Interchangeable cylinder lock core for a cylinder lock unit

An interchangeable cylinder lock core with a rotatable cylindrical key plug for use together with a lock unit having a housing dimensioned to receive said interchangeable cylinder lock core, and including a torque transferring mechanism in said housing adapted to transfer a torque to said lock unit when the key plug is rotated, the interchangeable cylinder lock core comprising:

• a shell having an outer contour dimensioned to fit into said housing,
• said shell comprising an upper part, provided with a central row of upper and lower locking pins in associated cavities, and a lower part with a cylindrical bore accommodating said rotatable key plug, at least a part of said cylindrical bore extending through a rotatable retainer sleeve,
• said rotatable key plug being provided with a central row of corresponding cavities cooperating with said lower locking pins,
• said rotatable retainer sleeve being provided with holes corresponding to said cavities for said upper and lower locking pins and also being provided with an engaging member, adapted to releasably retain the interchangeable cylinder lock core in said housing, and to enable removal and replacement of the interchangeable cylinder lock core in relation to said housing of the lock unit,
• said key plug being formed in one piece and being rotatable in said cylindrical bore and having a back region extending from a back end, and a front region, which adjoins said back region and extends up to a front end of the key plug,
• a keyway extending axially backwards from said front end axially along said key plug and being configured to accommodate an associated key with a flat key blade,
• said keyway being oriented in a central plane being aligned with said lower locking pins and said corresponding cavities,
• said lower locking pins cooperating with an edge code pattern on said flat key blade, and a side locking mechanism comprising a longitudinal row of at least two coded side locking tumblers each having a transverse finger cooperating with a wave-like side code pattern on said flat key blade,
• said central row of upper and lower locking pins and said side locking mechanism being arranged to engage with and lock the key plug against rotation in said lower part of said shell unless said associated key is inserted into said keyway,
• wherein:
• said central row of upper and lower locking pins in said upper part of said shell comprises six or seven upper and lower locking pins, respectively, the lower locking pins being adapted to cooperate with bittings on an edge portion of said associated key being inserted into said keyway,
• said adjoining front region (FR) of the key plug accommodates, in addition to said central row of upper and lower locking pins, two side locking mechanisms, one on each lateral side of the keyway so as to engage with respective recesses in an inner circumferential surface of a fixed front end sleeve portion, which forms a portion of said lower part of said shell,
• each of said two side locking mechanisms is confined in its entirety in said front region of the key plug and is operative independently of said central row of upper and lower locking pins, a total length of said front region being less than half of a total length of the key plug,
• all of said coded side locking tumblers in each of said two side locking mechanisms are movable independently of each other, in a respective plane being parallel and displaced laterally in relation to the keyway, and
• said transverse finger on each of said coded side locking tumblers in each of said two side locking mechanisms cooperates with a wave like side code pattern in a respective side of said key blade,
• there being at least three different code positions for each coded side locking tumbler and a plurality of different code combinations for the at least two side locking tumblers in each longitudinal row in each of said two side locking mechanisms, and
• at least one of said coded side locking tumblers in each of said two side locking mechanisms is located in front of a first one of said corresponding cavities disposed in said central row adjacent to the front end of the key plug.

An interchangeable cylinder lock core with a rotatable cylindrical key plug for use together with a lock unit having a housing dimensioned to receive said interchangeable cylinder lock core, and including a torque transferring mechanism in said housing adapted to transfer a torque to said lock unit when the key plug is rotated, the interchangeable cylinder lock core comprising:

• a shell having an outer contour dimensioned to fit into said housing,
• said shell comprising an upper part, provided with a central row of upper and lower locking pins in associated cavities and a lower part with a cylindrical bore accommodating said rotatable key plug, at least a part of said cylindrical bore extending through a rotatable retainer sleeve,
• said rotatable key plug being provided with corresponding cavities for accommodating said lower locking pins in said central row,
• said rotatable retainer sleeve being provided with holes corresponding to said cavities for said central row of upper and lower locking pins and also being provided with an engaging member, adapted to releasably retain the interchangeable cylinder lock core in said housing, and to enable removal and replacement of the interchangeable cylinder lock core in relation to said housing of the lock unit,
• said key plug being formed in one piece and being rotatable in said cylindrical bore and having a back region extending from a back end, and a front region, which adjoins said back region and extends up to a front end of the key plug and which accommodates at least one side locking mechanism being operative independently of said central row of upper and lower locking pins,
• a keyway extending axially backwards from said front end axially along said key plug and being configured to accommodate an associated key with a flat key blade,
• said central row of upper and lower locking pins and said at least one side locking mechanism being arranged to engage with and lock the key plug against rotation in said lower part of said shell unless said associated key is inserted into said keyway,
• said at least one side locking mechanism engaging with an inner circumferential surface of a fixed sleeve portion, which forms a portion of said lower part of said shell,
• said at least one side locking mechanism comprising a longitudinal row of at least two coded side locking tumblers which are each movable independently of each other, there being at least three different code positions for each coded side locking tumbler and a plurality of different code combinations for the at least two side locking tumblers in said longitudinal row,
• said longitudinal row of at least two coded side locking tumblers cooperating with an associated side bar, forming a part of said side locking mechanism and being adapted to engage with an associated groove at the inside of said fixed sleeve portion forming a part of said lower part of said shell, wherein:
• said central row of upper and lower locking pins in said upper part of said shell comprises six or seven upper and lower locking pins, respectively, adapted to cooperate with bittings on an edge portion of said associated key blade being inserted into said keyway,
• said side locking mechanism, including said longitudinal row of side locking tumblers and said sidebar, is confined in its entirety to said front region of said key plug, and
• a single spring is disposed between the two neighboring side locking tumblers being located closest to said front end of the key plug and cooperating with said side bar and, if there are more than two side locking tumblers in said longitudinal row, also the single spring between the two neighboring side locking tumblers being located closest to said back end of the side bar, there being no spring located between a side locking tumbler and an end of the side bar,
• whereby a total longitudinal length of said front region of the key plug, accommodating said side locking mechanism including a sidebar, is minimized, said total longitudinal length of said front region being less than half of the total length of the key plug.

