Patent Grant
10221591
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 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, the spindle comprising a cylindrical surface;
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 one or more extended fins, and each of the dials comprises an extended inner ring having thereon a plurality of ring gaps arranged to receive said one or more extended fins 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 wherein 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 wherein each of the clutches comprises an extended inner ring having a ring thickness and an opening gap made through the ring thickness, and the spindle comprises a plurality of extended protrusions extended from the cylindrical surface, each extended protrusion associated with a clutch such that the 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 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, 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 spindle channel for placement of the heel of the shackle, and wherein the top body hole has a first extended notch and a second extended notch, wherein the heel of the shackle comprises a shackle protrusion located inside the lock housing adjacent to the top body hole when the shackle is in the first shackle position such that when the shackle is caused to move upward to the second shackle position, the shackle protrusion is also caused to move outside of the lock housing through the first extended notch.
According to an embodiment of the present invention, the plurality of clutches form a clutch stack having a first clutch associated with the first dial and a last clutch associated with the last dial, and wherein the spindle comprises a spindle edge extended from the cylindrical surface of the spindle, the spindle edge positioned in relationship to the extended inner ring of the first clutch, so that when the shackle in the second shackle position is caused to rotate so as to align the shackle protrusion with the second extended notch of the top body hole, the heel of the shackle is allowed to move downward to cause the spindle to move downward in a downward movement, the downward movement of the spindle causing the clutches to disengage from the dials as the spindle edge of the spindle pushes the extended inner ring of the first clutch downward.
According to an embodiment of the present invention, the downward movement of the spindle also causes the extended protrusions of the spindle to engage the opening gaps of the clutches, preventing the clutches from rotation relative to the spindle, and as the clutches are disengaged from the dials, the dials can be independently and individually rotated for changing the pre-determined code in a reset process.
According to an embodiment of the present invention, the bottom portion of the lock housing comprises a spring arranged to provide an urging force to move the clutches upward after the shackle and the spindle are caused to move upward following the downward movement of the spindle.
According to an embodiment of the present invention, each of the clutches comprises a first side and an opposing second side, the first side comprising said one or more extended fins, the opposing second side having a surface having a plurality of surface indents, said padlock further comprising a plurality of ratchet-wave plates, each of the ratchet-wave plates arranged to associate with a clutch, each ratchet-wave plate comprising one or more plate edges arranged to contact different ones of the surface indents as said clutch is caused to rotate relative to the associated ratchet plate.
According to an embodiment of the present invention, the spindle further comprises an elongated slot made into part of the cylindrical surface of the spindle, and each of the ratchet-wave plates comprises a first plate ring having an inner diameter arranged to receive the cylindrical surface of the spindle, wherein each of the ratchet-wave plates further comprises a first plate slot arranged to receive one of the extended protrusions of the spindle, and a first plate tail extended from the first plate ring into the inner diameter, the first plate tail arranged to locate in the elongated slot of the spindle so as to prevent the ratchet-wave plate from rotating relative to the spindle.
According to an embodiment of the present invention, the padlock further comprises a plurality of reset-ratchet plates, each reset-ratchet plate positioned adjacent to a ratchet-wave plate, each reset-ratchet plate comprises a second plate ring having an inner diameter arranged to receive the cylindrical surface of the spindle, wherein each of the reset-ratchet plates further comprises a second plate slot arranged to receive one of the extended protrusions of the spindle, and a second plate tail extended from the second plate ring into the inner diameter of the second plate ring, the second plate tail arranged to locate in the elongated slot of the spindle so as to prevent the reset-ratchet plate from rotating relative to the spindle, and wherein each of the reset-ratchet plates comprises a plurality of fingers extended from an outer diameter of the second plate ring and each of the dials comprises an inner surface having a plurality of surface slots arranged to contact the finger of a reset-ratchet plate when said each of the dials is rotated relative to the spindle.
