Locks – Operating mechanism – Key
Patent
1989-11-03
1991-06-25
Wolfe, Robert L.
Locks
Operating mechanism
Key
70385, 70387, E05B 2100
Patent
active
050256475
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
The present invention relates to a lock comprising a housing, a locking member which is movably arranged in the housing, a slot for receiving a plate-like key member, blocking pins, each consisting of several parts and which by means of the plate-like key member are mechanically displaceable in cylindrical chambers between positions wherein they prevent and permit, respectively, relative movement between the locking member and the housing.
Such a lock is known from the applicant's prior US-PS No. 4 149 394, which hereby is included as reference. In this prior art lock the combination of the lock is formed by a code card which is inserted from the rear side of the lock housing. The code card has a hole combination which is the opposite of the hole combination of the key card able to open the lock.
Even though this prior art lock has proven itself very advantageous in use in hotels and the like due to its simple and inexpensive recodability, it nevertheless has the disadvantage that the lock must be approached in order for it to be coded by means of a new code card before a new user can use the lock by means of his key card. This can be cumbersome when one wishes to change the combination often in several locks, as is the case in a hotel.
The object of the invention is therefore to provide a lock which may be coded without the necessity for the hotel staff to follow the guest to the room to perform the recoding.
This is obtained according to the invention in a lock of the type mentioned above, which is characterized in that the lock comprises means for changing the total length of the various locking pins, thereby changing the combination of the lock.
By means of the invention it will be possible to perform the recoding by means of the key itself. The user, e.g. the hotel guest, may thereby himself perform the coding when he uses the key in the lock for the first time.
According to an advantageous embodiment of the invention, said means comprises code chambers in the locking member, having springs and coding disks, said coding chambers being arranged in a pattern corresponding to that of the chambers of the blocking pins but displaced with respect to these, and a recoding slide which is slidably arranged in the housing and is provided with chambers in a pattern corresponding to the chambers of the blocking pins, said slide being arranged adjacent to the locking member and being displaceable with respect to same between a first and a second position, the chambers of the slide coinciding with the coding chambers of the coding disks in the first position and with the chambers of the blocking pins in the second position.
By means of such an embodiment one may recode the lock quite simply by displacing the recoding slide from its first to its second position after having first brought the key member in place in its slot.
According to the invention it is also suggested to arrange the slot for the key member in the recoding slide. Thus, the key may be used to displace the recoding slide during the recoding.
In order for the key member to be entered into and removed from the lock without unnecessary friction and wear, according to the invention, the part of the blocking pins situated closest to the key slot has been given the form of a sphere. In order to use throughgoing holes in the key member for forming its code, it may be advantageous to let the coding disks have the same thickness as the key member.
According to a further development of the invention, at least one further chamber for a control pin is present, the control pin preferably being somewhat longer than the blocking pins, said further chamber not having a corresponding coding chamber. By means of this control pin it is possible e.g. to prevent that the code of the lock is inadvertently erased.
Furthermore, the invention comprises a card-like key member, having a combination in the form of holes, for use in a lock provided with a control pin as described above, the key member being characterized in that it has a hole in the position for the control pin
REFERENCES:
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patent: 3588397 (1971-06-01), Ellefson
patent: 3595042 (1971-07-01), Sedley
patent: 3995460 (1976-12-01), Sedley
patent: 4149394 (1979-04-01), Sornes
patent: 4287737 (1981-09-01), Ahn
patent: 4452059 (1984-06-01), Sornes
patent: 4531389 (1985-07-01), Foshee
Dino Suzanne L.
TrioVing a.s.
Wolfe Robert L.
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