Abstract:
A compound locking device is provided. The compound locking device includes a key locking mechanism comprising a outer cylinder and a lock head sleeved by the outer cylinder;a positioning plate capable of restraining the outer cylinder from rotating;a combination locking mechanism comprising the positioning plate, wherein the positioning plate is adjusted to a predetermined position by means of inputting a set of correct numbers, thereby rendering the outer cylinder rotatable; and reset member protruding from near a key hole of the key locking mechanism, wherein the reset member can change the code of the combination locking mechanism.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
         [0001]    1. Field of the Invention  
           [0002]    The present invention relates to a compound locking device, and more particularly, to a lock assembly consisting of a key locking combined with a combination locking mechanism.  
           [0003]    2. Description of the Prior Art  
           [0004]    Compound locking device is known in the art. The prior art locking device comprises a body  1   a  with a combination locking mechanism therein.  
           [0005]    The prior art locking device further comprises a key locking mechanism. One end of a shaft of the combination locking mechanism is inserted into the key locking mechanism and is connected to a cylinder core. However, as known in the field, the cylinder core of the key locking mechanism is made according to and only suited for one particular type of the combination locking mechanism. This causes a high manufacturing cost. Further, the prior art has complicated structure and cannot be assembled easily. It is therefore attempted by the applicant to deal with the above situation encountered by the prior art.  
         SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
         [0006]    It is therefore a primary object of the present invention to provide an improved compound locking device having a combined key and second locking mechanism. One can unlock the compound locking device by using either a set of correct numbers, a proper key. The locking device according to this invention is user-friendly.  
           [0007]    According to the claimed invention, a compound locking device, comprising a key locking mechanism comprising a outer cylinder and a lock head sleeved by the outer cylinder;a positioning plate capable of restraining the outer cylinder from rotating;a combination locking mechanism comprising the positioning plate, wherein the positioning plate is adjusted to a predetermined position by means of inputting a set of correct numbers, thereby rendering the outer cylinder rotatable; and reset member protruding from near a key hole of the key locking mechanism, wherein the reset member can change the code of the combination locking mechanism.  
           [0008]    It is to be understood that both the forgoing general description and the following detailed description are exemplary, and are intended to provide further explanation of the invention as claimed. Other advantages and features of the invention will be apparent from the following description, drawings and claims. 
       
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
       [0009]    [0009]FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a compound locking device according one preferred embodiment of this invention.  
         [0010]    [0010]FIG. 1A is an exploded diagram of FIG. 1 according to this invention.  
         [0011]    [0011]FIG. 2 is a typical view of the invention.  
         [0012]    [0012]FIG. 3 is fragmentary, exploded diagram of FIG. 1.  
         [0013]    [0013]FIGS. 3A and 3B illustrate the use of this invention in FIG. 3.  
         [0014]    [0014]FIG. 4 is a front view of the combined locking device of the present invention.  
         [0015]    [0015]FIG. 5 is a cross sectional view of the combined locking device of the present invention.  
         [0016]    [0016]FIG. 6 to FIG. 9 are cross sectional diagrams of this invention.  
     
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT  
       [0017]    Please refer to FIG. 1 and FIG. 2. This invention is directed to an improved compound locking device. The compound locking device comprises a lock body  7  having a casing  71  and a lid  72 , a key locking mechanism having a lock head  1  and an outer cylinder  2 , a combination locking mechanism having a figure wheel set  3 , a shaft  4  and a snapping piece  6 . The compound locking device further comprises a positioning plate  5  and a reset member  8 . A rear portion of the lock head  1  is connected with a latch  14 .  
         [0018]    The casing  71  has a first chamber  711  and a second chamber  712  for accommodating the above-mentioned key locking mechanism and the combination locking mechanism respectively. At the rear portion, corresponding to the first chamber  711  and second chamber  712 , has an opening that allows a lock head protruding portion  13  to pass through and an aperture  713  that allows the reset member  8  to pass through respectively. An embedding slot  714  is recessed below the second chamber  712 . The outer cylinder  2  of the key locking mechanism is movably sleeved in the first chamber  711 . The snapping piece  6  of the combination locking mechanism is disposed in the second chamber  712 . As illustrated, the snapping piece  6  comprises a plurality of pairs of symmetrically arranged snapping arms  61 .  
         [0019]    At a front end and on an outer surface of the outer cylinder  2 , an outer guiding groove  21  is provided. On the interior surface of the outer cylinder  2 , an axially extending inner guiding groove  23  is provided. Further, one end of the outer guiding groove  21  is connected to an axially opened positioning slot  22 .  
