Patent Application
20160281388
The present invention relates to padlocks, in particular a padlock with a dual locking mechanism.
Numerous padlock constructions have been developed and are widely employed to prevent unauthorized persons from gaining access to any particular item or area which has been closed and locked. Although many locks are constructed to be opened by a key, numerous combination lock constructions have been developed which are opened by knowledge of a particular combination.
One particular type of combination lock that has become very popular due to its ease and convenience of use is a combination lock which employs a plurality of rotatable independent dials, each of which forms one of the indicia, usually numerals or letters, which comprise the combination for releasing the lock. Typically, the combination lock has one mode or position in which the user is able to set or reset the desired combination sequence.
In airplane travel, new regulations and requirements allow customs officers or transit security personnel to physically break any padlock in order to gain access to luggage which is deemed suspicious. Under these new security regulations, all luggage must be scanned or inspected to prevent the transportation of potentially dangerous items or products which are deemed to be undesirable. Currently a padlock may have two separate and independent locking systems, with both locking systems independently enabling a single shackle to be released and/or lockingly engaged. In this way, by employing either a key activation zone or a combination activation zone, the padlock can be opened. The key activation zone allows security personnel to open the padlock with a master key and then re-lock the padlock in place after the inspection has been completed.
The present invention provides a dial padlock with dual locking mechanism. The padlock can be opened by a combination code or by a key-overriding mechanism.
One aspect of the present invention is a padlock operable in a locked mode and in an opened mode, comprising:
a shackle having a heel and a toe;
a lock housing configured to store the heel of the shackle, the lock housing comprising a top portion, a middle portion and a bottom portion, wherein the heel of the shackle can be partially released from the lock housing from a first shackle position to a second shackle position;
a spindle disposed inside the lock housing and arranged to provide a code locking mechanism, the code locking mechanism configured to operate the padlock in the locked mode or in the opened mode based on a combination code;
a plurality of clutches rotatably mounted on the cylindrical surface of the spindle;
a plurality of dials mounted in the middle portion of the lock housing in relationship to the clutches to form the combination code; and
an overriding mechanism disposed in relationship to the spindle, the overriding mechanism activatable to cause the padlock to operate in the opened mode, wherein the shackle is in the first shackle position when the padlock is operated in the locked mode, and the shackle is in the second shackle position when the padlock is operated in the opened mode, wherein each of the clutches comprises an extended outer ring having thereon a plurality of clutch slots, and each of the dials comprises an extended inner ring having thereon a plurality of teeth arranged to engage with said plurality of clutch slots of a clutch so as to control rotational movement of said clutch relative to the spindle.
According to an embodiment of the present invention, the heel of the shackle comprises a neck area, and said padlock further comprises a latch having a fork arranged to engage the neck area of the heel so as to prevent the shackle from moving away from the first shackle position when the padlock is operated in the locked mode.
According to an embodiment of the present invention, the spindle comprises a spindle channel for storing the heel, the spindle channel having a channel portion for storing part of the neck area of the heel, and the latch is disposed in relationship to the channel portion, and the spindle further comprises a cam arranged to engage the latch so as to keep the fork in an engaging relationship with the neck area of the heel.
According to an embodiment of the present invention, the overriding mechanism can be activated by a key, causing the cam to disengage the fork of the latch from the neck area of the heel, allowing the shackle to move from the first shackle position to the second shackle position.
According to an embodiment of the present invention, the bottom portion of the lock housing comprises a bottom body, and the spindle is movably mounted on the bottom body such that the spindle can be caused to move upward toward the top portion of the lock housing in a vertical movement from a first spindle position to a second spindle position, and each of the clutches has an inner surface and an extended inner ring extended from the inner surface, the extended inner ring having a ring thickness and an opening gap made on the extended inner ring through the ring thickness, and the spindle comprises a plurality of extended protrusions, each extended protrusion associated with a clutch such that the extended inner ring of the clutch prevents the spindle from moving upward when the extended protrusion is misaligned with the opening gap of the associated clutch.
According to an embodiment of the present invention, when the padlock is operated in the locked mode, the dials can be rotated relative to the spindle to change the combination code and the clutches are caused to rotate along with the dials, such that when the combination code matches a predetermined code, the opening gap of each of the clutches aligns with an associated extended protrusion of the spindle, allowing the spindle to move from the first spindle position to the second spindle position when the shackle is pulled upward from the first shackle position to the second shackle position, causing the padlock to operate in the opened mode.
