Patent Application
20050262903
The invention relates to a padlock with a status indicator adopted for use on padlocks, locking devices or structural objects and particularly to a lock that combines two locking units that function independently to execute locking and unlocking operations.
Locks are widely used to guard articles that have obvious or potential security concerns. For instance, a padlock may be used to lock the zipper of a piece of luggage to prevent unauthorized opening.
Due to security reasons, nowadays airports have very strict standards for luggage security inspection. With luggage that may be a security risk, mandatory opening of the luggage for security inspection could take place. For the luggage that has been locked, the lock has to be broken. After security inspection, the lock is damaged and becomes unusable. As a result, the damaged lock can no longer provide protection after the security inspection has been completed.
To remedy the problem of lock damage during security inspection, a lock equipped with two locking units has been developed. For instance, Travel Sentry™ Co. of U.S.A. introduced a number of locks for this purpose. They mainly have one locking unit to allow luggage owners to lock and unlock during use, and another locking unit for security inspection. Hence the security inspection people can perform routine security inspection through a normal unlocking procedure to open the lock, and close the lock after the security inspection is finished. Therefore damage of the lock may be prevented, and the luggage has proper protection after security inspection.
However, the lock mentioned above still has a drawback, namely that after the security inspection was done and the lock is relocked again, there is no indication to warn the luggage owners that the lock has been unlocked.
In view of the problem, the primary object of the invention is to provide a lock that combines two locking units that function independently so that the luggage owners can recognize if either of the locking unit has been unlocked locking unit has been unlocked.
In order to achieve the foregoing object, the invention provides a padlock with a status indicator that has a window on the surface of its body and an indicator in the lock underneath and corresponding to the window position. The indicator is switched to different indication positions corresponding to the window once different locking units have been unlocked so that luggage owners can see the indication position through the window and recognize the locking unit that has been unlocked.
The foregoing, as well as additional objects, features and advantages of the invention will be more readily apparent from the following detailed description, which proceeds with reference to the accompanying drawings.
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Hence when the indicator 11 is moved to different indication positions, the recognition marks 111 and 112 formed thereon also are moved to the corresponding window 100 to be recognized. The recognition marks 111 and 112 may be, but are not limit to, graphics, characters, color patches and combinations thereof, and may be formed on the indicator 11 by, but not limit to, printing, carving, painting, sticking paper, and the like.
In practice, the shackle 14 consists of two latch arms 141 and 142. One latch arm 141 is lockable by the first locking unit 12, while the other latch arm 142 is lockable by the second locking unit 13. By means of such a construction, when the first locking unit 12 is actuated and changed from a locking condition to an unlocking condition, the latch arm 141 is moved by linking or indirectly driving a pushbutton 16 to form a gap in the closed space 15 formed with the body 10. Consequently, the indicator 11 is moved to the first indication position. When the pushbutton 16 and the latch arm 141 are moved back to the position before the force is applied, the indicator 11 is not moved back.
In such a condition, only when the second locking unit 13 is moved from the original locking position to the unlocking position can the latch arm 142 be moved to generate the gap in the closed space 15. The second locking unit 13 has an actuation strut 131 that moves the indicator 11 to the second indication position at the same time while being switched to the unlocking position. As the second locking unit 13 can move the indicator 11 in only the same direction as the first locking unit 12, when it returns to the locking position the indicator 11 remains in the second indication position.
Therefore, through the unlocking operations of the two different locking units 12 and 13, the indicator 11 is also switched to different indication positions that can be seen through the corresponding window 100. Hence the luggage owner can tell which of the locking units 12 and 13 has been unlocked.
In this embodiment, the other latch arm 142 may be coupled with the second locking unit 13 and moved therein synchronously. In addition, the switching movement of the indicator 11 is not limited to sliding as shown in the drawings. For instance, the indicator 11 may also be switched by swiveling, which may be seen as another embodiment of the invention.
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Compared with the shackle 14 consisting of the two movable latch arms 141 and 142 set forth above, the shackle 14 with only one latch arm 142 may be adopted. It is generally called a one-piece shackle.
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The shackle 14b consists of a first latch arm 141b and a second latch arm 142b. In practice, the first latch arm 141b and the second latch arm 142b may be coupled respectively with the first pushed button 161b and second pushbutton 162b, and are lockable by the first locking unit 12b and the second locking unit 13b at the same time.
By means of the constructions set forth above, the indicator, which is in the lock underneath and corresponding to the window location, is switched to different indication positions when different locking units have finished locking and unlocking operations. Hence luggage owners can recognize through the window on the lock which locking unit has been unlocked.
While the preferred embodiments of the invention have been set forth for the purpose of disclosure, modifications of the disclosed embodiments of the invention as well as other embodiments thereof may occur to those skilled in the art. Accordingly, the appended claims are intended to cover all embodiments which do not depart from the spirit and scope of the invention.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 093115071 | May 2004 | TW | national |