         [0020]    The lock head  1  comprises a holding head  11 , inner cylinder  12 , protrusion portion  13 , and latch  14 . The holding head  11  has a key hole  111 . A protrusion  121  radially protrudes at a bottom of the inner cylinder  12  corresponding to the inner guiding groove  23  of the outer cylinder  2 . A protruding portion  13  extends from a rear portion of the lock head  1 . The lock head  1  comprises a lock core (not shown) therein. The protrusion  121  is retractable and is actuated by a key inserted into the key hole  111  to unlock the lock head  1 . The inner cylinder  12  of the lock head  1  is sleeved in the outer cylinder  2 . Since the protrusion  121  engages with the inner guiding groove  23  of the outer cylinder  2 , the lock head  1  and the outer cylinder  2  can rotate together, unless the outer cylinder  2  is restricted by other force, as known to those skilled in the art. When assembling the inner cylinder  12  of the lock head  1  and the outer cylinder  2 , the protruding portion  13  protrudes from the opening at the rear portion  715  of the casing  71  and the latch  14  is secured onto the protruding portion  13 .  
         [0021]    The figure wheel set  3  comprises a plurality of pairs of figure wheels  31  and positioning cam sleeves  32 . Each of the figure wheels  31  has a fringe  311  at one side of the wheel  31 . As best seen in FIG. 8, regularly recessed pattern is formed on the peripheral surface of the fringe  311  such that a pair of the snapping arms  61  can flexibly buckle the figure wheels  31 . The positioning cam sleeve  32 , which has an approximately T shaped cross section, has a surface  321 . With reference to FIG. 1A, both of the figure wheel  31  and associated positioning cam sleeve  32  have a center hole that allows the shaft  4  to pass through. As such, the figure wheel  31  is pivotally connected with the positioning cam sleeve  32 , the positioning cam sleeve  32  is pivotally connected with shaft  4  having a side plate  41  thereon. On the other side of the figure wheel  31  opposite to the fringe  311 , a plurality of spaced damascened grooves  312  are provided. Corresponding teeth  322  are provided on the connecting portion of each of the positioning cam sleeves  32 . When assembly, the teeth  322  engage with the grooves  312  such that the wheels  31  and the sleeves  32  can rotate together. As shown in FIG. 3 and FIG. 4, after assembling the figure wheel set  3 , the positioning cam sleeves  32  are serially connected to each other. The left end of the serially connected positioning cam sleeves  32  is connected with the reset member  8 , and the right end of the serially connected positioning cam sleeves  32  is biased with a flexible device  42 , which is sleeved on the shaft  4  and is positioned between the positioning cam sleeve  32  and the side plate  41 .  
         [0022]    After assembling the figure wheel set  3 , the shaft  4 , and the reset member  8  to form a configuration as illustrated in FIG. 3, as shown in FIG. 1, FIG. 4, and FIG. 5, the combined assembly in FIG. 3 is installed in the second chamber  711  of the above-mentioned casing  71  in a manner that each pairs of the snapping arms  61  of the snapping piece  6  snap the recessed patterns of the fringes  311  (see FIG. 8). The other end of the reset member  8  protrudes from the aperture  713  and the distal free end of the shaft  4  is positioned on the right wall of the second chamber  712 . The positioning plate  5  is then secured on the casing  71  to over the second chamber  712  and in a manner that a lower parallel rod  51  fits into the embedding slot  714  below the second chamber  712  and a left protruding member  52  engages with the positioning slot  22 . With reference to FIG. 6, a plurality of spaced holes  53  are provided on the positioning plate  5  and each of which corresponds to each of the figure wheels  31 . When assembled, the figure wheels  31  protrude through the holes  53 . Further, at all times, the positioning cam sleeves  32  jab bridge portions  531  between two adjacent holes  53 .  
         [0023]    With reference to FIG. 1, the lid  721  has a through hole  721  and a plurality of spaced adjusting windows  722 . When assembly, the lid  721  is screwed on the casing  71  and covers the internal elements within the casing  71 . The holding head  11  of the lock head  1  protrudes through the through hole  721  and the figure wheels  31  protrudes through associated adjusting windows  722 , as shown in FIG. 2. The lid  72  further comprises a lower stick  723  corresponding to the embedding slot  714  of the casing  71 . When assembly, the lower stick  723  seals the lower parallel rod  51  of the positioning plate  5  in the embedding slot  714 , as shown in FIG. 8 and FIG. 9. With no outer force, the positioning plate  5  is pushed to a vertical position as shown in FIG. 9.  
         [0024]    According to the present invention, whether the outer cylinder  2  is rotatable depends on the positions of the positioning plate  5 , i.e., vertical position or inclined position. As shown in FIG. 3B, the outer cylinder  2  is rotatable since the positioning plate  5  is at vertical position. As shown in FIG. 3A, the outer cylinder  2  is not rotatable since the positioning plate  5  is at inclined position. As shown in figures, when the positioning plate  5  is at inclined position, the protruding member  52  engages with the positioning slot  22  of the outer cylinder  2  and therefore restricts the outer cylinder from rotating. When the positioning plate  5  is at vertical position, the protruding member  52  disengages with the positioning slot  22  of the outer cylinder  2 , instead, the protruding member  52  engages with the outer guiding groove  21  of the outer cylinder  2 , such that the outer cylinder  2  can rotate according to the path defined by the guiding groove  21  and the protruding member  52 .  
