Patent Application
20240328195
The invention relates to a cylinder lock assembly for forming a cylinder lock for attachment in a panel, such as, e.g., a door.
A standard cylinder lock comprises inter alia a lock housing with a rotatable cylinder received therein and a carrier. By rotating the cylinder, the carrier rotates along with it. Due to the carrier being connected with, e.g., the deadbolt, the cylinder lock is thereby locked, or unlocked. The cylinder can be an outer cylinder, which is merely rotatable if the right key is inserted in the outer cylinder. Cylinders may also be connected with an operating knob with the aid of which the rotation of the cylinder can be brought about. Keys and operating knobs are generally moved manually. By rotation of the key or operating knob, the cylinder lock is locked or unlocked.
Due to an increase of home electronics in and around houses, so-called smart locks are on the rise. A smart lock is a lock which can be locked and unlocked automatedly, for instance through the actuating of a motor which brings about the rotation of a cylinder and the carrier connected therewith. The actuation may for instance be done by utilizing a smartphone which transmits a wireless signal and thereby sets the motor into operation. When a smartphone with the right NFC tag is held near the smart lock, the lock can thereby be unlocked.
There are also smart operating units, these are solutions by which a conventional cylinder lock can be converted to a smart lock. They consist, for instance, of a set-up unit which can be attached to an inner side of a panel in which the cylinder lock is mounted. To have the inner cylinder, sitting on the inner side of the cylinder lock, rotate, a fitting key is inserted into the lock. The set-up unit is placed over it and is configured for having the key rotate to thereby lock and/or unlock the cylinder lock.
A disadvantage of such a set-up unit is that a key is sitting in the inner cylinder permanently. With some cylinder locks it is not possible to rotate the outer cylinder when a key is sitting in the inner cylinder. If such a cylinder lock is provided with the above described set-up unit, it is not possible anymore to lock and unlock the cylinder lock from the outside with a key. Obviously, this is unpractical and undesirable.
There is therefore a need for a cylinder lock that does not have this disadvantage. In themselves, such locks are known, they are locks having so-called hotel functionality. When a hotel room tenant dwells in his room and has left the key sitting in the inner side of the door to his room, hotel staff can nonetheless operate the door from the outside with a key. To that end, the known cylinder lock is provided with a carrier coupling with hotel functionality, so that, with key inserted, the outer cylinder of the lock is non-rotatably coupled with the carrier and upon rotation of the key the carrier of the lock rotates along. With outer key non-inserted, the outer cylinder is rotationally uncoupled from the carrier so that the carrier is unhinderedly rotatable by rotation of the inner cylinder. The room tenant who is in the room can therefore, in that condition, unlock the door to his room from the inside with the key, even though there is no outer key in the outer cylinder of the lock.
A remaining problem, however, is that in practice there are many different types of doors of different thicknesses. For a private individual, it is not easy to find the right cylinder lock having the right length. Although there are also locks known that are length adjustable, the lock, to that end, has to be dismounted to quite an extent, which is generally too much of a challenge for a private individual.
There is therefore a need for a cylinder lock assembly for making therefrom a cylinder lock whose carrier is lockable and unlockable from the outside with a key, and wherein the length of the cylinder lock can be simply adapted by a private individual to the thickness of the door in which the lock is to be mounted.
To that end, the invention provides a cylinder lock assembly according to claim 1. More particularly, the invention provides a cylinder lock assembly for forming a cylinder lock for attachment in a panel, such as, e.g., a door, wherein the cylinder lock assembly comprises:
Such a cylinder lock can be applied in combination with different panels, such as, e.g., doors of different thicknesses, for instance in replacement of existing cylinder locks in those panels. The user can use a key to open the panel from the outside, by inserting this key in the outer cylinder of the outer lock housing part. From the inside, the carrier can be rotated by having the operating knob rotate. This operating knob can be operated by a smart operating unit implemented as a set-up unit. The cylinder lock can then be operated as a smart lock, for instance by holding a smartphone near it. Due to the cylinder lock being provided with a carrier coupling with hotel functionality, the carrier can always be unlocked and locked by the operating knob which is coupled with the operating unit implemented as a set-up unit. When a user inserts a key into the lock from the outside, a coupling between the outer cylinder and the carrier is brought about and the lock can be conventionally locked and unlocked from the outside with the key.
