Lock assembly

A lock assembly has a housing, a lock cylinder, an adjusting block and an adjusting assembly. The adjusting block is slidably on the lock cylinder and has a wedge side facing the lock cylinder and a plurality of first wedge elements formed on the wedge side. The adjusting assembly is mounted in the lock cylinder and has multiple adjustable rack assemblies mounted in the lock cylinder. Each rack assembly has a rack element and an adjusting base. The rack element selectively abuts with a corresponding one of the lock pins and has a second wedge element selectively engaging one of the first wedge elements on the adjusting block. The adjusting base selectively engages the rack element.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a lock assembly, and more particularly to a lock assembly that can be adjusted to fit with different keys conveniently and quickly.

2. Description of Related Art

A traditional lock assembly is only applied with a specific key and cannot fit with different keys. To use with different keys, an old lock cylinder should be replaced with a new one, such that the traditional lock assembly is not versatile in use.

To make a lock assembly fitting with different keys, a US Patent Application with publish number 2005/0011242 (referring to '242 application hereafter), entitled to “Rekeyable Lock Assembly” is provided. The '242 application comprises a plug body and carrier sub-assembly mounted in a lock cylinder body. The carrier sub-assembly is mounted on the plug body and comprises a carrier and a plurality of racks.

To adjust the lock cylinder to fit with different keys, an original corresponding key is inserted into the plug body and the plug body is rotated 90° in clockwise to make the carrier slidable in the lock cylinder body between two positions. A tool is then inserted into the plug body to push the carrier with the racks to move in an axial direction and disengage from pins in the lock cylinder body. After removing the original corresponding key and the tool from the plug body, a new key is inserted into the lock cylinder body and is rotated in counterclockwise to make the racks engaging the pins again. Consequently, the lock assembly can fit with the new corresponding key.

However, a specific tool is needed for adjusting the lock assembly of the '242 application, and the tool is not an inherent part of the lock assembly. Therefore, the adjustment of the lock assembly of the '242 application is troublesome and time-consuming.

To overcome the shortcomings, the present invention tends to provide a lock assembly to mitigate or obviate the aforementioned problems.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The main objective of the invention is to provide a lock assembly that can be adjusted to fit with different keys conveniently and quickly.

The lock assembly comprises a housing, a lock cylinder, an adjusting block and an adjusting assembly. The housing has a cylinder hole defined axially through the housing. The lock cylinder is rotatably and slidably received in the cylinder hole of the housing and has a key hole, a plurality of pin slots and a holding recess. The pin slots and the holding recess are communicating with the key hole of the lock cylinder. The adjusting block is slidably received in the holding recess of the lock cylinder and has a wedge side facing the lock cylinder and a plurality of first wedge elements formed on the wedge side. The adjusting assembly is mounted in the lock cylinder and comprises multiple adjustable rack assemblies mounted respectively in the pin slots in the lock cylinder. Each rack assembly comprises a rack element and an adjusting base. The rack element is slidably mounted in one of the pin slots, is inverse U-shaped and has a supporting arm, a wedge leg, an engaging leg, a second wedge element and multiple teeth. The supporting arm has two ends. The wedge leg and engaging leg are formed respectively on and protrude downward from the ends of the supporting arm. The second wedge element formed on the wedge leg and selectively engaging one of the first wedge elements on the adjusting block. The multiple teeth are formed on the engaging leg. The adjusting base is slidably mounted in a corresponding pin slot and has multiple teeth selectively engaging the teeth on the rack

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

With reference toFIGS. 1 to 3, a lock assembly in accordance with the present invention comprises a housing (10), a lock cylinder (20), an adjusting block (30), multiple pin assemblies (40) and an adjusting assembly.

The housing (10) has a cylinder hole (11), multiple pin holes (12), a lid (13), a through hole (14), an engaging member (15) and a positioning element (60).

The cylinder hole (11) is defined axially through the housing (10). The pin holes (12) are defined radially in the housing (10) and communicate with the cylinder hole (11). The lid (13) is attached to the housing (10) and closes the pin holes (12). The through hole (14) is defined radially in the housing (10), communicates with the cylinder hole (11) and may align with the pin holes (12).

