EP1540119B1

EP1540119B1 - Method and device for safe handling of keys

Info

Publication number: EP1540119B1
Application number: EP03792931A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Stefan Szasz; Per-Olof Danielsson
Original assignee: Phoniro AB
Current assignee: Phoniro AB
Priority date: 2002-08-23
Filing date: 2003-08-25
Publication date: 2010-01-13
Anticipated expiration: 2023-08-25
Also published as: SE524766C2; DK1540119T3; ATE455221T1; SE0202513D0; DE60330970D1; AU2003252607A1; EP1540119A1; SE0202513L; WO2004018804A1

Abstract

An electronic method for safe handling of a key, in which a casing (2) is fixed to an object (1) having an accessible side (1A), a lockable body (5) is arranged to be moveable between an open position and a closed and lockable position inside said casing (2), by an electrically/electronically controlled locking device (8), for safe-keeping a key (7) inside said casing (2) such that said key (7) is non-obtainable from the accessible side (1A) of the object (1) when the lockable body (5) is in its closed position but only obtainable from the accessible side (1A) of the object (1) when said body (5) is in the open position, wherein said lockable body (5) is arranged to be displaceable inside said casing and said locking device 88) is placed to be inaccessible from the accessible side (1A) of the object (1).

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to an electronic method for safe handling of a key, in which a casing is fixed to an object having an accessible side, a lockable body is arranged to be moveable between an open position and a closed and lockable position inside said casing, by an electrically/electronically controlled locking device, for safe-keeping a key inside said casing such that said key is non-obtainable from the accessible side of the object when the lockable body is in its closed position but only obtainable from the accessible side of the object when said body is in the open position. The invention also relates to a device for safe handling of a key.

PRIOR ART

Safe handling of keys to the dwellings of caretakers is a specific problem area relating to the present invention. It is understood that this in no way limits the field of application of the invention, but that it may be useful in many varying applications. By caretakers is meant persons that need to have nursing personnel or other operative personnel at hand and where the caretaker, e.g. due to a handicap, isn't always able to lock up the door for operative personnel, which results in a need for the operative personnel to access a spare key, i.e. another key than the one that the caretaker has. It is of course important in such cases that such a spare key can be handled in a safe way in order to avoid any possibilities for unauthorized persons to access the spare key.
Document EP-A-405061 discloses a method and a device according to the first parts of claims 1 and 9.
A traditional system that is often used today is based on operative personnel collecting a key to a caretaker at a centre (a block of service flats, an emergency service centre).
The following examples describe the course of action when an operation is put into effect following a caretaker's activation of a security alarm.

The alarm is received by the emergency service centre that assesses the type of operation that has to be put into effect.
If the emergency service centre judges that there is a need of personnel at the site, such personnel is called via pager, SMS or phone call.
If the personnel concerned is out on an assignment, that personnel must first transport himself/herself/themselves to the centre in order to collect the key.
Thereafter, additional transport must take place (to the block of service flats), before the actual operation ca be put into effect.
After the operation has been fulfilled, the key must be returned to the centre.

The following drawbacks can be mentioned in connection with the method described above:

Considerable loss of time in connection with the collecting and returning of keys.
A risk of non-returning of keys.
A risk of mixing up keys.

A less common alternative of key handling is to use the principle to always keep a spare key in a locked key locker in connection with, or in, the door to the flat, see e.g. WO 9704200 and WO 9412749 , respectively. By means of a master key (that is carried by the operative personnel) or a locking code, the operative personnel may access a spare key to the flat in order to open the doors of different caretakers. Hereby, the disadvantages of the conventional system described above, are eliminated. These known alternatives have on the other hand key lockers/safe-deposits that are relatively easy to force, due to the locking device in the system being accessibly placed from the accessible side of the door. According to WO 9704200 there is shown a lock for the master key which lock is outwardly exposed, which positioning offers the possibility for the lock to be picked. According to WO 9412749 it is shown that the deposit device is a separate container on its own, that has relatively weak dimensions and that is accessible from the outside and which therefore is relatively easy to force/break up.
Furthermore, there is a safety risk in that the master key or code, respectively, that is used in the latter mentioned known methods, fits several door key lockers. If such a master key/code gets into the hands of unauthorized persons, e.g. a burgler, very large damages may be done in very short time.

