EP0267316A1 - Lock - Google Patents

Abstract

A lock has an outer casing and a lock cylinder rotatably mounted therein and having a coaxial keyway of round cross section plus several rows of radial bores to accommodate the tumblers and their springs, and also has a key which has notches on its outside profile for the engagement with the tumbler. The key has an equilateral polygonal bit cross section which matches the cross section of the keyhole in the front wall of the lock casing as well as a coaxial opening in the lock cylinder bottom, these cross sections of the keyhole and bottom opening being angularly offset from one another. The tip of the key bit has ramp surfaces corresponding to the rows of the tumblers, ascending toward the handle of the key and terminating each at one polygon face for the purpose of raising the tumblers, and the rows of notches are disposed between the polygon faces. The axial length of the polygonal cross section of the key is not greater than the length of the keyway in the lock cylinder and the adjoining portion of the key shaft is able to turn in the keyhole.

Description

The invention relates to a lock with an outer housing, a lock cylinder rotatably mounted therein with a coaxial cross-sectionally round key channel and with several rows of radial bores for receiving the tumbler pins and their springs as well as with a key that notches on its outer profile for engagement of a tumbler pin.

As is known, a locking cylinder allows more locking variations than are provided by rows of pins consisting of one or more pins. A corresponding row of notches for receiving the tips of the pins is provided on the key for each row of tumbler pins of the lock. When the key is inserted into the key channel, the foremost pins in the lock perform a number of radial movements reduced by one, as notches are arranged in the associated row of the key. The foremost pin falls into all the notches one after the other and, until it finally remains in the key notch assigned to it, has to be lifted out of all the previous notches into which it has fallen. The same applies to the next pin in this row, but by one radial movement less etc. This results in a high degree of wear on the pins. This is greater the further forward the locking pins are in the lock. One consequence is the pin flutter, which is often characteristic of such locks, and the associated noise and vibrations when handling the key in the lock.

The object of the invention is to remedy this deficiency of the known locks, thus reducing wear and effectively increasing the security of such locks and finally, to achieve a particularly user-friendly, vibration-free structure of the lock without the number of locking variations suffering. In a lock of the type described in the introduction, the invention provides for solving this problem that the key has an equilateral polygonal shaft cross-section, which corresponds to the cross-section of the keyhole in the front wall of the housing and a coaxial recess in the bottom of the lock cylinder, these cross-sections of the keyhole and base recess being offset from one another are, and that at the head of the key shaft with the rows of locking pins corresponding to the key handle rising and on each polygonal tapered surfaces for lifting the locking pins and the rows of notches between the polygonal surfaces are arranged, the axial length of the polygonal cross-section of the key is not is greater than the length of the lock cylinder without a bottom recess and the shaft part of the key adjoining the polygonal cross section can be rotated in the keyhole.

The lock design according to the invention uses a solid key which, in contrast to known key designs, has a polygonal shaft cross section, which is to be understood as meaning both a triangular and polygonal cross section. The cross-section of this key shaft corresponds to the cross-section of the keyhole in the front of the housing, which covers the locking cylinder to the outside in the lock according to the invention. The polygonal cross-section of the key shaft also corresponds to the cross-section of a recess in the bottom of the lock cylinder that is coaxial to the keyhole. Despite their coaxial arrangement, the two polygonal cross sections of the recess and the keyhole are not congruent, but rather offset by a certain angle. It follows from this that the Key, if it should engage in the bottom recess, must first perform a rotation corresponding at least to this angular displacement. At the head of the key shaft, with the rows of the locking pins, corresponding and rising towards the key handle and tapering on each polygonal surface of the key cross-section are arranged for lifting the locking pins, whereas the rows of the notches of the key receiving the tips of the locking pins are practically open between the polygonal surfaces an edge arranged between two polygonal surfaces. When the key is inserted into the cross-sectionally round key channel, each inclined surface of the key head successively engages under all the pins in a row and lifts them onto the polygonal surface running parallel to the key axis, without the pins being able to fall into a notch, because they are not on the polygonal surfaces of the key shaft , but are arranged on a line between two abutting surfaces. Since the polygonal key is rotatably guided in the keyhole having the same polygonal cross-section, it can at most be inserted into the lock as far as the stop at the bottom of the lock cylinder without being able to engage in the bottom recess, since its cross-section corresponding to the key cross-section is arranged at an angle. If the key is now pivoted about its longitudinal axis by a certain angle, all the pins in the rows of pins are simultaneously raised again, namely on a longitudinal edge of the polygonal cross section of the key in the immediate axial vicinity of the notch assigned to the individual pin. This key rotation corresponds to the angular displacement between the keyhole and the bottom recess. Since the tumbler pins are in a known manner under the action of spring forces directed to the lock axis, the tips of the pins sitting on the notch edge now push the key forward into the bottom recess, so that they themselves are drawn into them ordered notch come up. It follows that in the lock according to the invention each pin is raised simply, but in two stages to the maximum height in the radial direction, from which it then falls into the notch of the key assigned to it. The movements of the tumbler pins are thus reduced to a minimum and thus the wear is effectively reduced, which benefits the lifespan of the lock and the securing of its functioning and lifespan. The key rotation within the lock is made possible by a limited length of the polygonal cross section and the rotatability of the adjoining part of the key shaft within the keyhole.