The engaging member (15) is mounted in the through hole (14), may be a stud and further comprises a spring (16). The spring (16) is mounted in the through hole (14) and abuts and pushes the engaging member (15).

The positioning element (60) is mounted on and extends from the housing (10). In a preferred embodiment, an alignment notch (17) is defined in a rear end of the housing (10), and the positioning element (60) is held in and extends out of the alignment notch (17). At least one spring (61) is mounted in the alignment notch (17) and abuts the positioning element (60) to push the positioning element (60) out of the alignment notch (17). The positioning element (60) may have a positioning tip (601) formed on and protruding from the positioning element (60).

The housing (10) further has an annular cap (80) mounted on the rear end of the housing (10) and is made of wear-resisting material. The annular cap (80) has an aligning notch (81) aligning with the alignment notch (17) in the housing (10).

The lock cylinder (20) is rotatably and slidably mounted in the cylinder hole (11) in the housing (10) and comprises a key hole (21), multiple pin slots (22), a holding recess (23), a dungeon (26), a recoiling channel (24), a positioning collar (70) and a fastener (25).

The key hole (21) is defined axially through the lock cylinder (20). The pin slots (22) are defined radially in the lock cylinder (20), communicate with the key hole (21) and selectively and respectively correspond to and align with the pin holes (12) in the housing (10). Each pin slot (22) further has a pin bore (221) defined in an inner surface of the pin slot (22) and having a diameter larger than a width of the pin slot (22). The holding recess (23) is longitudinally defined in the lock cylinder (20) and communicates with the pin slots (22). The holding recess (23) has a spring cavity (231) defined in a bottom at an end of the channel (23). The dungeon (26) is defined in the rear end of the lock cylinder (20) and has at least one slit (27) defined in the rear end of the lock cylinder (20) and communicating with the dungeon (26). The recoiling channel (24) is defined longitudinally inside the lock cylinder (20) and communicates with the pin slots (22) and the dungeon (26).

The positioning collar (70) is mounted securely around the rear end of and rotated with the lock cylinder (20), may abut the annular cap (80) and comprises an inner ring (72), an outer ring (73), at least one connecting rib (74) and a positioning portion (71). With the wear-resisting annular cap (80), the positioning collar (70) is kept from contacting with the rear end of the housing (10), such that the housing (10) is prevented from being worn off.

The inner ring (72) is held inside the dungeon (26) in the lock cylinder (20) and has a connecting hole (721) defined through the inner ring (72). The connecting hole (721) may have a shape of character 8 and is adapted to connect with a lock latch to make the latch rotating with the lock cylinder (20) with the transmission of the positioning collar (70).

The outer ring (73) is mounted around the inner ring (72) and the rear end of the lock cylinder (20). The at least one connecting rib (74) is mounted between the inner and outer rings (72,73) to connect the rings (72,73) together and is held respectively in the at least one slit (27) in the lock cylinder (20). With the engagement between the ribs (74) and the slits (27), the positioning collar (70) is rotated with the lock cylinder (20).

The positioning portion (71) is formed on and protrudes from the positioning collar (70) and selectively engages the positioning element (60) in the alignment notch (17) of the housing (10). The positioning portion (71) may have a positioning detent (711) defined in the positioning portion (71) at an end facing the positioning element (60) and selectively engaging the positioning tip (601) on the positioning element (60) via the aligning notch (81) in the annular cap (80).

The fastener (25) is C-shaped or E-shaped and attached to the rear end of the lock cylinder (20) to keep the lock cylinder (20) from escaping from the cylinder hole (11) in the housing (10) and hold the positioning collar (70) in position at the lock cylinder (20).

The adjusting block (30) is slidably mounted on the lock cylinder (20), is preferably mounted in the holding recess (23) and has a wedge side, an engaging side, multiple first wedge elements (33), an engaging slot (35), at least one biasing member (31) and a spring mount (32).

The wedge side faces the lock cylinder (20), and the engaging side is opposite to the wedge side. The first wedge elements (33) are formed on the wedge side and correspond respectively to the pin slots (22) in the lock cylinder (20).

