Abstract:
A padlock, which is capable of remaining functional in even very dusty, watery or otherwise difficult conditions is disclosed. In addition, there would be reason for forming the protection level of the padlock to be selectable and updatable as needed to be even better. A protective cap is provided with a gasket and possibly gasketed latch elements.

Description:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
       [0001]    This invention relates to padlocks. 
       PRIOR ART 
       [0002]    A padlock consists of a body and a shackle. The shackle is generally shaped like the letter U. When a padlock is locked, both ends of the shackle are locked into the body. When the locking is opened, the shackle can be moved away from the body such that one end of the shackle separates from its connection to the body. In addition, in many padlock models, the shackle can be turned such that the end of the shackle separated from the body is not at the site of the shackle hole. The other end of the shackle remains attached in the body of the padlock. 
         [0003]    In the body of the padlock is placed a lock cylinder, which is in connection with the shackle via a latch organ. The lock cylinder can be locked and opened using a suitable key, i.e. the lock cylinder can be turned into the locking position and into the opened position. In the locking position, the latch organ locks the end/ends of the shackle into the body of the padlock. In the opened position, the latch organ allows moving of the shackle in the manner described above. Latch organs are at least one, but usually there are two. In some special padlocks, there can be even several latch organs. The latch organ is usually a ball. 
         [0004]    A padlock can be used in very different conditions. Conditions can be, for example, dusty, muddy, watery or all of the above. In addition, freezing can be present. In order that the padlock remain in working condition in the kind of demanding conditions described above, it is known to use gaskets in connection with the shackle holes of the body to prevent the entrance of dust, water and other dirt into the shackle drillings (drillings, which are made for the ends of the shackle) and through these into the lock cylinder. In addition, it is known to use a plastic flap to prevent the entrance of dust and other dirt into the key channel of the lock cylinder. The key channel is a hole in the lock cylinder, into which the key is pushed. The key channel is visible usually on the bottom surface of the padlock. As described in more detail, the lock cylinder is positioned in the padlock using a separate cover part, which has a keyhole. The cover part keeps the lock cylinder in its place and functions as the part protecting the lock cylinder when looking at the padlock from the direction of its bottom surface. The keyhole of the cover part is at the site of the key channel of the lock cylinder, and thus the key can be pushed into the lock cylinder through the keyhole of the cover part. 
         [0005]    Although using gaskets and a plastic flap provides already a quite good level of protection against external conditions, nonetheless there is need for improvement in the level of protection, especially when conditions are especially difficult, such as, for example, deserts, gas stations, mines, the locking of truck containers etc. 
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
       [0006]    The object of the invention is to provide a padlock, which remains in working condition even in very dusty, watery or otherwise difficult conditions. In addition, there would be reason for forming the protection level of the lock to be selectable as well as updatable to an even a better level of protection. The protective structures should further be such that the ease of use of the padlock is as effortless as possible. The objects are achieved in the manner described in the claims. 
         [0007]    A padlock  1  according to the invention comprises a shackle  3  and a body  2 . The body comprises drillings  5 ,  5 A for both ends  4 ,  4 A of the shackle, a cylinder drilling  8 , into which is placed a lock cylinder  10 , and latch drillings  7  between the drillings  5 ,  5 A and the cylinder drilling  8 . Into the latch drillings  7  are placed latch organs  14 ,  22 . The padlock further comprises gasket rings  9 , which are arranged in connection with the drillings  5 ,  5 A in the vicinity of the shackle holes  2 A,  2 B. The padlock  1  further comprises a threaded cover  16  with an external thread  16 A for positioning the lock cylinder into the body  2 . The threaded cover  16  comprises a keyhole  16 B and recess  32  with an internal thread  33  around the key channel  16 B on the outer surface  16 C side of the threaded cover  16 . The padlock comprises also a cap  17 , which comprises a twisting part  27  and a cylinder projection  28  with an external thread  29 ,  29 A. The external thread  29 ,  29 A of the cap is arranged to be inserted into the internal thread  33  of the threaded cover. The cap  17  further comprises a gasket ring  30  on the cylinder projection side surface  30 A of the twisting part  17 . 
