JP3957809B2 - Key guide - Google Patents

Description

[0001]
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a key guide that allows even a person who has difficulty in movement of eyes or hands to easily insert a key into a keyhole of a cylinder lock.
[0002]
[Prior art]
Generally, a cylinder lock is attached to a door of a building, but since the clearance between the keyhole and the key of the cylinder lock is small, the center of the key and the keyhole must be accurately aligned with each other when locking and unlocking. Need to insert the key.
[0003]
[Problems to be solved by the invention]
However, since the keys and keyholes are very small in size, it is very difficult to accurately align the center of the key with the keyhole, especially for people with limited eyes and hands. In the social situation, it is required to prepare an easy-to-use environment for cylinder locks as part of measures for the elderly.
[0004]
Also, many people experience that the operation of inserting the key into the keyhole is difficult when the keyhole portion is insufficiently illuminated at night, evening, or in a dark room.
[0005]
Therefore, the present invention has been proposed for the purpose of enabling easy locking and unlocking of the cylinder lock even in the elderly and physically handicapped persons with disabilities in the eyes and hands, or in the dark such as at night. .
[0006]
[Means for Solving the Problems]
In order to achieve the above object, the invention according to claim 1 is attached to the outer end portion of the inner cylinder of the cylinder lock so as to be rotatable integrally therewith, and toward the outer side in the thickness direction of the keyhole and A key guide cover that has a guide surface that expands in the width direction along the axis of rotation of the inner cylinder, and a key guide cover that can be moved in the width direction of the key hole to a portion close to the outer end surface of the inner cylinder is guided in, along with the plane of the front end is biased in a direction coming close to each other, have a pair of sliders forming the oblique surface extending in the width direction of the key hole outward, the external force to the slider In a normal state in which the slider does not act, while limiting the stroke toward the front of each slider so that the slope extending in the width direction of the key hole smoothly connects with the guide surface expanding in the width direction of the key guide cover, And hit the slope of the slider , Characterized in that each slider is so as to permit passage of the shoulder to move.
[0007]
According to a second aspect of the present invention, the key guide cover and the slider are made of a luminous material.
[0008]
Furthermore, in the invention described in claim 3, the key guide cover is divided into a surface layer located on the front side and a base layer located on the rear side, and the surface layer is formed of a polymer material containing a luminous component. It is characterized by that.
[0009]
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
Hereinafter, the present invention will be described based on embodiments shown in the drawings.
FIG. 1 shows a plan view of a general structure of a key 10 used in a cylinder lock, and this key 10 is composed of a stem 11 having a function as a key and a knob 12, and the tip of the stem is left and right. And a shoulder 11b is formed at the base of the stem.
[0010]
By the way, the pointed portion 11a of the key tip pushes up the tumblers arranged in the inner cylinder of the cylinder lock by a wedge action, and the engaging portion of each tumbler is placed at the bottom of the V-shaped keyway formed in the key stem. To be engaged.
[0011]
In order to insert the key into the keyhole, the knob 12 is held with the fingertip, the pointed portion 11a is inserted in alignment with the center of the keyhole, and the shoulder 11b is abutted against the outer end surface 22a of the inner cylinder of the cylinder lock.
[0012]
After that, the key 10 is rotated clockwise or counterclockwise for locking and unlocking.
[0013]
The above is the structure of a general key for a cylinder lock. However, there is an exception that the stem tip is not sharp and is flat.
[0014]
On the other hand, in FIG. 2, reference numeral 31 denotes a cylindrical cylinder lock mounting tool, which is fixed to a lock box (not shown) installed inside the door 30, and inside the cylinder lock 20. Is held.
[0015]
As is well known, the cylinder lock 20 is composed of an outer cylinder 21 and an inner cylinder 22. In the illustrated embodiment, the inner cylinder 22 projects forward (outward: leftward) from the outer end surface of the outer cylinder 21. ing.
[0016]
Incidentally, reference numeral 23 in FIG. 2 indicates the inner surface in the width direction of the key of the cylinder lock, and reference numeral 24 in FIG. 3 indicates the inner surface in the thickness direction of the key hole.
[0017]
An outer sleeve 41 having a flange 41a at the front end is fixed to the outside of the mounting tool 31 by, for example, caulking, and an inner sleeve 42 having a flange 42a at the rear end is also fixed to the inner side of the outer sleep 41 by caulking or the like. Has been.
