Decoding device for double-sided keys

A portable electronic device for quickly determining the dimensions and contours of a first double-sided key for making a second double-sided key having identical dimensions and contours, said portable electronic device comprising:

• a housing;
• an elongated and slender catheter having a proximal end seated within said housing and further having a distal end positioned exterior of said housing, said catheter having a cylindrical cross-section provided with a diameter that is suitably sized such that said catheter can be probed through a plug of a lock without contacting a plurality of lower and upper pin pairs seated within the plug;
• means for detecting a point where the lower and upper pins come together and line up perfectly with a shear line defined where a cylinder of the lock and a housing of the lock line up, a plurality of LEDs electrically coupled to said detecting means, said LEDs being selectively illuminated when said catheter is displaced along said lower and upper pin pairs;
• means for automatically adjusting a position of said catheter as said point of each of said lower and upper pin pairs is detected such that said detecting means becomes automatically positioned next to an adjacent one of said lower and upper pin pairs until said catheter detects a final one of said lower and upper pin pairs within said plug;
• and
• means for displaying a plurality of numeric values on said housing, each of said numeric values corresponding to each said points identified by said detecting means.

A portable electronic device for quickly determining the dimensions and contours of a first double-sided key for making a second double-sided key having identical dimensions and contours, said portable electronic device comprising:

• a housing;
• an elongated and slender catheter having a proximal end seated within said housing and further having a distal end positioned exterior of said housing, wherein said distal end of said catheter has an arcuate shape for assisting the user to effectively scan an internal cavity of said plug, said catheter having a cylindrical cross-section provided with a diameter that is suitably sized such that said catheter can be probed through a plug of a lock without contacting a plurality of lower and upper pin pairs seated within the plug;
• means for detecting a point where the lower and upper pins come together and line up perfectly with a shear line defined where a cylinder of the lock and a housing of the lock line up, a plurality of LEDs electrically coupled to said detecting means, said LEDs being selectively illuminated when said catheter is displaced along said lower and upper pin pairs;
• means for automatically adjusting a position of said catheter as said point of each of said lower and upper pin pairs is detected such that said detecting means becomes automatically positioned next to an adjacent one of said lower and upper pin pairs until said catheter detects a final one of said lower and upper pin pairs within said plug;
• and
• means for displaying a plurality of numeric values on said housing, each of said numeric values corresponding to each said points identified by said detecting means.