Claims
- 1. A pick-resistant axial split-pin tumbler lock, comprising:
- a rotatable operating element and a fixed element in contiguous, end-to-end relationship thereto, said operating element and fixed element being configured to define a shear plane therebetween and having aligned bores therein extending on opposite sides of the shear plane;
- aligned code pins and drive pins slidable across the shear plane in the bores in the elements, said code pins and drive pins being in end-to-end abutting engagement with one another and normally positioned so that the points of contact between the pins are out of alignment with the shear plane, but being adapted to be moved to positions where the points of contact between the code pins and drive pins are aligned with the shear plane to permit the operating element to be moved with respect to the fixed element to open the lock; and
- said code pins and drive pins each having an elongate body tapering inwardly from one end thereof to an enlarged head on the other end, and dimensioned so that they are enabled to tilt in the bores when they extend or project across the shear plane and the operating element is rotated with respect to the fixed element, whereby the pins will bind or hang up in the respective bores in any number of axial positions during an attempt to pick the lock, giving multiple and differing false readings of an unlocked condition of the lock and rendering it pick resistant.
- 2. In a pick-resistant axial split-pin tumbler lock in which a rotating operating element is configured and disposed in contiguous relationship to a fixed element so that an annular shear plane is defined at confronting faces between them, and in which aligned bores extend through the elements across the shear plane, with positionable split pin tumblers slidable in the bores and normally projecting across the shear plane to prevent rotation of the operating elements relative to the fixed element, thereby locking the lock, but being movable to positions with the points of contact or lines of separation between the split pins disposed in alignment with the shear plane so that the operating element may be rotated relative to the fixed element to unlock the lock, the improvement comprising:
- each of said pins having an elongate body tapering inwardly from one end thereof to an enlarged head on the other end, and said pins being dimensioned so that they are enabled to tilt and bind in said bores in any axial position of the pin in the bore when the operating element is rotated relative to the fixed element and the pin spans said shear plane, preventing further rotation of said operating element and unlocking of said lock and giving numerous and variable false code readings of the positions of the pins during attempts to pick the lock.
- 3. A lock as claimed in claim 2, wherein:
- said pins have elongate bodies tapering from a wide or thick end to a narrow end, and a cylindrical head on the narrow end of said bodies, said head and wide end of said body having the same diameter and being only slightly smaller than the diameter of the bores, enabling limited tilting movement of the pins in the bores when they span the shear plane between the operating and fixed elements and the elements are rotated slightly relative to one another to misalign the bores therein, but resulting in binding of the cylindrical head therein when so tilted, and said cylindrical head also defines a shoulder which can hang up against the face of the fixed element.
- 4. A lock as claimed in claim 3, wherein:
- said split-pin tumblers include code pins and drive pins, said code pins normally being disposed in the bores in said operating element and said drive pins normally being disposed in said bores in said fixed element, both said code pins and said drive pins having said tapered bodies, enabling them to tilt and bind in the respective bores.
- 5. A lock as claimed in claim 4, wherein:
- some of said code pins are differently configured and/or sized relative to other of said code pins so as to require different amounts of axial movement of the respective code pins in said bores before the points of separation between the code pins and drive pins become aligned with the shear plane to permit unlocking ad opening of said lock.
- 6. A lock as claimed in claim 5, wherein:
- all of said drive pins are identically shaped and sized; and
- said code pins include two different configurations in which the cylindrical heads have two different lengths, all of said code pins having a different overall length from one another.
- 7. A lock as claimed in claim 6, wherein:
- some of said code pins are oriented with their head ends disposed inwardly relative to the lock, and other of said code pins are oriented with their head ends disposed outwardly relative to the lock.
- 8. A lock as claimed in claim 1, wherein:
- some of said code pins are oriented with their head ends disposed inwardly relative to the lock, and other of said code pins are oriented with their head ends disposed outwardly relative to the lock.
- 9. A lock as claimed in claim 8, wherein:
- the heads on the code pins oriented with their headed ends disposed outwardly relative to the lock all have the same length, with the tapered bodies thereof having different lengths and spanning the shear plane so that they will tilt in the respective bores when an effort is made to pick the lock, causing the headed end to engage against and hang up at the shear plane, whereby all of said outwardly oriented code pins will produce the same key-cut indication on the pick.
- 10. A lock as claimed in claim 9, wherein:
- there are seven sets of code pins and drive pins slidable in respective bores in the lock, numbered one through seven, and the number one, two and three code pins all have their headed ends oriented outwardly relative to the lock, while the remaining code pins have their headed ends oriented inwardly relative to the lock and are of different lengths so as to produce different key-cut indications when an effort is made to pick the lock.
- 11. A lock as claimed in claim 10, wherein:
- the drive pins are all identically configured and sized and have their headed ends oriented outwardly relative to the lock.
- 12. A pick-resistant axial split-pin tumbler lock, comprising:
- a rotatable operating element and a fixed element in contiguous, end-to-end relationship thereto, said operating element and fixed element being configured to define a shear plane therebetween and having aligned bores therein extending on opposite sides of the shear plane;
- aligned code pins and drive pins slidable across the shear plane in the bores in the elements, said code pins and drive pins being in end-to-end abutting engagement with one another and normally positioned so that the points of contact between the pins are out of alignment with the shear plane, but being adapted to be moved to positions where the points of contact between the code pins and drive pins are aligned with the shear plane to permit the operating element to be moved with respect to the fixed element to open the lock;
- said code pins each having an elongate body tapering inwardly from one end thereof to an enlarged head on the other end and being dimensioned so that they can tilt and bind in the respective bores when the code pins are engaged by a lock pick in an effort to pick the lock and the operating element is rotated relative to the fixed element, said code pins having different lengths so that different amounts of axial movement in the bores are required for each of the code pins to enable the lock to be operated; and
- some of said code pins being oriented with their head ends disposed inwardly relative to the lock, and other of said code pins being oriented with their head ends disposed outwardly relative to the lock.
Parent Case Info
This application is a continuation, of application Ser. No. 269,057, filed Nov. 9, 1988.
US Referenced Citations (7)
Continuations (1)
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Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
269057 |
Nov 1988 |
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