According to an embodiment of the present invention, the extended inner ring further comprises a plurality of faulty notches made through a part of the ring thickness.
According to an embodiment of the present invention, the bottom portion of the lock housing comprises a plurality of screw receiving holes, and the lock housing further comprises screws arranged to fasten the top body to the screw receiving holes on the bottom portion, and wherein the top body comprises screw holes configured for insertion of the screws, and the spindle comprises a plurality of screw passing slots on the cylindrical surface to allow the screws to reach the screw receiving holes on the bottom body.
As seen in
An advantage of this padlock is the reset mechanism. Once the user has opened the padlock by a combination code, the user has to rotate the shackle 180 degree (could be a different angular amount—degrees, depending on how the top-body hole 153 is configured) and then pushes the shackle 70 downward into the reset position. As the user pushes the shackle 70 downward into the reset position, the spindle 60 is also pushed downward. However, the extended-protrusion 61 of spindle 60 remains engaged in the opening-gap 51 of an associated clutch 50. As such, the clutches 50 cannot be rotated relative to the spindle 60 in the reset mode. As the edge 68 of spindle 60 contacts the inner surface 54 of the top clutch 50, a further downward movement of the spindle 60 pushes all the clutches 50 downward, causing all extended fins 53 of each clutch 50 to disengage from the ring gaps 41 of the associated dial 40. The inner surface 54 is on the upper surface of an extended inner ring of each clutch 50. The extended fins 53 are provided on an extended outer ring of the clutch 50, and the ring gaps 41 are provided on an inner ring of the dial 40. Once they are disengaged, the user can rotate the dials 40 to set a new code by aligning the desired number to the indicating mark 154 of top body 150. As described above, the rotational movement of the dials 40 will not transfer to the clutches when the extended-fins 53 disengage from the ring gaps 41 of dial 40. However, the opening-gap 51 of clutch 50 remains engaged with the extended protrusion 61 of spindle 60, and the clutches are prevented from having a rotational movement. After setting a new combination code, the user can release the shackle 70. The spring 180 at the bottom will exert an upward force to make all clutches 50 to move upward. The extended-fin 53 of each clutch 50 will engage the ring gaps 41 of a dials 40. As shown in
The spring 180 is placed on the bottom body 130 inside the lock housing and a reset cup 190 is placed on top of the spring 180 to transfer the upward urging force of the spring 180 to the stack of clutches 50 above until the extended-fin 53 of each clutch 50 contacts the ring gap 41 of an associated dial 40, making the clutch 50 and the dial 40 to be in the engaged position. As can be seen
Another feature of this lock is the anti-peek function, since one dial stacks up with another dial, the dial 40 below has a step surface 44 which is placed at the bottom end 45 of the dial 40 above (
Finally, another advantage of this padlock is to allow the traveler to use the combination mechanism during their trip and allow the TSA officer to inspect luggage by using the key operate mechanism.
Placement of Dial, Clutch, Ratchet-Wave Plate, Reset-Ratchet Plate and Spindle (
The spindle 60 has a tail-receiving slot 67 to receive the tail 92 of ratchet-wave plate 90 and the tail 122 of reset-ratchet plate 120. A ratchet-wave plate 90 is placed underneath each clutch 50 with the tail 92 placed in the tail-receiving slot 67 of the spindle 60. This prevents the ratchet-wave plate 90 from having a rotational movement. The clutch 50 has ratchet gates 52 to receive the wave edge 91 of a ratchet-wave plate 90 so that every rotational movement of the clutch 50 will have ratchet (clicking) feelings due to the wave edge 91 that engages each ratchet gate 52 of clutch 50. Underneath each ratchet-wave plate 90, there is a reset-ratchet plate 120. Each reset-ratchet plate 120 has a finger 121 to engage the surface slots 46 of a dial 40. The stacking of the clutches 50, the ratchet-wave plates and the reset-ratchet plate 120 is carried out such that the top edge 56 of the clutch 50 below will contact the reset-ratchet plate 120 above. Each clutch 50 is placed inside of a dial 40 such that the ring gaps 41 of the dial 40 will engage the extended fin 53 of clutch 50 in the locked mode, combination-open mode, and in the key-open mode. The ring gaps 41 of dial 40 will disengage from the extended fin 53 of clutch 50 only in the reset mode. The dial 40 further comprises a plurality of digit separation s 42 to separate the digits.
