WO2011114177A2

WO2011114177A2 - Safety key and lock mechanism

Info

Publication number: WO2011114177A2
Application number: PCT/HU2011/000022
Authority: WO
Inventors: György KOVÁCS; György IFJ. KOVÁCS
Original assignee: Kovacs Gyoergy; Ifj Kovacs Gyoergy
Priority date: 2010-03-19
Filing date: 2011-03-17
Publication date: 2011-09-22
Also published as: HU3887U; WO2011114177A3; EP2547845A2; HU1000068V0

Abstract

The object of the invention is the safety key and lock mechanism, primarily for the reliable opening and closing of doors, comprising a cylinder rotatably received in support bores (45) disposed on the side walls of a lock case (25). The cylinder has lock bores (37), and is rotatably disposed in a ring having lock ring bores. The bores are adapted to receive axially movable pins and dowel pins that have shoes at their lower extremities, the shoes being configured to correspond to the arrangement of the flexible key. As the shaft (1) is pressed inward, the shoes enter through the shoe support plate (11) into the crosscuts and indents of the flexible key residing on the base plate being effected by the driver pin (9) secured in the clamp fastening plate (10) adapted to deform under a larger force and displaced by the downward moving key pin (5) or lock pin (7). Thus all dowel pins and pins slide out from the bores of the cylinder, enabling the rotation of the cylinder inside the ring attached to the lock case, and the displacement of the detent in order to open the lock. The safety key and lock mechanism comprises a wave generator, relays, a crank, an electromotor or magnet, and prisms embedded in the key. The objective of the invention is to provide a Hurolock safety key and lock mechanism that can protect locks against known cracking arid picking methods. The safety of the Hurolock key and lock mechanism is ensured by its optical features: the arrangement includes a wave generator and wave deflection device (the latter embedded in the key), the deflection device refracting the beam emanating from the generator, projecting it on the normally open relays to enable the opening of the lock. An essential, feature of the lock mechanism according to the invention is that the detent may be displaced by turning the cylinder and/or effected by an electric motor or magnet. In the closed state of the mechanism the cylinder is prevented from rotating by dowel pins received in the bores of the cylinder that is disposed in the ring. The lock can be opened - the cylinder may be rotated - only when no dowel pin resides in the bores of the cylinder, and at the same time the beam generated by the wave generator is projected on the normally open relay(s) but not on any of the normally closed relays.

Description

Safety key and lock mechanism

The present invention relates to a safety key and lock mechanism , more particularly to a mechanically a nd optically operated safety lock that fulfills increased safety requirements due to its special arrangement.

The invention disclosed in Hungarian patent specification P0700442 includes a lock operated by means of a conventional cylinder insert.

The main disadvantage of this arrangement is that the cylinder lock insert can be opened applying known lock picking and cracking techniq ues such as cracking by d rill ing or breaking , by inserting and turning picks in the lock, and by shaking the insert.

The solution d isclosed in Hungarian patent specification P0700431 uses a so- cal led trap-fastening locking device, where d ifferently shaped keys are applied for opening and for closing the lock.

A disadvantage of the lock mechan ism according to this document is that skilled persons can easily pick it using known lock picks, by applying the rig ht amount of pressure on the spring s.

The objective of the present invention is to provide a safety key and lock mechanism that can protect locks against known cracking and picking methods. The inventive safety key and lock mechanism cannot be opened either by breaking or drilling the lock insert - as the mechanism contains no such component - or by pushing or shaking the pins - as that is prevented by the structural arrangement of the lock mechanism . Lock picking is made im possible on the onev hand by the curved key slot and inlet neck that only enables the utilization of flexible keys, and on the other hand by the shoe of the cutoff dowel pin, and by the shifted arrangement of the lock mechanism and the key slot and inlet neck. The safety of the key and lock mechanism is ensured by its optical features: the arrangemervt includes a wave generator and wave deflection device (the latter embedded in the key) , the deflection device refracting the beam emanating from the generator, and , depending on the settings, projecting it on the normally open relays but not on the normally closed relays. The above;. described features ensure that the lock mechanism can not be opened without its own key, and therefore the closure is safe.