An interchangeable cylinder lock core with a rotatable cylindrical key plug for use together with a lock unit having a housing dimensioned to receive said interchangeable cylinder lock core, there being a pair of longitudinally extending prongs in said housing adapted to transfer a torque to said lock unit when the key plug is rotated, the interchangeable cylinder lock core comprising:

• a shell having an outer contour dimensioned to fit into said housing,
• said shell comprising an upper part, provided with a central row of upper and lower locking pins in associated cavities, and a lower part with a cylindrical bore accommodating said rotatable key plug, at least a part of said cylindrical bore extending through a rotatable retainer sleeve,
• said rotatable key plug being provided with a central row of corresponding cavities cooperating with said central row of locking pins,
• said rotatable retainer sleeve being provided with holes corresponding to said cavities for said central row of upper and lower locking pins and also being provided with an engaging member, adapted to releasably retain the interchangeable cylinder lock core in said housing, and to enable removal and replacement of the interchangeable cylinder lock core in relation to said housing of the lock unit,
• said key plug being rotatable in said cylindrical bore and having a back region extending from a back end, and a front region, which adjoins said back region and extends up to a front end of the key plug;
• a keyway extending axially backwards from said front end axially along said key plug and being configured to accommodate an associated key with a flat key blade,
• said keyway being oriented in a central plane being aligned with said lower locking pins and said corresponding cavities,
• said lower locking pins cooperating with an edge code pattern on said flat key blade, and
• a side locking mechanism comprising a longitudinal row of at least two coded side locking tumblers each having a transverse finger cooperating with a wave-like side code pattern on said flat key blade,
• said central row of upper and lower locking pins being arranged to engage with and lock the key plug against rotation in said lower part of said shell unless said associated key is inserted into said keyway,
• wherein:
• there being two longitudinally extending prong holes extending along the whole length of said back region of the key plug from said back end thereof so as to provide, in use together with said lock unit, an effective guiding of said two longitudinally extending prongs and a secure engagement of the two longitudinally extending prongs in said two longitudinally extending prong holes, when the key plug is being rotated while transferring a torque onto said two longitudinally extending prongs,
• said two longitudinally extending prong holes are entirely confined within said back region of the key plug,
• said back region of the key plug, accommodating said two longitudinally extending prong holes, has a minimum length of at least half of the length of the key plug, the adjoining front region of the key plug, located in front of said two longitudinally extending prong holes, thus having a length being no longer than half of the length of the key plug,
• said adjoining front region of the key plug accommodates, in addition to said central row of upper and lower locking pins, two side locking mechanisms, one on each lateral side of said keyway and each comprising a longitudinal row of at least two coded side locking tumblers, and each being located in its entirety within said front region of the key plug and being adapted to interact with at least one associated recess in a fixed front end sleeve portion,
• said fixed front end sleeve portion, forming a portion of said lower part of said shell, is located radially outside said front region of the key plug and is provided with at least two recesses for receiving and engaging with at least one radially projecting part of each of said two side locking mechanisms,
• said two side locking mechanisms are operative independently of said central row of upper and lower locking pins, and are disposed on each lateral side of said keyway, and
• all coded side locking tumblers in each of said two side locking mechanisms are movable in a respective plane being parallel and displaced laterally in relation to the keyway, there being at least three different code positions for each coded side locking tumbler and a plurality of different code combinations for all the coded side locking tumblers in said two side locking mechanisms in said front region of the key plug, and
• at least one coded side locking tumbler in each of said two side locking mechanisms is located in front of a first one of said corresponding cavities disposed in said central row adjacent to the front end of the key plug.

A key for opening an associated interchangeable cylinder lock core with a rotatable cylindrical key plug having a side locking mechanism, including at least two side locking tumblers, being confined to a front region of the key plug, the key comprising a grip part and a flat key blade with two sides, wherein:

• said flat key blade has, on at least one of said two sides, a longitudinal profile groove,
• said longitudinal profile groove has two opposite, upper and lower surfaces,
• one of said opposite surfaces has two longitudinally adjoining portions configured to cooperate with said two side locking tumblers of said associated interchangeable lock core, namely a first portion confined to a longitudinal half of the key blade being located closest to said grip part and a second portion adjoining to said first portion and extending to a free end of the key blade,
• said first portion of one of said opposite surfaces of said longitudinal groove forming a wave-like side code wave pattern with at least two side code wave portions defining a wave-like curve with wave-flanks rising and falling in a plane being parallel to the respective side of said key blade, and
• said adjoining second portion of said one of said opposite surfaces of said longitudinal groove being straight.