The present invention relates to an electronic lock cylinder, an electronic lock system containing the same and a method for unlocking a lock.
Currently the electronic locks in market are mainly classified into two categories: for an electronic lock of one category, the lock body itself is provided with a power source used to supply electricity, and a lock of this category has two major disadvantages: (1) since the lock has a battery therein, it is necessary to replace the battery periodically, leading to high maintenance cost; (2) because the battery is disposed in the lock body, the volume of the lock is relatively large, making it impossible for the lock to be applied to products such as a padlock, a suitcase lock, and so on. For an electronic lock of the other category, there is no power source in the lock body, and the power source required to unlock the lock is supplied by a key, thus, the volume of the lock cylinder of the lock belonging to this category is reduced compared with that of the electronic lock described in the first category. Defects remain yet exist in the following aspects for the electronic lock cylinder of this category:
(1) Rotation of the electronic lock cylinder is driven by a motor, and the volume of the motor is relatively large, therefore, the volume of the electronic lock cylinder cannot be further reduced, moreover, the motor has the disadvantage of a slow response speed.
(2) Driving devices (such as a motor) for the electronic lock cylinder usually adopt a method of using a key to supply electricity to the lock cylinder and provide the stored authority data, and cutting off the electricity after continuingly supplying electricity for 5 to 10 seconds. Such method always wastes lots of electric energy, and the battery disposed in the key needs to be replaced frequently, which greatly decreases the unlocking number of times with the key.
(3) Unlocking record made by the key or the electronic lock cylinder is not accurate enough, since each time the key is inserted into the electronic lock cylinder, it will be recorded as unlocking once after the contacts of the key contact with the electronic contacts of the electronic lock cylinder, without considering whether the lock is unlocked or not, therefore, resulting in that the unlocking activities cannot be recorded correctly.
Aiming at the defects described above in the prior art, one technical problem to be solved by the present invention is to provide an electronic lock cylinder that is of high integration, fine anti-prizing and a simple structure.
To solve the problems described above, the present invention adopts the following technical aspects:
an electronic lock cylinder, comprising a mechanical rotation core, an electronic rotation core, a barrel-shaped housing with both ends opened for accommodating the mechanical rotation core and the electronic rotation core, and a retainer rod; wherein, one end of the housing is a front end, and a position limitation chuck for axial position limitation is provided at the opening of the front end; one end of the mechanical rotation core is a flat deflector rod, wherein the deflector rod is projected out of the front end of the housing, and a rear end of the mechanical rotation core is a first cylindrical cavity, wherein at a position outside of the circle center of a bottom portion of the first cavity, there is a concave or recessed portion; a segment of the wall of the first cavity protrudes in its axial direction, forming a cambered position limitation portion, wherein a mechanical rotation core retainer slot, which is a through slot and in parallel with the axis of the first cavity, is provided at the middle portion of the cambered position limitation portion, dividing the cambered position limitation portion into a first position limitation portion and a second position limitation portion; the electronic rotation core is of a multiple-segment cylindrical shape, wherein one end of the electronic rotation core is a rear end, and at the rear end there are electronic contacts, with the front end of the electronic rotation core being inserted into the first cavity so as to be rotationally connected with the mechanical rotation core, and, an electronic control unit and an electromagnet is disposed in the electronic rotation core, wherein the electronic control unit is connected with the electronic contacts and the electromagnet respectively and controls the action of the electromagnet; a through hole for telescoping of a core of the electromagnet is provided at a position where the front end of the electronic rotation core mates with the concave or recessed portion, and a spring is disposed inside the electronic rotation core such that the core abuts against the spring so as to be projected; a cambered side slot is provided at the front end of the electronic rotation core in the circumferential direction and is used to mate with the cambered position limitation portion, wherein the side slot mates with the cambered position limitation portion in an axial direction, and the side slot is provided with an electronic rotation core retainer slot in the axial direction of the electronic rotation core, dividing the side slot into a first side slot corresponding to the first position limitation portion and a second side slot corresponding to the second position limitation portion, wherein the arc length of the first side slot is larger than or equal to that of the first position limitation portion, and the arc length of the second side slot is larger than or equal to the sum of the arc length of the second position limitation portion and the width of the mechanical rotation core retainer slot; an inner wall of the housing has a housing retainer slot in the axial direction; when locking, the core is projected into the concave or recessed portion, and the housing retainer slot is aligned with the mechanical rotation core retainer slot while staggered with the electronic rotation core retainer slot, wherein the retainer rod is seated within both of the housing retainer slot and the mechanical rotation core retainer slot at the same time; when unlocking, the core is retracted into the electronic rotation core, the electronic rotation core rotates by a certain angle to align the electronic rotation core retainer slot with the mechanical rotation core retainer slot, wherein the retainer rod is moved toward the electronic rotation core retainer slot and is seated within both of the electronic rotation core retainer slot and the mechanical rotation core retainer slot at the same time, enabling the electronic rotation core and the mechanical rotation core to rotate synchronously.