According to an embodiment of the present invention, the plurality of dials form a dial stack comprising a first dial and a last dial, the last dial positioned in contact to the bottom body of the lock housing, and the top portion of the lock housing comprises a top body mounted on the first dial and a spacer fixedly mounted on the top body between the top body and the spindle, the spacer having a shackle hole dimensioned to receive the heel of the shackle, the top body comprising a locking hole and a top body hole, the locking hole dimensioned to receive the toe of the shackle, the top body hole in communication with the shackle hole of the spacer and the spindle channel of the spindle for placement of the heel of the shackle.
According to an embodiment of the present invention, the shackle hole of the spacer has an inner surface and an extended ring extended therefrom, the extended ring having a shackle-protrusion slot made thereon and a ring surface facing the top body, wherein the spacer has a cutout zone dimensioned to receive the spindle, allowing the spindle to move between the first spindle position and the second spindle position, and the heel of the shackle has a shackle protrusion positioned in relationship to the shackle-protrusion slot such that when the shackle is in the first shackle position, the shackle protrusion is located between the extended ring and the spindle, and when the shackle is pulled upward from the first shackle position to the second shackle position, the shackle protrusion moves through the shackle-protrusion slot so that when the spindle is in the second spindle position, the shack protrusion is located in the shackle hole between the extended ring and the top body.
According to an embodiment of the present invention, when the padlock is operated in the opened mode, the shackle can be rotated so as to move the toe of the shackle away from the locking hole of the top body and to move the shackle protrusion away from the shackle-protrusion slot, and when the shackle protrusion is moved away from the shackle-protrusion slot, the extended ring of the spacer prevents the shackle from moving downward.
According to an embodiment of the present invention, when the spindle is in the second spindle position, each of the extended protrusion of the spindle is engaged with the opening gap of one of the clutches, preventing the clutches from rotating relative to the spindle.
According to an embodiment of the present invention, when the spindle is in the second spindle position, the dials can be rotated relative to the clutches to change the combination code.
According to an embodiment of the present invention, each of the dials has an outer ring arranged for placing a plurality of symbols to form the combination code, the outer ring dimensioned to receive a clutch, and each of the dials is associated with one of the clutches to form a dial-clutch assembly, each dial-clutch assembly comprising a separation ring positioned within the outer ring of the dial, and a helical spring positioned within the outer ring between the separation spring and extended outer ring of the clutch, such that when the dial in a dial-clutch assembly is rotated relative to the clutch, the teeth of the dial are configured to push the clutch toward separating ring and to compress the helical spring so as to allow the teeth to disengage from the clutch slots.
According to an embodiment of the present invention, each of the teeth has a slope-like surface on both sides of the tooth and each of the clutch slots also has a slope-like surface on both side of the clutch so as to facilitate rotation of the dial relative to the clutch in a dial-clutch assembly.
According to present invention, the spindle further comprises a ratchet slot spaced from the extended protrusions of the spindle, the ratchet slot dimensioned to receive a ratchet plate having a plurality of tips, and the inner surface of each of the clutches has a plurality of ratchet-receiving slots arranged to engage with one of the tips of ratchet plate so as to produce a clicking sound when the clutch is rotated relative to the spindle.
According to the present invention, the extended inner ring of each of the clutches further comprises a plurality of faulty notches made through a part of the ring thickness, the faulty notches spaced from the opening gap, such that when the extended protrusion of spindle is misaligned with the opening gap of the associated clutch, the extended protrusion of the spindle is in contact to one the faulty notches on the associated clutch.
According to an embodiment of the present invention, the bottom body comprises a plurality of screw holes, the spindle has a cylindrical surface and a plurality of screw passing slots on the cylindrical surface, and the spacer further comprises a plurality of screw receiving holes, and the lock housing further comprises screws arranged to fasten the spacer to the screw holes on the bottom body via the screw receiving holes of the spacer through the screw passing slots of the spindle.
As seen in
In the combination-open mode and in the locked mode, the fork 82 of latch 80 always engages the lower surface 76 of the neck area 73 of shackle 70. The latch 80 is placed inside a latch channel 62 of spindle 60. As such, the shackle 70 and the spindle 60 are pulled up and pushed down together.
In the key-open mode, the lower surface 76 of the neck area 73 of shackle 70 and the stop wall 69 in the lower channel portion 6003 limit the upward movement of shackle 70.