         [0025]    As shown in FIG. 3B and FIG. 9, the status of the positioning plate  5  depends on that if the surface  321  of the positioning cam sleeve  32  contacts the positioning plate  5 , i.e., in contact with the bridge portions  531  of the positioning plate  5 . If any surface  321  does not contact the bridge portions  531 , the positioning plate  5  remains in a declined status, as shown in FIG. 8. As shown in FIG. 3A, all the surfaces  321  of the positioning plate do not connect with the positioning cam sleeve  32 . As shown in FIG. 8, when any of the arc shaped surface of the positioning cam sleeve  32  is connected with the positioning plate  5 , the positioning plate  5  is pushed to a declined status. As shown in FIG. 9, when all of the surfaces  321  of the positioning cam sleeves  32  are connected with the positioning plate  5 , the positioning plate  5  is pushed to a vertical status by means of the second flexible device  54 .  
         [0026]    If all of the surfaces  321  of the positioning cam sleeves  32  are connected with the positioning plate  5  or not depends on the operator or user gets the right combination number to unlock the device. If a set of correct number is input, all of the surfaces  321  of the positioning cam sleeves  32  are connected with the positioning plate  5 , and the positioning plate  5  is pushed to a vertical status by means of the second flexible device  54 . If there is one figure wheel is adjusted to a correct position according to a set of wrong number, the arc shaped surface of associated positioning cam sleeve  32  will connects with the positioning plate  5 , thereby forming a declined status as illustrated in FIG. 8. When in a declined status in FIG. 8, the outer cylinder  2  cannot rotate as illustrated in FIG. 3A. According to the present invention, if one input a set of wrong numbers, he can not unlock the device through the lock head since the outer cylinder  2  is restricted.  
         [0027]    Therefore, if the operator has the key to unlock this device, he can insert the key into the lock head so as to retract the protrusion  121  back into the lock head  1 , such that the lock head  1  can rotate within the outer cylinder  2  and activate the latch  14  to rotate and unlock the device. If the operator forgets to carry the key, he can use a set of right numbers to unlock the combination locking mechanism by adjusting the positioning plate  5  to a vertical status. When the positioning plate  5  is adjusted to a vertical status, the holding head  11  of the lock head  1  is rotated and the outer cylinder  2  is also rotated by the guiding of the lock head  1 , thereby rotating the latch  14 .  
         [0028]    Furthermore, if the operator needs to change the code of the combination locking mechanism, the locking device of this invention is unlocked, by unlocking either the combination locking mechanism or the key locking mechanism. As shown in FIG. 6 and FIG. 7, the reset member  8  is swayed to reset the code. With this configuration, if one forgets the code, he can unlock the locking device first and then reset the code by swaying the reset member  8 . For example, in a case that the locking device of this invention is installed on a door, the operator has to unlock the locking device to open the door. After the door is opened, he can reset the code by using the reset member  8 . If he does not have a key or a set of right numbers, he cannot enter the door and therefore cannot reset the code. In other words, the code cannot be changed from outside. As shown in FIG. 6 and FIG. 7, when swaying the reset member  8 , all of the serially connected positioning cam sleeves  32  are pushed and shift to a left side. The figure wheels  31  are restrained by the opening  53  of the positioning plate  5  and the windows  722  of the lid, thereby leaving the positioning cam sleeves  32  apart from the associated figure wheels  31 , as illustrated in FIG. 7 (or also see FIG. 1A: the second pair of the figure wheel and positioning cam sleeve from the right side). When the positioning cam sleeves  32  are apart from the associated figure wheels  31 , the code can be reset. After the code is reset, the reset member  8  is released and all of the serially connected positioning cam sleeves  32  are forced to original engagement status by the first flexible device  42 , as shown in FIG. 6.  
         [0029]    From above, the applicant utilizes the positioning plate to achieve the goal of this invention. With this positioning plate, a specific key locking mechanism may be suited for any kind of combination locking mechanism. The combination of the positioning plate and the outer cylinder is able to lock or unlock the combination locking mechanism. The combination of the outer cylinder, inner cylinder, and the cylinder core is able to lock or unlock the key locking mechanism. The two locking mechanisms are operated independently. Further, the latch of this invention may be combined with the inner cylinder and has a various types. Moreover, the appearances of the body are designed in various types. Plus, the combination locking mechanism provides reset function for a user to increase security.  
         [0030]    Those skilled in the art will readily observe that numerous modification and alterations of the device may be made while retaining the teachings of the invention. Accordingly, the above disclosure should be construed as limited only by the metes and bounds of the appended claims.