Preferably, a Hall sensor is further disposed inside the electronic rotation core, wherein the Hall sensor is placed at the position that is outside of the circle center of the front end surface of the electronic rotation core; and at the bottom portion of the first cavity, there is a magnet at the position corresponding to the Hall sensor.
Preferably, at the opening of the front end of the housing, there is a triangular retainer block that is used to limit the rotation angle of the deflector rod.
Preferably, further comprises an end sealing and a circular platen, wherein a circular sliding recess is provided at a front end of the end sealing, and the end sealing is positioned at the rear end of the housing and is fixedly connected with the housing; and the platen is fixedly connected to the rear end of the electronic rotation core, and the platen is positioned within the sliding recess.
Preferably, the wall of the electronic rotation core retainer slot and/or that of the housing retainer slot are/is slope(s).
Preferably, the arc length of the first position limitation portion is equal to that of the second position limitation portion.
An electronic lock system according to the present invention is further provided, comprising the above mentioned electronic lock cylinder, and an electronic key, a lock body, and a U-shaped main retainer rod; the electronic key includes a key rod and a key housing; at the middle upper portion of the key rod there is a rotation guide channel in the radial direction, and an outer wall of a top portion of the key rod has a guide channel provided in the axial direction which is communicated with the rotation guide channel; an insertion end of the key rod is provided with key contacts; when unlocking, the electronic key is inserted into the electronic lock cylinder, and the key contacts of the electronic key are communicated with the electronic contacts inside the electronic lock cylinder; key chips are disposed inside the key housing, and the key chips are connected to the key contacts via wires; a battery is provided inside the key housing to supply electricity to the key chips; an inclined recess is provided at inner side of the main retainer rod; the lock body has a lock cylinder mounting hole and two main retainer rod holes, wherein, there is a through hole between the inner wall of the lock cylinder mounting hole and the main retainer rod holes, and the through hole matches with the inclined recess, i.e. the position at which the deflector rod of the electronic lock cylinder is located; inside the through hole, there are retainer balls; and the electronic lock cylinder is disposed in the lock cylinder mounting hole of the lock body, and the deflector rod of the electronic lock cylinder corresponds to the position of the retainer balls so as to poke the retainer balls to clamp or release the main retainer rod.
Another technical problem to be solved by the present invention is to provide an unlocking method which can accurately record actual unlocking activities.
To solve the technical problem of accurately recording the unlocking activities, the present invention provides an unlocking method for an electronic lock system, wherein the unlocking method includes the following steps sequentially executed:
S11: the key contacts of the electronic key contact with the electronic contacts of the electronic rotation core, interchanging authority data and verifying the authority;
S12: determining if the access authority verification is successful or not, and if yes, proceeding to step S131, and if no, proceeding to step S132;
S131: the battery inside the electronic key supplies electricity to the electromagnet that is inside the electronic rotation core, and the core of the electromagnet is retracted into the electronic rotation core after the electromagnet is electrified, and proceeding to step S14;
S132: stopping unlocking;
S14: rotating the electronic rotation core with the electronic key, and the electronic rotation core drives the mechanical rotation core to rotate so as to make the deflector rod poke the retainer balls to release the main retainer rod.
Preferably, performing the following step while executing step S14:
after the electronic control unit in the electronic rotation core receives the rotation signal of the electronic rotation core detected by the Hall sensor, it records the information on the person unlocking the lock and stores the information.
More preferably, performing the following step while executing step S14:
after the electronic control unit in the electronic rotation core receives the rotation signal of the electronic rotation core detected by the Hall sensor, the electronic control unit breaks a circuit of the electromagnet.
The present invention has the following beneficial effects compared with the prior art.
(1) Axial fixation is realized between the electronic rotation core and mechanical rotation core with the core of the electromagnet, and when compared with a motor, in the present invention, the electromagnet is of a high responding speed, moreover, the electronic rotation core is rotated manually, which makes it unnecessary to have a motor and simplifies the structure, significantly reducing the volume of the electronic lock cylinder.
(2) Detecting if the electronic lock cylinder rotates or not by using the Hall sensor and cutting off electricity immediately after the rotation is detected, thereby saving electric energy and increasing the usage life of battery.
(3) The unlocking record is accurate, since the Hall Sensor detects if the electronic lock cylinder rotates or not and the unlocking activities are recorded and stored only when the electronic lock cylinder actually rotates.
