Patent Grant
8638227
The present invention relates to an electronic combination lock, particularly, to an input device of the electronic combination lock, an input method used for the electronic combination lock, and the application of the input device of the electronic combination lock.
To enable and to set the combination of a prior mechanical dial-type combination lock are implemented by the mechanical linkage mechanism inside the combination lock. Accurate positioning is required for enabling the combination and setting the combination of such combination lock, particularly, it is more complicated to modify the cipher, in addition to that the lock body is required to disassemble, it is very difficult for the person who have not been trained professionally to complete the operation of setting the code. Furthermore, the amount of the secret keys of said method depends on the amount of the directive wheels inside the mechanical linkage mechanism. In order to obtain a large amount of secret keys, the amount of the directive wheels shall be increased so that the volume and the complexity of the structure will be increased. Therefore, people attempt more and more to use the electronic combination lock, which can be operated conveniently and has a compact structure.
It has been disclosed in the U.S. Pat. No. 6,420,958 an electronic digital lock, it uses a dial coupled to a step motor, when rotating the dial, the signals are generated by the step motor, and are outputted to a microcomputer for counting process via a shaping circuit, and are displayed by a display device. When the rotation of the dial is stopped, the numbers displayed are inputted as a part of the code combination. Since the structure of the step motor is complicated and the price is rather high, and the peripheral circuits, such as the shaping circuit, and the like, are required, therefore the manufacturing cost of such electronic digital lock is relatively high.
Additionally, the input devices of dial-type electronic combination locks have been disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,745,784 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,899,562 respectively, they have the similar structure. The input device of the electronic combination lock comprises a dial, a contact tip which is fixed inside the dial and can be rotated together with the dial, and ten contact points which are distributed as a circle or a half circle corresponding to the moving track of the contact tip and connected to a circuit board. The dial is depressed axially when the dial is rotated to a certain calibration position, and an electrical signal is produced by the contact between the contact tip thereon and a certain contact point corresponding to said calibration position. The electrical signal of each of the contact points corresponds to a different number, and this number is confirmed as an element of the combination.
An input device of the dial-type electronic combination lock has also been disclosed in Japanese Patent P2000-73632. It comprises a conducting sheet fixed on the dial, and two groups of contact points, which contact with the conducting sheet and are distributed intermittently as a circle, and a conducting ring, which is connected electrically with the contact point groups and supplies the power thereto. When rotating the dial, the above two contact point groups are contacted and are turned on intermittently with and by the conducting sheet, and two groups of electrical pulse signals can be obtained from the output leads of the two groups of the contact points. The signals are processed and displayed as the combination elements. In this technical scheme, a confirmation device for confirming the combination code is a button switch installed on the dial.
The electrical signals representing the combination are produced directly by employing the electrical contact method in the above said three kinds of input devices of the electronic combination lock, therefore a problem of the contact reliability may be caused. Particularly, in the input device of the electronic combination lock of the Japanese Patent P2000-73632, there is also the problem of the abrasion due to the contact friction. Furthermore, since the electrical signals representing the combination are inputted directly without isolation, the security protection performance is also insufficient.
Furthermore, most of the prior combination locks are in the form of numeral keyboard, in most of the cases, the keyboard is installed on the panel of the lock body above the handle of the door lock. However, for a handle of combination lock disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,378,344, the numeral keyboard is embedded in the handle of the lock, and the combination is inputted through the keyboard. Since the plane size of the keyboard is large, the volume of the handle is larger than that of a normal handle, thus, it will bring about an uncomfortable feeling when using said handle.
Most of the prior combination locks used for the chests and bags are in the form of mechanical roller, as described above, the structure of the mechanical combination lock is complicated, and it is inconvenient to operate it. For example, for a mechanical combination lock used for the chests and bags as disclosed in the Chinese Patent ZL00261865.6, though it has four digit wheels and employs new structure to simplify the operation for changing the combination, but the disadvantages, such as the amount of the combination keys being small, the mechanical operation for changing the combination being complicated, still exist.