I n the lock mechanism accord ing to the invention the flexibly resil ient key, which has crosscuts, indents and a wave deflection device (prism) , is inserted throug h the key slot and the inlet neck between the base plate and the shoe support plate, until the key is stopped by the positioning piece. After the insertion of the flexibly resilient key, the shaft is pressed forward by pushing the hand le. The shaft causes the key pin , the drive pin and the clamp fastening plate to d isplace, and shifts the dowel pi ns and shoes in such a way that is enabled by the arrangement of the key. After the flexibly resilient key is inserted , the shaft is pressed forward by push ing on the handle, wh ich ca uses the shaft to actuate the switch applied for turning on the cu rrent to the wave generator. The generated waves are reflected/refracted by the m irror or prism (s) of the key, and are projected on the normally open relay but not on the normally closed relay . The normally open relay, connected serially with an electric motor or mag net, makes contact, while the normally closed relay, also connected serially with the motor or magnet, remains closed , and therefore the circuit becomes closed and the crank or wedge is moved by the electric motor or mag net, thereby enabl ing the displacement of the detent. The dowel pins slide out from the bottom bores of the cylinder disposed in the ring , and/or do not enter the upper bores thereof, which makes it possible to turn the handle, the shaft and the cylinder, and (through a gear assem bly) to slide the detent, thereby closing or opening the lock.

An essential feature of the lock mechanism accord ing to the invention is that the detent may be d isplaced by turning the cylinder and/or effected by an electric motor or magnet. I n the closed state of the mechanism the cylinder is prevented from rotating by dowel pins entering through the bores of the ring into the bores of the cylinder that is disposed in the ring . The lock can be opened - the cyl inder may be rotated - only when no dowel pin resides i n the bores of the cylinder, and at the same time the beam generated by the wave generator is projected on the normally open relay(s) but not on any of the normally closed relays. The insertion of the flexibly resilient key is halted by the positioning piece that stops the key in an exactly defined position in the lock.

By the rotated arrangement of the flexibly resilient key a further variant may be realised. I n this variant the shoes are located shifted with respect to the key slot, and therefore the opening position of the shoes cannot be set by means of picking . The position of the shoes and dowel pins necessary for opening the Idck is defined by crosscuts and indents disposed on the key, while the position of the crank (wedge) is determined by the prim (s) located on the key. The shoes of the cutoff dowel pins and lateral lock dowel pins are longer than the other shoes, and thereby before the other shoes cou ld reach the key the opening between the base plate and the shoe support plate is shut by the shoes of the cutoff dowel pins, making it impossible to insert foreig n objects into the lock. Also, the shoes of the lateral lock dowel pins cannot be pushed downwards without inserting the key because without the key the lateral dowel pins can not enter the lateral indents and thus the lock mechanism cannot be opened .

The springs included in the mechanism have an important role in setting the position of the dowel pins. I n case the key is inserted in the lock, the hand le and the cylinder may be rotated after pressing the shaft inward , and the detent may be slid sideways to open the lock. After the detent is slid into the opened position no more pressure is applied on the handle and the shaft, and thereby - since the shoes do not enter the indents of the key but are caused to return to their in itial position by the springs, and the dowel pi ns enter the cylinder bores correspond ing to the opened position - the key may be removed from the lock. The closure of the lock mechanism is in many respects similar to opening , only the cylinder should be rotated in the opposite direction after the handle and the shaft are pressed inward , which causes the detent to move in the opposite direction and bring about the closed state. During the closure process the dowel pins enter the cyl inder bores after no more pressure is applied to the hand le and the shaft, and - similarly to the opened state - the key may be removed from the lock mechanism .