         [0008]    The cap and the threaded cover as described above can optionally be installed in a padlock, when a better level of protection is desired than that provided by gasket rings  9  placed in connection with the drillings. The level of protection can be improved still beyond this, when the latch organs  14  are replaced by new latch organs, comprising a gasket. 
     
    
     
       LIST OF FIGURES 
         [0009]    In the following, the invention is described in more detail by means of the figures of the accompanying drawings, in which drawings 
           [0010]      FIG. 1  shows an example of a padlock according to the invention, 
           [0011]      FIG. 2  shows another example of a padlock according to the invention, 
           [0012]      FIG. 3  shows an example of a part of the invention, 
           [0013]      FIG. 4  shows the example of  FIG. 3  from another angle, 
           [0014]      FIG. 5  shows a feature of a padlock according to the invention, 
           [0015]      FIG. 6  shows the padlock as viewed from the direction of its bottom, 
           [0016]      FIGS. 7A-7C  show one embodiment of the cap of the padlock, 
           [0017]      FIGS. 8A-8B  show a threaded cover example for the cap of  FIGS. 7A-7C , 
           [0018]      FIG. 9  shows a part of the cap of  FIGS. 7A-7C , and 
           [0019]      FIG. 10  shows an exploded view of the cap of  FIGS. 7A-7C . 
       
    
    
     DESCRIPTION 
       [0020]      FIG. 1  shows an example of a padlock according to the invention. The ends  4 ,  4 A of the shackle  3  are placed into the shackle drillings  5 ,  5 A in the body  2 . In the vicinity of the shackle holes  2 A,  2 B of the shackle drillings are arranged gasket rings  9  to prevent the entrance of dust, water and other dirt into the inner parts of the body  2 . 
         [0021]    The padlock  1  is generally quite rinse to the position shown in  FIG. 1 , when it is placed into the object to be locked, i.e. the gasket rings  9  in the vicinity of the shackle holes  2 A,  2 B protect mostly from dirt and water coming from above. From  FIG. 1 , it is also seen that the body has a drilling  8  (cylinder drilling) for the lock cylinder  10 . The lock cylinder has cuts  12  for opening the locking. When the lock cylinder is turned using a suitable key, the cuts  12  turn against the latch organs  14 , wherein they are free to move into the cuts  12 , when the shackle  3  is pulled away from the body  2 . The locking is thus open. In this example, the latch organs  14  are balls, which are placed into the latch drillings  7 . The latch drillings are between the shackle drillings  5 ,  5 A and the cylinder drilling  8 . As can be observed from  FIG. 1 , the shackle comprises cavities  6  for the latch organs  14 . Further, the shackle has a groove  11 , in which the latch organ  14  is partially located, when the shackle  3  is pulled outward from the body  2 . This groove  11  also locks the other end  4 A of the shackle into the body  2 , i.e. the shackle cannot be pulled completely away from its connection with the body  2 . 
         [0022]    The object to be locked can be such that the body  2  of the padlock is at least partially upwards or conditions are otherwise demanding, wherein there is need to protect also the keyhole  16 B of the padlock from outside conditions. As was already stated earlier, for this purpose plastic flaps are used. In many cases, plastic flaps do not, however, offer a good enough level of protection in demanding applications. A solution according to the invention is to use a protective cap  17  to protect the keyhole  16 B (and, at the same time, the key channel of the lock cylinder  10 ). The keyhole is in the threaded cover  16 , using which the lock cylinder  10  is positioned into the cylinder drilling  8  of the padlock. The threaded cover has at least one cavity  15  for the attachment screw  13  of the threaded cover. The attachment screw is located in an attachment screw drilling  20 , and locks the threaded cap  16  onto the body  2  of the padlock. 
