Lock assembly

#The present invention relates generally to the field of locks and, more particularly, to a secure lock assembly that is economical to produce and which has a keyless, numberless but tactile positive locking and unlocking action.

#There are, of course, many differing types of locks that are currently available on the market. There are a number of design criteria for locks in general, that is, the lock must certainly be sufficiently rugged so as to withstand tampering or the attempt by someone to thwart the integrity of the lock to gain entry to the locked premises. Typically, with conventional padlocks, the padlock is a prime target for the insertion of a prybar intermediate the lock body and the curved movable component to attempt to defeat the purpose of the lock. Alternatively, the hardware securing the padlock to the secured premises is also a target for a prybar such that the hardware itself can be removed or broken and the padlock left in tact.

#Accordingly, not only is it important that the lock be sufficiently rugged so as to withstand attempts at its breakage but it would also be advantageous for the lock to be designed so as to minimize points of entry of a prybar or other device that could be used to gain leverage in order to defeat the purpose of the lock.

#FIG. 1 is an exploded view of the present lock assembly to illustrate its assembly and its individual components,

#FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing the internal area of the housing of the present invention;

#FIG. 3 is an exploded view of the housing of the present invention and illustrating the assembly of various of the components of that housing;

#Referring now to FIG. 1, there is shown a perspective view of a lock assembly 10 constructed in accordance with the present invention. As can be seen, the lock assembly 10 includes a housing 12 that may be cylindrical in configuration and has a front face 14 having a plurality of openings formed in the housing 12, that is, there is a central opening 16 and a pair of lateral openings 18 and the purpose of those openings will later become clear.

#A latch member 20 is slidingly affixed within the housing 12. Turning briefly to FIG. 2, taken along with FIG. 1, there is shown a perspective view illustrating the interior of the housing 12 in order to show the affixation of the latch member 20 to that housing 12. As can be seen in FIG. 2, there is a recess 22 formed in the interior surface 24 of housing 12 that is generally configured to be complementary to the outer shape of the latch member 20 such that the latch member 20 can nestle within the recess 22. There can also be seen in FIG. 2, the central opening 16 and which can be seen to be the terminus of a conical shape bore 26 having a central axis and that conical shaped bore 26 narrows in the direction toward the front face 14 of the housing 12.

#In FIG. 2 there is also shown one of the lateral openings 18 and threaded holes 28, of which two are shown and there are three threaded holes 28 formed in the interior of housing 12 in the illustrated embodiment. Other features of the housing 12 include a hole 30 in the wall of the housing 12 and which provides an entrance leading to a generally rectangular recess 32 in the interior of the housing 12.