Burglarproof lock core with plate tumblers

Information

  • Patent Grant
  • 6826936
  • Patent Number
    6,826,936
  • Date Filed
    Wednesday, December 31, 2003
    20 years ago
  • Date Issued
    Tuesday, December 7, 2004
    20 years ago
  • Inventors
  • Examiners
    • Stodola; Daniel P.
    • Boswell; Christopher
    Agents
    • Dennison, Schultz, Dougherty & MacDonald
Abstract
A lock has an outer housing, which has an outer slot at an interior side. An inner housing is received in the outer housing for rotation and has an inner slot and a driving section. Three locking plates are received in the inner housing, each of which has and a recesses at a periphery thereof. A movable pin is moved to be received either in the inner and outer slots or in the inner slot and the recesses. A first tumbler pin is provided at the outer housing and has an end received either in the annular slot or in the position slot. The inner housing is reciprocated between a first position, in which the position pin is moved to a position slot to restrain the inner housing from rotation, and a second position, in which the position pin is moved to an annular slot to release the inner housing.
Description




BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION




1. Field of the Invention




The present invention relates generally to a lock, and more particularly to a lock, which the lock still has function of burglarproof while the core is turning.




2. Description of the Related Art




A conventional lock used in a door or a draw of a cupboard has multi-section of lock. User has to turn the key for 720 degrees or more to unlock the lock. Such lock has a poor capacity of burglarproof. If the thief can turn the core of such lock by a specific tool, it is sure to turn the core continuously until the lock is unlocked. In other words, if the thief breaks the first section of lock of the conventional lock, the second and the third section of lock are released at the same time.




SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION




The primary objective of the present invention is to provide a lock, which has a superior function of burglarproof.




The secondary objective of the present invention is to provide a lock, which the lock still has function of burglarproof while the core is turned by a key tool.




According to the objectives of the present invention, a lock comprises an outer housing, which is open at an end thereof and is closed at the other end thereof, having an outer slot at an interior side thereof and a key bore at the closed end thereof. An inner housing is received in the outer housing for rotation between a predetermined angle, wherein the inner housing has an inner slot, which is open at both an interior side and an exterior side thereof, and a driving section. A plurality of locking plates are received in the inner housing in sequence and rotated between a predetermined angle, each of which has a key bore at a center thereof and a recess at a periphery thereof. A movable pin has a predetermined length to be moved between two positions in which the movable pin is received either in the inner slot of the inner housing and the outer slot of the outer housing or in the inner slot of the inner housing and the recesses of the locking plates. The inner housing is reciprocated in the outer housing between a first position and a second position and has an annular slot and a position slot, which is communicated with the annular slot, at the exterior side thereof. A first tumbler pin is provided at the outer housing and has an inner end thereof received either in the annular slot or in the position slot of the inner housing. The position pin is moved to the position slot of the inner housing to restrain the inner housing from rotation while the inner housing is moved to the first position and the position pin is moved to the annular slot of the inner housing to release the inner housing for free rotation while the inner housing is moved to the second position.











BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS





FIG. 1

is an exploded view of a first preferred embodiment of the present invention;





FIG. 2

is a sectional view of the first preferred embodiment of the present invention, showing the inner housing at the first position;





FIG. 3

is a sectional view along the


3





3


line of

FIG. 2

;





FIG. 4

is a sectional view of the first preferred embodiment of the present invention, showing the inner housing at the second position;





FIG. 5

is a sectional view along the


5





5


line of

FIG. 4

;





FIG. 6

is sectional view of a second preferred embodiment of the present invention;





FIG. 7

is an exploded view of a third preferred embodiment of the present invention;





FIG. 8

is a sectional of the third preferred embodiment of the present invention, and





FIG. 9

is a sectional of the third preferred embodiment of the present invention.











DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION




As shown in FIGS. from

FIG. 1

to

FIG. 5

, a lock


10


of the first preferred embodiment of the present invention mainly comprises an outer housing


20


, an inner housing


30


received in the outer housing


20


, a plurality of locking plates


40


mounted in the inner housing


30


and a movable pin


50


.




The outer housing


20


is open at an end thereof and is closed the other end thereof. The closed end of the outer housing


20


is defined as a bottom


22


and on a center of which has a bore. At an interior side of the outer housing


20


is an outer slot


24


, which is extended from the open end of the outer housing


20


.




The inner housing


30


is open at an end thereof and is closed the other end thereof. A driving section


32


is provided at an exterior side of the closed end of the inner housing


30


. An inner slot


34


is extended from the open end of the inner housing


30


and the inner slot


34


is open both at an exterior side and an interior side of the inner housing


30


. A restrain portion


36


, which is a recess in the present invention, is provided at the interior side of the inner housing


30


having a suitable width and depth.




