Patent Application
20180334832
The present invention relates generally to lock and key devices and specifically to a programmable lock.
Keys are used for many purposes, and each purpose typically utilizes a unique key, requiring a person to carry several keys at once. For example, keys may be used for vehicles, houses, offices, storage lockers, and other secure areas. When a person needs access to a variety of secure areas or items, they may carry many keys at once, which can be cumbersome.
Key cards or passwords may be used in cases where users are granted conditional access to a secure area. Key cards can be set to expire after a specified amount of time, but require for the lock card reader to be integrated with a central system, and additional technology is required to write and erase the key cards. Disadvantageously, it is also possible for programmable key cards to lose their data over time or to lose data if they are placed in close proximity to a magnetic field.
It is often necessary to rekey or replace a traditional lock, which can be costly and time consuming. When a traditional lock is compromised by the loss of a key, it is customary to replace the lock or rekey the lock and cut new keys. The lock may also be rekeyed or replaced for peace of mind when new users or owners take control over a lock system.
Existing alternatives to traditional lock systems require knowledge of electronics and programming, rendering them too complicated for the average residential user. Additionally, support is limited as the typical locksmith is not familiar with these systems.
Other locks programmable to accept a variety of keys are available. Examples include U.S. Pat. No. 6,318,137 B1 to Chaum and U.S. Pat. No. 8,581,690 B2 to Lappalainen et al. Disadvantageously, these locks require power to operate, and cannot be mechanically opened when power fails.
According to a first embodiment of the present invention there is disclosed an apparatus for selectably unlocking a door comprising a base adapted to be mounted within a door, an outer cylinder selectably rotatable relative to the base, the outer cylinder having an central bore therethrough and an inner cylinder selectably rotatably received within the inner bore of the outer cylinder. The inner cylinder has a key slot therethrough and is adapted to unlock a door upon rotation of the inner cylinder. The apparatus further includes a plurality of tumblers extending between the inner and outer sleeves alignable upon insertion of a specific key within the key slot so as to permit rotation of the inner cylinder within the central bore a means for identifying a key inserted within the key slot as an authorized key and a latch operable to selectably couple the outer cylinder to the base wherein the latch uncouples the outer cylinder from the base when an authorized key is located within the key slot.
The inner and outer cylinders may be rotatable about a common axis. Each of the plurality of tumblers may comprise pin tumblers comprises a key pin located within a pin bore extending radially outward through the inner cylinder and a selectably alignable driver pin located within a driver pin bore extending radially inward into the central bore of the outer cylinder. Each key pin may be displaceable by the key within the key slot.
The means for identifying may comprise at least one sensor adapted to read a profile of the key inserted into the key slot. The sensor may comprise position sensors disposed on each driver pin to measure a position of the plurality of tumblers as determined by the profile of the key inserted into the key slot.
The apparatus may further comprise a processing circuit having an associated memory, the processing circuit being adapted to receive the position of each of the at least one sensor, compare the measured profile against a plurality of authorized key profiles contained within the associated memory and identify the key inserted within the key slot as an authorized key if the profile matches one of the plurality of authorized key profiles contained within the associated memory. The processing circuit may be further adapted to cause the latch to uncouple the outer cylinder and the base.
The latch may comprise a pin slidably extendable from the base into a radial bore within the outer cylinder. The latch may include a solenoid adapted to retract the pin from engagement within the radial bore upon receipt of a signal from the processing circuit indicating that the key is an authorized key. The processing circuit may be further adapted to cause the latch to uncouple the outer cylinder and the base only if all criteria for that authorized key are satisfied.
According to a further embodiment of the present invention there is disclosed a method for selectably unlocking a lock comprising reading a key inserted into a slot within an inner cylinder wherein the inner cylinder is received within an outer cylinder supported by and selectably lockable relative to a base, wherein the inner cylinder is operably connected to a lock catch so as to cause the lock to be unlocked in response to rotation of the inner cylinder and identifying the key as one of a specific key, an authorized key or an unauthorized key. The method further comprises, if the key is a specific key, permitting the inner cylinder to rotate relative to the outer cylinder, wherein the inner cylinder is rotatably fixed relative to the outer cylinder if the key is not a specific key, if the key is an authorized key, permitting the outer cylinder to rotate relative to the base and rotatably fixing the inner cylinder and the outer cylinder to the base if the key is an unauthorized key.
