Padlock with a quickly changeable shackle and padlock with a freely convertible deadlock mechanism

Abstract

The invention provides a padlock with a quickly changeable shackle, comprising a locking core, a locking member, blocking balls, a lock body on which two limb receiving chambers and a passage are disposed, and a shackle which takes U-shape defined by a longer and a shorter parallel limbs respectively received in the limb receiving chambers to lock the padlock. A ring groove with an abutment head is disposed at the free end of the longer limb, and a depressed portion with a screw hole is provided on the circumferential surface of the abutment head. A shackle changing screw is threaded into the screw hole and the end face of the screw in the threaded position is higher than the depressed portion and lower than the circumferential surface of the abutment head. The invention further provides a padlock having a freely-convertible deadlock mechanism.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1( a) is a schematic view of a conventional padlock with a changeable shackle;

FIG. 1( b) is a sectional view taken along line A-A of FIG. 1(a);

FIG. 2( a) is a schematic view of a conventional padlock having a convertible deadlock mechanism;

FIG. 2( b) is a sectional view taken along line A-A of FIG. 2(a);

FIG. 2( c) is a perspective view of a deadlock conversion block of the padlock shown in FIG. 2(a);

FIG. 3( a) is a vertical sectional view of a padlock with a quickly changeable shackle constructed consistent with a preferred embodiment of the invention showing the padlock is in locked status;

FIG. 3( b) is a sectional view taken along line A-A of FIG. 3(a);

FIG. 3( c) is a sectional view taken along line B-B of FIG. 3(a);

FIG. 4( a) is a perspective view showing the free end of the longer parallel limb 21 is received in the deeper limb receiving chamber;

FIG. 4( b) is a sectional view taken along line A-A of FIG. 4(a);

FIG. 5( a) is a vertical sectional view showing the padlock of FIG. 3(a) is in unlocked status;

FIG. 5( b) is a sectional view taken along line A-A of FIG. 5(a);

FIG. 5( c) is a sectional view taken along line B-B of FIG. 5(a);

FIG. 6( a) is a vertical sectional view of the padlock of FIG. 5(a) showing the shackle 2 is rotated by 180°;

FIG. 6( b) is a sectional view taken along line A-A of FIG. 6(a);

FIG. 6( c) is a sectional view taken along line B-B of FIG. 6(a);

FIG. 7( a) is a vertical sectional view of a padlock having a freely-convertible deadlock mechanism constructed consistent with a preferred embodiment of the invention showing the padlock is in locked status;

FIG. 7( b) is a sectional view taken along line A-A of FIG. 7(a);

FIG. 7( c) is a sectional view taken along line B-B of FIG. 7(a);

FIG. 8( a) is a partial perspective view showing the locking core 2 of the padlock of FIG. 7(a) is in a deadlock mode;

FIG. 8( b) is a partial perspective view showing the deadlock conversion block 8 of FIG. 8(a) is received in the first deadlock conversion block chamber 321;

FIG. 9 is a perspective view of the locking member 4 of the padlock shown in FIG. 7(a);

FIG. 10( a) is a vertical sectional view of the padlock of FIG. 7(a) showing the padlock is unlocked in a deadlock mode;

FIG. 10( b) is a sectional view taken along line A-A of FIG. 10(a);

FIG. 10( c) is a sectional view taken along line B-B of FIG. 10(a);

FIG. 11( a) is vertical sectional view of the padlock of FIG. 7(a) showing the padlock is unlocked in a non-deadlock mode;

FIG. 11( b) is a sectional view taken along line A-A of FIG. 11(a);

FIG. 12( a) is a vertical sectional view of the padlock of FIG. 11(a) when the key 9 is turned back; and

FIG. 12( b) is a sectional view taken along line A-A of FIG. 12(a).

Claims

1. A padlock with a quickly changeable shackle comprising: a lock body, within which a locking core, a locking member coupled to the locking core, and blocking balls are provided, and on which a deeper limb receiving chamber, a shallower limb receiving chamber and a passage in communication with the deeper limb receiving chamber are disposed; anda shackle, which takes U-shape defined by a longer parallel limb received in the deeper limb receiving chamber and a shorter parallel limb received in the shallower limb receiving chamber, wherein each of said two limbs is provided with a latching recess matched with the blocking ball, a ring groove with an abutment head is disposed at the free end of the longer limb, and wherein the longer limb is allowed to be turned and elevated in the deeper limb receiving chamber and the shorter limb is allowed to be elevated in and dropped out of the shallower limb receiving chamber when the padlock is in an unlocked status, and the latching recesses on the longer and shorter limbs are respectively engaged with the blocking balls when the padlock is in a locked status; characterized in thata depressed portion is provided on the circumferential surface of the abutment head of the longer limb, on which there is a screw hole perpendicular to the depressed portion; a shackle changing screw is threaded into the screw hole and the end face of the screw in the threaded position is higher than the depressed portion and lower than the circumferential surface of the abutment head; the shackle changing screw is formed to have a shape and dimensions that allow the screw to pass through the passage on the lock body; andthe screw hole is positioned such that the screw hole and the passage are in the same horizontal plane and reciprocally staggered when the padlock is in the unlocked status.

2. The padlock as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that the passage is arranged in a position on the lock body where the lock body is aligned with a longitudinal central axis of the deeper limb receiving chamber.

3. The padlock as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that the passage is staggered with respect to the screw hole at an angle of 180° when the padlock is in the unlocked status.

4. The padlock as claimed in claim 2, characterized in that the passage is staggered with respect to the screw hole at an angle of 180° when the padlock is in the unlocked status.

5. The padlock as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that the passage is staggered with respect to the screw hole at an angle of 90° when the padlock is in the unlocked status.

6. The padlock as claimed in claim 2, characterized in that the passage is staggered with respect to the screw hole at an angle of 90° when the padlock is in the unlocked status.

7. The padlock as claimed in claim 1, characterized in that the shackle changing screw has an internal hexagon screw hole at its head.

8. A padlock having a freely-convertible deadlock mechanism, comprising: a lock body, within which a locking core, a locking member coupled to the locking core, and blocking balls are provided, and on which a deeper limb receiving chamber and a shallower limb receiving chamber are disposed; anda shackle, which takes U-shape defined by a longer parallel limb received in the deeper limb receiving chamber and a shorter parallel limb received in the shallower limb receiving chamber, wherein each of said two limbs is provided with a latching recess matched with the blocking ball, and wherein the longer limb is allowed to be elevated in the deeper limb receiving chamber and the shorter limb is allowed to be elevated in and dropped out of the shallower limb receiving chamber when the padlock is in an unlocked status, and the latching recesses on the longer and shorter limbs are respectively engaged with the blocking balls when the padlock is in a locked status, characterized in thatthe locking core has two stoppers which correspond to the locking member and protrude from a coupling surface between the locking core and the locking member; the locking member includes a receiving portion which partly receives the blocking balls, and a coupling portion which is coupled to the stoppers and is located between the stoppers; andthe locking core further comprises a deadlock conversion block wherein a first deadlock conversion block receiving chamber is disposed on one of the stoppers to fully receive the deadlock conversion block, and a second deadlock conversion block receiving chamber is disposed on the coupling surface of the locking core to receive the deadlock conversion block in a manner that the deadlock conversion block protrudes beyond the coupling surface of the locking core; the second deadlock conversion block receiving chamber is arranged in a position where one end of the coupling portion of the locking member is located between one of the stoppers and the second deadlock conversion block receiving chamber when the locking core is coupled to the locking member.

9. The padlock as claimed in claim 8, characterized in that the deadlock conversion block takes shape of a cylinder, cuboid, or cube.