[0018]
The key guide cover 40 can be rotated integrally with the inner cylinder 22 of the cylinder lock so as to be sandwiched between the flange 41a at the front end of the outer sleep 41 and the flange 42a at the rear end of the inner sleeve 42. It is attached to.
[0019]
In the illustrated embodiment, the protrusions or grooves formed in the rear portion of the key guide cover 40 along the generatrix direction are engaged with the grooves or protrusions formed in the distal end portion of the inner cylinder 22, thereby The key guide cover 40 and the inner cylinder 22 are connected in a state in which the rotation is restricted.
[0020]
With the above-described structure, when the inner cylinder 22 is rotated by the key, the key guide cover 40 rotates with the inner cylinder 22 while sliding between the inner surface of the flange 41a of the outer sleeve and the inner surface of the inner sleeve 42. It has become.
[0021]
2 and 3, reference numeral 32 denotes a decorative ring for covering the fixture 31 and making the appearance look graceful.
[0022]
As shown in FIGS. 2 to 5, the key guide cover 40 has a guide surface in which a prismatic guide surface 40 b is connected to the inside of a pyramid-shaped guide surface 40 a that is expanded outward without a step. The prismatic guide surface 40 (FIG. 2) b has a dimension 40d (FIG. 3) in the thickness direction that is slightly larger than a dimension 24 in the thickness direction of the keyhole, whereas its dimension in the width direction. 40e (FIG. 2) is slightly larger than the shoulder width 14 of the key 10.
[0023]
As shown in FIGS. 2 and 4, guide grooves 40c are formed on both sides in the width direction of the prismatic guide surface 40b of the key guide cover 40. The guide grooves 40c are movable in the left and right directions in the guide grooves. A pair of sliders 43, 43 are accommodated and guided.
[0024]
The slider 43 has a rectangular cross section, and its vertical and horizontal lengths are slightly smaller than the dimensions between the vertical and horizontal inner surfaces of the guide groove 40c. Therefore, the slider 43 can smoothly move in the horizontal direction in the guide groove 40c. It is fitted to slide.
[0025]
Further, the guide groove 40c is opened toward the outer periphery of the cover plate 40, and a plug 44 is screwed to this portion by a screw 44a.
[0026]
A protruding spring sheet 43 c (see FIG. 5) is projected from the outer end surface of the slider 43, while a protruding spring sheet 44 b is also formed on the inner surface of the plug 44.
[0027]
Between these spring seats, for example, springs 45, 45 as compression coil springs are elastically mounted, and the pair of sliders 43, 43 are urged so as to be close to each other by the elasticity of the springs 45, 45. .
[0028]
Further, as shown in FIG. 5, a pin 43d is implanted at the inner end of the side surface of the slider 43, and this pin engages with a slot 40f formed outside the guide groove 40c in parallel with the guide groove. Thus, the forward stroke is limited.
[0029]
At this time, the flat surface 43b at the front end of the slider 43 is set to be slightly outside the inner surface 23 in the width direction of the keyhole.
[0030]
The distance between the flat surfaces 43b and 43b at the front ends of the pair of sliders 43 and 43 is set to be slightly larger than the dimension of the inner surface 23 in the width direction of the keyhole.
[0031]
A slope 43a is connected to a flat surface 43b formed at the front end of the slider, and this slope 43a is smoothly connected to the pyramid-shaped guide surface 40a of the key guide cover 40 without a step in a normal state where no external force is applied to the spring 45. It is formed to be.
[0032]
At the time of locking / unlocking the cylinder lock equipped with the key guide configured as described above, as shown in FIG. 6, the key stem 11 is viewed from the outside (left side in the figure) from the outside (left side in the drawing) of the pyramid-shaped guide surface 40a. Inserted inside.
[0033]
At this time, even when the center of the stem 11 of the key 10 is deviated from the center of the cylinder lock, the front end portion of the key 10 mainly comes into contact with the pyramid-shaped guide surface 40a and is forcibly guided toward the center. Then, the stem 11 is guided into the keyhole by being guided by the slope 43a and the flat surface 43b of the slider.
[0034]
As described above, the shoulder 11b wider than the width 15 of the stem 11 is formed on the front side (left side in FIG. 1) of the stem 11 of the key 10, and the width is indicated by reference numeral 14.
[0035]
Accordingly, when the key is further pushed into the keyhole from the normal state of FIG. 6, the outer edge 13 of the shoulder 11 b hits the slope 43 a of the slider 43.
[0036]