The object of the invention is to overcome the disadvantages in the prior art and to provide an input device of the electronic combination lock, which has a high reliability and an excellent security protection performance, and the input and the set of the combination is simple and convenient.
The invention also provides a combination lock handle including said input device of the electronic combination lock, and a panel for the combination lock used for the chests and bags, their structures are simple and compact, the amount of the secret keys is large, the volume is small and the operation for inputting the combination is intuitional and convenient.
Another object of the invention is to provide an input method used for inputting the combination of an electronic combination lock, and the combination can be inputted reliably, safely and conveniently by this method.
According to the first aspect of the invention, it provides an input device of an electronic combination lock, comprising: a signal device for producing combination input information and for converting said information into two groups of electrical pulse signals; a measurement and control device connected with said signal device for measuring the electrical pulse signals outputted from the signal device, deciding the order of the electrical pulse signals and calculating correspondingly such that said signals are converted into character sequences including the combination elements, and deciding whether said combination elements are confirmed to be inputted or not and deciding whether the input of all the combination elements is completed or not; a confirmation device connected with said measurement and control device and used for producing a conformation signal for inputting the combination elements to indicate that the input of the current combination element is confirmed; and a display device connected with said measurement and control device for displaying said character sequences and preset prompt information in a rolling and refreshing manner by the driving of said measurement and control device.
Preferably, in the input device of the electronic combination lock of the invention, said confirmation device is a switch device, an electrical signal produced when it is closed allows said measurement and control device to confirm the current combination element displayed by said display device as a part of the input combination.
Preferably, in the input device of the electronic combination lock of the invention, the measurement and control device is also used for deciding whether during a given timing period which starts each time when a signal is produced by a switch device, the timing period expires or not. If the timing period expires, then it decides that the input is during overtime.
The preset information displayed by said display device is indicated by symbols, wherein the close and open states of the lock are indicated by a symbol having a padlock shape, the time at which the lock is opened on time or is delayed to be opened is indicated by a symbol having a clock shape, the code setting state is indicated by a symbol having a key shape, and low power of battery is indicated by a symbol having a battery shape, and the confirmation states of the respective parts of the combination are indicated in turn by the remaining dot symbols.
The above input device of the electronic combination lock may be an input device of a dial-type electronic combination lock. Wherein the signal device comprises: a panel body, a dial which is installed on said panel body and can be rotated freely, a drive shaft fixed at the center of said dial, a set of driving gears installed on said drive shaft, a driven gear which engages with said driving gears, and a rotating coder connected with said driven gear on the same shaft. Wherein the measurement and control device is a programmed microcontroller, the display device is an information display screen, and the switch device is a photoelectric switch. Said microcontroller, coder, information display screen and photoelectric switch are provided on the same circuit board, said circuit board is provided within said panel body, and said microcontroller is connected electrically with said coder, information display screen and photoelectric switch respectively.
Preferably, in the above said input device of the dial-type electronic combination lock, the outer edge of said dial is a circular skirt-like fringe, the position of said photoelectric switch corresponds to the skirt-like fringe of said dial, when said dial is depressed, the light transmitted to the photoelectric switch is blocked by said skirt-like fringe, thereby a signal is produced by said photoelectric switch.
Optionally, in the above said input device of the dial-type electronic combination lock, the upper part and lower part of said panel body are hunched ear-edge shaped, and said panel body further comprises: grooves provided in back of said ear-edge and matched with the fingers; a display window, which matches with the shape and size of said information display screen, and forms a oblique angle together with said information display screen for viewing effectively; and a guiding hole provided at the display window side of said panel body for inserting an emergency key.
In the above said input device of the dial-type electronic combination lock, it further comprises a reset spring installed axially within an internal hole provided in the drive shaft of said dial.