To achieve perfect safety the lock mechanism accord ing to the invention may com prise al l tamper prevention features included in the invention, or alternatively may comprise . one, two or several of these features if lower safety levels are required .

The lock mechanism according to the invention may be turned on and off upon the reception of an electric, electronic or optical sig nal or specific sound if so desired .

The invention is therefore a safety key and lock mechanism for safeg uard ing protected areas or rooms by means of hocking preventing opening by known picking methods, pri marily for safely locking and open ing doors, com prising a lock case and a cylinder rotatabiy fitted in support bores disposed on the side walls of the lock case, such that the cylinder rotatably fitted in a ring secured in the lock case comprises bottom lock bores, upper lock bores, a key pin bore and a lock pin bore, and the ring has bottom locking ring bores, upper locking ring bores, and a key pi n ring bore, with cutoff dowel pins, shaped lock dowel p ins, top-bottom lock dowel pins, and lateral lock dowel pins as well as a driver pin , a key pin , and a lock pin being movably received in said bores, where the cutoff dowel pins, shaped lock dowel pins, top-bottom lock dowel pins and lateral lock dowel pins com prise at their lower extremities shoes shaped to correspond to recessed and cross-cut patterns disposed on the flexible key, where said shoes get inserted throug h the shoe support p late into the cutoff crosscuts, shaped crosscuts and shaped indents of the flexible key resid ing on the base plate and into the pin necks of the lateral dowel pins, being effected by the driver pi n secured to the clamp fastening plate adapted to deform under a larger force that is displaced by the downward moving key pin or the lock pin as the shaft is pressed inward , and therefore all dowel pins and driver pi ns slide out from the bores of the cylinder, enabling the rotation of the cylinder inside the ring attached to the lock case by means of the hand le and the connection piece, and also the d isplacement of the detent through the connection of the seg ment gear and the toothed detent or any other connection .

The safety key and lock mechanism herein described is arranged such that the position of the lateral dowel pins, the top-bottom lock dowel pin , and the driver pin attached to the clam p fastening plate is secured , respectively, by lateral springs, a dowel pi n spring , and a spring , and exact positioning of the flexibly resilient key in the lock is provided by a unidirectionally tilting positioning piece or a slid ing positioner that slides forward as the key is inserted .

The safety key and lock mechanism herein described is arranged such that the lock is covered on both sides with a protective cover plate made from theft-proof material , where the cover plate is mounted on the lock case and has a key slot, the key slot being disposed shifted with respect to an inlet neck adapted to g uide the flexibly resilient key in a curved manner.

The safety key and lock mechanism herein described is arranged such that a wave generator or wave generators, a normally open relay or normally open relays, a normally closed relay or normally closed relays, a crank, a switch , an electric motor or mag net, and a prism or prisms are secured in the lock case thereof, with the prism or prisms being embedded in the flexibly resilient key. The safety key and lock mechanism herein described is config ured such that the key slot that is located on the cover plate is arranged sh ifted with respect to the inlet neck d isposed on the lock case such that the flexibly resilient key is rotated about the key shank during insertion , or the key becomes laterally sh ifted and arrives in a position under the cylinder.

The safety key and lock mechanism herein described is arranged such that, correspond ing to the locked position , bottom lock bores, upper lock bores, a key pin bore and lock pin bore are disposed in the cyl inder rotatably d isposed in the ring secured in the lock case, and bottom locking ring bores, upper locking ring bores, a key pin ring bore and a lock pin ring bore are disposed in the ring , with a mirror cou nterpart of all said bores being disposed in the cylinder and the ring angularly shifted by a certain ang ular displacement to correspond to the opened position .

