Lock with two layers of lock mechanism

Information

  • Patent Grant
  • 6584819
  • Patent Number
    6,584,819
  • Date Filed
    Wednesday, February 6, 2002
    22 years ago
  • Date Issued
    Tuesday, July 1, 2003
    21 years ago
  • Inventors
  • Examiners
    • Gall; Lloyd A.
    Agents
    • Troxell Law Office PLLC
Abstract
A lock with two layers of lock mechanism, which comprises a body casing, an upper lock body, a lower lock body, a connection plate and a key; the chamber of the body casing is used for mounting the two lock bodies; the two lock bodies are connected together with the connection plate; the center of the upper lock body has a key hole for receiving a flat key to plug into a key hole of the lower lock body; the other end of the key has a cylindrical key, which is to be plugged into a ring-shaped key groove; when the key is pushed and turned, both the upper and lower lock bodies will be unlock simultaneously.
Description




BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION




1. Field of the Invention




This invention relates to a lock device, and particularly to a lock with two layers of lock mechanism.




2. Description of the Prior Art




In a conventional cylindrical lock, the inner space of the casing is mounted with an upper tumbler seat and a lower tumbler seat; a plurality of symmetrical tumbler holes are furnished between the upper and lower tumbler seats to be loaded with tumblers and springs respectively; normally, the springs in the tumbler holes will push the front ends of the front tumblers to the positioning edge of the front end of the casing. Since the tumblers are different in length, they can mate with different keys for unlocking; after a correct key is plugged into the cylindrical lock, the unlock grooves on the front end of the cylindrical lock will push the front tumblers to move forwards to an interface between the upper tumbler seat and the lower tumbler seat, i.e., the front tumblers and the rear tumblers are put along a rotary tangent surface; then, a turning and driving plate of the cylindrical key will drive the upper tumbler seat to turn, and a transmission shaft of the upper tumbler seat will drive a driving arm to turn.




In a conventional lock device, the lock lamina or the lock tumblers mounted in a body casing are different in structure, and the key for unlocking the same is also different in structure; therefore, the lock-up function is also different. In the conventional laminated lock structure, the assembling procedures thereof is rather simple aside from the picklock factors; it can obtain a high manufacturing precision without being unlocked with a master key.




In the conventional locks, different locks are substantially different in the structure of their tumblers, i.e., each type of lock has its features; after a given period of being sold, the locking function thereof is subject to being learned or known by other person, and then it is subject to being unlocked easily.




SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION




The prime object of the present invention is to provide a lock device, in which a body casing is loaded with two different lock bodies, and the two lock bodies are connected together with a connection plate; the key of such a lock must be able to unlock the two different lock bodies simultaneously so as to drive the core bar in the lock to turn.




Another object of the present invention is to provide a lock device, in which the cylindrical hole is furnished with a key hole through the lower lock body; one end of the cylindrical hole and the body casing is furnished with a ring-shaped key groove for receiving a cylindrical key; the center of the cylindrical key has a flat key. During unlocking the lock, the flat key has to plug into the lower lock body, while the cylindrical key is plugged into the upper lock body so as to have the upper and lower tumblers and the lock lamina driven to the unlocking positions; then, the key can drive the core bar to turn.




Still another object of the present invention is to provide a lock device, in which the front part of the cylindrical hole is loaded with the upper lock body, while the rear part thereof is mounted with the lower lock body; the upper and lower lock bodies are connected together with a connection plate. The two lock bodies in the body casing should be unlocked with a key simultaneously so as to have the core bar to turn.




A further object of the present invention is to provide a lock device, in which the center of the connection plate is mounted on a movable member of the upper lock body; the outer edge of the connection plate is furnished with a limit groove and a guide groove for receiving one end of the bolt. After the key is plugged in to unlock the lock, the limit groove of the connection plate will connect with and limit the bolt to have the two lock bodies connected together so as to turn the core bar for unlocking.




A still further object of the present invention is to provide a lock device, in which the center of the lower lock body has a key hole, being smaller than that of the upper lock body so as to facilitate the key to plug in smoothly.




Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a lock device, in which the lower lock body is a laminated lock cylinder or the like, while the upper lock body is a cylinder-shaped lock core or the like.











BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS





FIG. 1

is a perspective view of the present invention, showing the relation between the lock and the key thereof.





FIG. 2

is a disassembled view of the present invention, showing the relation between the inner parts in the body casing and the transmission assembly.





FIG. 3

is a sectional view of the present invention, showing the structure of inner assemblies in the body casing.





FIG. 4

is a sectional view of the present invention, showing the structure along line


4





4


in FIG.


3


.





FIG. 5

is a sectional view of the present invention, showing a key inserted in the lock body for unlocking.





FIG. 6

is a sectional view of the present invention, showing the structure along line


6





6


in FIG.


3


.





FIG. 7

is a sectional view of the present invention, showing the structure along line


7





7


in FIG.


5


.





FIG. 8

is a sectional view of the present invention, showing the structure along line


8





8


in FIG.


3


.





FIG. 9

is a sectional view of the present invention, showing the structure along line


9





9


in FIG.


5


.





FIG. 10

is a sectional view of the present invention, showing the structure as showing in

FIG. 9

to turn continuously.











DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT




This invention relates to a lock with two layers of lock mechanism; as showing in

FIGS. 1

to


3


, the center of the body casing


12


of the lock


11


is furnished with a cylindrical hole


53


to be mounted with an upper lock body


15


and a lower lock body


16


. The center of the front end plate of the body casing


12


has a round hole


25


; the two lock bodies


15


and


16


are mounted in correct order into the cylindrical hole


53


. The center of the lock


11


has a keyhole


54


and a ring-shaped key groove


55


; the keyhole


54


is used for receiving a flat key


23


to go through a key hole


49


of the lower lock body


16


for unlocking the lock. The ring-shaped key groove


55


is to be plugged with a cylindrical key


21


so as to push the upper lock body


15


for unlocking. A connection plate


17


is furnished between the two lock bodies


15


and


16


so as to have the two lock bodies


15


and


16


connected together, and to have the upper and lower lock bodies


15


and


16


to move synchronously to turn the core bar


50


.




As shown in

FIGS. 1

to


4


, the body casing


12


is furnished with threads on outer surface so as to facilitate the lock


11


mounted in place; one end of the body casing


12


is furnished with a cylindrical hole


53


in the center thereof; the bottom end of the cylindrical hole


53


has a through round hole


25


and a guide groove for receiving a key. After the lock body


15


is mounted into the cylindrical hole


53


of the body casing


12


, it can be fixed in place by means of a short pin


51


plugged in a through round hole


52


in the body casing


12


, and a positioning hole


37


of a fixed member


28


of the lock body


15


; then, a ring-shaped key groove


55


will be formed by means of the round hole


25


of the body casing


12


and a round stem


29


on front end of the lock body


15


so as to facilitate a cylindrical key


21


to plug in.




The bottom of the cylindrical hole


53


of the body casing


12


is furnished with symmetrical catch grooves


26


, which are designed to fit the cylinder-shaped lock body


15


. After the lock body


15


is mounted in the cylindrical hole


53


of the body casing


12


, the ends of the upper tumblers


38


of the lock body


15


will be set therein; the lower tumblers


39


in the lock body


15


can provide a catch function between the movable member


27


and the fixed member


28


; further, the upper tumblers


38


can also provide a catch function between the movable member


27


and the catch grooves


26


in the cylindrical hole


53


of the body casing


12


so as to prevent the lock from demolition by a picklock.




