably mounted on the other end of the cylinder and means for rotating the lock post relative to the spindle to release the latch bolt. With such an arrangement, there is an enough space to allow the unused portion of the cable to curl. This avoids the necessity of completely extending the cable to ease locking or unlocking of the cable lock.
Other objects, advantages and novel features of the invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.


REFERENCES:
patent: 3435642 (1969-04-01), Del Pesco
patent: 4033160 (1977-07-01), Mima
patent: 4850207 (1989-07-01), Ylven
patent: 5197310 (1993-03-01), Pedersen
patent: 5568740 (1996-10-01), Lin
patent: 5829280 (1998-11-01), Chen
patent: 5896762 (1999-04-01), Iidaka et al.
patent: 5916283 (1999-06-01), Steinbach

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