WO2012010429A1

WO2012010429A1 - Tool for breaking up a padlock

Info

Publication number: WO2012010429A1
Application number: PCT/EP2011/061503
Authority: WO
Inventors: Dan SEGERBÄCK
Original assignee: Segerbaeck Dan
Priority date: 2010-07-23
Filing date: 2011-07-07
Publication date: 2012-01-26

Abstract

The present invention provides a tool for breaking up a padlock (1) having a shackle (2) and body (3), wherein the tool comprises a handle (4) for applying a torque and first two jaws (5) at a end portion of the handle (4) with an adjustable gap in between the jaws (5) for gripping the body (3) of the padlock (1). Each jaw (5) protrudes in a direction at an angle to a plane that coincides with a longitudinal axis of the handle (4), and each jaw (5) comprises a flange (6) with at least two members (7) for receiving one corner of the body (3) of the padlock (1), whereby the flanges (6) are adapted to grip diagonally opposite corners of the body (3) when arranged on the body of the padlock (1). Thereby padlocks (1) arranged within padlock shrouds can be accessed and broken up.

Description

TOOL FOR BREAKING UP A PADLOCK

Technical field of the invention

The present invention relates to a tool for breaking up a padlock.

Background of the invention

There are sometimes reasons for forcing a door locked by a padlock, for example when ambulance personnel need to evacuate a person from a locked room on the other side of the locked door, when firemen need access to the looked room to attack a fire, when police need access to the locked room to arrest a criminal, etc. Obvious from these examples is that it often is important that forcing of the door can be performed quickly. To send for a locksmith is often not possible, and hence the door is usually forced by using a hammer, an iron-bar lever, a crowbar, or the like to break the door or the shackle or the body of the padlock. If available, a bolt cutter can be used to cut the shackle, or a drill can be used to attack the locking mechanism of the padlock. These methods results in huge damage and is laborious and comparatively time-consuming. Moreover, padlocks are often used in conjunction with padlock shrouds that protects the padlock, which makes it in practical impossible to access the padlock for breaking of the padlock using these methods.

Summary of the invention

In view of the foregoing one object of the invention is to provide a tool for quickly, without a large effort, and without causing a substantial material damage, breaking up a padlock.

This object is achieved by a tool for breaking up a padlock as defined in the independent claim.

A tool for breaking open a padlock in accordance with the invention comprises a handle for applying a torque and at least first two jaws at an end portion of the handle with an adjustable gap in between the jaws for gripping the body of the padlock. Each jaw protrudes in a direction at an angle to a plane that coincides with a longitudinal axis of the handle, i.e. the jaws protrude in a radial direction out from the handle, and comprises a flange with at least two members for receiving one corner of the body of the padlock, whereby the flanges are adapted to grip diagonally opposite corners of the body when arranged on the body of the padlock.

One aspect of the invention is that the grip provided by the gap between the jaws is offset with respect to the handle to improve the access to the padlock. Thereby it is even possible to grip the padlock body if hidden under a padlock shroud.

Another aspect of the invention is the asymmetrical arrangement of the jaws around the body of the padlock. The flanges are preferably arranged on two corners of the padlock body diagonally across an axis along the direction of gap adjustment leaving space at remaining two corners for rotation within e.g. a narrow padlock shroud.

Due to the asymmetrical arrangement of the flanges there is a preferential rotation direction for the jaws within e.g. a narrow padlock shroud. In this direction the jaws can be rotated sufficiently to break the padlock. In the other direction the flanges may get into contact with the padlock shroud before sufficient torque has been applied to the padlock and the padlock shroud will hinder further rotation of the tool, just like with any tool according to prior art. To enable rotation in both directions the tool can according to one embodiment of the invention be provided with second two jaws pointing in opposite direction to first to jaws. These second jaws can be an extension of first two jaws to the opposite side of the tool or the first and second jaws can be arranged on a common head portion of the tool. The second two jaws should have substantially the same asymmetrical arrangement as the first two jaws, thereby providing the space for rotation at opposite corners of the padlock body.