BRIEF ACCOUNT OF THE INVENTION

The present invention aims at providing an electronic method for safe handling of a key, in which a casing is fixed to an object having an accessible side, a lockable body is arranged to be moveable between an open position and a closed and lockable position inside said casing, by an electrically/electronically controlled locking device, for safe-keeping a key inside said casing such that said key is non-obtainable from the accessible side of the object when the lockable body is in its closed position but only obtainable from the accessible side of the object when said body is in the open position and that is characterised in that said lockable body is arranged to be displaceable inside said casing and that said locking device is placed to be inaccessible from the accessible side of the object.
Thanks to the invention, the advantages are attained that a spare key always and securely is at hand and is well kept in direct connection with the door that has to be entered, at the same time as the risk of manipulation or sabotage of the locking device by non-authorized persons is eliminated.
According to further aspects of the invention:

said locking device is controlled by a control unit that is placed to be inaccessible from the accessible side of the object. Thanks to this aspect, a further advantage is attained in that the control unit that controls the locking device also is placed in a secure way, so that damage or manipulation thereof can be avoided.
said control unit admits remote controlling, preferably by a cellular phone or similar. Thanks to this aspect the advantage is attained that the locking device can be controlled in a very flexible and therefore also very timesaving manner.
said control unit admits remote controlling by a unique code. Thanks to this aspect, additional security can be achieved for the handling of such spare keys.
said body remains in its closed position even after the locking device has received a signal, via the control unit, to deactivate the locking device. Thanks to this aspect, an unauthorized person will not be able to get information about the locking device having been deactivated.
after said signal for deactivation of the locking device, a manual influence of the body is also required for positioning of the body in its open position, said influence preferably having to take place within a certain time frame from the deactivation of the locking device. Thanks to this aspect, an opportunity to gain easy access to a spare key is provided for authorized and informed personnel.
said body remains in its closed position by aid of a force that affects the body in an opening direction, such that said force holds a bolting element of the locking device in its bolting position.
said body is provided with a storage space for a key, so that the key is easy to access from the accessible side of the object when the body is in its open position.

The invention also relates to a device for safe handling of a key, in accordance with that defined in the independent device claim. According to further aspects of a device according to the invention:

the lockable body is provided with a recess for keeping of one or more keys,
said locking device is controlled by a control unit, in order for the bolting function of the lock to be able to be deactivated, said control unit preferably being provided with a receiver unit in order directly or indirectly to be able to transmit a control signal to said control unit by aid of a communication unit that is remote to said control unit.
the lockable body is provided with a recess for interaction with a bolting device included in the locking device, and a spring element is arranged inside the casing, which spring element affects said body in an opening direction by a spring force, said spring force being large enough to keep said bolting device in its bolting position unless the body is first affected by a force/push that is oppositely directed to said spring force.
said locking device comprises a solenoid,
the outer, lateral cross-configuration of said body is the same as the inner configuration of said casing and they have a tight fit, so that the body can be displaced inside said casing essentially with freedom from play,
the outer end of said body is positioned essentially in the same lateral plane as the outer part of said outer fixing element

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In the following, a preferred embodiment of the invention will be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, of which:

Fig. 1: shows a device according to the invention, fixed in a door leaf, as seen in cross-section from the side,
Fig. 2: shows a front view of the device according to Fig. 1, as seen from the outside of the door leaf,
Fig. 3: shows the device in an open position, as seen from above, and
Fig. 4: shows the device in an open position, as seen from the side.