Alternatively, in the above said input device of the electronic combination lock, concentric circle plane tooth grooves are provided on the internal end face of said driving gear, and a blind hole is provided on said plane gullet at a position corresponding to said panel body, and a steel ball and a spring are installed in said blind hole, under the action of the spring, said steel ball contacts and matches with the concentric circle plane tooth groove of said driving gear.
Furthermore, the above said input device of the electronic combination lock can also be an input device of a roller type electronic combination lock. Wherein the signal device is a roller device, it comprises: a roller, a coder which is coaxial with the roller, and an elastic bracket for supporting said roller. Wherein the measurement and control device is a programmed microcontroller, the display device is an information display screen, the switch device is a microswitch provided below the shaft extension of the roller. Said microcontroller is connected electrically with said coder, information display screen and microswitch, respectively.
Preferably, in the above said input device of the roller type electronic combination lock, 1-bit or 2-bit number is displayed on the information display screen in an ascending order or descending order circularly rolling manner according to the rotation direction and angle of said roller. When the roller is depressed, the microswitch is actuated by the shaft extension of said roller, thereby the rolling display of said information display screen is stopped, so that the current number displayed is confirmed as a part of the combination. After releasing the depressed roller, said roller is reset by the elastic bracket.
According to the second aspect of the invention, it provides a handle of the combination lock, which is hollow, and comprises: an input device of the roller type electronic combination lock of the invention, which is fixed within a cavity in said handle; a first window, which corresponds to said roller thereby said roller may be dialed and depressed, provided on the surface of the handle, a second window, which corresponds to said information display screen thereby the contents displayed may be viewed, provided on the surface of the handle; and a rotation shaft fixed in the handle with a through-hole used for the wires to be passed through provided therein. The input device of the electronic combination lock is connected with a combination identification device of the lock and a power supply, which are installed inside the core mechanism of the lock or installed at other position inside the door, via the wires.
The invention further provides another handle of the electronic combination lock, said handle is hollow and comprises: a handle body, a panel and a transparent window cover. Said handle body comprises a rotation shaft fixed therein, and a through-hole provided inside said rotation shaft for allowing the connection wires to be passed through. The input device of the roller type electronic combination lock of the invention is installed within the panel body, a first window, which corresponds to said roller thereby said roller may be dialed and depressed, and a second window, which corresponds to said information display screen thereby the contents displayed may be viewed, are provided on said panel. Said transparent window cover is provided on a plane on which there is said second window. A hollowed region, which has the size and shape matching with said panel, is provided on the front surface of the handle body, thereby said panel can be embedded therein. Said handle of the combination lock is connected to a combination identification device and a power supply of the combination lock which are installed inside the core mechanism of the lock or installed at other positions inside the door via the wires.
The invention further provides yet another handle of the combination lock, and it comprises: a handle body, a handle base and a panel. The microcontroller and information display screen in the above input device of the roller type electronic combination lock are installed inside the handle base, and the second window, which corresponds to said information display screen thereby the displayed contents may be viewed, is provided on the front surface of the base. The roller device in the input device of the electronic combination lock of the invention is fixed inside the panel body, and the first window having the size and shape matching with the roller thereby said roller may be dialed and depressed is provided on the surface of said panel. Wherein said handle is hollow, and a cavity matching with the size and shape of said panel is provided on its front surface, thereby said panel can be embedded therein. Said input device of the roller type electronic combination lock is connected to a combination identification device and a power supply of the combination lock which are installed inside the core mechanism of the lock or installed at other positions inside the door via the wires.
According to the third aspect of the invention, it provides a panel of a combination lock for the chests and bags, the panel of the combination lock for the chests and bags is fixed on the external surface of the chest body. It comprises: an input device of the electronic combination lock of the invention installed within said panel body; a first window, matching with the size and shape of said roller thereby said roller may be dialed and depressed, provided on the surface of said panel; and a second window, matching with the size and shape of said information display screen and having a transparent window cover provided thereon thereby the displayed contents may be viewed, provided on said panel. Wherein said input device of the combination lock is connected to a combination identification device and a power supply of the combination lock which are installed inside the chest body via the wires.