An advantage of the padlock, according to the present invention, is the reset mechanism. Once the user has opened the padlock by a combination code, the user can turn the dials 40 to set a new combination with or without rotating the shackle 70. As seen below, when the padlock 10 is in the locked mode, the clutches 50 are disengaged from the spindle 60 and, therefore, move easily along with the dials 40 in a rotation movement relative to spindle 60. However, when the padlock 10 is in the reset mode, the clutches 50 are engaged with the spindle 60 and the clutches 50 are prevented from rotating when the dials 40 are turned. Thus, the user must use a stronger force to turn the dials in the reset mode than the force to turn the dials in the locked mode.
Another feature of this lock is the anti-peek function. As shown in
Finally, another advantage of this padlock is to allow a traveler to use the combination mechanism during a trip and allow the TSA officer to inspect the luggage by using the key operating mechanism.
As seen in
In each of the dial-clutch assembly 200, the teeth 41 of the dial 40 are arranged to engage with the wave-slots 53 of the clutch 50. A separation ring 190 is placed below the clutch 50 within the inner surface of the outer ring 47 of dial 40, near the bottom surface 45. A helical clutch spring 180 is placed in the space between the lower surface 59 of clutch 50 and the separation ring 190. As seen in
The spindle 60 is made up to two parts: one part is depicted in
The spindle 60 is placed inside the lock housing. In particular, the upper part of the spindle 60 resides inside the stack of dials 40 and clutches 50 and the lower part resides in the bottom portion of the lock housing. The bottom end 64 of the spindle 60 has a curved slot 65 on each half of the spindle. The bottom body 130 of the bottom portion has two curved members 131 to be placed in the curved slots 65. The bottom body 130 also has a protrusion-receiving slot 135 to receive the lower part of the bottom extended protrusion 61. Because of the restriction of the protrusion-receiving slot 135 of bottom body 130 on the bottom extended protrusion 61 of spindle 60 and the restriction of the curved slots 65 of spindle 60 on the curved members 131 of bottom body 130, the spindle 60 can only have vertical movement but no rotational movement relative to the lock housing.
The spindle 60 has two screw passing slots 66. After the spindle 60 is placed inside the stack of dials 40 and clutches 50 and on the bottom body 130, a spacer 110 is placed on top of the stack of dials 40. The spacer 110 has two (can be one or more than two) holes 111 to allow screws 140 to thread onto the threaded holes 134 of the bottom body 130 after passing through the screw passing slots 66 of spindle 60. The screw passing slots 66 allow the screws 140 to be fastened to the bottom body 130 without interfering the vertical movement of spindle 60 relative to the lock housing—i.e., relative to the stack of dials 40 and clutches 50. The spacer 110 also has a shackle hole 118 dimensioned to receive the long leg 71 of shackle 70.
When the lock is in the locked mode and a user aligns the dials 40 to the indicating line 154/133 (
So long as at least one of the clutches 50 is not aligned with an extended protrusion 61 of spindle 60, the spindle 60 cannot be moved upward. Furthermore, because the fork 82 of latch 80 is engaged with the lower surface 76 of the neck area 73 of long leg 7, the shackle 70 cannot be pulled upward. As seen in
Each of the clutches 50 has one or more faulty notches 55 made on the extended inner ring 58. When the extended protrusion 61 of spindle 60 is not aligned with the opening gap 51 of an associated clutch 50, the extended protrusion 61 of spindle 60 is in contact to one of the faulty notches 55 of the associated clutch 50. The faulty notches 55 make the lock harder to pick. Furthermore, the bottom body 130 has an extended ring 136 extended from the contact surface 132, and the extended inner ring 43 of the last dial 40 is placed in the exterior of extended ring 136, rendering it difficult to peek into the internal mechanism of padlock 10.
