Electronic locks particularly for office furniture
AssigneeSecurity People, Inc.
InventorAsil T. Gokcebay
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An electronic cam lock accessible either by PIN code or wirelessly transmitted code from a user's credential has a compact electronics housing that fits neatly and unobtrusively in office furniture, including metal or wood file cabinets. The housing has a rear-extending driver, which may be within a cylinder, preferably positioned where the driver of a cam lock of conventional keyed configuration would be located. One form of the lock is front-recess mounted. In another form the housing is inside-mounted, fitted within the usually one-inch top rail or vertical side rail of a file cabinet, with the electronic access terminal and a rotatable knob exposed for the user. The locks can be connected in a wired or wireless network for controlling access by time or by personnel, or for auditing entries.
Claims12
An electronic cam lock on a door, cabinet, panel or drawer in a cabinet or furniture that provides ingress and no egress, without a mechanical key, comprising:
- a compact housing containing electronics and having an access terminal enabling entry of a code by a user, such code when properly entered causing the electronics to permit access, the housing being affixed to a panel of said door or drawer or other structure of said cabinet or furniture, and the housing having a housing body and a face fixed at the front of the housing body, the face having a peripheral rim that extends outward laterally beyond the housing body, and the housing being mounted in an opening in the panel which is sized to closely receive the body of the housing and not the rim, such that the rim of the housing is positioned against the front of the panel with the face exposed at the front of the panel,
- a cam lock cylinder unit extending from a back side of the housing, with a lock driver in the cylinder unit engaged with a cam or latch device at the inside of the panel of the cabinet or furniture, and including a knob or handle on the housing for operating the lock manually without a mechanical key to rotate the lock driver and the cam or latch device when permitted by the electronics, and
- a power source connected to power the electronics.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.