US 5,664,445 AGranted

Pry-proof lock

AssigneeHandyway Co., Ltd.

InventorChin-Shu Chang

Life of this patent

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Abstract

An improved lock guarded from being sabotaged by prying or cutting has a round latch rod and a lock assembly that are separably locked together by way of retaining balls housed and limited in holes in a rotary unit which is spring biased so as to retractably move back and forth in a sleeve. A limiting stopper having a flanged end which is provided with a pair of opposite cuts in correspondence to the retaining balls. The retaining balls are in general limited by the flanged end without being movable up and down so that a latch rod having a groove in which the retaining balls can be housed is locked in place once the latch head is forced into engagement with the retaining balls. The retaining balls can only be freed as long as the cuts of the flanged end of the limiting stopper are put in alignment with the retaining balls either by pushing the latch rod against the spring biased rotary unit, causing the rotary unit to separate from the retaining unit, or by spinning the rotary unit with a key to get the retaining balls aligned with the cuts of the retaining unit. The latch rod can only be released by a key which rotates the rotary unit into alignment with the cuts of the retaining unit so that the retaining balls housed in a groove of the latach head are movable up and down.

Claims4

Dependent claims

A lock comprising:

a tubular sleeve having a number of through holes disposed thereon for receiving corresponding locking pins;
a lock body first housed in said tubular sleeve having a key hole disposed at one end and a protruded block at the other end with a spring engaged with said protruded block;
a rotary unit disposed next to said lock body having a hole at one end for receiving said protruded block of said lock body and a pair of oppositely disposed holes housing a pair of retaining balls;
a retaining unit disposed next to said rotary unit with said rotary unit partially engaged therewith having a front skirt on which a pair of oppositely disposed cuts are defined and a support plate having a through hole defined thereon;
a latch rod having a latch head disposed at one end on which a peripheral groove is defined for receiving said retaining balls upon being led into said lock via said through hole of said retaining unit and further into said rotary unit;
said retaining balls housed in said holes on said rotary unit being restrained by said front skirt of said retaining unit and only being freed to move up and down as said rotary unit is rotated to such a position that said cuts come into alignment with said retaining balls or as said rotary unit is pushed against a bias of said spring toward said lock body, causing said rotary unit as well as said retaining balls to disengage from the restraint of the front skirt of said retaining unit;
whereby said latch rod can be locked in place by said retaining balls and be unlocked as said rotary unit is rotated to make said retaining balls come into alignment with said cuts defined on said front skirt of said retaining unit.

4 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.