Detail description of the present invention will be given with reference to specific embodiments and the accompanying drawings, while not limiting the present invention.
As shown in
As shown in
As shown in
With reference to
The geometrical relation of the two aspects above is to ensure that the electronic rotation core 3 and the mechanical rotation core 2 can rotate through a certain angle with respect to each other, as explained below by referring to
As shown in
With reference to
The present invention uses the core 35 of the electromagnet to realize the clamping between the electronic rotation core 3 and the mechanical rotation core 2. When no electricity is supplied, the electronic rotation core 3 and the mechanical rotation core 2 are clamped via the core 35 and cannot rotate with respect to each other, and the mechanical rotation core 2 and the housing 1 are caught via the retainer rod 32 and cannot rotate with respect to each other, while the deflector rod 300 of the mechanical rotation core 2 cannot rotate, realizing the locking. When unlocking, there are three steps, the first step: the core 35 is retracted, allowing the separation between the electronic rotation core 3 and the mechanical rotation core 2, and at this time, the mechanical rotation core 2 is fixed to the housing 1 with the retainer rod 32; the second step: rotating the electronic rotation core 3 with the key manually, and at this time, the electronic rotation core 3 rotates relative to the mechanical rotation core 2, and when rotating to a certain angle, the mechanical rotation core retainer slot 15 opposes to the electronic rotation core retainer slot 34, and the retainer rod 32 is freed from the mechanical rotation core retainer slot 15 and into the electronic rotation core retainer slot 34, and is located within both of the mechanical rotation core retainer slot 15 and the electronic rotation core retainer slot 34, allowing the synchronous rotation of the electronic rotation core 3 and the mechanical rotation core 2, and at this time, realizing the disengagement between the mechanical rotation core 2 and the housing 1; and, the third step: the mechanical rotation core 2 can rotate with the electronic rotation core 3, driving the deflector rod 300 to rotate and realizing unlocking, in this manner, these three steps are executed sequentially, with better anti-theft performance. As the present invention uses an electromagnet, when comparing with the aspect adopting a motor, the present invention increases the responding speed, simplifies the structure, and significantly reduces the volume of the electronic lock cylinder. And because there is no electric energy consumption when rotating the electronic rotation core, the life of the battery can be increased.
As a preferable aspect, in the present embodiment, a Hall sensor 13 is provided in the electronic rotation core 3, and the Hall sensor 13 is placed at the portion which is outside of the circle center of the front end surface of the electronic rotation core 3; a magnet 8 is provided at the position of the bottom portion of the first cavity 23 that is opposite to the Hall sensor 13. The magnet 8 provides inductive magnetic field for the Hall sensor 13, and when the electronic rotation core 3 and the mechanical rotation core 2 rotate relatively, the Hall sensor 13 emits signals to the electronic control unit disposed in the electronic rotation core 3. When the electronic rotation core 3 and the mechanical rotation core 2 rotate relatively, it is not necessary to supply electricity to the electromagnet 12, and the electronic control unit turns off the circuit of the electromagnet 12, which can further save electric energy. Moreover, the electronic control unit uses the Hall sensor 13 to monitor if the electronic rotation core 3 rotates, and only when the electronic rotation core 3 rotates, the unlocking record is stored. And the unlocking record including the persons who unlocks the lock, unlocking time and so on, can be stored in the electronic rotation core 3 or in the electronic key, and the unlocking record can also be stored in both of the electronic rotation core 3 and the electronic key. This prevents the case in which it is recorded even if the electronic key is inserted but the lock is not unlocked actually, allowing the unlocking activities to be recorded objectively and truly.
As shown in
As shown in
As shown in
Preferably, in the present embodiment, the arc lengths of the first position limitation portion 43 and the second position limitation portion 44 are equal, and the arc length of the second side slot 42 is twice of that of the first side slot 41. As shown in
Inside of the key housing 57, there are key chips 56 (the structure thereof will be described below), and the key chips 56 are connected to the key contacts 52 via wires 60; and inside of the key housing 57, there is a battery 58 to supply electricity to the key chips 56.
The lock body 500 has a lock cylinder mounting hole 530 into which the electronic lock cylinder 600 is disposed. The deflector rod 300 of the electronic lock cylinder 600 corresponds to the position of the retainer ball 521 so as to poke the retainer ball 521 to clamp or release the main retainer rod 501.