         [0023]      FIGS. 3 and 4  show in more detail the cap  17 .  FIG. 5  shows the padlock  1  diagonally from the direction of the bottom  31  of the padlock. In  FIG. 5  is seen the threaded cover  16 , which has a recess  32  around/at the site of the keyhole on the bottom  31  side. On the edges of the recess is an internal thread  33  for the external thread  29 ,  29 A in the cap. The cap  17  comprises a twisting part  27  and a cylinder projection  28 . The cylinder projection comprises said ,external thread. The cylinder projection  28  side surface  30 A of the twisting part  27  comprises a gasket ring  30 . The gasket ring settles against the bottom  31  of the padlock, when it is screwed down into the threaded cover  32 . In this case, the external thread of the cylinder projection settles in the internal threads  33  of the threaded cover  16 . The cap and its gasket ring efficiently prevent the entrance of water and dirt through the keyhole  16 B into the lock cylinder. 
         [0024]    Because the gasket ring  30  of the cap can be pressed against the bottom  31  of the padlock even very tightly, unscrewing it can be difficult. In addition, the object to be locked can be such that the padlock  1  is in such a position that opening/locking it with a key is otherwise difficult. To facilitate the use of the cap, the thread can be stiff, and, further, it can be a double thread. The pitch of the thread is, for example, 3-5 mm. Or then, the pitch of the thread can be even more on one rotation. A double-threaded structure is such that two threads are overlapping in relation to each other. The starting ends of the threads are 180 degrees apart from each other as examined from the axis of the cylinder projection. Thus, when the cap is screwed down against the threaded cover  16 , then the threads  29 ,  29 A,  33  always strike the correct site, when the cap is turned at the most 180 degrees. When using a normal thread, it may be necessary to turn the cap as much as 360 degrees, before the threads strike the correct site. In a difficult object to be locked, this can be a significant disadvantage. For the sake of clarity, let it be mentioned that, when using a normal thread, the corresponding threads of the cap  17  and of the threaded cover  16  are both normal threaded. Correspondingly, when using a double thread, the corresponding threads of the cap  17  and of the threaded cover  16  are both double-threaded. 
         [0025]    From the figures, it can be observed that the cap can be attached to the body  2  of the padlock with a special spring  18 . The spring of the presented embodiment is a stiff metal wire, the other end  18 A of which is attached in the cap  17 . The other end  18 C of the spring is bent into a flexible hook, which locks the spring into connection with the body  2 , when it is pushed through the hole  21  in the bottom  31  into the second shackle drilling  5 . The spring has also a coil spring portion  18 B, which fits through said bottom hole  21  to be pushed at least partially into the shackle drilling.  FIGS. 1 and 2  show such a situation, when the cap  17  is screwed down onto the padlock. When the cap is unscrewed, the spring portion  18 B moves simultaneously outward from the shackle drilling. When the cap is completely unscrewed, then the spring portion can possibly still be pulled away from the lock body and the cap  17  can be turned away from the site of the keyhole  16 B for pushing a key into the padlock  1 . The coil spring portion allows also bending of the spring in a sideways direction on the coil spring portion, which can be necessary in some difficult objects to be locked. When the cap is screwed back down, the spring guides the cap into the threads, facilitating the attachment of the cap, especially in low-light conditions. The spring  18  assures that the cap is not lost, when the padlock is opened/locked. Further, the stiff metal wire structure is not as susceptible to breaking as a more flexible metal wire (for example, thin multi-threaded flexible metal wire/rope). 
         [0026]      FIG. 2  shows another embodiment of the invention, comprising a threaded cover  16  and cap  17  as presented above, and further comprising gasketed latch organs  22 . The latch organs  22  comprise a gasket ring  23 , which is placed in a groove formed to the cylindrical portion of the latch organ. On both sides of the groove and gasket ring is a strip  26 ,  26 A of the cylindrical portion. The shackle side end  24  of the latch organ is shaped such that it corresponds to the shape of the recess  6  made in the shackle. 