The tool can also be used in such way the jaws grip opposite sides of the padlock body, i.e. each jaw grips over two corners of the padlock body.

By having the handle tilted with respect to the grip, the access to the padlock can be further improved.

Thanks to the invention force entry of a padlock is possible using only one tool and without a large effort. One advantage with the invention is that force entry using the tool of the invention is quick, which is of high importance in case of emergency. It is a further advantage of the invention that force entry can be made without significant noise, which may be of importance for the police. Embodiments of the invention are defined in the dependent claims. Other objects, advantages and novel features of the invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of the invention when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and claims.

Brief description of the drawings

Preferred embodiments of the invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein

FIG. 1 schematically illustrates in (a) a tool comprising two asymmetrically arranged jaws, (b) with a padlock gripped by the tool, (c) a top view of a padlock gripped asymmetrically by the tool, and (d) a padlock gripped symmetrically by the tool in accordance with the invention,

FIG. 2 schematically illustrates a tool with a telescopic handle and an adjustable gap in different positions in accordance with the invention,

FIG. 3 schematically illustrates a tool with a pivoted jaw in accordance with the invention, and

FIG. 4 schematically illustrates a tool with a pivoted jaw in (a) with a large opening, (b) with a small opening, (c) a padlock gripped asymmetrically by the tool, and (d) a padlock gripped symmetrically by the tool in accordance with the invention.

Detailed description of embodiments

FIG. la-d schematically illustrates one embodiment of a tool for braking up a padlock in accordance with the invention. The tool comprises a handle 4 for applying a torque and at least first two jaws 5 with an adjustable gap in between the jaws 5 at an end portion of the handle 4 for gripping the body 3 of the padlock 1. The jaws 5 protrude in a direction at an angle to a plane that coincides with a longitudinal axis of the handle 4, i.e. the jaws protrude radially out from an end portion of the handle 4. Each jaw 5 comprises a flange 6 with at least two members 7 for receiving one corner of the body 3 of the padlock 1. In FIG. la the tool is shown without a padlock 1. The dotted line indicates a symmetry line along an axis parallel with the direction of gap adjustment. In FIG. lb the flanges 6 grip diagonally opposite corners of the body 3 of a padlock 1 arranged in the tool. When a shackle 2 of the padlock 1 is locked around e.g. a hasp or the like and the handle is turned the torque generated will break the shackle 2 or the body 3.

In FIG. lc the dotted line schematically illustrates asymmetrical gripping of a padlock 1 that is enclosed by a padlock shroud 10 or in similar way at least partly enclosed in a narrow space. Firstly the slanted profile of the tool, with the jaws 5 protruding radially from the handle 4, makes it possible to access the padlock.

Secondly, the asymmetrical jaw arrangement makes it possible to rotate the tool without significantly being hindered by the padlock shroud 10. If the tool of FIG. lc is rotated counter clockwise the jaws 5 will almost immediately reach the padlock shroud 10. However, if rotated clockwise there is much more space left for rotation. Thereby the tool can be rotated sufficiently for breaking the padlock. The distances the tool can be rotated is approximately, as indicated in FIG. lc, LI when rotating counter clockwise, and L2 when rotating clockwise.

In FIG. Id the same tool as in FIGs. la-c with asymmetrically placed jaws 5 is used, but the padlock 1 is gripped symmetrically between the jaws 5 such that each jaw 5 grips not only one corner of the padlock body 3 but one side of the padlock body 3. One of the dotted lines in FIG. Id helps to illustrate the asymmetrical placement of the jaws 5 with respect to an axis along the direction of gap adjustment. Another dotted line illustrates the longitudinal axis of the handle 4. As illustrated in FIG. Id the handle is preferably tilted with respect to the axis along the direction of gap adjustment, however not limited to this.