To unlock the padlock 10 by the combination code, the user must align the dials 40 to the indicating line 154/133 of top body 150 and bottom body 130. When the dials 40 are turned, the clutches 50 are also turned as the teeth 41 of dials 40 are engaged with the wave-slots 53 of clutches 50. When all the dials 40 align to the lock open code, the opening gaps 51 of all the clutches 50 align with the extended protrusions 61 of spindle 60. The user can pull the shackle 70 upward along with the spindle 60 until the top 68 of spindle 80 hits the edge 114 of the cutout zone 113 of spacer 110. The upward movement of the spindle 60 causes each of the extended protrusions 61 to be engaged with the opening gap 51 of the associated clutch 50. The engagement prevents the clutches 50 from rotating relative to the spindle 60. The short leg 74 of shackle 70 is now released from locking hole 151 of top body 150, and the protrusion 75 of shackle 70 also moves out of the shackle-protrusion slot 115 of spacer 110 and into the shackle hole 118 between the top body 150 and the ring surface 116 of a ring 119. The shackle-protrusion slot 115 is made on the ring 119, which is extended from the inner surface of the shackle hole 118. As the short leg 74 of shackle 70 is released, the shackle 70 can rotate freely while the protrusion 75 of shackle 70 contacts the ring surface 116 of spacer 110. The ring surface 116 prevents the shackle 70 from being pushed downward so long as the short leg 74 of shackle 70 is not aligned with the locking hole 151 of top body 150. In the unlocked or open mode of padlock 10, the extended protrusions 61 of spindle 60 are always engaged with the opening gaps 51 of clutches 50. When the clutches 50 are stationary with the spindle 60, the user may reset the combination code. While the spindle 60 is in the upward position, the lower portion of the extended protrusion 61 is still engaged with the protrusion receiving slot 135 of bottom body 130, and the curved members 131 of bottom body 130 are still engaged with the curved slots 65 of spindle 60. This engagement prevents any rotational movement of the spindle 60 relative to the lock housing.
When the lock is in the opened mode, the extended protrusions 61 of spindle 60 are engaged with the opening gaps 51 of clutches 50, preventing the clutches 50 from rotating relative to the spindle 60 and the lock housing. The user can rotate the dials 40 to reset the combination code. The dials 40 can only be rotated without the clutches 50, requiring the teeth 41 of each dial 41 to be moved out of the engaged wave-slots 53 of an associated clutch 50 until different wave-slots are engaged. This is possible only by pushing the associated clutch 50 downward against the urging force of a clutch spring 180 while a dial 40 is rotated. The downward movement of the clutch 50 compresses the clutch spring 180 as shown in
In a padlock 10 where 10 digits on each dial 40 are used to set a combination code, there are ten teeth 41 on each dial 40 and ten wave-slots 53 on each clutch 50. Typically the user rotates each of the dials 40 one digit at a time until the desired combination aligns with the indicating line 154/133 of top body 150 and bottom body 130. To give the user a better grip on the dials 40, each dial 40 also has ten ribs 42 separating the ten digits. As seen in
After resetting, the user rotates the shackle 70 so that its short leg 74 aligns with the locking hole 151 of top body 150 so that the protrusion 75 of shackle 70 also aligns with the shackle-protrusion slot 115 of space 110. The shackle 70 can be pushed down to engage the short leg 74 of shackle 70 with the locking hole 151 of top body 150. As the extended protrusions 61 of spindle 60 become disengaged with the opening gaps 51 of the clutches 50, the user can rotate the dials 40 along with the clutches 50 to place the lock in the locked mode.
The key operating mechanism is controlled by a wafer tumbler cylinder 160, the cam 170 and the latch 80. The cylinder 160 has two extended protrusions 161. The cam 170 has two holes 172 to receive the extended protrusions 161 of cylinder 160. The cam 170 also has an extended pin 171 arranged to engage the slot 81 of latch 80 which is placed inside the latch channel 62 of spindle 60. As a correct key 300 is inserted into the cylinder 160, the turn of the key 300 causes the cylinder 160 and the cam 170 to turn. As the cam 170 turns, the extended pin 171 of cam 170 drags the latch 80 sideward in a horizontal movement to move the fork 82 away from the lower channel portion 6003. The fork 82 of latch 80 is also disengaged from the lower surface 76 of the neck area 73 of shackle 70. As such, there is no blockage on the neck area 73 of shackle 70. However, the spindle 60 has no vertical movement because at least one of the opening gaps 51 of the clutches 50 is misaligned with the extended protrusions 61 of spindle 60.
The shackle 70 can be pulled upward without the spindle 60 until the lower surface 76 of the neck area 73 hits the stop wall 69 of the lower channel portion 6003 of spindle 60. The short leg 74 of shackle 70 is thus released from the locking hole 151 of top body 150. Since the clutches 50 are not engaged with the spindle 60, the clutches 50 can be caused to turn along with the dials 40 even when the padlock 10 is unlocked by the correct key 300.
The present invention provides a dual locking padlock wherein the lock body, the cylinder, the clutches, the dials and the spindle are concentric to a center line.
Although the present invention has been described with respect to one or more embodiments thereof, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that the foregoing and various other changes, omissions and deviations in the form and detail thereof may be made without departing from the scope of this invention.
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED PATENT APPLICATION This application claims priority under 35 USC §119 to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62/138,135, filed Mar. 25, 2015, whose entire contents are hereby incorporated by reference.
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 62138135 | Mar 2015 | US |