The reverse process takes place when the key is removed. Here, too, each tumbler pin is raised only once, in a first stage with an axial key movement out of the notch, the key head also emerging from the bottom recess. If the key is then rotated again at a certain angle about its longitudinal axis in the key channel, the locking pins of each row come to rest on one of the polygonal surfaces of the key shaft. If the key is now pulled out further, one pin after the other runs radially inwards over the inclined surface on the key head, which serves as a ramp, to its predefined inner end position. The correspondence of the cross section of the key with the recess in the bottom of the lock cylinder causes the lock cylinder to be carried along by the rotating key when the key has reached its axial end position within the lock and the key head has entered the bottom recess.

Such a lock is not only extremely low-wear, as explained, but also satisfies the highest security demands.

In general, as the invention provides for a further feature, the number of rows of the locking pins corresponds to the number of polygonal surfaces of the key, although more polygonal surfaces can be provided than rows of tumbler pins. It is within the scope of the invention that two or more rows of tumbler pins are provided and cross-sectionally form an uneven-sided polygon. This measure results in an asymmetrical lock structure, which in turn serves for increased security.

ist, wobei x der Zahl der Querschnittsecken entspricht. Bei einem Schlüssel mit Fünfeckquerschnitt entspräche dies 360 : 10 = 36°. Im allgemeinen bewirkt die den Zuhaltestiften erteilte Federspannung, daß der bis an den Boden des Schließzylinders eingeführte Schlüssel dann nur eines geringen Drehimpulses bedarf, um den letzten Teil seiner Axialbewegung innerhalb des Schlüsselkanals zurückzulegen.It has proven particularly advantageous in the context of the invention that the angular displacement of the polygonal cross-sections of the keyhole and the bottom recess

where x is the number of cross-sectional corners. For a key with a pentagonal cross section, this would correspond to 360: 10 = 36 °. In general, the spring tension given to the tumbler pins means that the key inserted to the bottom of the locking cylinder then only needs a small angular momentum to cover the last part of its axial movement within the key channel.

Due to the feature that the housing covers the lock cylinder with a housing end wall, manipulation of the lock is reliably counteracted. Another measure to increase the security of such a lock is provided by the invention in that a rotatable ring disk made of hard metal is arranged between the housing end face and the cylinder, that is to say on the inside of the housing end face. This provides effective protection against attempts to open the lock. This hard metal ring not only protects the locking cylinder, it also completely hides it on the end. On the other hand, it is also possible to arrange a hard metal disc rotatably behind the lock cylinder base, in order to make boring of the inner lock practically impossible. It also forms an effective one Protection for the lock bolt. The rotatability of this ring disc makes it practically impossible to attach a drill. In general, this hard metal disc has a central bore for the lock coupling.

It is also within the scope of this general idea of the invention that at least some of the tumbler pins mounted in the locking cylinder consist of hard metal. In the event of an attempt to open such a lock, the hard metal pins will provide the drill with the greatest possible resistance. Finally, as an alternative to this, the invention provides for carbide pins to be inserted axially immovably in some radial bores of the locking cylinder.

