Patent Application
20240044178
This application claims the benefit and priority of German Patent Application No. 102022119572.4 filed on Aug. 4, 2022. The entire disclosure of the above application is incorporated herein by reference.
The present invention relates to a padlock whose lock hoop may, if necessary, be replaced with another lock hoop, for example, with a shorter lock hoop or a longer lock hoop or with a lock hoop composed of a different material.
In conventional padlocks, the replacement of the lock hoop is comparatively difficult since, among other things, the lock cylinder has to be removed for this purpose. A padlock may comprise a lock body and a U-shaped lock hoop displaceably held thereat between a closed position and an open position. Apart from recesses and flattened portions, the lock hoop has a generally circular cross-section and has two hoop limbs of different lengths. The padlock may have a locking device in the lock body by means of which the lock hoop may be locked to the lock body in the closed position of said lock hoop. In this respect, the locking device may, for example, comprise two latch elements in the form of two blocking balls and may be adjusted, for example, by means of a lock cylinder between a locked position, in which the latch elements engage into respective engagement recesses in the closed position of the lock hoop, said respective engagement recesses being formed in the two hoop limbs, and an unlocked position in which the latch elements are located outside the respective engagement recess. In the open position of the lock hoop, the latch element associated with the second hoop limb may engage into a peripheral groove of the second hoop limb to secure the lock hoop to the lock body, wherein the lock hoop is, however, freely rotatable about the longitudinal axis of the longer hoop limb.
As an alternative to a purely mechanical lock cylinder, the locking device may also have, or be driven by, an electromechanical actuator (for example, an electric motor or an electromagnet).
To be able to remove the lock hoop in a conventional padlock, it may be necessary for certain lock types to first remove the lock cylinder or the electromechanical actuator and then the locking device, including its latch elements. After another lock hoop has been inserted, it is then first necessary to reinstall the locking device, including its latch elements, before the lock cylinder or the electromechanical actuator may then be inserted and the lock body of the padlock may be closed again, if necessary, by means of a base-side cover. This procedure is not only complex and/or expensive, but is relatively difficult to perform for untrained persons.
It is therefore the underlying object of the invention to improve a padlock of the previously described kind such that the replacement of the lock hoop may be performed more easily and in particular also by untrained persons
This object is satisfied by a padlock having the features of claim 1 and in particular in that the second or the longer hoop limb has a passage that extends between the free end of the second hoop limb and the peripheral groove and that has a surface that is recessed with respect to the generally circular cross-section of the lock hoop, wherein the second hoop limb receives a blocking element between its free end and the peripheral groove, said blocking element projecting over the recessed surface of the passage in order to prevent, in the open position of the lock hoop, a passing of the latch element through the passage, starting from the peripheral groove.
Thus, if the lock hoop is in its open position, in which the latch element engages into the groove that is peripherally formed in the second hoop limb close to the free end of said second hoop limb, the hoop limb may not be unintentionally removed starting from this open position or even fall out of the lock body since the passage is blocked by the blocking element that may, for example, be a screw, in particular a screw having a defined screw head or also a grub screw, that is screwed into a bore, which may in particular be a blind bore, formed in the second hoop limb. If, on the other hand, it is desired to intentionally replace the lock hoop with another lock hoop, the blocking element may be removed from the passage for this purpose. The passage is thus no longer blocked by the blocking element so that the latch element may pass through the passage.
Since the passage extends between the free end of the second hoop limb and the peripheral groove, the free end of the second lock hoop may thus be guided past the latch element without essential components of the lock, for example the locking unit and the lock cylinder, having to removed in the previously described manner for this purpose. The replacement of the lock hoop thus proves to be very simple and may in particular also be carried out by untrained persons.
Further embodiments of the padlock in accordance with the invention will now be looked at in the following, wherein further embodiments may also result from the dependent claims, from the description of the Figures, and from the Figures themselves.
For example, in accordance with one embodiment, provision may be made that an access opening is formed in the lock body, in particular in a narrow side of the lock body, through which access opening the blocking element is accessible from outside the lock body. To obtain access to the blocking element, components or assemblies of the padlock thus likewise have to be dismantled, whereby the replacement of the lock hoop is particularly simple.