Other aspects and features of the present invention will become apparent to those ordinarily skilled in the art upon review of the following description of specific embodiments of the invention in conjunction with the accompanying figures.
In drawings which illustrate embodiments of the invention wherein similar characters of reference denote corresponding parts in each view,
Referring to
Referring to
As illustrated on
Turning to
A plurality of cylindrical key pin bores 60, having pin bore diameters 62, each extend along an axis 68, which may be offset from the axis 20 by an offset distance 70, through the outer surface 52 of the plug 50 from the top 46 to a key pin bore bottom plane 64, forming key pin stop surfaces 72 along the key pin bore bottom plane 64. The key pin bores 60 intersect the key slot 54. The location of the key pin bore bottom plane 64 is selected to match an inserted key 4 cut to a maximum depth, as is commonly known. The pin bore diameter 62 may be greater than the slot width 55, as illustrated in the current embodiment. Although the present embodiment illustrates three key pin bores 60, it will be appreciated that additional key pin bores 60 may be useful, as well.
The plug 50 may include, such as, by way of non-limiting example, a range of between 3 and 6 key pin bores 60.
Each key pin bore 60 contains a cylindrical key pin 74 therein. Each key pin 74 extends between a bottom 100 and a top 102, and has a diameter 76, smaller than the pin bore diameter 62, allowing movement along each axis 68 therein. Each key pin 74 may have a curved profile at the top 102, as best seen in
A threaded axial mounting hole 66 extends from the second end 44 along the axis 20 and is sized to receive a mounting screw 152, as will be set out below.
Referring to
The pin housing portion 90 extends from the first end 42 to a housing end 92, and has a top surface 94. A plurality of cylindrical driver pin bores 110, having pin bore diameters 62, extend along the axis 68, as set out above, through the top surface 94 of the pin housing portion 90 to the inner surface 84, forming a passage to the cylindrical passage 82. When the plug 50 is inserted within the outer housing 80, the driver pin bores 110 are aligned with the key pin bores 60, as best illustrated in
Each driver pin bore 110 contains a cylindrical driver pin 112 therein. Each driver pin 112 extends between a bottom 114 and a top 116, and has a diameter 76, smaller than the bore diameter 62, allowing movement along each axis 68 therein. Each driver pin 112 may have a curved profile at the bottom 114, as best seen in
When the height 104 of the associated key pin 74 is such that the top 102 of the key pin 74 is below the outer surface 52 of the plug 50 when the key pin 74 is engaged upon the key pin stop surface 72, the driver pin 112 is contained within both the key pin bore 60 and the driver pin bore 110, preventing the plug 50 from rotating about the axis 20 relative to the outer housing 80. As set out above, when a specific key is inserted into the lock 10, the top 102 of each key pin 74, and thus the bottom 114 of each associated driver pin 112, is in alignment with the outer surface 52 of the plug 50 and the inner surface 84 of the outer housing 80, forming a shear line, as is commonly known, therefore allowing the plug 50 to rotate relative to the outer housing 80 about the axis 20 and unlocking the lock, as is commonly known.
A permanent magnet 126 may be contained within each driver pin 112. The magnets 126 may be axially charged permanent magnets. The magnets 126 may be rare earth magnets, such as neodymium and samarium-cobalt magnets, by way of non-limiting example as are commonly known, although other types of magnets such as ferromagnetic permanent magnets may be useful, as well. A sensor 128 may be contained within the top surface 122 of each pin bore cap 120. Each sensor 128 may be a Hall Effect sensor, as is commonly known, which senses the position of the associated magnet 126 therebelow, the purpose of which will be set out further below. It will be appreciated that other types of sensors, such as membrane potentiometers, may be useful, as well.
The cylindrical latching portion 130 of the outer housing 80 extends from the housing end 92 to the second end 44 and has an outer surface 132. A latching hole 134 extends radially through the latching portion 130 from the outer surface 132 to the inner surface 84, as best seen on
The base 32 includes a base latching hole 142 therethrough, extending between the inner and outer surfaces, 136 and 138. The base latching hole 142 is sized and located to align with the latching hole 134 on the outer housing 80. A latch 144, sized to be received within both the base latching hole 142 and the latching hole 134, extends from the outer surface 138 therethrough, preventing the outer housing 80 from rotating within the base 32. A pull solenoid 146, as is commonly known, may be activated to withdraw the latch 144, thereby allowing the outer housing 80 to rotate about the axis 20 within the base 32. Although a pull solenoid is illustrated in the present embodiment to withdraw the latch 144, it will be appreciated that other methods may be used to withdraw the latch 144, as well.