According to the fourth aspect of the invention, it provides a method for inputting the combination of a combination lock, and the method comprises the following steps: receiving rotation information of the dial or roller via a signal device and converting it into two groups of electric pulse signals; measuring, deciding and calculating said two groups of electric pulse signals by a measurement and control device, and further converting them into element sequence constituted by the combination; displaying character sequences including combination elements and preset information by a display device, wherein the rolling refreshing rate for displaying the character sequences including combination is a function of the signal frequency of said two groups of electric pulse signals, the element sequence of the combination is rolling refreshed in an ascending order or descending order manner, which corresponds to the rotation direction and angle of said dial or roller; when the input of the current combination element is confirmed, a confirmation signal for inputting the combination element is produced by a confirmation device; after said electrical signal is detected by the measurement and control device, the currently inputted combination element is confirmed; and the measurement and control device further decides whether the input of all of the combination elements is completed or not.
Preferably, the above said input method for the combination further comprises the following steps: when a signal is produced by said confirmation device, a given timing period is started, after that, whether the timing period expires or not is decided by the measurement and control device, if the timing period expires, then it decides that the input is during overtime.
By using the above said input device and input method of the electronic combination lock, it makes the input device of the electronic combination lock of the invention have simple structure, the input combination signals be isolated by using mechanic-electric or optical-electric isolation, no electrical contact exist between the operating parts and the circuits, therefore it improves significantly the reliability and the security protection performance. Furthermore, the operation for inputting combination and the operation for modifying combination are also very simple and intuitional.
Particularly, when the input device of the electronic combination lock of the invention is a dial-type, the above advantages will be more outstanding. Furthermore, the structure of the input device of the dial-type electronic combination lock is novel and inimitable, and the way for the open operation of the combination lock further accords with the conventional operation custom.
When the input device of the electronic combination lock of the invention is a roller type, its structure is more compact and its volume is smaller, it is convenient for applying it in a variety of situations. After applying it to the handle of the lock, the handle function and the combination input function as well as the display function of the combination and information can be integrated in one so that the disadvantage of the large volume of the handle of the electronic combination lock of the prior art is overcome. After applying it to the chests and bags, not only the amount of the secret keys is large and the operation for modifying the combination becomes more simple and convenient, but also the comfortable feeling of the operation will be better than that of the mechanical roller type combination lock used for the chests and bags.
The invention will be further described in detail by referring to the drawings and embodiments as follows. In the drawings, the same reference number indicates the same or corresponding parts. The above and other objects, features and advantages of the invention will become more apparent through the following description.
The input device, input method and the application of the electronic combination lock of the invention will be further described by incorporating several specific embodiments as follows.
Input Device of the Electronic Combination Lock
The signal device 2 can employ an electromechanical rotation coder, the rotor of the coder has a mechanical driving relationship with the dial and rotates following the dial. The coder has two code signal output terminals, when the dial rotates in a clockwise direction, the electrical pulse signal 11 outputted from the first output terminal keeps ahead; when the dial rotates in a counterclockwise direction, the electrical pulse signal 12 outputted from the second output terminal keeps ahead. The number of the pulses included in the two groups of electrical pulse signals is proportional to the angle through which the rotor of the coder has rotated, and the frequency of the pulse signals is proportional to the rotation rate of the rotor of the coder.
The measurement and control device 3 is composed of a single-chip microcomputer and the peripheral circuits thereof, and a single-chip microcomputer having integrated RAM and ROM therein can be used for measuring the electrical pulse signals 11 and 12 outputted by the signal device 2, deciding the order of said electrical pulse signals, and calculating correspondingly such that said signals are converted into character sequences including the combination elements, and deciding whether the current combination elements are confirmed to be inputted or not and deciding whether the input of all of the combination elements is completed or not. ROM stores the control program and the preset data information, RAM stores the data information, such as the measuring data, displaying data and other intermediate data; EEPROM is required to be set further, and the unlocking combination, the setting combination and the verification combination are stored therein in advance. The single-chip microcomputer comprises several I/O ports P2˜P6, wherein the measurement and control device 3 receives the two groups of electrical pulse signals 11 and 12 converted by the signal device 2 via the ports P2 and P3, the port 6 is connected with the confirmation device 5, the port P4 is connected with the display device 4, the port P5 can be connected optionally with the implementation device 7 of the electronic combination lock.