Locked Mode and Lock Configuration (
The spindle 30/60 has two parts riveted together to become a single piece, which is referred to hereafter as a spindle 60. The spindle 60 has two pins 33 and 63 arranged to receive the cap holes 101 of a top cap 100 as the spindle halves are riveted to become spindle 60. The spindle 60 has a spindle channel 6002 with a lower channel portion 6003 arranged to store the neck area 73 of the shackle 70. The spindle 60 also has a latch channel 62 for placement of a latch 80. It is understood that the spindle 60 is riveted into one piece after the placement of the neck area 73 of shackle 70 in the spindle channel 6002 and the placement of the latch 80 in the latch channel 62. The spindle 60 also has a curve 65 to be placed in the curve block 131 of bottom body 130. As the curve 65 of spindle 60 is in contact to the curve block 131 of bottom body 130 in all the modes, the spindle 60 has no rotational movement relative of the lock housing. The spindle 60 can only have vertical movement relative to the bottom body 130 and the entire lock housing. The screws passing slots 36, 66 of the spindle 60 will allow screws or any riveted material to pass through, without interfering with the vertical movement of the spindle 60.
The dial 40 has ring gaps 41 arranged to receive the extended fin 53 of a clutch 50. In the locked mode, the rotational movement of the dial 40 will transfer directly to the clutch 50 since the ring gaps 41 of dial 40 engage the extended fin 53 of clutch 50. Thus, the clutches 50 and the dials 40 are turned together. The dials 40 form a stack sandwiched between the top body 150 and the bottom body 130. More specifically, the bottom end of the last dial 40 contacts the step 132 of bottom body 130 and the step surface 44 of the extended ring 43 of the top dial 40 contacts the step-edge surface 157 of top body 150. As such, the dials 40 have no vertical movement. Inside the stack of dials 40, the clutches 50, the ratchet-wave plates 90, the reset-ratchet plates 120 and the reset cup 190 are mounted over the cylindrical surface of the spindle 60.
The top body 150 also has a cutout zone 159 with a surface 158 which allows the spindle 60 to move upward when the opening gaps 51 of all the clutches 50 align with the extended protrusions 61 of spindle 60. This is possible only when the dials are turned such that the combination code matches a pre-determined code—the combination open code. When the alignment is achieved, the user can pull the shackle 70 upward. As the latch 80 is engaged with the neck area 73 of shackle 70, the spindle 60 is also pulled upward until the top surface 6001 of spindle 60 contacts the surface 158 of top body 150. The short leg 74 (toe) of shackle 70 is now disengaged from the locking hole 151 of top body 150. Since the lock housing is held together by screws 140 which fasten the top body 150 to the bottom body 134, all the components of the padlock 10 will stay as one unit.
In the locked mode, when at least one of the clutches 50 is not aligned in the lock opened position, the opening gap 51 of that clutch 50 is not aligned with the extended protrusion 61 of spindle 60 preventing the spindle 60 from being pulled by the shackle 70. Since the spindle 60 is not moving upward, the short-leg 74 of shackle 70 is still locked in the locking hole 151 of top body 150.
The shackle in the sandwiched locked position is described as follow: The inside of spindle 60 placed the long leg 71 of shackle 70, the latch 80, the cylinder 160 and the cam 170. As no key is placed inside of the cylinder 160, the wafers 110 are in a locked position and the cylinder 160 cannot be turned. As the cylinder 160 cannot be turned, the cam 170 cannot be turned. The extended pin 171 of cam 170 is engaged with the slot 81 of latch 80. As the cam 170 is not able to rotate, the latch 80 is also in a locked position. The fork 82 of latch 80 engages to the bottom surface 76 of the neck area 73 of shackle 70 preventing the shackle 70 from moving upward to release the short leg 74 from the locking hole 151 of top body 150. This means that the shackle is in a sandwiched locked position.
