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US 4,229,959 AGranted
Method and apparatus for opening a lock
OwnerThomas E. Easleyinventor
Life of this patent
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OwnerThomas E. Easleyinventor
Estimating the term…
A novel method and apparatus for opening a magnetic cylinder lock of the type having an outer cylinder, a rotatable inner cylinder disposed within the outer cylinder, one or more magnetic pins disposed within chambers of one of the cylinders for engaging the other cylinder to prevent the inner cylinder from rotating, and a keyway within the inner cylinder for insertion of a magnetic key to displace each pin and release the inner cylinder, thereby opening the lock. A probe is provided for insertion within the keyway to determine the presence and polarity orientation of each magnetic pin by detecting its magnetic field. An indexing arm within the probe abuts the lock and provides a signal representative of the position of each pin chamber. Sensor circuitry correlates a signal from the probe representative of the presence and polarity orientation of each pin with a signal from the indexing arm representative of the position of each pin chamber and displays the "combination" of the lock. A selectively-actuable master key with a plurality of electromagnets imbedded therein is provided for insertion into the keyway and a power supply is used to actuate the electromagnets momentarily while turning the master key to displace each pin and open the lock.
A lock pick apparatus for opening a cylinder lock of the type having an outer cylinder, a rotatable inner cylinder disposed within the outer cylinder for opening the lock upon rotation, one or more magnetic pins disposed within one said cylinder for engaging the other said cylinder to prevent said inner cylinder from rotating, and a keyway within the inner cylinder for insertion of a magnetic key to displace each pin and release the inner cylinder, thereby opening said lock, said apparatus comprising:
A sensor device for determining the combination of a cylinder lock of the type having an outer cylinder, a rotatable inner cylinder disposed within the outer cylinder for opening the lock upon rotation, one or more magnetic pins disposed within chambers of one said cylinder for engaging the other said cylinder to prevent said inner cylinder from rotating, and a keyway within the inner cylinder for insertion of a magnetic key to displace each pin and release the inner cylinder, thereby opening the lock, said sensor device comprising:
A master key for opening a cylinder lock of the type having an outer cylinder, a rotatable inner cylinder disposed within the outer cylinder for opening the lock upon rotation, one or more magnetic pins disposed within chambers of one said cylinder for engaging the other said cylinder to prevent said inner cylinder from rotating, and a keyway within the inner cylinder for insertion of a magnetic key to displace the pin and release the inner cylinder, thereby opening the lock, said master key comprising:
A method for opening a cylinder lock of the type having an outer cylinder, a rotatable inner cylinder disposed within the outer cylinder for opening the lock upon rotation, one or more magnetic pins disposed within chambers of one said cylinder for engaging the other said cylinder to prevent said inner cylinder from rotating, and a keyway within the inner cylinder for insertion of a magnetic key to displace each pin and release said inner cylinder, thereby opening said lock, said method comprising:
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.