As shown in
Furthermore, in the input device of the electronic combination lock as shown in
Said character sequence and preset prompt information are displayed by the display device 4 under the driving of the measurement and control device 3 in a roll refreshing manner. Wherein the preset information is indicated by symbols, with reference to
The operation principle and flow process of the input device of the electronic combination lock of the invention will be described in detail with reference to
As shown in
As shown in the drawing, in step S22, the received electrical pulse signals 11 and electrical pulse signals 12 are measured by the measurement and control device 3. Next, in step S23, the successive order of the electrical pulse signals 11 and 12 are decided by the measurement and control device 3. If the electrical pulse signals 11 keep ahead, then an add operation will be performed for the change amount of the pulses measured currently and the accumulation sum of the amount of the pulses measured previously; if the electrical signals 12 keep ahead, then an subtraction operation will be performed for the change amount of the pulses measured currently and the accumulation sum of the amount of the pulses measured previously. Next, in steps S24 and S25, after the above operation results are data processed by the measurement and control device 3, the display device 4 is driven via the I/O port P4 to display in a decimal number manner, and the display refresh rate of the above operation results is adjusted according to the proportional relationship of the measured frequency of the electrical pulse signals, meanwhile, the flow process proceeds to step S26.
In step S26, the measurement and control device 3 detects firstly whether a signal is inputted at I/O port P6, if the electrical level signal 13 outputted from the switch device 5 is not detected, then the measurement and control device 3 detects in step S27 whether the time counted by the overtime counting program expires or not. If the time counted by the overtime counting program has not expired, then it proceeds to step S22. If the time counted by the overtime counting program has expired, then it proceeds to step S32, and an overtime alarm signal is issued, meanwhile, an input overtime information is displayed by the display device 4. If the measurement and control device 3 detects the electrical level signal 13 outputted by switch device 5, after the combination element displayed currently on display device 4 is confirmed and stored into RAM, a combination receiving confirmation information is displayed by the display device 4 under the driving of the I/O port P4, meanwhile, the flow process proceeds to step S28 to enter a new timing period.
In step S29, the measurement and control device 3 counts the received combination elements which have been confirmed, and compares the counting result with a preset number, if the counting result is less than the set number, then it proceeds to step S30. In step 30, the measurement and control device 3 stores the number displayed currently into RAM as a combination element, and next in step S31, the display device 4 is driven to display the combination input confirmation information, meanwhile, the flow process goes back to step S22. If the counting result is equal to the set number, a complete set of combination elements are confirmed to have been received, and the flow process goes to step S33. In step S33, after the measurement and control device 3 performs the operation of linking several combination elements, which have been inputted and confirmed, in sequence and they are stored into RAM again, the display device 4 displays the combination receiving completion information under the driving of the I/O port P4. At this time, the entire input flow process for the electronic combination lock is completed, other operation flow process can be entered selectively from step 34 as required.
For example, the combination can be set through the above method steps for inputting the combination. The preset combination is inputted firstly such that the input device of the electronic combination lock of the invention enters a combination setting state, then a new unlocking combination can be inputted under said state to substitute the old combination, and the new combination can be used for unlocking afterwards. The details can be referred to
Input Device of the Dial-Type Electronic Combination Lock
The input device of the electronic combination lock of the invention can also be produced specifically as a dial form as required, just as shown in the second preferred embodiment of the invention. As shown in
In the above drawing, the MCU 106, coder 108, information display screen 110 and photoelectric switch 107 are provided on a circuit board 109, said circuit board 109 is provided within said panel body 111. A mechanical-electrical rotation coder can be used as the coder 108. An infrared photoelectric switch is used as the photoelectric switch 107, comprising a transmitter tube and a receiver tube. A single-chip microcomputer having ROM, RAM and several I/O ports is employed as the microcontroller, and the control program being installed in the ROM. The I/O ports on MCU are connected with the coder 108, photoelectric switch 107, and information display screen 110 respectively, wherein one I/O port is connected with the combination identification device of the combination lock for data communicating.