The inventive safety key and lock mechanism , intended primarily for safeg uarding protected areas by means of locking , for preventing opening by known picking methods, and for safely locking and opening doors, is described in more detail below referring to the accompanying drawings that show a preferred embodiment. Three drawi ngs are attached to the present specification , where Fig . 1 is a sectional view taken in a plane perpendicular to the base plate along the principal axis of the lock mechanism and the lock pin , Fig . 2 is an axial-direction view taken perpend icu lar to the lock case and the cover plate, shown without the lock case and the cover plate facing the observer, and Fig . 3 is a sectional view taken along line A-A of Fig . 1 .

The safety key and lock mechanism il lustrated in the drawings has a lock case 25 and a cylinder 3 rotatably fitted in support bores 45 d isposed on the side wal ls of the lock case 25. The cylinder 3 is rotatably fitted in a ring 4 secured to the lock case 25, and comprises bottom lock bores 37, upper lock bores 38, a key pin bore 6 and a lock pin bore 8, whi le the ring 4 has bottom locking ring bores 39 , upper locking ring bores 41 , and a key pin ring bore 40. The bores are adapted to movably receive cutoff dowel pins 14, shaped lock dowel pins 1 5, top-bottom lock dowel pins 16, and lateral lock dowel pins 20 as wel l as a d river pin 9, a key pin 5, and a lock pin 7 where each cutoff dowel pin 14, shaped lock dowel pin 1 5, top-bottom lock dowel pin 1 6 and lateral lock dowel pin 20 com prises at its lower extremity a shoe 22 shaped to correspond to recessed and cross-cut patterns disposed on the flexibly resilient key 1 2. As the shaft 1 is pressed inward the key pin 5 is d isplaced downward , or the lock pin 7 is lifted . This d isplacement m oves the driver pin 9 secured to the clam p fastening plate 1 0. The clamp fastening plate 1 0 is adapted to deform under a force larger than that exerted by hand power. The movement of the d river pin 9 causes the shoes 22 to enter, throug h the shoe support plate 1 1 , into the cutoff crosscuts 42, shaped crosscuts 43 , shaped indents 44, and the pin necks 48 of the lateral dowel pins 1 7. The lateral dowel pins 1 7 are received in the lateral indents 50 as the flexibly resilient key 1 2 is being inserted . Thereby, all dowel pins and driver pins 9 slide out from the bores of the cylinder 3, enabling the rotation of the cylinder 3 inside the ring 4 attached to the lock case 25, and the d isplacement of the detent 21 throug h the connection of the seg ment gear 23 and the toothed detent 21 or any other connection .

The position of the lateral dowel pins 17 , the top-bottom lock dowel pin 16, and the driver pin 9 attached to the clam p fasten ing plate 1 0, is secured , respectively, by lateral springs 1 8, a dowel pin spring 46, and a spring 1 9, and exact positioning of the flexibly resilient key 1 2 in the lock is provided by a unidirectionally tilting position ing piece 36 or a slid ing positioner 49 that slides forward as the key 12 is inserted .

The lock is covered on both sides with a protective cover plate 27 made from theft-proof material, where the cover plate 27 is mou nted on the lock case 25 and has a key slot 28, the key slot 28 being disposed shifted with respect to an inlet neck 26 adapted to guide the flexibly resilient key 1 2 in a curved manner.

A wave generator or wave generators 29, a normally open relay or normally open relays 31 , a normally closed relay or normally closed relays 32, a crank (wedge) 33, a switch 35 , an electric motor or mag net 34, and a prism or prisms 30 are d isposed in the lock case 25, with the prism or prisms 30 being embedded in the flexi bly resilient key 1 2.

The key slot 28 (located on the cover plate 27) is arranged shifted with respect to the inlet neck 26 d isposed on the lock case 25 such that the flexibly resilient key 1 2 is rotated about the key shank 47 d uring insertion, or the key 1 2 becomes laterally sh ifted and arrives in a position under the cylinder.

