Remotely-operated self-contained electronic lock security system assembly

An electronic lock system, comprising:

• (a) key means for generating a signal;
• (b) receiver means for receiving said signals;
• (c) a lock mechanism, said lock mechanism being engaged and disengaged by rotation of a locking rod between an engaged rotational position and a disengaged rotational position, said engaged and disengaged rotational positions being defined at predetermined angular positions about the longitudinal axis of said rod;
• (d) processor means, cooperatively connected to said receiver means, for comparing said received signal with a stored reference signal, for generating an actuation signal if said received signal is determined to be equivalent to said reference signal, and for receiving a deactivate signal to terminate said actuation signal;
• (e) primary mover means, operatively connected to said processor means and including a shaft cooperatively connected to said locking rod, for rotating said locking rod in response to said actuation signal, whereby only the rotation of said locking rod is utilized to lock and unlock said lock mechanism;
• and
• (f) lock mechanism detection means, operatively connected to said primary mover means, for providing said deactivate signal to said processor means when said lock mechanism has been rotated to said engaged or disengaged rotational positions, wherein said processor means receives confirmation that said lock mechanism has actually moved between said engaged or disengaged rotational positions.

An electronic lock apparatus with no mechanical key access for a door, comprising:

• (a) a strike plate;
• (b) a latch cooperatively engageable with said strike plate and movable along a latching axis between engaged and disengaged positions;
• (c) mechanical locking means, operatively connected with said latch, for selectively preventing movement of said latch between said engaged and disengaged positions, said locking means requiring only a primary motive force acting coincidentally along or about a locking axis for said selective prevention of movement, wherein said locking axis is substantially perpendicular to said latching axis;
• (d) at least two oppositely disposed knobs, said knobs being arranged and configured to rotate about said locking axis, for actuating said latch between said engaged and disengaged positions, wherein a user provides the force to actuate said latch;
• (e) knob connecting means, substantially disposed between said knobs, through the door, for connecting said knobs to said latch;
• (f) electromechanical means, operatively connected to said mechanical locking means, for providing the primary motive force to said locking means;
• and
• (g) electronic control means, responsive to an encoded received over the air signal, for selectively energizing said electromechanical means, wherein said electromechanical means provides force only along or about the locking axis, and wherein said electromechanical means and electronic control means are located entirely within said knobs and said knob connecting means, thereby sealing and protecting said electromechanical means and electronic control means from being accessed by an unauthorized user.

A lock apparatus for an entryway door, of the type wherein a latch engages a strike plate, comprising:

• (a) a locking bar for rotating a cam which prevents a locking mechanism from moving the latch between an engaged position with the strike plate to a disengaged position with the strike plate, said locking bar rotating about its longitudinal axis;
• (b) remote component means for generating a coded signal, said coded signal comprised of a plurality of alternating packets of access information and tuning information at a plurality of transmission frequencies, wherein each packet of tuning information is representative of the transmission frequency for a subsequent packet of access information;
• and
• (c) resident component means for receiving said coded signal, said resident component means comprising:
• (i) means for receiving said packets of access information and for generating an access signal from said packets of access information;
• (ii) means for receiving each of said packets of tuning information and for selectively tuning said resident component means to a receiving frequency generated from each of said tuning information packets;
• and
• (iii) means for rotating said locking bar if said access signal matches a stored predetermined signal.

An electronic lock apparatus, comprising:

• (a) a strike plate;
• (b) a latch cooperatively engageable with said strike plate and movable between engaged and disengaged positions;
• (c) mechanical locking means, operatively connected with said latch, for selectively preventing movement of said latch between said engaged and disengaged positions, said locking means requiring a primary motive force;
• (d) electromechanical means, operatively connected to said mechanical locking means, for providing the primary motive force to said locking means;
• and
• (e) tunable electronic control means, responsive to an encoded received signal and selectively tunable among a plurality of frequencies, for selectively energizing said electromechanical means, wherein said encoded received signal comprises a plurality of packets of access and retuning information, each of said packets being transmitted at one of the plurality of frequencies, wherein said tunable electronic control means is selectively tuned responsive to packets of retuning information, and wherein said packets of access information must be determined to be valid by said electronic control means prior to energizing said electromechanical means.

An electronic lock apparatus, of the type wherein a signal is transmitted from a remote location to the lock location to actuate an electromechanical device to change the status of the lock latch, comprising:

• (a) means for generating a first coded signal and a second coded signal, wherein said first and second coded signals are transmitted in segments which are interleaved with one another and wherein segments of said second coded signal contain information related to the frequency on which the next subsequent segments of said first and second coded signals will be transmitted;
• (b) tunable receiving means for receiving said first and second coded signals, wherein said tunable receiving means is tuned after receipt of each segment of said second coded signal to the frequency at which the next subsequent signal will be transmitted;
• and
• (c) processing means for actuating the electromechanical device to change the status of the lock latch responsive to said first and second coded signals, including:
• (i) memory means for storing predetermined valid signals and frequencies;
• (ii) determining means for comparing said received first and second coded signals with said predetermined valid signals;
• and
• (iii) output means to provide actuation signals to the electromechanical device to change the status of the lock latch.

An electronic lock apparatus for a door, comprising:

• (a) a strike plate;
• (b) a latch cooperatively engageable with said strike plate and movable along a latching axis between engaged and disengaged positions;
• (c) mechanical locking means, operatively connected with said latch, for selectively preventing movement of said latch between said engaged and disengaged positions, said locking means requiring a primary motive force acting coincidentally along or about a locking axis, said locking axis being substantially perpendicular to said latching axis;
• (d) at least two oppositely disposed knobs, said knobs being arranged and configured to rotate about said locking axis, for actuating said latch between said engaged and disengaged positions, wherein a user provides the force to actuate said latch;
• (e) knob connecting means, substantially disposed between said knobs, through the door, for connecting said knobs to said latch;
• (f) electromechanical means, operatively connected to said mechanical locking means, for providing the primary motive force to said locking means;
• (g) electronic control means, responsive to an encoded received over the air signal, for selectively energizing said electromechanical means, wherein said electromechanical means provides force only along or about the locking axis and said electromechanical means and electronic control means are located entirely within said knobs and said knob connecting means, thereby sealing and protecting said electromechanical means and electronic control means from being accessed by an unauthorized user, and wherein:
• i) said encoded received signal includes a first set of encoded signals and a second set of encoded signals, wherein both of said first and second sets of encoded signals must be determined to be valid by said electronic control means prior to energizing said electromechanical means;
• ii) said electronic control means includes means for comparing said first and second sets of encoded signals with predetermined sets of reference signals stored in a memory location;
• and
• iii) wherein said first and second sets of encoded signals each include a predetermined number of subsets, said subsets of said first set of encoded signals being received by said electronic control means in an alternating manner with said subsets of said second set of encoded signals, whereby said subsets of said first and second set of encoded signals are interleaved with one another;
• and
• (h) wherein said electronic control means includes receiver means for receiving said encoded signals and a processor, said receiver means being tunable by said processor to receive said first and second encoded signals at a plurality of frequencies, and wherein each of said subsets of said second set of encoded signals includes information which correlates to the frequency at which a subsequent subset of said first and second sets of encoded signals will be modulated, whereby said processor tunes said receiver means after receiving each of said subsets of said second set of encoded information.