DETAILED ACCOUNT OF THE INVENTION

Referring to Fig. 1, a preferred embodiment of a device according to the invention is shown, which device is placed in a circular hole 1 C in a door leaf 1. The device comprises an annular casing 2, the length of which is larger than the width of the door leaf. In one end of the casing, there is a flange 2A, the outer dimensions of which being larger than the hole 1C in the door 1, and in the opposite end of the casing, a male thread 2B is arranged. The casing is fixed in the door leaf by axial clamping force between the flange 2A and a jamb nut 3 that is threaded on the outside of the casing 2.
The casing is placed such that the flange 2A faces out from the door, i.e. the flange 2A is positioned such that it is accessible from the side of the door that virtually anybody may access. Inside the casing 2, there is a lockable body 5 arranged to be displaceable between an open position and a closed and lockable position. The body 5 has a cylindrical cross-section and is provided with a recess 6 intended to hold a key 7. Preferably, this recess takes the form of a groove. At the inner end of the body 5, there is a tap-formed part 15 that has considerably smaller diameter than the other parts of the body 5. Close to the end of this more narrow part 15, a recess 11 is arranged, which takes the form of an annular, peripheral groove. At the rear end of the casing, there is provided an inwards extending, shoulder-shaped part 21 having an inner circular cross-section that forms a guide bushing adapted to the more narrow rear part 15 of the body. In addition, this shoulder-shaped element 21 forms an end face 21A against which one end of a spring 14 is arranged. The opposite end of the spring 14 bears on the edge 5B of the body 5 that is formed at the transition between the larger and the smaller diameter. Thereby, the spring 14 will affect the body 5 by a pressing force directed out towards the outer flange 2A. In Fig. 1, the body 5 is showed in its closed and locked position.
A locking device 8 is arranged at the inner end of the casing 2. The locking device 8 comprises a solenoid with a housing 10. Inside the house 10, there is a displaceable bolting element 9, that takes the form of a bar. The bar 9 is affected both by an electromagnet 13 and by a spring 12, via a washer 9B. The spring 12 affects the bar 9 via the washer 9B, so that the bar 9 is pushed out to its bolting position when unaffected by the electromagnet 13. In its bolting position, the front edge of the bar 9A will extend into the annular recess 11 in the body 5, which prevents the body 5 to move. A guide 18 is arranged to give stability to the movement of the bar 9.
The force of the electromagnet 13 is large enough to neutralize the pressing force of the spring 12, inside the solenoid housing 10. The traction force of the electromagnet is however not large enough to pull out the bar 9 from the locking groove 11 when the spring 14 fully bears against the body 5, since the spring 14 force affects the bar 9 with a frictional force via the groove 11. Thus, the bar 9 will remain in a locked position also when the electromagnet 13 is activated. The electromagnet 13 is supplied with power in a conventional way, e.g. by means of a cable 19. In order to move the body 5 from its locked position, the body 5 must first be affected by a force opposite to the spring 14. This is easily achieved by a brief thrust/push on the outer end 5A of the body, whereby the frictional force from the groove 11 is neutralized and the bar 9 can be pulled up by aid of the force from the electromagnet 13. As the force from the push ends, the body 5 will move out beyond the flange 2A, due to the pressing force from the spring 14. Thereby, the key 7 will be accessible from the outside 1A of the door.
Fig. 1 also shows that a control unit 16 is placed on the inside in relation to said door 1 and that the power supply 19 to the locking device suitably is controlled by this control unit 16. According to a preferred embodiment, said control unit 16 is provided with a receiver unit 17. Suitably, the control unit 16 controls the solenoid via signals from a cellular phone. In the preferred embodiment, each control unit is pre-programmed to be activated only when a special, unique code is received by the receiver unit 17. Accordingly, the unit will operate such that as said unique code is transmitted to the receiver unit 17 via a cellular phone, the control unit 16 will activate the electromagnet 13, whereby the bar 9 is exposed to a traction force. Suitably, the power supply for the electromagnet 13 is only active for a short period, one minute e.g., which means that operative personnel must arrive within a fairly short time after the correct code has been transmitted, in order to manually push the body 5 to make the key 7 accessible.
In the following, a operative course of action is described, which makes use of a device according to the present invention and which is schematically shown in Fig. 1.