The first wedge elements (33) are formed separately on the wedge side of the adjusting block (30) and each first wedge element (33) on the adjusting block (30) comprises an inclined guiding face (34) defined in a rear side of the first wedge element (33).

The engaging slot (35) is defined in the engaging side of the adjusting block (30) and selectively engages the engaging member (15) to keep the adjusting block (30) from moving with the lock cylinder (20). The engaging slot (35) has two long edges (351) perpendicular to an axis of the adjusting block (30) and two short edges perpendicular to the long edges (351).

The engaging slot (35) may have a guiding notch (352) defined in one of the short edges to make the slot (35) substantially L-shaped and provides a guiding effect to the engaging member (15) entering into or escaping from the slot (35). With the arrangement of the guiding notch (352), the escape of the engaging member (15) from the slot (35) can be postponed. The guiding notch (352) has an inclined guiding surface (353) extending to the engaging slot (35) to provide a guiding effect to the engaging member (15).

The spring mount (32) is formed on one end of the adjusting block (30).

The biasing members (31), such as springs are mounted in the spring cavity (231) in the holding recess (23) and each have two end abut respectively the spring mount (32) on the adjusting block (30) and an inner surface of the spring cavity (231).

The lock pin assemblies (40) are mounted respectively in the pin holes (12) in the housing (10) and selectively extend respectively into the pin slots (22) in the lock cylinder (20), preferably extend into the pin bores (221) in the pin slots (22). Each lock pin assembly (40) comprises a lock pin (41) and a spring (42). The lock pin (41) is slidably mounted in one of the pin holes (12) in the housing (10) and selectively extends into the pin bore (221) of a corresponding one the pin slots (22) in the lock cylinder (20). The spring (42) is held in a corresponding pin hole (12) and abuts against the lock pin (41) and the lid (13) to push the lock pin (41) into the corresponding pin slot (22).

The adjusting assembly is mounted in the lock cylinder (20) and comprises multiple rack assemblies (50) and a recoiling device (53).

The rack assemblies (50) are adjustable and are mounted respectively in the pin slots (22) in the lock cylinder (20) to support the lock pins (41) of the lock pin assemblies (40). Each rack assembly (50) comprises a rack element (51), an adjusting base (52) and a resilient member (55).

The rack element (51) may be inverse U-shaped, is slidably mounted in one of the pin slots (22), selectively abuts with and supports a corresponding one of the lock pins (41) and has a supporting arm (513), a wedge leg (511) and an engaging leg (512). The supporting arm (513) has a spring cavity (515) defined in a bottom of the supporting arm (513). The wedge leg (511) and the engaging leg (512) are formed respectively on and protrude downward from two ends of the supporting arm (513).

The wedge leg (511) extends into the holding recess (23) and corresponds to and selectively engages one of the first wedge elements (33) on the adjusting block (30). The wedge leg (511) has a second wedge element (514) formed on the wedge leg (511) and selectively engages a corresponding first wedge element (33) on the adjusting block (30).

The engaging leg (512) has multiple teeth (5122) formed on a side facing the wedge leg (511).

The adjusting base (52) is slidably mounted in a corresponding pin slot (22) and has multiple teeth (521) engaging the teeth (5122) on the rack element (51) and a spring abutting portion (522). With the engagement between the teeth (5122,521) on the rack element (51) and the adjusting base (52), the rack element (51) will move with the adjusting base (52) along the corresponding pin slot (22).

The spring abutting portion (522) is formed on the adjusting base (52) and has a round cavity (523) defined in the spring abutting portion (522).

The resilient member (55) is mounted between the rack element (51) and the adjusting base (52). In a preferred embodiment, two ends of the resilient member (55) are held respectively in the spring cavity (515) in the extension arm (513) and the cavity (523) in the spring abutting portion (522) on the adjusting base (52).

The recoiling device (53) is mounted in the recoiling channel (24) in the lock cylinder (20) to provide a recoiling force to the rack elements (51) and comprises a pushing rod (532) and multiple resilient elements (531). With further reference toFIG. 4, the pushing rod (532) has multiple pushing bosses (533) formed on one side of the pushing rod (532) and abutting respectively with the engaging legs (512) of the rack elements (51). The resilient elements (531), such as springs abut with the pushing rod (532).