Correspond ing to the locked position of the mechanism , bottom lock bores 37, upper lock bores 38, a key pin bore 6 and lock pin bore 8 are disposed in the cylinder 3 that is rotatably disposed in the ring 4 secured in the lock case 25, while bottom locking ring bores 39, upper locking ring bores 41 , and a key pin ring bore 40 are disposed in the ring 4 itself. A mirror counterpart of all the bores corresponding to the locked position are arranged in the cylinder 3 and the ring 4 angularly shifted by a g iven angular d isplacement between 1 0 and 350 deg rees, to correspond to the opened position of the lock mechanism .

As it is seen in Fig . 1 , the shaft 1 is displaced as the handle 24 is pressed downwards. The shaft 1 pushes the key pin 5, lock pin 7, and d river pin 9 out from the cylinder 3, and also displaces the dowel pins together with the clam p fastening plate 1 0. The dowel pins slide out from the cylinder 3 and thereby enable the cylinder 3 to rotate.

The displaced shaft 1 actuates the switch 35 that turns on the wave generator

29 , with the wave beam entering the normally open relay 31 throug h the prism

30. However, the wave beam does not enter the normally closed relay 32. The system starts the electric motor or mag net 34 that moves the cran k (wedge) 33 which either causes the detent to slide sideways or enables it to get slid .

I n the opened position the dowel pins slide into the m irror bores arranged shifted on the cylinder with a given ang ular shift relative to the first bores. The mechanism may be locked in a manner similar to that described above, only the cyli nder 3 shou ld be rotated in the opposite direction .

One g reat advantage of the safety key and lock mechanism is that it cannot be picked applying known lock picking methods, and the flexibly resilient key cannot be dupl icated in trad itional key duplication facilities. Key d uplication req uires ded icated eq uipment which only specialised shops may own .

The prog ress of technology has eroded the safety of conventional locks, and therefore locking sol utions offering increased safety and comfort level are i n high demand .

Although more and more areas req uire physical protection day by day as civi lization advances, as yet no satisfactory lock solution has been found th at could provide the expected safety levels. The safety key and lock mechanism accord ing to the invention provides protection against known lock picking methods. The invention fulfills its objective because it provides a safety key and lock mechanism that cannot be cracked or picked with the application of known lock picking methods.

List of reference numerals

1 . shaft

2. connection piece

3. cylinder

4. ring 5. key pin

6. key pin bore

7. lock pi n

8. lock pin bore

9. d river pi n

1 0. clamp fastening plate 1 1 . shoe support plate

12. key

3. base plate

14. cutoff dowel pin

1 5. shaped lock dowel pin

1 6. top-bottom lock dowel pin 1 7. lateral dowel pin

1 8. lateral spring

1 9. spring

20. lateral lock dowel pin

21 . detent

22. shoe

23. segment gear

24. handle

25. lock case

26. inlet neck

27. cover plate

28. key slot

29. wave generator

30. prism

31 . normally open relay

32. normally closed relay

33. crank (wedge)

34. electric motor or magnet

35. switch

36. position ing piece

37. bottom lock bore

38. upper lock bore

39. bottom locking ring bore

40. key pin ring bore 41 . u pper locking ring bore

42. cutoff crosscut

43. shaped crosscut

44. shaped indent

45. support bore

46. dowel pin spring

47. key shank

48. pin neck

49. sliding positioner 50. lateral indent

Claims

1. Safety key and lock mechanism primarily for safely locking and opening doors, having alock case (25) and a cylinder (3) rotatably fitted in support bores (45) disposed on the side walls of the lock case (25), characterised by that the cylinder (3) rotatably fitted in a ring (4) secured in the lock case (25) comprises bottom lock bores (37), upper lock bores (38), a key pin bore (6) and a lock pin bore (8), and the ring secured in the lock case (25) has bottom locking ring bores (39), upper locking ring^'bores (41), and a key pin ring bore (40), with cutoff dowel pins (14), shaped lock dowel pins (15), top-bottom lock dowel pins