With the aid of the cylinder lock assembly according to the invention a wide variety of cylinder locks, that is, cylinder locks with a great variety of lengths, can be replaced to thereby make the panel suitable for operation with an operating unit implemented as a set-up unit. By means of the lock housing extension parts, it is possible in a simple manner to compose a cylinder lock of a desired length by a suitable selection of lock housing extension parts, viz., so that the length of the new cylinder lock corresponds to the length of the cylinder lock to be replaced. Obtaining the desired length can be simply realized by choosing the lock housing extension parts of the right thickness. The thickness is understood to be the dimension the lock housing extension part has as viewed in the direction of the cylinder axis. The selection can comprise no lock housing extension parts, one lock housing extension part, or a plurality of lock housing extension parts. The selection of lock housing extension parts may be attached, for instance by a screw, to the second end of the inner lock housing part. Such an attachment is simple and can be executed by a consumer himself or herself. For that, it is not necessary to dismount the inner lock housing part from the bridge. Fastening of the lock housing extension parts takes place at the free, accessible second end of the inner lock housing part. Such a length adaptation can therefore be simply carried out by a private individual.
Further elaborations of the invention are described in the dependent claims and will hereinafter be further clarified on the basis of an example, with reference to the figures.
In the following detailed description of the figures, with the aid of reference numerals, reference is made to the example that is represented in the figures. The embodiments that are described in the detailed description, however, are not limited to the example that is shown in the figures but may also be implemented in a different way than shown in the example. The embodiments described in the detailed description should therefore be read and understood also without the reference numerals. The various embodiments to be described hereinafter can be used in combination with each other or independently of each other.
Most generally, the invention provides a cylinder lock assembly 10 for forming a cylinder lock 50 for attachment in a panel, such as, e.g., a door. The cylinder lock assembly 10 comprises:
An example of the cylinder lock assembly 10 is represented in
The cylinder lock 50 which is made from the cylinder lock assembly 10 is built up from a selection of the aforementioned parts as follows:
An example of a thus built-up cylinder lock 50 is represented in
By replacing an existing cylinder lock with a cylinder lock 50 which is made from a cylinder lock assembly 10 according to the present invention and by mounting on the operating knob 18 thereof a smart operating unit, a panel with a conventional lock can be converted to a panel with a smart lock. The cylinder lock 50 is then openable from the outside by inserting a fitting key into the outer cylinder 56 of the outer lock housing part 52 and rotating it. Moreover, the cylinder lock 50 is openable by activating the smart operating unit.
Due to the desired length 22 of the cylinder lock 50 being variable, the cylinder lock 50 can be used in replacement of virtually any conventional cylinder lock. Mounting an electronic operating unit implemented as a set-up unit is possible without the key then needing to be placed in the inner side of the lock. Because the carrier coupling 45 with hotel functionality normally does not rotationally couple the outer cylinder 56 with the carrier 54, the cylinder lock 50 can always be unlocked and locked with the electronic operating unit. Only when a key is inserted into the outer cylinder 56 does a rotational coupling between the outer cylinder 56 and the carrier 54 come about, so that it is possible to lock or unlock the cylinder lock 50 from the outside manually, that is, with a key. Under that circumstance, the operating knob 18 on the inner side will simply rotate along and the electronic operating unit allows this because it is not energized at that moment.
In this manner, virtually any conventional cylinder lock in a panel of any thickness can be replaced with the cylinder lock 50, smartly operable with an electronic operating unit implemented as a set-up unit, which has been built up from the cylinder lock assembly 10 and, through selection of the right lock housing extension parts 20, has a right length matching the thickness of the panel.
The other effects and advantages of the cylinder lock assembly 50 have already been described in the summary and these effects and advantages are considered inserted here by reference.
In an embodiment, the lock housing extension parts 20 from the set of lock housing extension parts 20 have mutually different thicknesses. The thickness is the dimension of the lock housing extension part 20 viewed in the direction of the cylinder axis 16. By combining the mutually different thicknesses, the number of possibilities of varying the desired length 22 is augmented. By cleverly choosing the mutual differences, it is possible to obtain any desired length 22 within a defined range. An example of different thicknesses of lock housing extension parts 20 from the set of lock housing extension parts 20 is 1, 2, 4, and 8 mm. Through the right combination of lock housing extension parts 20, it is thus possible in steps of 1 mm to make each length from 0 through 15 mm of the lock housing extension parts 20. The desired length 22 can thus be varied with 15 mm.
In an embodiment, the inner lock housing part 12 and the selection of lock housing extension parts 20 are connected with each other by means of a lock housing screw 28. The inner lock housing part 12 may be provided with a screw hole 30 for receiving the lock housing screw 28. The cylinder lock assembly 10 may comprise a set of lock housing screws 28 of different lengths, one of which is used in the cylinder lock 50 depending on the desired length obtained by the selection of the lock housing extension parts 20.
