Claims
- 1. In a padlock having a body, shackle means having first and second portions, means for receiving said portions of said shackle means within said body and internal locking means for locking with said portions and operable by an associated key in a given direction to open the padlock, said shackle means having a first, fully locked position in which said first and second portions thereof are received in said receiving means, and a second fully unlocked position in which said second portion is outside said body, the improvement comprising the provision of:
- means for removeably retaining said first portion of said shackle means to said body when said shackle means portions are unlocked by said internal locking means, said retaining means and said first shackle portion comprising cooperating means for fully releasing said first portion for complete removal of said shackle means from said body upon positioning said shackle means first portion in a position in said body intermediate said fully locked and fully unlocked positions and upon rotating said shackle means about the axis of said first portion to a predetermined position in which said second portion is non-aligned with said receiving means therefor and upon turning said associated key in said locking means in a reverse direction to said given direction.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
This is a continuation of application Ser. No. 617,514, filed Sept. 29, 1975.
This invention relates generally to the lock systems and, more specifically, to padlocks.
Padlocks of various types are, of course, well known to the industry. It is common practice for each manufacturer to provide padlocks which may be "key compatible" with the other locks of that manufacturer. This compatibility allows the use of the same master key throughout an institution, such as a hospital or hotel, as long as the locks are all restricted to one manufacturer. Should additional locks be required, they must be purchased from the same manufacturer.
Practically speaking, the dependence upon the manufacturer for a compatible padlock has required the lock service industry to stock a large inventory of padlocks in order to provide for the needs of their customers.
The need for an improved padlock which will enable the lock service industry to reduce inventories, while at the same time improving service to their customers, is recognized.
Therefore, it is the primary object of the present invention to disclose and provide an improved padlock construction which is adaptable to selectable lock cylinder and key combinations.
It is a further object of the present invention to disclose and provide a group of interrelated lock parts which, in concert with a special standardized padlock body and shackle will allow the lock service industry to fabricate a lock/key compatible padlock for any desired manufacturers' system of locks.
It is a still further object of the present invention to disclose and provide a padlock having a removable shackle for enabling the padlock to be locked when the removable shackle is assembled to the body; and locking means for locking the shackle when the shackle is assembled to the body and in a closed position, retaining the shackle to the body when the shackle is in an opened position and for releasing the shackle from the body to facilitate assembly and disassembly of said padlock.
The various advantages and improvements of the present invention in improved padlocks, as well as a better understanding thereof, will be obtained by those skilled in the art from a consideration of the following detailed description of an exemplary embodiment of the present invention. References will be made to the appended sheets of drawings which will be described briefly before the detail description of the exemplary embodiment.
US Referenced Citations (4)
Foreign Referenced Citations (1)
| Number |
Date |
Country |
| 415,439 |
Oct 1946 |
IT |
Continuations (1)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
| Parent |
617514 |
Sep 1975 |
|
Patent Grant
4112715