(16) , and lateral lock dowel pins (20) as well as a driver pin (9), a key pin (5), and a lock pin (7) being movably received in said bores, where the cutoff dowel pins (14), shaped lock dowel pins (15), top-bottom lock dowel pins (16) and lateral lock dowel pins (20) comprise at their lower extremities shoes (22) shaped to correspond to recessed and cross-cut patterns disposed on the flexibly resilient key (12), with a shaft (1) being in contact with the conically terminated key pin (5) and lock pin (7) that can move in the direction of their principal axis and are connected to the driver pin (9) that is axially movable and is attached to a clamp fastening plate (10) adapted to deform under a force larger than that exerted by hand-power, and attached to a handle (24) and a connection piece (2), where the shaft (1) is adapted to be rotated about and moved along its axis and has two conical surfaces, with the handle (24) being connected by means of the connection piece (2) to the cylinder (3) rotatably disposed in the ring (4) disposed in the lock case (25), with the cylinder (3) being connected through a segment gear (23) and a toothed detent (21) or with other rotating and linear connection expediently to the detent (21), and where the shoes (22) disposed at the respective bottom ends of the co-moving cutoff dowel pins (14), shaped lock dowel pins (15), top-bottom lock dowel pins (16), and lateral lock dowel pins (20) are adapted to fit in the cutoff crosscuts (42), shaped crosscuts (43), and shaped indents (44) of the flexibly resilient key (12) laying on the base plate (13), and to the pin necks (48) of the lateral dowel pins

(17) adapted to fit to the lateral indents (50) of the flexibly resilient key (12), where said co-moving cutoff dowel pins (14), shaped lock dowel pins (15), top- bottom lock dowel pins (16) and lateral lock dowel pins (20) are secured in the clamp fastening plate (10).

2. The safety key and lock mechanism according to Claim 1 , characterised by that the lateral dowel pins (17) are connected to lateral springs ( 8), the top-bottom lock dowel pins (16) are connected to dowel pin springs (46), and the driver pin (9) attached to the clamp fastening plate (10) is connected to a spring (19), where the flexibly resilient key (12) connects to a unidirectionally tilting positioning piece (36) or sliding positioner (49) adapted to provide exact positioning of the key (12) as it is inserted in the lock mechanism.

3. The safety key and lock mechanism according to Claim 1 , characterised by that the lock is covered on both sides with a protective cover plate (27) made from theft-proof material, where the cover plate (27) is mounted on the lock case (25) and has a key slot (28), the key slot (28) being disposed shifted with respect to an inlet neck (26) adapted to guide the flexibly resilient key (12) in a curved manner.

4. The safety key and lock mechanism according to Claim 1 , characterised by that a wave generator or wave generators (29), a normally open relay or normally open relays (31 ), a normally closed relay or normally closed relays (32), a crank (wedge) (33), an electric motor or magnet (34), and a prism or prisms (30) are disposed in the lock case (25) thereof, with the prism or prisms (30) being embedded in the flexibly resilient key (12).

5. The safety key and lock mechanism according to Claim 1 , characterised by that the key slot (28) is arranged on the cover plate (27), and similarly the inlet neck (26) is arranged on the lock case (25) such that they are located outside the circumference of the cylinder (3), the key slot (28) and inlet neck (26) being disposed shifted by a distance corresponding to the size of the flexibly resilient key (12) and the cylinder (3) relative to the plane crossing the axis of the cylinder (3).

6. The safety key and lock mechanism accordi ng to Claim 1 , characterised by that, corresponding to the locked position , bottom lock bores (37) , upper lock bores (38) , a key pin bore (6) and lock pin bore (8) are d isposed i n the cylinder (3) rotatably disposed in the ring (4) secured in the lock case (25) , and bottom locking ring bores (39) , upper locking ring bores (41 ) , and a key pin ring bore (40) are disposed in the ring (4) , with a m irror counterpart of all said bores being d isposed in the cylinder (3) and the ring (4) ang ularly shifted by a certai n ang ular displacement to correspond to the opened position .