So that the padlock may not be manipulated by an unauthorized group of persons, in accordance with a further embodiment, the access opening may be formed in the lock body at a position that is located such that the blocking element is not aligned with the access opening in the closed position of the lock hoop, i.e. is not aligned with the access opening. The access opening may in particular be formed in the lock body at a position that is located such that, on a transition of the lock hoop starting from its closed position into its open position, the blocking element is aligned with the access opening before the lock hoop reaches the open position. Thus, in order to gain access to the blocking element through the access opening, the padlock has to be opened or the lock hoop has to be moved in the direction of its open position, which is only possible for authorized persons since the key of the lock cylinder is required for this purpose. Even when the lock hoop is open, the padlock and in particular the blocking element may, however, not be easily manipulated since the access opening is not aligned with the blocking element in the open position. To gain access to the blocking element through the access opening, the lock hoop rather first has to be moved starting from its open position only a short distance in the direction of its closed position so that the access opening is aligned with the blocking element. This requires precise knowledge of the operation of the padlock so that it is not easily possible to manipulate the padlock in its open position. However, in other embodiments, the access opening may be formed in the lock body at a position that is located such that the blocking element is aligned with the access opening in the open position of the lock hoop.
In accordance with a further embodiment, provision may be made that the passage is formed as a flattened portion at the lock hoop. The flattened portion in question is thus a surface of the lock hoop that is recessed with respect to the generally circular cross-section of the lock hoop and that enables a passing of the latch element starting from the peripheral groove.
Alternatively thereto, the passage may be formed as a groove, in particular a concavely arched groove, in the lock hoop that makes it possible that the latch element may exit from the peripheral groove at the second hoop limb and may move through the passage to the free end of the second lock hoop. In this respect, the design of the passage as a concave groove proves advantageous in that the lock hoop is guided through the concave shape of the groove when it is pulled out of the lock body. Thus, the lock hoop may not cant, which would otherwise make the removal of the lock hoop from the lock body more difficult.
In accordance with a further embodiment, provision may be made that the passage is formed at a flank of the second hoop limb facing away from the first hoop limb. After the removal of the blocking element through the access opening formed in the lock body has taken place, the lock hoop therefore first has to be rotated by 180° to align the passage with the latch element so that the latch element may then pass through the passage to the free end of the second hoop limb.
Since the passage is provided at the flank of the second hoop limb facing away from the first hoop limb, a defined rotational position of the lock hoop in which it may be removed is thus predefined. The corresponding rotational position of the lock hoop thus does not have to be laboriously sensed; rather, after the removal of the blocking element has taken place, it is merely necessary to rotate the lock hoop by 180° to be able to remove it from the lock body. Similarly, the manipulation security of the padlock is increased by the position of the passage at the flank of the second hoop limb facing away from the first hoop limb since it is necessary for the removal of the lock hoop to have precise knowledge of the rotational position of the lock hoop that allows a removal of said lock hoop from the lock body.
Therefore, the position of the passage at the flank of the second hoop limb facing away from the first hoop limb further proves to be advantageous since it may hereby be ensured that, once the blocking element has been removed, the lock hoop may not be easily pulled out of the lock body or even falls out of the lock body, as could be the case if the passage were provided at the flank of the second hoop limb facing the first hoop limb. In this case, in the open position of the lock hoop, the latch element could namely easily pass through the passage. To prevent this, the passage is preferably provided at the flank of the second hoop limb facing away from the first hoop limb since in this case the hoop limb first has to be rotated by 180° to be able to remove it from the lock body.
Since the dismantling of the lock hoop in the previously described manner is only possible for authorized persons, the padlock may, if necessary, be further disassembled after the dismantling of the lock hoop has taken place. Thus, the inner space of the lock body may be closed by a cover that is provided at the lower side of the lock body and that is fastened to the lock body by means of a screw that has a screw head that is located in the inner space of the lock body and that is located in axial continuation of the second hoop limb at the free end of said second hoop limb. In this respect, provision may in particular be made that the cover has, at its side facing the inner space, a receptacle into which the screw is screwed. To be able to remove the cover, the lock hoop thus first has to be removed in the previously described manner in order in this way to gain access to the screw head of the screw in question. Once the removal of the screw has taken place, the cover may thus be removed and the padlock may subsequently be further dismantled, for example, by removing the lock cylinder and the locking device.
To be able to secure the cover particularly reliably to the lock body, the latter may, in accordance with a further embodiment, have a recess in its inner space in axial continuation of the first hoop limb, said recess receiving a section of the cover, such as a nose projecting from the cover, in a form-fitting manner. An undercut is thus formed that prevents the cover from accidentally loosening and falling down after the screw securing the cover to the lock body has been released.
To make the best possible use of the installation space available within the lock body, a lock cylinder provided for actuating the locking device may be arranged off-center and obliquely within the lock body. Provision may in particular be made in this respect that the lock cylinder has a main plane of extent, which is tilted with respect to a plane defined by the two hoop limbs, wherein the lock cylinder is arranged off-center with respect to an axis defined centrally between the two lock hoops.