The lock body


15


mounted in the front end of the body casing


12


is substantially a conventional cylinder-shaped member, while the lock body


16


in the rear end of the body casing is a laminated lock cylinder; the two lock bodies


15


and


16


are mounted on one center line; the key


13


for unlocking the lock


11


is a key designed to fit the two lock bodies


15


and


16


. The center of the movable member


27


of the lock body


15


has a through key hole


33


to facilitate a flat key


23


to plug in. Since the key


13


must be able to unlock the two lock bodies


15


and


16


simultaneously, it includes a cylindrical key


21


and a flat key


23


. The center of the cylindrical key


21


is furnished with a plug groove (not shown) for receiving the flat key


23


. The outer surface of the key


13


has a round hole


18


for receiving a pin


19


upon the flat key


23


being plugged into the center of the cylindrical key


21


so as to assemble the two keys together; then, the center of the flat key


23


and the cylindrical key


21


are aligned on one center line; one end of the cylindrical key


21


is furnished with key grooves


22


for unlocking the lock body


15


, and the key grooves


22


have different heights from one another so as to provide the lock body


15


with a wide variety in terms of code. The flat key


23


in the center of the cylindrical key


21


is furnished with symmetrical key grooves


24


on both sides thereof, and the key grooves


24


are designed to mate with the curved grooves


48


of the lock laminae


45


respectively. When a key


13


is plugged into the two lock bodies


15


and


16


, the flat key


23


will first pass through the key hole


33


of the lock body


15


and the key hole


49


of the lock body


16


; then, every key groove


24


of the flat key


23


will opposite every piece of the lock lamina


45


respectively, while every key groove


22


of the cylindrical key


21


will mate with every upper tumbler


38


of the lock body


15


; then, the key grooves


22


will push the upper tumblers


38


to move inwards until all the upper and lower tumblers


38


and


39


moving to a common contact surface between the movable member


27


and the fixed member


28


; in that case, the cylindrical key


21


will drive the movable member


27


to turn; almost simultaneously, every lock lamina


45


of the lock body


16


will mate with every key groove


24


of the flat key


23


; before turning, the lock body


15


must be unlocked first so as to enable the key to turn. After every lamina


45


of the lock body


16


is set in correct code, the flat key


23


will drive the curved groove


48


of every lock lamina


45


to the corresponding groove of the lock cylinder


44


so as to have the bolt


47


moved out of the catch position; then, the key


13


can drive the core bar


50


to turn; in case of one of the lock laminae


45


not being set in the correct code position, the bolt


47


can not be moved to the unlocked position, and the core bar


50


can not be turned.




The lock body


15


in the front end of the cylindrical hole


53


of the body casing


12


is substantially a conventional lock cylinder, which includes a movable member


27


, a fixed member


28


and a plurality of upper tumblers


38


and lower tumblers


39


, and springs


40


; the center of the fixed member


28


has a cylindrical hole


35


for receiving the round stem


31


of the movable member


27


; one end of the round stem


31


is mounted in the fixed member


28


; the round stem


31


has a short round stem


58


which includes two symmetrical plane surfaces


32


to be mounted with a connection plate


17


so as to have the lock body


15


and the lock body


16


connected together.




Between the movable member


27


and the fixed member


28


of the lock body


15


, there is a common contact surface, which is furnished with a plurality of opposite tumbler holes


34


and


36


for receiving springs


40


, the upper tumblers


38


and lower tumblers


39


respectively. When the lock body


15


is in locked condition, the lower tumblers


39


and the upper tumblers


38


extend out of the common contact surface as a result of the pushing force of the springs


40


; a plurality of the upper tumblers


38


extend with one end, into the catch grooves


26


respectively; the other ends of the upper tumblers


38


are mounted in the upper tumbler holes


34


of the movable member


27


respectively, while the lower tumblers


39


are stayed on a rotary contact surface between the movable member


27


and the fixed member


28


. The lock body


15


can be unlocked by means of the key grooves


22


on the front end of the cylindrical key


21


to push the upper and lower tumblers


38


and


39


to the rotary contact surface between the movable member


27


and the fixed member


28


simultaneously; then, the cylindrical key


21


can be turned to unlock the lock.