Here, by applying a force to the tip of pressing the key to give the slider an external force that overcomes the elasticity of the spring 45, the left and right sliders 43, 43 are retracted along the guide groove 40c, and the key 10 is in the keyhole. As shown in FIG. 7, the shoulder 11b finally comes into contact with the outer end surface 22a of the inner cylinder of the cylinder lock, and the insertion of the key into the key hole is completed.
[0037]
The subsequent locking / unlocking operation is the same as the operation in the conventional cylinder lock, and thus the description thereof is omitted.
[0038]
In the above description, the pyramid-shaped guide surface 40a of the key guide cover 40 is depicted as having a flat slope, but is not actually limited to this shape, and is a shape that is continuous with a plurality of slopes. Of course, it may be a shape constituted by a curved surface.
[0039]
According to the second aspect of the present invention, the key guide cover 40 and the slider 43 are manufactured from a phosphorescent material, and the part shape and configuration are exactly the same as the key guard of the first aspect of the present invention.
[0040]
By manufacturing the key guide cover and the slider with a phosphorescent material, the position of the key guide can be easily seen even in the dark, such as at night, and the locking / unlocking operation becomes easy.
[0041]
According to a third aspect of the invention, the key guide cover is covered with a plate made of a phosphorescent material, or a coating made of a phosphorescent material such as a fluorescent paint is applied to make the key guide at night etc. When the periphery of the cover is dark, the opening of the conical guide surface 40a is displayed darkly symmetrically with the outer end surface of the key guide cover that emits light around the cover, thereby facilitating key insertion.
[0042]
In this case, since the amount of the phosphorescent material used is small, it is advantageous in terms of cost.
[0043]
【The invention's effect】
The key guide of the present invention described above is equipped with a key guide cover for guiding the key stem on the outside of the conventionally used cylinder lock, so even a person who has difficulty in movement of eyes and hands. Even when it is dark at night, the key can be easily inserted into the keyhole.
[0044]
Further, this key guide can be attached to an existing cylinder lock later, and there is an advantage that it is not necessary to newly attach it.
[Brief description of the drawings]
FIG. 1 is a plan view of a general structure of a key of a cylinder lock.
FIG. 2 is a longitudinal sectional view of a cylinder lock equipped with a key guide of the present invention.
3 is a cross-sectional view taken along line III-III in FIG.
4 is a partial cross-sectional front view of the key guide cover as viewed from the IV-IV direction in FIG. 3;
FIG. 5 is an enlarged longitudinal sectional view of a key guide and a slider.
FIG. 6 is a longitudinal sectional view showing a state in the middle of inserting a key into a key guide.
FIG. 7 is a longitudinal sectional view showing a state in which the key is completely inserted into the key hole.
[Explanation of symbols]
DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 10 Key 11 Stem 11a Pointed part 11b Shoulder 12 Knob 13 Outer edge 14 Shoulder width 15 Stem width 20 Cylinder lock 21 Outer cylinder 22a Outer end surface 23 Key hole inner surface (width direction)
24 Keyhole inner surface (thickness direction)
31 Mounting tool 32 Cosmetic ring 40 Key guide cover 40a Guide surface (pyramidal)
40b Guide surface (prism shape)
40c Guide groove 41 Outer sleeve 42 Inner sleeve 43 Slider 43a Slope 43b Plane 44 Plug 45 Spring

Claims (3)

A guide surface that is pivotally attached to the outer end of the inner cylinder of the cylinder lock so as to rotate integrally therewith and that expands outward in the thickness direction and the width direction of the keyhole in the direction of the axis of rotation of the inner cylinder. The key guide cover provided along and the portion of the key guide cover that is close to the outer end surface of the inner cylinder are guided so as to be movable in the width direction of the key hole, and the front end planes are urged in directions close to each other. Rutotomoni, and a pair of sliders forming the oblique surface extending in the width direction of the key hole outwards, in a normal state where external force does not act on the slider, the slope extending in the width direction of the keyhole is the key While restricting the forward stroke of each slider so that it connects smoothly with the guide surface that expands in the width direction of the guide cover, when the shoulder of the key lock hits the slope of the slider, each slider moves and the shoulder Allow passage Key guide, characterized in that was Unishi.   The key guide according to claim 1, wherein the key guide cover and the slider are made of a luminous material.   2. The key guide according to claim 1, wherein the key guide cover includes a surface layer located on the front side and a base layer located on the rear side, and the surface layer is formed of a polymer material containing a luminous component. .

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