Locks – Portable – Padlocks
Reexamination Certificate
2000-11-22
2002-08-27
Barrett, Suzanne Dino (Department: 3676)
Locks
Portable
Padlocks
C070S312000, C070S233000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06439006
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a combination lock which is unlocked by turning the numeral discs to a present combination of numbers.
Combination locks of the above feature are very popular because the user only has to remember a combination of numbers for unlocking the lock, and does not have to carry a key, thereby avoiding the risk of losing the key.
Referring to
FIG. 9
, a conventional combination lock has a male member
10
and a female member
20
. The male member
10
has a toothed rod
101
having engaging teeth
102
spaced apart on an upper side. The female member
20
has a receiving tube
201
, several numeral discs
202
and locating washers
203
.
The receiving tube
201
has a slot on an upper side for permitting the engaging teeth
102
to be passed through when the engaging teeth
102
to be passed through when the toothed rod
101
of the male member
10
is inserted into the female member
20
.
The numeral discs
202
are each connected to a corresponding one of the locating washers
203
. The numeral discs
202
are turnably passed through the receiving tube
201
, and each has an unlocking number corresponding to a gap formed on an inner side of the numeral disc
202
. A C-shaped ring
204
is fitted to the fixing trench
205
to confine the numeral discs
202
.
The numeral discs
202
have to be turned to an unlocking position according to the unlocking numbers, forming a passage above the slot of he receiving tube
201
for the engaging teeth
102
to disengage from the numeral discs
202
. Thus, the male member
10
can be separated from the female member
20
to unlock the combination lock.
The male member of the conventional lock usually connects a cable for use on a bicycle. However, the conventional lock is found to have a very limited use, unable to be used with a steering wheel lock of a car which has a long and thick locking rod or with a motorcycle lock having an U-shaped locking rod. Consequently, steering wheel locks and motorcycle lock still have to be used with conventional keys, unable to provide users with the convenience of keyless unlocking.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Therefore, it is a main object of the present invention to provide a keyless combination lock which has wide variety of uses.
The combination lock of the present invention includes
a lock main body having several turnable numeral discs; the numeral discs can be turned to an unlocking position according to the preset combination of unlocking numbers;
a toothed rod passed into the lock main body; the toothed rod has engaging teeth on an upper side separably engaging the numeral discs such that the toothed rod is movable when the main body is in the unlocking position; the toothed rod has a separating wall on an outer end and a protruding plate on the wall;
a housing part fixed receiving the lock main body; the housing part has a second through hole perpendicular to the toothed rod;
an engaging rod passed into the second through hole; the engaging rod has a front engaging end and an intermediate recessed portion; the engaging rod is biased forwards by a spring to engage a toothed locking rod passed through the housing part from the engaging end;
a turnable rod passed through the lock main body and the housing part with a lower semi-circular pushing block disposed on the engaging rod recessed part; the turnable rod has an intermediate portion having a flat side; the flat side abuts the protruding plate of the toothed rod when the lock is in the locked position, preventing the turnable rod from turning; the pushing block pushes the engaging rod rearwards for the engaging end to disengage from the toothed locking rod when the lock is unlocked and the turnable rod turns.
The locking rod can be made into various shapes for different purposes, including an elongated one suitable for a steering wheel lock, and an U-shaped one suitable for a motorcycle lock.
REFERENCES:
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patent: 5560232 (1996-10-01), Chen
patent: 5638708 (1997-06-01), Hsu
patent: 5661991 (1997-09-01), Hsu
patent: 5868012 (1999-02-01), Chun-Te et al.
patent: 5906124 (1999-05-01), Su
patent: 5924313 (1999-07-01), Kuo
patent: 6029481 (2000-02-01), Lai
patent: 6058744 (2000-05-01), Ling
Barrett Suzanne Dino
Jaeyou Co., Ltd.
Rosenberg , Klein & Lee
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