A circular interface plate 150 is secured along the axis 20 to the second end 44 of the plug 50 with the mounting screw 152 engaged within the mounting hole 66. An arcuate slot 154 extends through the interface plate 150. The tailpiece 34 is engaged within the slot 154 and through the deadbolt 36 to the interior housing 24. Although the tailpiece 34 is illustrated as being mounted to the plug 50 with a mounting screw 152, it will be appreciated that other methods of connecting the tailpiece 34 to the plug 50, such as, by way of non-limiting example, crimping may be used as well, as is commonly known in the art. The purpose and operation of these parts is commonly known within the art, and will not be described further herein.
Turning now to
More generally, in this specification, including the claims, the term “processing circuit” is intended to broadly encompass any type of device or combination of devices capable of performing the functions described herein, including (without limitation) other types of microprocessing circuits, microcontrollers, other integrated circuits, other types of circuits or combinations of circuits, logic gates or gate arrays, or programmable devices of any sort, for example, either alone or in combination with other such devices located at the same location or remotely from each other. Additional types of processing circuit(s) will be apparent to those ordinarily skilled in the art upon review of this specification, and substitution of any such other types of processing circuit(s) is considered not to depart from the scope of the present invention as defined by the claims appended hereto. In various embodiments, the processing circuit 220 can be implemented as a single-chip, multiple chips and/or other electrical components including one or more integrated circuits and printed circuit boards.
Computer code comprising instructions for the processing circuit(s) to carry out the various embodiments, aspects, features, etc. of the present disclosure may reside in the memory 222. In various embodiments, the processing circuit 220 can be implemented as a single-chip, multiple chips and/or other electrical components including one or more integrated circuits and printed circuit boards. The processing circuit 220, together with a suitable operating system, may operate to execute instructions in the form of computer code and produce and use data. By way of example and not by way of limitation, the operating system may be Windows-based, Mac-based, or Unix or Linux-based, among other suitable operating systems. Operating systems are generally well known and will not be described in further detail here.
Memory 222 may include various tangible, non-transitory computer-readable media including Read-Only Memory (ROM) and/or Random-Access Memory (RAM). As is well known in the art, ROM acts to transfer data and instructions uni-directionally to the processing circuit 220, and RAM is used typically to transfer data and instructions in a bi-directional manner. In the various embodiments disclosed herein, RAM includes computer program instructions that when executed by the processing circuit 220 cause the processing circuit 220 to execute the program instructions described in greater detail below. More generally, the term “memory” as used herein encompasses one or more storage mediums and generally provides a place to store computer code (e.g., software and/or firmware) and data that are used by the control system 200. It may comprise, for example, electronic, optical, magnetic, or any other storage or transmission device capable of providing the processing circuit 220 with program instructions. Memory 222 may further include a floppy disk, CD-ROM, DVD, magnetic disk, memory chip, ASIC, FPGA, EEPROM, EPROM, flash memory, optical media, or any other suitable memory from which processing circuit 220 can read instructions in computer programming languages.
As set out above, the data storage 226 stores information for a plurality of keys. The information may be populated within the data storage 226 by any means as is commonly known in the art. The information within the data storage may also be edited, such as conditional settings added or authorized keys removed, by any means as is commonly known in the art. The information within the data storage may be encrypted or protected by a password or the like, as is commonly known in the art, limiting access to the key data and securing against data theft. It will also be appreciated that the processing circuit may be programmed to only permit access to the information within the data storage when a particular key is inserted into the lock. The specific key, which creates a shear line between the key pins 74 and the driver pins 112 as set out above and as commonly known in the art, may override the settings in the data storage 226 as the specific key may unlock the lock 10 under any circumstance.
When a key 4 is inserted into the lock 10, the sensors 128 determine the cut of the key 4 and send information to the processing circuit 220 to compare with the data in the data storage 226. In particular, as illustrated in
While specific embodiments of the invention have been described and illustrated, such embodiments should be considered illustrative of the invention only and not as limiting the invention as construed in accordance with the accompanying claims.