It is within the scope of the invention to arrange a protective plate with an inner fastening on the outside of the lock, which has an opening aligned with the keyhole and on its inside a recess receiving the end face of the lock. Such a protective plate completely covers the lock and offers the guarantee that such a lock can meet the highest security requirements. Possibly. this protective plate can itself be made of hard metal. It is within the scope of this idea of the invention that a hard metal disk is rotatably mounted in the part of the recess covering the locking cylinder on the inside of the protective plate. This can be provided in addition to the annular disk arranged between the housing end wall and the locking cylinder, but if necessary, also in its place. In any case, this feature serves to satisfy the highest security requirements for the castle.

• Fig. 1 einen Querschnitt durch ein erfindungsgemäßes Schloß in Verriegelungsstellung des Schließzylinders gegenüber dem Gehäuse sowie
• Fig. 2 in Entriegelungsstellung;
• Fig. 3 einen Längsschnitt durch das Schloß nach den Fig. 1 und 2 etwa in Pfeilrichtung III in Fig. 1;
• Fig. 4 eine Stirnansicht des Schlosses nach Fig. 1 bis 3 in Pfeilrichtung IV in Fig. 3;
• Fig. 5 eine Ansicht des Schlosses nach Fig. 3 in Pfeilrichtung V auf den Schließzylinderboden;
• Fig. 6 einen Schnitt etwa nach Linie VI - VI in Fig. 3;
• Fig. 7 den Schlüssel für das Schloß nach den Fig. 1 bis 6;
• Fig. 8 einen Schnitt nach Linie VIII - VIII in Fig. 7;
• Fig. 9 eine perspektivische Darstellung des Schlüsselkopfes;
• Fig.10 eine Schloßplatte in perspektivischer Darstellung und
• Fig.11 die Schloßplatte in Montagestellung mit einem Schloß.

Further features, details and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following description of a preferred embodiment of the invention and from the drawing. Here show:

• Fig. 1 shows a cross section through an inventive lock in the locked position of the lock cylinder relative to the housing and
• Fig. 2 in the unlocked position;
• 3 shows a longitudinal section through the lock according to FIGS. 1 and 2 approximately in the direction of arrow III in FIG. 1;
• 4 shows an end view of the lock according to FIGS. 1 to 3 in the direction of arrow IV in FIG. 3;
• Fig. 5 is a view of the lock of Figure 3 in the direction of arrow V on the lock cylinder bottom.
• 6 shows a section approximately along line VI-VI in FIG. 3;
• 7 shows the key for the lock according to FIGS. 1 to 6;
• 8 shows a section along line VIII-VIII in FIG. 7;
• 9 is a perspective view of the key head;
• 10 shows a lock plate in perspective and
• Fig.11 the lock plate in the assembled position with a lock.

The lock shown in the drawing consists of a housing 1 and a lock cylinder 2 mounted concentrically therein with a central key channel 3 of circular cross section. The housing 1 has on its outside an end wall 4, which carries the keyhole 5 coaxial to the key channel 3 and completely covers the annular end wall 6 of the locking cylinder 2. The lock shown in the drawing has five rows of radial bores 7 penetrating the cylindrical housing 1 and the locking cylinder 2 into the key channel 3. The row shown in FIG. 3 in longitudinal section consists, for example, of five such bores 7. Both the number of rows of tumbler pins (five rows in FIGS. 1 and 2) and the number of tumbler pins per row can be varied as desired and the Circumstances of the individual case are adapted to what is known per se. Each radial bore 7 leads a tumbler pin 8, which consists of an inner guide part 9 and an outer locking part 10. The guide part 9 has a shoulder-like shoulder 11, which cooperates with a shoulder 12 in the bore 7 and limits the radially inward movement of the tumbler pins 8. The head 13 of the guide part 9 which bears against the locking part 10 is rounded flat. A helical spring 15 acts on the radially outer surface 14 of the outer part 10. This rests on the outside on a sleeve 16 which is pushed onto and attached to the cylindrical housing 1 and thus closes the radial bores 8 to the outside. It is obvious that the locking pins 8 can also be fixed in the area of a taper of the radial bore 7 acting on the tip 17 of the locking pins 8. However, this has no influence on the invention.