To be able to fasten lock housing extension parts 20, they may be provided with a screw feed-through aperture 40. An example of this is shown in
In an embodiment, the cylinder lock assembly 10 further comprises a coupling bar 32 for realization of the non-rotatable connection between the operating knob 18 and the inner cylinder 14. A first end of the coupling bar 32 is non-rotatably connected with the operating knob 18. A second end of the coupling bar 32 is non-rotatably connected with the inner cylinder 14. In the example shown, the coupling bar 32 has a rectangular cross section. The first end of the coupling bar 32 is inserted into a slot 34 in the operating knob 18 and a second, opposite end of the coupling bar is inserted into a slot 36 of the inner cylinder 14. The coupling bar 32 may be provided with weakened zones 38 for breaking off the coupling bar 32 at a length that matches the desired length 22 mentioned.
The coupling bar 32, at the end that extends into the slot 36 in the inner cylinder 14, may be provided with a pin hole 42. The inner cylinder 14 may be provided with a pin 44 which, if the coupling bar 32 extends into the slot 36 in the inner cylinder 14, extends through the pin hole 42. This creates a pin-in-hole connection which hinders a movement of the coupling bar 32 in longitudinal direction, i.e., parallel to the cylinder axis 16.
In an embodiment, the operating knob 18 has a hexagonal profile in a plane perpendicular to the cylinder axis 16.
As shown in
In an embodiment, as shown in
The bridge 24 connects the inner lock housing part 12 with the outer lock housing part 52, the carrier 54 being received between the inner lock housing part 12 and the outer housing lock part 52. Depending on the desired distance from the carrier 54 to the outer side of the panel in which the cylinder lock 50 is received, the bridge 24 which matches that distance can be selected from the set of bridges 24.
In an embodiment, an example of which is shown in the figures, the cylinder lock assembly 10 can further comprise a set of extension coupling pieces 58. The cylinder lock 50 made from the cylinder lock assembly 10 can comprise a selection of zero or more extension coupling pieces 58 from the set of extension coupling pieces 58. The selection of extension coupling pieces 58 is received between the carrier 54 and the outer lock housing part 52 with the outer cylinder 56 received therein. The selection of zero or more extension coupling pieces 58 matches the length of the bridge 24 selected for the cylinder lock 50 and hence matches the distance between the carrier 54 and the outer side of the door or the panel in which the cylinder lock 50 is to be received.
In an embodiment, an example of which is shown in the figures, the inner lock housing part 12 may be provided with a bridge screw hole 26 for attachment of the inner lock housing part 12 to the bridge 24. Similarly, the outer lock housing part 52 may be provided with a bridge screw hole for attachment of the outer lock housing part 52 to the bridge 24. Thus the inner lock housing part 12 and the outer lock housing part 52 can simply, even by a private individual, be connected with the bridge 24 of suitably chosen length.
In an embodiment, an example of which is shown in the figures, the carrier coupling 45 can comprise a coupling disc 46 which is forced out of engagement with the carrier under the influence of spring action by a spring 48 and which, with key inserted, is displaced, against spring action, in axial direction in the direction of the carrier 54 and thus realizes a non-rotatable coupling between the outer cylinder 56 and the carrier 54.
In consequence of this, the carrier 54 is generally rotationally uncoupled from the outer cylinder 56, so that the electronic operating unit can rotate the carrier 54. Only when a key is inserted into the outer cylinder 56 does a rotational coupling come about between the outer cylinder 56 and the carrier 54 and can the carrier 54 be rotated with the key and hence the lock be locked or unlocked.
In an embodiment, the inner lock housing part 12, viewed in the direction of the cylinder axis, has a substantially constant profile. Each lock housing extension part 20 of the set of lock housing extension parts 20, viewed in the direction of the cylinder axis, has a substantially constant profile which corresponds to the profile of the inner lock housing part 12.
In an embodiment, as shown in the figures, the inner lock housing part 12, viewed in the direction of the cylinder axis, has a substantially constant profile. The outer lock housing part 52, viewed in the direction of the cylinder axis, also has a substantially constant profile. The profile of the outer lock housing part 52 corresponds to the profile of the inner lock housing part 12 and the profiles of the two lock housings 12, 52 are in line with each other.
Due to the profiles being correspondent and in line with each other, the cylinder lock 50 can be simply mounted or fastened in the existing cylinder lock opening in a panel. The profile can be, e.g., a Euro profile. A Euro profile has standardized dimensions, which makes it possible for a cylinder lock 50 built up from the cylinder lock assembly 10 to be used in replacement of cylinder locks from different manufacturers.
The invention is not limited to the examples shown in the figures. The above described embodiments, as already indicated, may also be implemented differently than shown in the examples of the figures. The scope of protection is defined by the appended claims in which the reference numerals have no limiting effect.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2028758 | Jul 2021 | NL | national |
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/NL2022/050417 | 7/15/2022 | WO |