The dial 101, drive shaft 102, driving gears 103, driven gear 115, and the rotor of the coder 108 constitute a simple driving system. Specifically, the cross section of drive shaft 102 is a regular polygon, one end of the shaft being fixed at the center of the dial 101, a internal regular polygon hole is provided on the driving gears 103 for adapting the other end of the drive shaft 102 to be inserted into. A movable fit exists between a cylindrical face at one side of the driving gears 103 and the corresponding internal hole of the panel body 111. The driven gear 107 engages with the driving gears 115, and a movable fit exists between two cylindrical faces of the driven gear 115 and the internal hole of the gear pressboard 117, another internal hole of the panel body 111 respectively, the gear pressboard 117 is snapped on two supporting posts of the panel body 111, the cross section of the shaft extension of the driven gear 115 is a regular polygon, the shaft extension as the drive shaft of the rotor of the coder 108 is inserted into the internal regular polygon hole of the rotor of the coder 108. In this driving system, the function of the panel body 111, gear pressboard 117, and the like is supporting and the positioning.
The dial 101 and drive shaft 102 can displace axially 2 to 4 mm, an internal hole 122 is provided axially at the another end of the drive shaft 102, and a reset spring 104 is provided in the hole. Two slot openings 118, corresponding to the transmitter tube and receiver tube of the photoelectric switch 107, are provided on the panel body 111.
The shape of driving gears 103 is shown in
An eight-segment LED for displaying the prompt information symbols and two seven-segment LED for displaying number are provided on the information display screen 110, as shown in
The display face of the information display screen 110 is an oblique face, the oblique angle thereof makes user's line of sight be approximately perpendicular to the display face of information display screen 110 so that it accords with the principle of the human body engineering. The plane of the display window of the panel body, which corresponds to the display face of the information display screen 110, is also an oblique face having the same angle. A transparent window cover 116 is snapped on the plane on which there is the display window of said panel body.
The upper part and lower part of said panel body 111 are hunched to be ea-edge-shaped 105 to serve as a handle, and grooves are provided on the internal side (back part) of said ear-edge 105 and matched with the fingers so that the operation of opening the door is easy. Furthermore, a guiding hole 112 is provided at the display window side of said panel body for inserting a mechanical emergency key.
During assembling, the circuit board 109 is fixed at other side of the panel body 111, the cylindrical face of the driving gears 103 is installed into a corresponding hole on the panel body 111, the cylindrical face at one end of the driven gear 115 which is engaged with the driving gears 103 is installed into a corresponding hole of the panel body 111, the shaft extension thereof is inserted into an internal hole of the rotor of the coder 108, a middle hole of the gear pressboard 117 is fitted with the cylindrical face at another end of the driven gear 115, and the gear pressboard 117 is snapped by two supporting post on the panel body 111, the steel ball 114 and spring 113 are installed into a corresponding hole on the panel body 111, the drive shaft 102 is inserted into a polygon hole of the driving gears 103, the position of another end of the reset spring 104 in the axial internal hole is limited by the face of the door of the safe, the circular skirt-like fringe at the internal edge of the dial 101 corresponds to the transmitter tube and receiver tube of the photoelectric switch 107 through two slot openings of the panel body 111.
The specific application of the input device of the dial-type electronic combination lock of the present embodiment will be described as follows.