The locking cylinder 2 is provided with a bottom 20. This has a recess 21 which is coaxial with the key channel 3 and the keyhole 5 in the end wall 4 of the housing 1. Both this recess 21 and the keyhole 5 are provided with an equilateral pentagonal cross-section, in the place of which a triangle or polygon can also occur. The pentagonal cross sections of keyhole 5 and bottom recess 21 are however offset by 36 ° to each other.

The associated key 22 has a front shaft part 23 of a pentagonal cross-section (see FIG. 8), the pentagon of this cross-section corresponding approximately to that of the keyhole 5 and the bottom recess 21 of the locking cylinder 2. The axial length 24 of the pentagonal shaft part 23 of the key 22 corresponds approximately to the length 25 of the key channel 3 in the locking cylinder 2 to the bottom 20. In the exemplary embodiment shown, the subsequent shaft part 26 of the key 22 is rotatable with a round cross section and in the keyhole 5. In the area of the head 27, the key shaft 23 has an inclined surface 29 for each pentagonal surface 28, which rises towards the key handle 30 and ends on a polygonal surface 28. This gives the end face 31 of the key shaft 23 a star shape, as shown in FIGS. 5 and 9. A row of notches 33 is arranged on each edge 32 of this pentagonal shaft 23, each of which is assigned to one of the tumbler pins 8.

On the inside of the housing end wall 4, an annular disk 34 made of hard metal is provided between the latter and the end face 6 of the locking cylinder 2. A corresponding hard metal disk 35 is provided on the rear of the lock cylinder base 20. This has a central bore 36 for the lock coupling. Possibly. The locking parts 10 of individual tumbler pins 8 can also consist of hard metal and be arranged axially immovably in their radial bore 7, as is the case, for example, with the guide part 9ʹ according to FIG. 1.

The handling of the lock is as follows:

The key 22 is inserted with its head 27 into the keyhole 5 in a predetermined pivoting position. Here, the key handle 30 assumes an inclined position relative to the housing extension 38. When inserted into the key channel 3, the tips 17 of the foremost tumbler pins 8 of all rows run onto the ramp-like inclined surfaces 29 of the key head 27 and are raised to the level of the pentagonal surfaces 28 of the key shaft 23. This process is repeated for each further tumbler pin 8 following in the rows until all tumbler pins 8 of all rows rest on one of the pentagonal surfaces 28. At this stage, the end wall 31 of the key shaft 23 strikes the bottom 20 of the locking cylinder 2. However, the key head 27 cannot engage in the recess 21 of the cylinder base because, due to the previous guidance through the keyhole 5, it has an angular position offset by 36 ° with respect to this recess 21 and the tip 17 of the tumbler pins 8 onto the pentagonal surfaces 28 of the key shaft 23 counteracting spring forces counteract a key rotation. On the other hand, at this stage the entire length 24 of the pentagonal shaft 23 lies within the key channel 3, and the stepped part 26 is located within the pentagonal key hole 5 of the housing end wall 4. By forced pivoting of the key 22 about its longitudinal axis, all of the locking pins 8 are now at the same time raised by a further level, namely to the level of a side edge 32 of the pentagonal shaft 23. However, this also rotates the pentagon of the key head 27 in front of the recess 21 of the cylinder base 20 such that the two elements are aligned with one another. The spring tension of the tumbler pins 8 reaches its maximum here and presses them with their tips 17 into a notch 33 of the key shaft 23, so that it performs a short axial movement and the key head 27 snaps into the bottom recess 21. As a result, the key 22 is locked to the locking cylinder 2, and all the movable tumbler pins 8 are snapped into the associated notches 33 in the key shaft 23. This state is shown in Fig. 2. Here, the guide part 9 of all tumbler pins 8 is located within the locking cylinder 2, so that it can now be rotated with this when the key is turned further.