As shown in

FIGS. 2

,


3


,


5


, and


8


to


10


, the lock body


16


mounted on the rear end of the cylindrical hole


53


of the body casing


12


is a laminated lock cylinder, which includes a lock cylinder


44


, a plurality of lock laminae


45


and a bolt


47


; the center of the lock cylinder


44


is furnished with a cylindrical chamber for receiving a plurality of lock laminae


45


. The vertical center of the lock cylinder


44


has a groove


46


, while one end of the lock cylinder


44


is furnished with a core bar


50


. The center of the lock laminae


45


is furnished with a through key hole


49


. The outer edge of every lock lamina


45


is furnished with a curved groove


48


which is different from that of the other curved grooves


48


. The lock body


16


is mounted in the cylindrical hole


53


of the body casing


12


; the cylindrical hole


53


has a semi-circular bolt groove


60


opposite to the groove


46


of the lock cylinder


44


. The bolt groove


60


is used for mounting a part of the bolt


47


therein upon the lock body


16


being mounted in place, while the other part thereof is mounted in the groove


46


of the lock cylinder


44


; the bolt


47


is to be mounted between the body casing


12


and the lock cylinder


44


for controlling the unlocking function of the lock cylinder


44


. After the flat key


23


is plugged into the key hole


49


of the lock body


16


, every key groove


24


of the flat key


23


will mate with every corresponding lock lamina


45


so as to drive every lock lamina


45


to turn, i.e., to have the curved groove


48


of every lock lamina


45


moved to a position opposite to the groove


46


of the lock cylinder


44


, and to provide the bolt


47


with more space to move; then, the flat key


23


continues to turn so as to have the curved groove


48


of every lock lamina


45


moved into the groove


46


of the lock cylinder


44


upon the bolt


47


moving; then, the bolt


47


will be moved into the groove


46


of the lock cylinder


46


, and into the curved grooves


48


of the lock laminae


45


aligned; in that case, the flat key


23


can be turned further so as to drive the whole lock body


16


to turn for unlocking.




The cylindrical hole


53


of the body casing


12


of the lock


11


is to be mounted with two different lock bodies


15


and


16


. The lock body


16


mounted in the rear end of the cylindrical hole


53


has a passage for receiving the flat key


23


in the center of the lock body


15


; the passage is furnished in the key hole


33


of the movable member


27


to enable the flat key


23


of the key


13


to go through the key hole


33


so as to unlock the lock.




The two lock bodies


15


and


16


in the cylindrical hole


53


are connected together so as to enable the key to unlock two different lock bodies simultaneously, and to drive the core bar


50


to turn. The inner end of the movable member


27


of the lock body


15


has a round stem


31


with a short round stem


58


, which has two symmetrical plane surfaces


32


to be mounted with a connection plate


17


on the outer end of the fixed member


28


, and the connection plate has a mounting hole


43


. The end surface of the connection plate


17


is slightly higher than or equal to that of the short round stem


58


of the movable member


27


. After the lock body


16


is mounted in place, the outer surface of the mounting hole


43


is in close contact with the end of the lock cylinder


44


of the lock body


16


, and with the lock lamina


45


. After the retaining ring


57


of the lock body


16


is mounted in a retaining ring groove of the cylindrical hole


53


of the body casing


12


, the lock body


15


, the connection plate


17


and the lock body


16


will be mounted firmly in the cylindrical hole


53


of the body casing


12


.




The connection plate


17


is mounted on the short round stem


58


of the movable member


27


of the lock body


15


; as shown in FIGS.


2


,


3


,


6


and


7


, the outer surface of the connection plate


17


has an unlock groove


41


and a curved portion


42


, and is in contact with the ring surface


59


of the cylindrical hole


53


. The cylindrical hole


53


is furnished with a bolt groove


60


opposite to the unlock groove


41


of the connection plate


17


, and the bolt


47


is to be mounted therein; the depth of the curved portion


42


is equal to the height of the projected part of the bolt


47


out of the bolt groove


60


. The width of the curved portion


42


is designed to fit the maximum moving extent of the lock laminae


45


in the lock body


16


upon unlocking operation. The width of the unlock groove


41


beside the curved portion


42


is designed to mate with the width of the groove


46


of the lock cylinder


44


, and the depth thereof is equivalent to the depth of curved grooves


48


of the lock laminae


45


so that the bolt


47


can be received between the lock body


16


and the connection plate


17


. Before the lock


11


being unlocked, the bolt


47


is set in the bolt groove


60


of the cylindrical hole


53


of the body casing


12


, in the groove


46


of the lock cylinder


44


of the lock body


16


, and in the curved portion


42


of the connection plate


17


so as to prevent the lock cylinder


44


of the lock body


16


from turning, and to prevent the core bar


50


from moving.