The lock body 500 has two main retainer rod holes (not shown in the drawings) provided therein for mounting the main retainer rod 501, and there is a through hole between the inner wall of the lock cylinder mounting hole 530 and the two main retainer rod holes respectively, while in the through hole, a first retainer ball 521 and a second retainer ball 522 are provided. The main retainer rod 501 is of U-shape, and has a first recess 511 and a second recess 512 (i.e. inclined recesses), provided at the inner side respectively. The first recess 511 and the second recess 512 fit into the positions of the through holes which can be dimensioned to accommodate the first retainer ball 521 and the second retainer ball 522. In locking state, one side of the first and the second retainer balls 521, 522 is abut against by the narrow surface 37 of the deflector rod 300, and the other side thereof is abut against by the first recess 511 and the second recess 512. In locking state, the wide surface 38 of the deflector rod 300 opposes directly to the first retainer ball 521 and the second retainer ball 522, raising the main retainer rod 501 to unlock. If an elastic component is provided at the bottom portion of the main retainer rod hole, automatic popping up of the main retainer rod 501 can be achieved.
To be noted that, the housing 1 of the electronic lock cylinder 600 is not included in
The unlocking method of the electronic lock system of the present invention is described with reference to the flow chart shown in
The unlocking method for an electronic lock system of the present invention includes the following steps sequentially executed:
S11: The key contacts of the electronic key contact with the electronic contacts of the electronic rotation core, interchanging authority data and verifying the authority; and the determination can be made by a control chip inside the electronic rotation core or by the control circuit inside the electronic key. The authority data can be transferred from the electronic key to the electronic rotation core or transferred from the electronic rotation core to the electronic key, so long as to complement the authority verification.
S12: Determining if the access authority verification is successful or not, and if yes, proceeding to step S131, if no, proceeding to step S132; and comparing by the control circuit in the key chips of the electronic key based on the authority data stored in the storage circuit of the key chips or by the control chip of the electronic control unit of the electronic rotation core based on the authority data stored in the storage chips of the electronic control unit.
S131: The electronic control unit in the electronic rotation core controls the circuit, allowing the battery in the electronic key to supply electricity to the electromagnet inside the electronic rotation core, and the core of the electromagnet is retracted into the electronic rotation core after the electromagnet is electrified, and proceed to step S14;
S132: Stopping unlocking;
S14: Rotating the electronic rotation core with the electronic key, and the electronic rotation core drives the mechanical rotation core to rotate so as to make the deflector rod poke the retainer ball to release the main retainer rod, thus realizing unlocking.
As a preferable aspect, performing the following step while executing step S14:
after the electronic control unit in the electronic rotation core receives the rotation signal of the electronic rotation core detected by the Hall sensor, information on the person unlocking the lock will be recorded and stored. The above information can be stored in the storage chips of the electronic control unit or in the storage circuit of the key chips, or can be stored in both of the two above. Record of the unlocking activities can be more objective and accurate as the unlocking activities are recorded only after the electronic rotation core rotates.
As another preferable aspect, performing the following step while executing step S14: after the electronic control unit in the electronic rotation core receives the rotation signal of the electronic rotation core detected by the Hall sensor, the electronic control unit breaks the circuit of the electromagnet. That is, it is not necessary to supply electricity to the electromagnet after the electronic rotation core rotates, and then power source can be turn off, while further saving electric energy and increasing the usage life of the battery. And, after the electronic control unit in the electronic rotation core receives the rotation signal of the electronic rotation core detected by the Hall sensor, it can perform one of the following two tasks or both of the two tasks: (a) recording the information on the person unlocking the lock and storing the information; (b) breaking the circuit of the electromagnet. In this way, accuracy of the unlocking record is secured, making sure that only the actual unlocking will be recorded, and electricity can be saved.
Certainly, the above description is only the preferable embodiment of the present invention. Note that, for a person skilled in the art, many changes and modifications can be made without departing from the principle of the present invention, and these changes and modifications will fall into the protection scope of the present invention.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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2012 1 0228780 | Jul 2012 | CN | national |
Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind |
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PCT/CN2013/000814 | 7/3/2013 | WO | 00 |
Publishing Document | Publishing Date | Country | Kind |
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WO2014/005422 | 1/9/2014 | WO | A |
Number | Name | Date | Kind |
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6155089 | Hurskainen | Dec 2000 | A |
20040055346 | Gillert | Mar 2004 | A1 |
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101418656 | Apr 2009 | CN |
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202788266 | Mar 2013 | CN |
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International Preliminary Report on Patentability for Application No. PCT/CN2013/000814 dated Jan. 6, 2015, with Written Opinion of the International Searching Authority dated Oct. 17, 2013. |
International Search Report for Application No. PCT/CN2013/000814 dated Oct. 17, 2013. |
Number | Date | Country | |
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20150184423 A1 | Jul 2015 | US |