In an alternative embodiment, with reference toFIG. 5, the recoiling device (53) comprises multiple resilient elements (54) each mounted between the wedge leg (511A) of a corresponding rack element (51A) and the corresponding adjusting base (52A). The resilient member (55A) of each rack assembly (50A) is mounted between the adjusting base (52A) and an inner surface of the lock cylinder (20A). In a preferred embodiment, two ends of the resilient member (54) are held respectively in the spring cavity (515) in the extension arm (513) and the cavity (523) in the spring abutting portion (522) on the adjusting base (52).

In use, with reference toFIG. 3, before a specific key is inserted into the key hole (21), the lock pins (41) extend respectively into the pin bores (221) of the lock slots (22) in the lock cylinder (20). Thus, the interface between the housing (10) and the lock cylinder (20) is blocked by the lock pins (41) to keep the lock cylinder (20) from rotating relative to the housing (10), and the lock assembly is in a lock condition.

When a specific key (90) is inserted into the key hole (21), with reference toFIG. 2, the key pushes the adjusting bases (52) with the rack elements (51) to move upward along the pin slots (22) to a position where the joints between the lock pins (41) and the rack elements (51) align with the interface between the lock cylinder (20) and the housing (10). Consequently, the lock cylinder (20) can be rotated, and the lock assembly is in an unlocked condition.

To adjust the lock assembly to fit with different keys, with reference toFIGS. 6 to 12, a first key (91) is inserted into the key hole (21) to unlock the lock assembly as shown inFIGS. 6Aand B. The lock cylinder (20) is then rotated to a position where the positioning position (71) on the positioning collar (70) aligns and engages the positioning element (60) as shown inFIGS. 7Aand B. At the same time, the engaging slot (35) in the adjusting block (30) corresponds to and aligns with the engaging device (15). The engaging device (15) enters into the guiding notch (352) from a corresponding short edge of the engaging slot (35). With the engagement between the positioning portion (71) on the positioning collar (70) and the positioning element (60), the necessary rotating angle of the lock cylinder (20) for aligning the adjusting block (30) with the engaging device (15) is determined.

The lock cylinder (20) is moved, such as pulled to slide in the cylinder hole (101) to make the engaging device (15) entering into and engaging the engaging slot (35) with the guiding effect provided by the inclined guiding surface (353) and the pushing force provided by the spring (16) as shown inFIG. 8. With the engagement between the engaging device (15) and the slot (35), the adjusting block (30) is kept from moving with the lock cylinder (20).

The lock cylinder (20) is then moved in a reverse direction, such as pushed, the adjusting block (30) is kept stationary and the rack elements (51) are moved with the lock cylinder (20) and relative to the adjusting block (30). Consequently, the rack elements (51) will move away from the adjusting bases (52) with the inclined guiding faces (34) of the first wedge elements (33) on the adjusting block (30) as shown inFIGS. 9Aand B. Thus, the rack elements (51) are disengaged from the adjusting bases (52).

The first key (91) is removed from the key hole (21), as shown inFIG. 10.

A second key (92) is then inserted into the key hole (21) to support the adjusting bases (52) at different positions from those supported by the first key (91) as shown inFIG. 11.

Finally, the lock cylinder (20) is rotated by the second key (92) as shown inFIGS. 12Aand B. With the rotation of the lock cylinder (20), the adjusting block (30) will disengage from the engaging device (15) and move to an original position with the force provided by the biasing members (31). With the movement of the adjusting block (30), the rack elements (51) are pushed to move close to and engage the adjusting bases (52). Because the adjusting bases (52) are located at different positions, the teeth (521) on the adjusting bases (52) engage different teeth (5122) on the rack elements (51). Thus, the rack elements (51) support the lock pins (41) at different positions to fit with the second key (91). Additionally, with the recoiling force provided by the recoiling device (53), the rack elements (51) can be moved to engage the adjusting bases (52) precisely and stably.

Accordingly, to adjust the lock assembly in accordance with the present invention is convenient and quick without using any tool, so that the lock assembly is versatile in use.