         [0027]    The shape of the convex end  24  functions quite well, but it can also be some other shape. The lock cylinder side end  25  of the latch organ can, according to the example of  FIG. 2 , be smaller in diameter than the diameter of the cylindrical portion, onto which the gasket ring is placed. In addition, it can be rounded. The lock cylinder side end  25  can further be shaped into many different shapes. The gasket ring  23  prevents the entrance of dirt and water into the cylinder drilling  8  and the lock cylinder  10 , in case dirt and water have already entered into the shackle drilling/drillings  5 ,  5 A. 
         [0028]    The protection level of the padlock can be raised from the level provided by the gasket rings  9  and protective cap  17  still to an extremely high level of protection by replacing or pre-installing gasketed latch organs  22  into the padlock. The latch organs  14  of the example of  FIG. 1  can thus be replaced by gasketed latch organs  22 . 
         [0029]    Thus, water and dirt that has possibly come into the shackle drilling through the holes  31 ,  19 ,  20  of the padlock cannot enter through the shackle drillings all the way to the lock cylinder. In tests, it has further been observed that water and dirt cannot enter through the drilling of the attachment screw  13  of the threaded cover  16  all the way to the lock cylinder. 
         [0030]    The cylindrical portion of the latch organ is an important feature, as otherwise the latch organ could turn noticeably in relation to the axis of the latch drilling, wherein the gasket ring  23  would no longer be against the wall of the latch drilling. In this case, the gasket ring would no longer prevent the entrance of dirt and water into the cylinder drilling  8 . In addition, when fitting the gasket ring onto the latch organ, it must be taken into account that the gasket pressure forming against the wall  7 A of the latch drilling is not too great, as otherwise it would harm the functioning of the latch organ. In addition, it is possible that the cylinder drilling and possibly also other drillings are lubricated using Vaseline to facilitate moving of the latch elements. In addition, it is possible that the gaskets of the latch elements are of a material having a low coefficient of friction, wherein a separate lubricant is not necessarily required. 
         [0031]      FIGS. 7A ,  7 B and  7 C show another example of a cap  71  for protecting a keyhole. This embodiment also has a projection  72 A, which can be screwed down onto a threaded cover. The threaded cover  81  of this embodiment is shown in  FIGS. 8A and 8B . The projection  72 A has two wings  72  with an attachment surface  73 . The attachment surface settles against the inner wing  82  in the threaded cover, when the cap is screwed down. The attachment surface has further a small projection  74 , which assures that the cap better remains in the screwed down position. Between the wings  72  is a gap  75 . 
         [0032]    The cap of the embodiment of  FIGS. 7A-7C  is composed of several parts, as  FIG. 10  shows.  FIG. 9  shows the outer part  91  of the cap. An implementation comprising several parts is on the part of production an inexpensive manner, when the intension is to provide good protection characteristics and usability characteristics. The cap has two main parts, the outer part  91  and the inner part  94  to be attached thereto. Attachment of the parts to each other occurs using a screw  102 . Both the outer part and the inner part have holes  99 ,  98  for screws. In order that the inner part and outer part would stay against each other well while in use, the outer part  91  has a hexagonal cone  92  and supplementary indentations  93 , for which there are a corresponding hexagonal projection  96  and corresponding supplementary projections  97  in the inner part  94 . The inner part comprises said projection  72 A and the wings  72  in it. Said corresponding supplementary projections are in a flange-like structure  103  of the inner part. When two gasket rings  95  are used, good sealing characteristics and flexibility characteristics are achieved. The spring  18  is attached in the outer part. In addition, the cap comprises a ring  101 , which can be used to assure the attachment of the spring. 
         [0033]    The gasket rings presented above can be O-ring gaskets, but they can also be other types of gaskets, such as X-ring gaskets or square ring gaskets. As is obvious on the basis of what is described above, the invention can be implemented in many different ways, while staying within the scope of the independent claim.