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US 9,435,140 B2Granted
Locking device
OwnerYen-Po Cheninventor
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A locking device includes a lock and a key. The lock includes a housing, a cylindrical core inserted into and rotatable relative to the housing, and a tumbler unit that is mounted between the housing and the cylindrical core to permit or prevent the relative rotation between the housing and the cylindrical core and that has a first pin extending into a helical keyway formed in the cylindrical core. The key has a helical blade capable of being inserted into the helical keyway to access the first pin, so as to switch the tumbler unit to permit the relative rotation between the cylindrical core and the housing.
Claims21
A locking device comprising:
- a lock including
- a housing that has an inner surrounding surface defining an inner space,
- a cylindrical core that extends along a core axis into said housing, that is rotatable relative to said housing about the core axis, and that has an insertion end retained in said inner space of said housing body, and
- at least one holding unit that includes a helical keyway and at least one tumbler unit, said helical keyway being formed in an outer surrounding surface of said cylindrical core, and extending through said insertion end of said cylindrical core to form an opening of said insertion end, said tumbler unit including a limiting hole, an installation hole, a first pin, a second pin and a resilient member, said limiting hole being formed through said outer surrounding surface of said cylindrical core and a keyway-defining surface of said cylindrical core that defines said helical keyway, said installation hole being formed in said inner surrounding surface of said housing, said limiting hole being aligned with said installation hole when said cylindrical core is at a locked position, said first pin being movable along said limiting hole and said installation hole when said cylindrical core is at the locked position, and having a driven section extending into said helical keyway, said second pin abutting against one end of said first pin distal from said driven section, and being movable within and along said limiting hole and said installation hole when said cylindrical core is at the locked position, one of said first and second pins being inserted into both of said limiting hole and said installation hole to prevent the relative rotation between said cylindrical core and said housing when said tumbler unit is in a locking state, said first and second pins being retracted respectively into said limiting hole and said installation hole to permit the relative rotation between said cylindrical core and said housing when said tumbler unit is in an unlocking state, said resilient member being retained in said installation hole, and abutting against one end of said second pin distal from said first pin for biasing resiliently said second pin toward said cylindrical core;
- and
- a key having
- a grip section for being held, and
- a blade section that is connected to said grip section, and that includes at least one helical blade, said helical blade being inserted into said helical keyway of said holding unit via said opening of said insertion end of said cylindrical core to access said driven section of said first pin when said cylindrical core is at the locked position, so as to switch said tumbler unit to the unlocking state to permit the relative rotation between said cylindrical core and said housing.
5 more elements
A lock comprising:
- a housing having an inner surrounding surface that defines an inner space;
- a cylindrical core extending along a core axis into said housing, rotatable relative to said housing about the core axis, and having an insertion end retained in said inner space of said housing body;
- and
- at least one holding unit including
- a helical keyway that is formed in an outer surrounding surface of said cylindrical core, and that extends through said insertion end of said cylindrical core to form an opening of said insertion end, and
- at least one tumbler unit that includes a limiting hole, an installation hole, a first pin, a second pin and a resilient member, said limiting hole being formed through said outer surrounding surface of said cylindrical core and a keyway-defining surface of said cylindrical core that defines said helical keyway, said installation hole being formed in said inner surrounding surface of said housing, said limiting hole being aligned with said installation hole when said cylindrical core is at a locked position, said first pin being movable along said limiting hole and said installation hole when said cylindrical core is at the locked position, and having a driven section extending into said helical keyway, said second pin abutting against one end of said first pin distal from said driven section, and being movable within and along said limiting hole and said installation hole when said cylindrical core is at the locked position, one of said first and second pins being inserted into both of said limiting hole and said installation hole to prevent the relative rotation between said cylindrical core and said housing when said tumbler unit is in a locking state, said first and second pins being retracted respectively into said limiting hole and said installation hole to permit the relative rotation between said cylindrical core and said housing when said tumbler unit is in an unlocking state, said resilient member being retained in said installation hole, and abutting against one end of said second pin distal from said first pin for biasing resiliently said second pin toward said cylindrical core;
- wherein a blade can be inserted into said helical keyway of said holding unit via said opening of said insertion end of said cylindrical core to access said driven section of said first pin when said cylindrical core is at the locked position, so as to switch said tumbler unit to the unlocking state to permit the relative rotation between said cylindrical core and said housing.
4 more elements
A key adapted for use with a lock, the lock including a housing, a cylindrical core that extends rotatably into the housing and that has a helical keyway, and a first pin that is mounted movably between the housing and the cylindrical core, the first pin having a driven section that extends into the helical keyway, and being operable between a locking state where the relative rotation between the housing and the cylindrical core is prevented, and an unlocking state where the relative rotation between the housing and the cylindrical core is permitted, said key comprising:
- a grip section for being held;
- and
- a blade section connected to said grip section, and including at least one helical blade, said helical blade being adapted to be inserted into the helical keyway of the cylindrical core to access the driven section of the first pin, so as to switch the first pin to the unlocking state to permit the relative rotation between the housing and the cylindrical core;
- wherein said helical blade has
- a helically-extending guide surface, and
- a guide hole that is formed in said guide surface, and that is inserted by the driven section of the first pin when said helical blade is completely inserted into the helical keyway, so as to switch the first pin to the unlocking state to permit the relative rotation between the housing and the cylindrical core.
3 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.