As described above with respect to the shackle 70, latch 80, spindle 60 and the clutch 50 relationship, the spindle 60 will move upward only when the opening gap 51 of each clutch 50 aligns with the extended protrusion 61 of spindle 60.
The clutch 50 has at least one faulty notch 55 which allows the protrusion 61 of spindle 60 to contact such that the lock is harder to pick. The faulty notches 55 are provided on the lower part of the extended inner ring of each clutch 50.
Each of the dials 40 further comprises an extended ring 43 which prevents people from peeking the internal mechanism. The bottom body 130 also has a step 132 to prevent an intruder from peeking the internal mechanism of the bottom dial 40.
Unlock by Combination Code (
To unlock by the combination code, the user must open the padlock by aligning the dials 40 to the indicating mark 154 on top body 150. As the dials 40 align to the lock open code, the opening gap 51 of the clutches 50 will align with the extended protrusion 61 of spindle 60. When the alignment is achieved, the user can pull the shackle 70 upward which allows the spindle 60 to be pulled upward (since the shackle 70, latch 80, and spindle 60 are in the sandwiched locked position). As the shackle 70 is pulled upward, the short leg 74 of shackle 70 moves away from the locking hole 151 of top body 150. The top body 150 has a top-body hole 153 in communication with the spindle channel 6002 so as to allow the placement of the long leg 71 of shackle 70. As the shackle 70 is pulled upward, the extended protrusion 75 of shackle 70 will move out from the extended notch 152 on the top-body hole 153 of top body 150. As the shackle 70 is pulled upward, the spindle 60 will be pulled in the same manner. The spindle 60 will move upward until the top surface 6001 of spindle 60 contacts the surface 158 of top body 150. The short leg 74 of the shackle 70 will then move out of the locking hole 151 of top body 150. As the shackle is released from the locked position, it can freely rotate.
It should be noted that the spindle 60 will not have rotational movement because the big curve 65 is still engaged to the curve block 131 of bottom body 130. Since the spindle 60 has no rotational movement, the clutches 50 in the combination open mode will not have rotational movement because the extended protrusion 61 of spindle 60 engages the opening gap 51 of clutch 50. The dials 40 cannot be turned in the combination lock-open mode due to the ring gaps 41 of dial 40 engaged with the extended fin 53 of clutch 50. This helps to prevent a user from turning the dials accidentally in the combination lock-open mode such that the short leg 74 of the shackle 70 can always be able to return to the locking hole 151 of top body 150 by the user and the user is allowed to push back the short leg 74 of shackle 70 to the lock position without any problem.
The tail 122 of reset-ratchet plate 120 and the tail 92 of ratchet-wave plate 90 are placed inside of the tail-receiving slot 67 of spindle 60. This means that any rotational movement produced from dials 40 and clutches 50 will not rotate the reset-ratchet plate 120 and the ratchet-wave plate 90. This is important as these two plates 120 and 90 should not be able to rotate in all modes: locked, opened by combination, opened by key, and reset mode.