When the key


13


is unlocking the locking bodies


15


and


16


, the key grooves


22


of the cylindrical key


21


will push the upper tumblers


38


towards a rotary contact surface (as shown in

FIG. 5

) between the movable member


27


and the fixed member


28


, and simultaneously the catch grooves


24


of the flat key


23


will go through the key hole


33


of the lock body


15


to the key hole


49


of the lock body


16


; the key


13


first drives the lock body


15


to turn; the connection plate


17


on the short round stem


58


of the movable member


27


will also turn; the bolt


47


in the bolt groove


60


of the cylindrical hole


53


would not hinder the connection plate


17


to turn, and to contact with the curved portion


42


and to move (as shown in FIG.


6


); then, the curved groove


48


of every lock lamina


45


in the lock cylinder


44


of the lock body


16


will be turned, as a result of the key groove


24


thereof, to a position opposite to the groove


46


of the lock cylinder


44


so as to provide the bolt


47


with a space to move out of the bolt groove


60


. When the key


13


is turned continuously, the bolt


47


will be moved from a space between the groove


46


and the bolt groove


60


of the body casing


12


into another space between the groove


46


of the lock cylinder


44


and the curved grooves


48


of the lock laminae


45


; then, the key


13


can drive the core bar


50


of the lock body


16


to turn.




The connection plate


17


is mounted between the two lock bodies


15


and


16


; when the flat key


23


is plugged through the key holes


49


of all the lock laminae


45


, the key grooves


24


of the flat key


23


will be set in their correct code positions respectively; in case of one code being incorrect, the curved groove


48


of the incorrect lock lamina


45


will not turn to the opposite position of the groove


46


of the lock cylinder


44


upon the flat key


23


moving to the last point; in that case, the bolt


47


will remain in its original position to cause the core bar


50


not to turn for unlocking the lock.




When the flat key


23


and the cylindrical key


21


are used to unlock the two lock bodies


15


and


16


, the cylindrical key


21


will first turn and drive the connection plate


17


on the tail end of the movable member


27


to turn; then, every lock lamina


45


of the lock body


16


will move to its code position; as soon as the curved groove


48


of every lock lamina


45


turn to a position opposite to the groove


46


of the lock cylinder


44


, the bolt


47


will move along the curved portion


42


of the connection plate


17


to the unlock groove


41


; then, the bolt


47


is set across the groove


46


of the lock cylinder


44


and the connection plate


17


; in that case, the space between the curved groove


48


of every lock lamina


45


and the unlock groove


41


of the connection plate


17


will be increased by means of the space between the groove


46


of the lock cylinder


44


and the curved portion


42


of the connection plate


17


, and then the bolt


47


will have more space to move out of the catch position so as to enable the key


13


to turn further for driving the core bar


50


to turn and to unlock the lock.




In the cylindrical hole


53


of the body casing


12


, two different lock bodies


15


and


16


are loaded; the two different lock bodies


15


and


16


have different


15


unlocking methods by using a cylindrical key


21


and a flat key


23


simultaneously, i.e., the two lock bodies


15


and


16


can be unlocked at the same time by aligning the code position and turning.




In order to prevent the lock from being unlocked with a single flat key to plug into the key hole


33


to turn with force to demolish the lock, a connection plate


17


mounted between the two lock bodies


15


and


16


and a bolt


47


mounted in a long space (i.e., the bolt groove


60


) are furnished; in that case, a single flat key may be set in the correct code position, but the bolt


47


is still controlled with the lock body


15


and the connection plate


17


, i.e., the bolt


47


is caught on the rotary contact surface without moving, and therefore the core bar


50


in the lock cylinder


44


is still in locked condition.




