Kwikset Corporation

Henry Squire & Sons Limited

John Charnley

Oscar Romero

Hanna Farag

Mark S Bloom

Glyn Green

Clinton E Sheppard

Clinton Sheppard

A locking device and system are disclosed. The locking device includes a barrel within which sets a plug. A plurality of pins sit in pin pathways that extend partially through the barrel and plug and the pins prevent rotation of the barrel within the plug when the ends of the pins are not aligned with a shear line. One of the pins has a recess formed therein within which a locking ball can sit. The engagement or otherwise of the locking ball in the recess is controlled by a linear actuator. When the linear actuator allows the locking ball to disengage the recess the pin with the recess in can engage the key and a line the end of the pin with the shear line.

Locking device

A torque augmentor operatively associated with the cylinder assembly and the plug assembly of a pin tumbler lock cylinder increases the threshold torque required to rotate the plug assembly in the cylinder assembly, thereby hampering an attacker's 'feel' for the relationship of the cylinder pins to the shear line, and of the plug assembly to the cylinder. One embodiment of the pick-resistant lock cylinder includes a spring-biased ball normally disposed across the shear line. Another embodiment has a cam normally biased into engagement with a cam follower, the cam being disposed on one of the cylinder assembly and the plug assembly, and the cam follower being disposed on the other. Another embodiment includes an hourglass-shaped false shear line creator operatively associated with the cylinder assembly and plug assembly. The coaction of the torque augmentor and false shear line creator of the lock cylinder of the present invention also hampers an attack by bumping.

Pick-resistant lock cylinder using torque resistance

A rekeyable lock cylinder includes a cylinder body and a plug assembly, which includes key followers normally biased for linear movement into a home position. Locking bar interfaces in the plug assembly are rotatably connected to respective key followers for simultaneous linear movement with the key followers, and are movable from a non-rotatable to a rotatable position within the plug assembly. Each interface defines a plurality of angularly-spaced unlocking cavities alignable with a locking bar operatively associated with the cylinder body and plug assembly. When the user causes the interface to move into the rotatable position, it can be rotated to re-align any or all of the unlocking cavities with the locking bar. Inasmuch as each unlocking cavity is also associated with a particular elevation of the interface's respective key follower, re-aligning one or more such cavities resets the respective elevations of the key followers so that they can accept only a different valid key.

Rekeyable lock system

Growing community of inventors

Newcastle upon Tyne, United Kingdom

John Charnley