The invention will now be explained in the following in a purely exemplary manner with reference to the drawings in which:
As can be seen from
The lock hoop 12 has a first hoop limb 16 and a second hoop limb 18 that is longer than the first hoop limb 16. In the closed position of the lock hoop 12 shown in
To be able to secure the lock hoop 12 to the lock body 14 in the closed position shown in
The rotating latch 34 is a substantially cylindrical body, but two mutually diametrically oppositely disposed release sections 38 are formed in its peripheral surface in the form of two concave recesses, of which only one can be recognized in
The release sections 38 radially recessed with respect to the locking sections 40 serve to receive the two blocking balls 36 in the release position of the rotating latch 34 (not shown) in which the lock hoop 12 may be freely displaced to and fro between its closed position and its open position. If the rotating latch 34 is, on the other hand, rotated about its axis of rotation, the blocking balls 36 are urged radially outwardly along the concave surfaces of the release sections 38 until they are radially aligned with the locking sections 40, as is shown in
Thus, depending on the rotational position of the rotating latch 34, the two blocking balls 36 are therefore urged radially outwardly into the engagement recesses 42 of the two hoop limbs 16, 18 or released so that they may move radially inwardly to release the lock hoop 12. In some embodiments, the rotating latch 34 may indeed be preloaded in the direction of its locked position by means of a torsion spring so that it automatically returns to its locked position, starting from its release position. In the embodiment shown, such a torsion spring is, however, not provided since it should only be possible to remove the key of the lock cylinder 20 in the locked position of the rotating latch 34.
In the embodiment shown here, the rotating latch 34 is actuated via a lock cylinder 20 by means of an associated key, for which purpose the cylinder core of the lock cylinder 20 is connected in a form-fitting manner to the rotating latch 34.
Alternatively thereto, the rotating latch 34 may, however, also be driven by means of an electromechanical actuator, for example an electric motor, for which purpose the drive shaft of the electric motor may be coupled to the rotating latch 34 in a drive-effective manner (for example directly or via a gear). In contrast to the purely mechanical design of the padlock shown here, the padlock may thus also have an electromechanical locking mechanism.
As can further be seen from the representation of
Even if this cannot be seen from the representation of
This peripheral groove 24 is adjoined in the axial direction by a substantially cylindrical end section 28 of the second hoop limb 18 by which it is prevented that the lock hoop 12 may be unintentionally removed from the lock body 14. If the lock hoop 12 is namely transferred starting from the closed position shown in
To be able to remove the lock hoop 12 from the lock body 14 if required, a passage 30, which has a surface 44 that is recessed with respect to the circular cross-section of the lock hoop 12, is formed in the substantially cylindrical end section 28 of the second hoop limb 18 between the free end 22 of the second hoop limb 18 and the peripheral groove 24 at or in the flank of the second hoop limb 18 facing away from the first hoop limb 16. In the embodiment shown here, the passage 30 is formed as a concave groove. Alternatively thereto, the passage 30 may, however, also be a simple flattened portion of the lock hoop 12 that defines a substantially planar surface that is recessed with respect to the circular cross-section of the lock hoop 12. The passage 30 extends in the axial direction, i.e. along the longitudinal axis of the second hoop limb 18.
As can furthermore be seen from
If, on the other hand, it is desired to remove the lock hoop 12 in order to replace it with another lock hoop, for example, the blocking element 46 may be removed for this purpose through an access opening 48 formed in the narrow side 50 of the lock body 12, for example with the aid of a screwdriver or a hexagon socket wrench that may be brought into engagement with the screw head of the blocking element 46 configured as a grub screw. If the blocking element 46 is released in this manner and removed through the access opening 48 of the lock body 14, the blocking ball 36 associated with the second hoop limb 18 may pass through the passage 30, for which purpose the lock hoop 12 has to be rotated by 180° with respect to the rotational position shown in
In this respect, the access opening 48 is formed in the lock body 14 at a position that is located such that, on a transition of the lock hoop 12 starting from its closed position shown in
As can furthermore be seen from
In some embodiments, an ejection spring by which the lock hoop 12 is preloaded into its open position may indeed be provided between the free end 22 of the second hoop limb 18 and the screw head 64 of the screw 56. In the embodiment of the padlock 10 described here, the lock hoop 12 was, however, not preloaded in the direction of its open position by means of a corresponding ejection spring.
Since the screw head of the screw 56 is accessible only after the lock hoop 12 has been dismantled, the cover 54 may only be removed from the lock body 14 by authorized persons. To be able to secure the cover 54 particularly reliably to the lock body 14, a slot-shaped recess 60 is provided in the inner space of the lock body 14 in axial continuation of the first hoop limb 16, said slot-shaped recess 60 receiving a nose 62 projecting from the cover 54 in a form-fitting manner. The nose 62 thus engages behind the lower end of the lock body 14 so that the latter is particularly reliably secured to the lock body 14 after a screwing by means of the screw 56 has taken place.
| Number | Date | Country | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 102022119572.4 | Aug 2022 | DE | national |