The dial 101 is turned when it requires to open the lock, when the displayed two bits of number are the same as the first part of the preset unlocking combination, the turning will be stopped and the dial 101 will be depressed axially, at this time, the dot symbols distributed at the most lower part of the half circle on the information display screen 110 are illuminated, it indicates that the first part of the combination is confirmed and inputted, and the other parts of the combination is inputted according to the same method, during the procedure of confirming and inputting each part of the combination, the dot symbols distributed as a half circle on the information display screen 110 are illuminated in turn, after the last part of the combination is inputted, the entire combination is sent to the combination identification device of the combination lock by MCU 106, the received combination is identified and decided by the combination identification device, if the decided combination result is true, then the lock will be opened by an electromotive driving device under the control of the combination identification device, and an open lock signal will be sent to MCU 106, after the open lock signal is received by MCU 106, the symbol having the padlock shape on the information display screen 110 is illuminated under its control.
When it is required to re-set the unlocking combination, firstly, the set combination is inputted via the above said steps of inputting and confirming the combination, when the set combination inputted is decided as true, the symbol having the key shape is illuminated, it indicates that it enters the combination setting state, at this time, a new unlocking combination can be inputted.
When the voltage of the power supply of the combination lock measured by MCU 106 is lower than a prescribed value, the symbol having a battery shape is illuminated, prompting that it is required to change the battery.
Input Device of the Roller Type Electronic Combination Lock
The input device of the electronic combination lock of the invention can also be produced specifically as a roller form as required, just as shown in the third preferred embodiment of the invention. As shown in
A photoelectric coder can be used as the rotation coder, it is composed of a photoelectric wheel 203, and a light emitting diode and a phototriode 207 which are disposed at two sides of the photoelectric wheel.
The microcontroller 208 is composed of a single-chip microcomputer MCU, a memory RAM, and peripheral circuits. The control program are contained in MCU, several I/O ports of MCU are connected electrically with the roller device 201 and the information display screen 209 respectively, wherein another I/O port is connected electrically to the combination identification device of the combination lock for data communicating.
Furthermore, a connector can be provided on the circuit board 211 so that MCU may be connected with the combination identification device of the combination lock and the power supply via the connector 210.
The roller device 201, microcontroller 208, information display screen 209, and microswitch 206 can be installed on the same circuit board 211, as shown in the drawing. And it may be also as shown in
Returning back to
In the input device of the roller type electronic combination lock in the present embodiment, customized LED or LCD can be used as the information display screen 209. As shown in
As shown in
As shown in
When the roller 202 is depressed, the Y-shaped bracket 220 moves downwardly by 1-2 mm along the snap slots 228, the shaft extension 205 at one end of the roller 202 actuates the microswitch 206 provided below it. When the depressing is released, the Y-shaped bracket 220 is reset by the reset spring 227.
Furthermore, if it is desired to produce the effect of a ratchet wheel during the rotation procedure of the roller 202, there are two schemes: the first one is that one end face of the roller 202 is fabricated in a corrugation shape, a spring having a ratchet wheel form (not shown) is installed on a base 225 near the corrugation end face of the roller 202, one end of said spring is fixed by the slot and hole on the base 225, and another end of the spring is bent to form a circle and contacts elastically with the corrugation end face of the roller 202, when the roller 202 rotates, it brings about a hand felling of a ratchet wheel. And the second one is that a blind hole (not shown in the drawing) is provided on the Y-shaped bracket 220 with a spring and a steel ball installed therein, and fabricating a segment of the surface of the roller shaft which fits with the Y-shaped bracket 220 as teeth form, the steel ball contacts and fits with said teeth under the function of the spring, and when the roller 202 rotates, it can also bring about a hand felling of a ratchet wheel.
Preferably, a buzzer can be installed on the circuit board 211, it may incorporate with the information display screen 209, a prompt information can be issued by them.
The use of the above roller type combination lock assembly will be explained as follows.