To open the lock, the process is reversed. In the predetermined rotational position of the locking cylinder, in which the radial bores in the locking cylinder 2 and in the housing 1 are aligned with one another, the key 22 is retracted in the axial direction by actuating the handle 30 to such an extent that the pentagonal head 27 disengages from the bottom recess 21 of the locking cylinder 2. As a result, all tumbler pins 8, insofar as they fell into the notches 33, are simultaneously raised against the action of their springs. At this time, they rest on one of the longitudinal edges 32 of the shaft part 23. The shoulder 39 on the inside of the keyhole 5 counteracts a further key movement. Therefore, the key 22 is now pivoted back by an angle of 36 °, so that its pentagonal shaft 23 is flush with the pentagonal cross section of the keyhole 5 and can be completely pulled out of the key channel 3. With this slight pivoting of the key, the tumbler pins 8 lower so that they rest on the pentagonal surfaces 28 of the key shaft 23. When the key is removed from the keyhole 5, one locking pin 8 then follows the other of its row up to the inner end position, which is shown in FIG. 1, in which the locking parts 10 of the locking pins 8 block the locking cylinder 2 relative to the housing 1.

Fig. 10 shows an outer lock plate 40, which may also consist of hard metal and is attached from the inside of the door carrying the lock or the like. By means of the screws or the like. 41. This lock plate 40 has an opening 42 which is aligned with the keyhole 5 of the lock and, in the embodiment shown, also corresponds to the contours of the keyhole 5. The inside 43 of this key plate 40 has a recess 44, the shape of which is adapted to the end face of the lock and receives this end face in the assembly position shown in FIG. 8.

11 shows that in the area 45 of this recess 44 lying axially in front of the locking cylinder 2, a hard metal disk 46 is rotatably mounted, which effectively opposes a drilling attempt.

Claims (11)

1. Lock with an outer housing, a lock cylinder rotatably mounted therein with a coaxial, cross-sectionally round key channel and with several rows of radial bores for receiving the tumbler pins and their springs, as well as with a key that has notches on its outer profile for the engagement of one tumbler pin each , characterized in that the key (22) has an equilateral polygonal shaft cross-section (23) which corresponds to the cross-section of the keyhole (5) in the housing end wall (4) and a coaxial recess (21) in the lock cylinder base (20), these cross-sections of keyhole (5) and bottom recess (21) are angularly offset from one another, and that on the head (27) of the key shaft (23) corresponds with the rows of locking pins (8), rises towards the key handle (30) and on each polygonal surface (28 ) tapered inclined surfaces (29) for lifting the tumbler pins (8) and the rows of notches (33) between the Polygonal surfaces (28) of the key shaft (23) are arranged, the axial length (24) of the polygonal shaft (23) of the key (22) being no greater than the length (25) of the key channel (3) in the locking cylinder (2) and subsequent shaft part (26) is rotatable in the keyhole (5). 2. Lock according to claim 1, characterized in that the number of rows of the tumbler pins (8) corresponds to the number of polygonal surfaces (28) of the key (22). 3. Lock according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that two or more rows of tumbler pins (8) are provided and cross-sectionally form an uneven polygon. 4. Lock according to one of claims 1 to 3, characterized in that the angular displacement of the polygonal cross-sections of the keyhole (5) and bottom recess (21)

where x corresponds to the number of cross-sectional corners (32). 5. Lock according to one of claims 1 to 4, characterized in that the rows of notches (33) on the edges (32) of the polygonal cross section (23) are arranged. 6. Lock according to one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that between the housing end wall (4) and the lock cylinder (2) has an end plate covering its end face (34) made of hard metal is arranged. 7. Lock according to one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that a hard metal disc (35) is rotatably arranged axially behind the lock cylinder base (20). 8. Lock according to one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that at least some of the tumbler pins (8) mounted in the locking cylinder (2) consist of hard metal. 9. Lock according to one of claims 1 to 8, characterized in that in some radial bores (7) of the locking cylinder (2) hard metal pins (9ʹ) are axially immovable. 10. Lock according to one of claims 1 to 9, characterized in that a protective plate (40) with an inner fastening is arranged on the outer end face of the lock, which is aligned with the keyhole (5) opening (42) and on its inside (43 ) has a recess (44) receiving the end face of the lock. 11. Lock according to claim 10, characterized in that in the locking cylinder (2) covering part (45) of the recess (44) a hard metal disc (46) is rotatably mounted.

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