A caretaker A alarms the emergency service centre B that some kind of need exists.
The alarm is received by the emergency service centre B that assesses the type of operation that needs to be put into effect.
If the emergency service centre judges that there is a need of personnel at the site, such personnel C is called via pager, SMS or phone call. At that point, the personnel also gets information about the code to the key holder of the caretaker.
Personnel C goes to the caretaker.
At the door 1, the personnel C transmits a code (via a cellular phone or some other suitable communication unit) to the receiver 17 of the caretaker A, which receiver then deactivates the locking device 8, via the control unit 16.
Then, the personnel C pushes the end 5A in order to release the body 5 and brings out the key 7 in order then to open the door 1.
After the operation has been carried out, the key 7 is put back into the recess 6 in the body 5, which thereafter is pushed into the casing 2 so that the bolting bar 9 snaps into the recess 11, by aid of the spring 12, so that the key 7 once again is in safe custody.

An alternative to the emergency service centre B giving the operative personnel C a code is that the personnel C calls the emergency service centre B at arrival and that the emergency service centre B transmits the opening code directly to the receiver 17 of the caretaker.
The method and device according to the invention have a high level of security by the following features inter alia:

Advanced security systems may be incorporated in the control system for the locking device
The code is easy to switch
In the locked position, the body 5 is completely depressed in the outer cylinder, which makes it inaccessible to forcing
The locking device and the control unit are placed on the inside of the door.

An additional advantage of the invention is that the device is simple and causes minimal damage to the door. When the device is to be taken away, the hole in the door is easily covered by aid of e.g. covering plates.
In Fig. 2, there is shown a front view, i.e. from the outer side 1A of the door 1. Here, it is apparent that the flange 2A, as well as the body 5, is of circular shape, which is a constructive advantage, since it allows a good and desirable fit so that the fit between the casing 2 and the displaceable body 5 is essentially free from play. Besides, it allows for easy making of the hole 1C in the door 1, by aid of drilling.
In Fig. 3, there is shown a view from above of the body 5 in its open position, which exposes a recess 6 in the form of a groove/slot inside which the key 7 is kept.
In Fig. 4, there is shown a view from the side of a device according to the invention in its open position. It is clear that the recess 6 advantageously can be chamfered 30 in the area of the recess 6, to enable easy manual access to the key 7, since parts of the key thereby will protrude above the upper edge 6A of the chamfering.
The invention is not limited by the embodiments shown, but may be varied within the scope of the following claims. It is e.g. realised that a circular cross-section of the body and the casing, respectively, is preferred but not a necessity. It is furthermore realised that the device according to the invention also can be arranged at other locations than in a door. It may e.g. be arranged in a wall in connection with said door. Furthermore, it is realised that other objects than keys may be kept in a device according to the invention, such as magnetic cards, cards provided with a chip etc. It is also realised that the casing, at least partly, may be integrated in a door 1. In certain cases it may even be advantageous to completely integrate the casing 2 in the door. It is also realised that other driving mechanisms than a solenoid may be used, such as double-acting electrical devices and/or pneumatics, hydraulics etc., especially for surroundings. Furthermore, it is realised that a battery operated driving mechanism sometimes may be desirable, in which case the control unit is provided with a transmitter and the locking device preferably is provided with a receiver of its own in order to enable wireless communication. In the latter case, but also in certain other cases, it may be advantageous also to integrate the control unit 16 with the locking device 8. As alternatives to the ones described hitherto, many different variants of authorization/identity control may be employed, such as individual radio code (e.g. by use of blue-tooth and/or transponder techniques), iris, fingerprint and/or voice etc., in order to initiate the code that is required to deactivate the locking device 8. It is furthermore realised that the system can be used to transmit different types of information, to an emergency service centre e.g., concerning the status of the locking device (such as stoppage, the position of the locking device etc.). The material of the device can be varied within wide frames depending on desires/requirements, suitably however at least the parts that are accessible from the outside are of high strength (such as steel, aluminium).