FIG. 1 shows a tool where the jaws protrude in a direction along the normal of the top view shown FIGs. lc-d, i.e. perpendicular to the plane that coincide with the longitudinal axis of the handle 4. However, the handle may be slightly tilted in the normal direction as well (not shown in the drawings).

FIG. 2 shows a tool of the invention equipped with a telescopic handle 4. The tool is shown with different positioning of the jaws and the telescopic handle.

The tool may comprise a screw 9 arranged to adjust the gap by moving one of the jaws 5. As appreciated by a person skilled in the art different constructions can envisaged for this. Preferably on of the jaws 5 are fixed to the handle 4 and the other is movable. In one embodiment, which is shown in FIG. 3, one of the jaws is hinged. FIG. 3 also illustrates one embodiment of the tool of the invention comprising two additional jaws that protrude in opposite direction. Although shown for a hinged version of the tool, it should be appreciated that the two additional jaws can be provided also for other designs such as the one shown in FIG. 1. As illustrated in FIG 3 the additional two jaws are preferably integral with the corresponding jaws on the other side and simply are an extension of the flanges from one side to the other. In this embodiment the handle is preferably not tilted since the tool is reversible. In other words either of the jaw pairs can be used to grip and rotate the padlock. Depending on which side that is chosen, the additional space within a padlock shroud appears on different sides of the padlock 1 and hence the advantageous rotation direction is different.

FIG. 4a-d illustrates the tool of FIG. 3 in different situations. In FIG. 4a the jaws are maximally separated and in FIG. 4b minimally separated. As appreciated from this the gap adjustment will render a slight rotation of one of the jaws 5. FIG. 4c and 4d corresponds to the asymmetrical gripping and symmetrical gripping of a padlock 1 as shown in FIG. lc and Id, respectively.

As illustrated in FIG.1 the two members 7 may be in one piece to give maximum rigidity, but it should be appreciated that the members 7 may be separated and, moreover the members are not necessarily planar.

While the invention has been described in connection with what is presently considered to be the most practical and preferred embodiments, it is to be understood that the invention is not to be limited to the disclosed embodiments, on the contrary, it is intended to cover various modifications and equivalent arrangements within the appended claims.

Claims

1. A tool for breaking open a padlock ( 1) having a shackle (2) and body (3), wherein the tool comprises a handle (4) for applying a torque and first two jaws (5) at a end portion of the handle (4) with an adjustable gap in between the jaws (5) for gripping the body (3) of the padlock ( 1)

characterized in that each jaw (5) protrudes in a direction at an angle to a plane that coincides with a longitudinal axis of the handle (4), and each jaw (5) comprises a flange (6) with at least two members (7) for receiving one corner of the body (3) of the padlock ( 1), whereby the flanges (6) are adapted to grip diagonally opposite corners of the body (3) when arranged on the body of the padlock ( 1).

2. The tool of claim 1 , wherein the jaws (5) protrudes substantially

perpendicular to the plane that coincide with the longitudinal axis of the handle (4).

3. The tool of claim 1 or 2, wherein a screw (9) is arranged to adjust the gap by moving one of the jaws (5).

4. The tool of any of the preceding claims, wherein one of the jaws (5) is fixed to the handle (4).

5. The tool of any of the preceding claims, wherein one of the jaws (5) is adjustable and fixed on an arm (8) which is pivotally mounted on the handle (4).

6. The tool of any of the preceding claims, wherein the handle is tilted with respect to a direction in which the adjustable gap is adjustable.

7. The tool of any of the preceding claims, wherein the handle (4) is

telescopic handle.

8. The tool of any of the preceding claims, wherein each flange (6) is V- shaped with each member (7) forming a leg of the V.

9. The tool of any of the preceding claims, further comprising second two jaws protruding in opposite direction substantially with the same shape as first two jaws and in corresponding positions.