The lock body


15


on the front end of the body casing


12


might be demolished intentionally so as to remove the resistance of the connection plate


17


; in order to prevent the aforesaid possible case, the bottom of the cylindrical hole


53


is furnished with symmetrical catch grooves


26


so as to have the upper tumblers


38


pushed against the catch grooves


26


respectively with springs


40


upon the lock body


15


under locked condition; in case of the upper tumblers


38


being demolished, the upper tumblers must be pushed first; otherwise, the upper tumblers


38


would stay between the movable member


27


and the catch grooves


26


; it would be very difficult to have the movable member


27


turned or demolished with force; moreover, a flat key


23


is necessary to plug through the key hole


33


of lock body


15


and into the lock body


16


before demolishing the lock body


16


, but it would be a very difficult job.




The present invention comprises two different lock bodies


15


and


16


, which are mounted together with a connection plate


17


; a plurality of catch grooves


26


are furnished between the lock body


15


and the body casing


12


so as to increase the safety of the two layer type of lock; to unlock the lock


11


, a correct and fit key


13


must be used for driving the core bar


50


to turn.




According to the description of the aforesaid embodiment, the features and structure of the present invention have been disclosed completely, and it is apparent that the present invention has made an obvious improvement for the kind; it is never anticipated and accomplished by any person in the field; therefore, the structure thereof is deemed unique.



Claims
  • 1. A lock with two locking mechanisms comprising:a body casing which includes a space for mounting two lock bodies, said body casing having a cylindrical hole and an end of said body casing having a round hole communicating with the cylindrical hole; an upper lock body mounted in the cylindrical hole of said body casing; a lower body mounted on an inner end of said cylindrical hole of said body casing, an outer end of said lower lock body including a core bar extending from the body casing; a connection plate mounted between the upper and lower lock bodies, and including an unlock groove and a curved portion on an outer edge thereof, one end of a bolt of said lower lock body mounted across a surface of said curved portion; and a key including a cylindrical key and a flat key, and said flat key passing through a key hole of said upper lock body and a key hole of said lower lock body.
  • 2. The lock with two lock mechanisms as claimed in claim 1, wherein said upper lock body is substantially a cylinder-shaped core.
  • 3. The lock with two lock mechanisms as claimed in claim 1, wherein said lower lock body is a laminated lock cylinder with a plurality of lock lamina.
  • 4. The lock with two lock mechanisms as claimed in claim 2, wherein said cylinder-shaped lock body has a movable member with a key hole for receiving a flat key.
  • 5. The lock with two lock mechanisms as claimed in claim 1, further comprising a round stem with a short round stem on a rear end thereof; said short round stem having two symmetrical plane surfaces mounted with a mounting hole of said connection plate.
  • 6. The lock with two lock mechanisms as claimed in claim 3, wherein a depth of said curved portion of said connection plate is equal to height of a portion of said bolt projected above a bolt groove, and a width of said curved portion being designed in accordance with a maximum moving distance of said lock lamina of said lower lock body.
  • 7. The lock with two lock mechanisms as claimed in claim 3, wherein said connection plate has an unlock groove, and a width of said unlock groove is equal to that of a groove of said laminated lock cylinder, a depth thereof being equal to that of curved grooves of said lock lamina.
  • 8. The lock with two lock mechanisms as claimed in claim 3, wherein said laminated lock cylinder is mounted in said cylindrical hole of said body casing, and said cylindrical hole has a bolt groove for receiving a bolt; said bolt groove mounted along surface of said connection plate, and said bolt mounted across said curved portion of said connection plate.
  • 9. The lock with two lock mechanisms as claimed in claim 2, wherein one end of said cylindrical hole of said body casing has symmetrical catch grooves, a width of each of said catch grooves fitting with at least one tumbler of said upper lock body of a cylinder-shaped lock so as to provide the body casing with a catch function.
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Number Date Country
708993 Aug 1941 DE