The locking plates


40


, which are round discs in the present invention, are mounted in the inner housing


30


for free rotation. The locking plates


40


each have a protrusion


42


and a recess


46


at a periphery thereof, wherein the protrusions


42


are received in the restrain portion


36


of the inner housing


30


so that the locking plates


40


are restrained by the width of the restrain portion


36


for rotation between a predetermined angle. A key bore


44


is provided at a center of the locking plate


40


. A key


60


is inserted into the key bores


44


of the locking plates


40


via the bore of the outer housing


30


to turn the locking plates


40


.




The movable pin


50


has a predetermined length and diameter to be received either in both of the inner slot


34


and the outer slot


24


or in the inner slot


34


and the recesses


46


of the locking plates


40


.




The main character of the present invention is described hereunder.




The inner housing


30


is reciprocated in the outer housing


20


between a first position and a second position. Wherein the exterior side of the inner housing


30


further has an annular slot


70


and a position slot


72


between the driving section


32


and the annular slot


70


and the position slot


72


is communicated with the annular slot


70


.




A first tumbler pin


74


is mounted in a first hole of the outer housing


20


having an inner end in the outer housing


20


and received either in the annular slot


70


or the position slot


74


of the inner housing


30


.




A second tumbler pin


76


is mounted in a second hole of the outer housing


20


having an inner end in the outer housing


20


and received in the outer slot


24


. The inner end of the second tumbler pin


76


does not contact the inner housing


30


, it points to a portion of the inner housing


30


between the inner slot


34


and the driving section


32


.




While the lock


10


of the present invention is unlocked, the movable pin


50


is received in both the outer and inner slots


24


and


34


and the locking plates


40


are freely rotated in the inner housing


30


. The first tumbler, pin


74


is received in the position slot


72


to restrain the inner housing


30


from rotation as shown in FIG.


2


. The second tumbler pin


76


is positioned at a left end of the movable pin


50


to block it, so that the inner housing


30


is restrained again from shifting left as shown in FIG.


3


.




As shown in FIG.


4


and

FIG. 5

, while the lock


10


of the present invention is going to be unlocked, the locking plates


40


are turned by a key


60


to make the recesses


46


aligned with each other and the movable pin


50


is received in the inner slot


34


and the recesses


46


. Under such condition, the locking plates


40


are coupled with the inner housing


30


and the key


60


can turn the driving section


32


of the inner housing


30


via the locking plates


40


.




In the meantime, the movable pin


50


, which is received in the inner slot


34


and the recesses


46


, has moved away from the second tumbler pin


76


so that user can turn the key to shift the inner housing


30


left and further makes the inner end of the first tumbler pin


74


moving to the annular slot


70


from the position slot


72


. The inner housing


30


, therefore, is rotated freely in the outer housing


20


.




To unlock the lock


10


of the present invention, the locking plates


40


have to be tuned to aforesaid condition and the inner housing


30


has to be moved to the second position from the first position. Double actions (turning the locking plates


40


and moving the inner housing


30


) make the lock


10


of the present invention not easy to be unlocked by a common tool of a thief.




The driving section


32


is fitted with two pads


78


and a spring


80


between the pads. The spring


80


pushes the inner housing


30


to right at initial. The inner housing


30


is further provided with a cover


82


at the open end thereof. Two pads


43


are provided at between each two of the locking plates


40


respectively. Two sets of a first position ball


86


and a spring are installed in holes of the outer housing


20


and the first position balls


86


have portions exposed in the outer slot


24


and press the movable pin


50


to keep the movable pin


50


stable.




As shown in

FIG. 6

, a lock of the second preferred embodiment of the present invention provides another assembly of an outer housing


20


and an inner housing


30


. A driving section


32


is coupled with the inner housing


30


at an open end thereof by a pin


87


. The driving section


32


is provided with an annular slot


70


and a position slot


72


at an outer surface thereof. The lock of the second preferred embodiment serves the same function.




As shown in

FIG. 7

, FIG.


8


and

FIG. 9

, a lock


10


of the third preferred embodiment of the present invention provides first locking pins


83


, second locking pins


84


and third locking pins


85


in holes of an outer housing


20


, an inner housing


30


and locking plates


40


for reciprocation. The inner housing


30


has a position slot


72


on an outer surface thereof and the position slot


72


has a length about ¼ of a circumference of the inner housing


30


.




In operation, a key


60


is inserted into key bores of the locking plates


40


and pushes the third locking pins


85


outwardly to predetermined positions. The second locking pins


84


, therefore, are not inserted into the locking plates


40


(not shown in FIG.). And then, the key


60


turns the locking plates


40


continuously and makes the second locking pins


84


received in both holes of the inner housing


30


and the outer housing


20


, as shown in FIG.


8


. Therefore, the inner housing


30


is secured by the outer housing


20


and only the locking plates


40


is turned by the key


60


.




The locking plates


40


are turned by the key to where notches


48


, which have various depths, on peripheries of the locking plates


40


are aligned with the second locking pins


84


respectively. At this moment, inner ends of the second locking pins


84


will drop into the notches


48


respectively and leave the holes of the outer housing


20


(as shown in FIG.