Claims

An electronic method for safe handling of a key, in which a casing (2) is fixed to an object (1) having an accessible side (1A), a lockable body (5) is arranged to be moveable between an open position and a closed and lockable position inside said casing (2), by an electrically/electronically controlled locking device (8), for safe-keeping a key (7) inside said casing (2) such that said key (7) is non-obtainable from the accessible side (1A) of the object (1) when the lockable body (5) is in its closed position but only obtainable from the accessible side (1A) of the object (1) when said body (5) is in the open position, said lockable body (5) being arranged to be displaceable inside said casing and said locking device (8) being placed to be inaccessible from the accessible side (1A) of the object (1), characterised in that force means (14) are provided inside said casing (2) for affecting said loctable body (5) in an opening direction.
Method according to claim 1, characterised in that said locking device (8) is controlled by a control unit (16) that is placed to be inaccessible from the accessible side (1A) of the object (1).
Method according to claim 2, characterised in that said control unit (16) admits to be remote controlled, preferably by a cellular phone or similar.
Method according to claim 2, characterised in that said control unit (16) admits to be remote controlled by a unique code.
Method according to any of the preceding claims, characterised i n that said body (5) remains in its closed position even after the locking device (8) has received a signal, via the control unit (16), to deactivate the locking device (8).
Method according to claim 5, characterised in that for positioning of the body (5) in its open position, after said signal for deactivation of the locking device (8), a manual influence of the body (5) is also required, said influence preferably having to take place within a certain time frame from the deactivation of the locking device (8).
Method according to claim 5, characterised in that said body (5) remains in its closed position by aid of the force of the force means (14) that affects the body (5) in an opening direction, which force holds a bolting element (9) of the locking device (8) in its bolting position.
Method according to any of the preceding claims, c h a r a c t e r i s e d i n that said body (5) is provided with a storage space (6) for a key (7), so that the key (7) is easy to access from the accessible side (1A) of the object (1) when the body (5) is in its open position.
An electronic device for safe handling of a key, comprising a casing (2), a fixing element (2A and 3, respectively) arranged at the casing (2) in order to be able to fix the casing (2) to an object (1) that has an accessible side (1A), a lockable body (5) that is arranged to be moveable between an open position and a closed and lockable position at said casing (2), whereby the body (5) is moved out of said casing (2), at least partly beyond an outer fixing element (2A), to be positioned in its open position, and an electrically/electronically controlled locking device (8) in order to lock the lockable body (5) in its closed position, wherein the lockable body (5) is arranged to be displaceable inside the casing and wherein said locking device (8) is arranged at an, in relation to said outer fixing element (2A), opposite part of said casing (2), in order to position said locking device (8) to be inaccessible in relation to the accessible side (1A) of the object (1) at which the casing is to be fixed, characterised by a spring element (14) arranged inside said casing (2) and affecting said loctable body (5) by a spring force in an opening direction.
A device according to claim 9, characterised in that the lockable body (5) is provided with a recess (6) for the keeping of one or more keys (7).
A device according to claim 9, characterised in that said locking device (8) is controlled by a control unit (16), in order for the bolting function of the lock to be able to be deactivated, said control unit preferably being provided with a receiver unit (17) in order directly or indirectly to be able to transmit a control signal to said control unit (16) by aid of a communication unit that is remote to said control unit (16).
A device according to claim 9, characterised in that the lockable body (5) is provided with a recess (11) for interaction with a bolting device (9) included in the locking device (8), and that the spring force of said spring element (14) is large enough to keep said bolting device (9) in its bolting position unless the body (5) is first affected by a force/push that is oppositely directed to said spring force.
A device according to any one of claims 9-12, characterised in that said locking device (8) comprises a solenoid (9,10,12,13).
A device according to any one of claims 9-12, characterised in that the outer lateral cross-configuration of said body (5) is the same as the inner configuration of said casing (2) and that they have a tight fit, so that the body (5) can be displaced inside said casing (2) essentially with freedom from play.
A device according to any one of claims 9-12, characterised in that the outer end (5A) of said body (5) is positioned essentially in the same lateral plane as the outer part of said outer fixing element (2A).