When it is desired to open the lock, the roller 202 is rotated, and the information display screen 209 displays the numbers 0-9 in a rolling manner as the rotation of the roller, the rolling order of the numbers (ascending order or descending order) corresponds to the rotation direction of the roller (clockwise or counterclockwise). When one bit of the currently displayed number and the first element of the preset unlocking combination are the same, the rotation is stopped and the roller 202 is depressed at a time. At this time, the first dot symbol on the information display screen 209 is illuminated, indicating that the first bit of the combination is confirmed and inputted. The other bits of the combination are inputted in the same manner, during the procedure for confirming each bit of the combination, the dot symbols are illuminated in turn on the information display screen 209.
After the last bit of the combination is inputted, if the inputted combination is completely true, then a symbol having a padlock shape will be illuminated, indicating that the lock has been opened.
If the inputted combination is wrong, then prompt information will be issued by the information display screen 209 and the buzzer (if installed), and the program proceeds to an error processing flow.
If it requires to enable the lock open function of the timing or delay timing, then the timing set state and delay timing set state can be entered by inputting special combination, said function can be enabled after inputting the time.
When it requires to re-set the unlocking combination, firstly, the set combination is entered by the above said steps for inputting the combination and confirming, when the inputted set combination is decided as true, the symbol having a key shape is illuminated, indicating that it enters the combination setting state, at this time, new unlocking combination can be inputted.
When the voltage of the power supply of the combination lock is lower than a prescribed value, a symbol having a battery shape is illuminated, prompting that the changing battery is needed.
The Handle of Combination Lock
When the above said input device of the roller type electronic combination lock is applied to a handle of the door lock, it constitutes a novel handle of the combination lock. The external structure of such handle of combination lock is shown in
As shown in the drawing, the handle body 301 is hollow, and the above said input device of the roller type electronic combination lock is disposed inside the cavity. The input device of the roller type electronic combination lock assumes a form as shown in
In order to show the internal structure of the above said handle of the combination lock more clearly,
As shown in
An external structure of another handle of the combination lock is shown in
Yet another handle of the combination lock is shown in
The rotation shaft of the above said three types of the handles of the combination lock incorporates with the lock core mechanism or clutch device of the combination lock, and the lock core mechanism or clutch device is driven by a electromotive implementation mechanism of the combination lock, the electromotive implementation mechanism is controlled by the combination identification device of the combination lock, the combination identification device of the combination lock is connected electrically and communicates the data with the input device of the roller type electronic combination lock. Before the correct unlocking combination is inputted, the lock core mechanism or the clutch device are separated from the handle of the combination lock (is abbreviated to handle), at this time, the handle can not be rotated, and the lock bolt linked therewith is in a protruding state. After a correct unlocking combination is inputted according to the input method of the electronic combination lock of the invention, the electromotive implementation mechanism is operated by the control of the combination identification device, and the lock core mechanism or the clutch device is combined with the handle, at this time, the handle is turned downwardly for a angle, (not more than 90 degrees) so that the lock bolt is retracted into the lock body, and the lock is opened.
The Panel of the Combination Lock for the Chests and Bags
When the above said input device of the roller type electronic combination lock is applied to the lock for the chests and bags, it constitutes a novel panel of a combination lock for the chests and bags.
It can be known from
Although the input device, input method and the application of the electronic combination lock of the invention have been described by referring to the above embodiments, however, those skilled in the art shall understand, it is apparent that the form and details thereof can be modified without departing the scope and the spirit of the invention. Therefore, the above described embodiments are only illustrative rather than restrictive, under a condition without departing the spirit and scope of the invention, all the changes and modifications are within the protection scope of the invention.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 1 0106616 | Oct 2003 | CN | national |
| 2004 2 0020415 | Feb 2004 | CN | national |
| 2004 2 0037690 | Jul 2004 | CN | national |
| Filing Document | Filing Date | Country | Kind | 371c Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PCT/CN2004/000888 | 8/2/2004 | WO | 00 | 2/21/2007 |
| Publishing Document | Publishing Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| WO2005/035919 | 4/21/2005 | WO | A |
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| 20070133802 A1 | Jun 2007 | US |