8


), such that the inner housing


30


is turned along with the locking plates


40


.




The key keeps being turned to turn the inner housing


30


to a predetermined position at where the movable pin


50


drops into an inner slot


34


of the inner housing


30


and recesses


46


on the periphery of the locking plates


40


respectively. Under such condition, a first tumbler pin


74


is able to slide along the position slot


72


.




And then, the user can push the inner housing


30


to the left via the key


60


, as shown in FIG.


9


. In the meantime, the first tumbler pin


74


is moved to the annular slot


70


from the position slot


72


and the middle one of the second locking pins


84


is moved to where aligned with the middle one of the first locking pin


83


and pushes it to secure the inner housing


30


with the outer housing


20


.




The inner housing


30


is provided with a second position ball


88


in a hole between the inner slot


34


and the annular slot


70


. A spring is installed in the hole to push the second position ball


88


. The second position ball


88


will have a portion dropping into the outer slot


24


from the inner slot


34


and provide a click sound and a resistance while the inner housing


30


is turned by the key and moves to the first position where the inner slot


34


is aligned with the outer slot


24


. The sound and resistance give the user a hit that the inner housing


30


has arrived the right position. The second position ball


88


also can be provided on the inner housing


30


(not shown) and the outer housing


20


is provided with a recess (not shown). While the second position ball


88


drops into the recess, it will make a sound and a resistance too.



Claims
  • 1. A lock, comprising:an outer housing, which is open at an end thereof and is close at the other end thereof, having an outer slot at an interior side thereof and a key bore at the close end thereof; an inner housing received in the outer housing for rotation between a predetermined angle, wherein the inner housing has an inner slot, which is open at both an interior side and an exterior side thereof, and a driving section; a plurality of locking plates received in the inner housing in sequence and rotated between a predetermined angle, each of which has a key bore at a center thereof and a recesses at a periphery thereof; a movable pin having a predetermined length to be moved between two positions in which the movable pin is received either in the inner slot of the inner housing and the outer slot of the outer housing or in the inner slot of the inner housing and the recesses of the locking plates; wherein the inner housing is reciprocated in the outer housing between a first position and a second position and has an annular slot and a position slot, which is communicated with the annular slot, at the exterior side thereof, and a first tumbler pin provided at the outer housing and having an inner end thereof received either in the annular slot or in the position slot of the inner housing; wherein the first tumbler pin is received to the position slot of the inner housing to restrain the inner housing from rotation while the inner housing is moved to the first position and the first tumbler pin is received to the annular slot of the inner housing to release the inner housing for free rotation while the inner housing is moved to the second position.
  • 2. The lock as defined in claim 1, further comprising a second tumbler pin provided at the outer housing and having an end thereof located at where between the driving section and the movable pin and further located at where between a path of the movable pin moving along with the inner housing while the inner housing moves between the first position and the second position.
  • 3. The lock as defined in claim 1, further comprising a first position ball provided at the outer housing and having a portion thereof exposed in the outer slot to support the movable pin.
  • 4. The lock as defined in claim 1, wherein the driving section is coupled with the inner housing by a pin, wherein the driving section is fixed at an open end of the inner housing to restrain the locking plates from escaping via the open end.
  • 5. The lock as defined in claim 4, wherein the annular slot and the position slot are provided at an exterior side of the driving section.
  • 6. The lock as defined in claim 1, further comprising a spring, which an end thereof is exerted on the driving section of the inner housing to push the inner housing to the close end of the outer housing.
  • 7. A lock, comprising:an outer housing, which is open at an end thereof and is close at the other end thereof, having an outer slot at an interior side thereof, a key bore at the close end thereof and a plurality of first locking pins and springs at a periphery thereof, wherein the first locking pins are reciprocated along a radial orientation of the outer housing and the spring are exerted on the first locking pins respectively; an inner housing received in the outer housing for rotation between a predetermined angle, wherein the inner housing has an inner slot, which is open at both an interior side and an exterior side thereof, and a driving section, and a plurality of second locking pins at a periphery thereof, wherein the second locking pins are reciprocated along a radial orientation of the inner housing; a plurality of locking plates received in the inner housing in sequence and rotated between a predetermined angle, each of which has a key bore at a center thereof and a recesses at a periphery thereof; wherein the inner housing is reciprocated in the outer housing between a first position and a second position and has an annular slot and a position slot, which is communicated with the annular slot, at the exterior side thereof, and a first tumbler pin provided at the outer housing and having an inner end thereof received either in the annular slot or in the position slot of the inner housing; wherein the first tumbler pin is received to the position slot of the inner housing to restrain the inner housing from rotation while the inner housing is moved to the first position and the first tumbler pin is received to the annular slot of the inner housing to release the inner housing for free rotation while the inner housing is moved to the second position.
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