Reset Mode (
As the user opens the lock by the combination code, the extended protrusion 61 of spindle 60 engages the opening-gap 51 of clutch 50. The user can then rotate the shackle to 180 (could be in any designated angular amount—degree), such that the extended protrusion 75 of shackle 70 can fall to the other side of the extended notch 152 of top body 150. The user can now push the shackle 70 downward again. This time, the shackle 70 will push the spindle 60 in the same manner such that, the edge 68 of spindle 60 will contact the inner surface 54 of clutch 50. As they are in contact, there is some portion of the extended protrusion 61 of spindle 60 that engages the opening-gap 51 of clutch 50, which prevents the clutch from having a rotational movement. And, as the user further pushes the shackle 70 and spindle 60 further downward, the edge 68 of spindle 60 will further push the inner surface 54 of clutch 50 further downward in the same manner, this will cause the extended fin 53 of clutch 50 to disengage from the ring gaps 41 of dial 40. As they are disengaged, the user can turn the dial 40 without rotating the clutch 50. As such, the user can set a new code. It should be noted that the opening gap 51 of clutch 50 is now engaged with the extended protrusion 61 of spindle 60. The turning of the dials 40 to line up with the indicating mark 154 of top body 150 will allow the user to adjust the code into a new desired combination.
Since the extended protrusion 61 of spindle 60 engages the opening-gap 51 of clutch 50, the clutch 50 is prevented from having any rotational movement. As the clutch 50 has no rotational movement, the ratchet-wave plate 90 will remain silent, and the ratchet feeling “clicking” will be produced by the reset-ratchet plate 120. The reset-ratchet plate 120 will not be rotated due to the tail 122 that is placed in the tail-receiving slot 67 of spindle 60. Since no rotational movement is made by the spindle 60, the reset-ratchet plate 120 will also have no rotational movement. As the user turns the dials 40 in the reset mode, the finger 121 of reset-ratchet plate 120 will be in contact to the surface slots 46 of dial 40, which will provide the ratchet feeling during in the reset mode.
The placement of the dial, the clutch, the ratchet-wave plate, and the reset-ratchet plate has been previously described. Accordingly, as the user pushes the clutch 50 downward, the set of clutches 50, ratchet-wave plate 90, and reset-ratchet plate 120 will move downward. A reset-cup 190 is placed underneath the last reset-ratchet plate 120 to separate the spring 180 and the last reset-ratchet plate 120.
After setting, the spring 180 is allowed to exert a force to push the reset-cup 190 and the set of clutches 50, ratchet-wave plates 90, reset-ratchet plates 120 to move upward until the extended fin 53 of clutch 50 engages the ring gaps 41 of dial 40. As the clutch 50, the ratchet-wave plate 90, and the reset-ratchet plate 120 are stacked together, the force from the spring 180 will pass to all of these components from the bottom clutch 50 to the upper clutch 50.
The spindle 60 has a bottom 64 which will pass through a cut-out hole 137 of bottom body 130. As in the reset mode, the bottom 64 of spindle 60 will extend outside of the cut-out hole 137 of bottom body 130, indicating the lock is in the reset mode.
Unlock by Key Mechanism Mode (
The key locking mechanism is controlled by a wafer-tumbler cylinder 160. The cylinder 160 has an extended pin 161 arranged to engage a hole 172 of cam 170. The cam 170 has an extended pin 171 arranged to engage the slot 81 of latch 80. The latch 80 is placed inside the latch channel 62 of spindle 60. As a correct key 200 enters, the cylinder 160 and the cam 170 can be caused to turn. As the cam 170 turns, the extended pin 171 of cam 170 drags the latch 80 sideward in horizontal movement. As such, the fork 82 of latch 80 will no longer contact the lower surface 76 of the neck area 73 of the shackle 70, and there is no blockage on the neck area 73 of shackle 70. Thus, the shackle 70 can move upward freely and can be pulled upward until the lower surface 76 of neck area 73 hits the stop wall 69 of spindle 60. The short leg 74 of shackle 70 will move upward and be released from the locking hole 151 of top body 150.
It should be noted that spindle 60 has no vertical movement when the opening gap 51 of at least one of the clutches 50 is not aligned with the extended protrusion 61 of spindle 60.
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. The shackle is placed inside of the clutches and the dials.
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.
This application claims priority under 35 USC § 119 to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62/189,344, filed Jul. 7, 2015, whose entire contents are hereby incorporated by reference.
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