Patent Publication Number: US-6708534-B1

Title: Padlock

Description:
FILED OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention relates to a padlock, particularly to a padlock that can be operated by either the key or the cipher, and has an interchangeable lock cylinder. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     The padlock is the commonest lock used in the life. The padlock in the prior art may be generally unlocked with the key or the cipher. The latter is commonly called a combination lock. The traditional key-operated lock usually comprises a housing, a shackle, a lock body, a lock cylinder disposed in the lock body, slide pins arranged on the lock cylinder and lock body, a spring bolt disposed within the lock body. A key is used to drive the lock cylinder and hereby acts on the spring bolt to open the lock. The conventional combination lock comprises a housing, shackle, a lock body, a code mechanism including numeral wheels disposed in the lock body, a spring bolt acted on by the code mechanism. The combination lock can be unlocked when the numeral wheels are turned to a predetermined sequence. The problem of the key-operated lock is that people often lose the key, and that of the combination lock is that the users tend to forget the predetermined code. Therefore, it is desirable to create a lock that can be operated by either the key or the cipher. However, such a lock has not been disclosed in the art. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     Therefore, the present invention is to provide a new padlock that can be operated either by the key or by the cipher. 
     The padlock according to the present invention comprises a shackle having a long leg, a short leg, and two bolt recesses respectively disposed at the long leg and the short leg; a housing having two shackle holes to allow the shackle passing therethrough; a lock body having a first sidewall, a second sidewall, and a first shackle groove for receiving the long leg of the lock shackle, and a second shackle groove for receiving the short leg of the lock shackle; a lock bolt mechanism disposed at the upper portion in the lock body, including a spring and two blocks connected to the two ends of the spring; a lock cylinder assembly disposed at the middle portion in the lock body, comprising a cylinder housing, a lock cylinder disposed through the cylinder housing, a key receiving recess extended axially and inwardly for receiving a first key, and a drive pin connected to the portion of the lock cylinder out of the cylinder housing; and a combination lock assembly. 
     The combination lock assembly comprises a fork mechanism having a fork lever and a plurality of plates parallel to the fork lever, fastened to the second sidewall by a fastening spring; a wheel mechanism comprising a plurality of numeral wheels, each numeral wheel being disposed between two adjacent plates; and a clutch mechanism disposed within the wheel mechanism, including a clutch shaft and a plurality of rotatable clutch sleeves disposed on the clutch shaft, each clutch sleeve including a disc perpendicular to the clutch shaft. Each disc has a plane at the rim in matching with the plate. 
     When the padlock is locked, the two blocks of the lock bolt mechanism are engaged with the bolt recesses of the shackle and the fork lever is positioned between the two blocks. 
     When the first key inserted into the key receiving recess is turned, the drive pin drives the fork lever to move outwards so that the two blocks move to the center of the spring by pressing the shackle downwards to unlock the padlock. 
     When the numeral wheels are turned to a predetermined sequence, all the planes of the discs are positioned at the same plane and contact the plates of the fork mechanism, the fork lever moves outwards by the action of the drive spring so that the two blocks can move to the center of the spring by pressing the shackle downwards to unlock the padlock. 
     In an embodiment of the lock body of the invention, the lock body defines two protrusions extended longitudinally for matching two recesses by the fork mechanism at its outside correspondingly, so that the fork mechanism can rotate round the protrusions to ensure the fork lever to move outwards. 
     In the present invention, the padlock may include a means for resetting a new cipher. The means comprises a second key that can drive the clutch shaft moving backwards so that the new cipher can be reset by turning the numeral wheels. 
     In an embodiment of the combination lock assembly, it may further comprise a reed mechanism. The reed mechanism includes a connecting member fastened to the second sidewall and a plurality of reeds perpendicular to the connecting member. Each reed contacts the upper rim of a numeral wheel so that the numeral wheel can only turn one number once. 
     In one preferred embodiment of the present invention, the lock body defines a screw hole extended obliquely and downwards from the second shackle groove to engage with a connecting groove positioned at the surface of the cylinder housing. A connecting screw is inserted into the screw hole and the connecting groove to fix the lock cylinder assembly to the lock body. 
     The padlock of the present invention may further comprise a bottom cover to match the housing of the padlock. In this case the outer rim of the numeral wheel exceeds the bottom cover. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 is a partially exploded view of an embodiment of the padlock of the invention. 
     FIG. 2 shows an exploded view of the padlock as shown in FIG.  1 . 
     FIG. 3 is an exploded view of an embodiment of the clutch mechanism of the invention. 
     FIG. 4 is an exploded view of an embodiment of the lock cylinder assembly of the invention. 
     FIG. 5 is a sectional view of an embodiment of the padlock of the invention. 
     FIG. 6 is the sectional view taken along the line A—A in FIG.  5 . 
     FIG. 7 is the sectional view taken along the line B—B in FIG.  5 . 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     The invention will be further described in detail in conjunction with the drawings. 
     As shown in FIG. 1, an embodiment of the padlock of the invention includes a shackle  20 , a housing  40 , a lock body  10 , a lock bolt mechanism  30  disposed at the upper portion of the body  10 , a lock cylinder assembly  60  mounted to the body, and a combination lock assembly  50 . In this embodiment, the padlock further comprises a bottom cover  41 . 
     The shackle  20  has a long leg  201  and a short leg  202 . Two recesses  2011  and  2021  are respectively disposed at the long leg  201  and the short leg  202 . The housing  40  provides two shackle holes  401  and  402  to allow the shackle passing therethrough. 
     The lock body  10  comprises a first sidewall  104  and a second sidewall  104 . Corresponding to the shackle holes  401  and  402 , the lock body also provides a first shackle groove  101  for receiving the long leg  201 , and a second shackle groove  102  for receiving the short leg  202 . 
     Referring to FIG.  1  and FIG. 2, the lock bolt mechanism  30  is disposed on a platform (not shown) at the upper portion of the body. The lock bolt mechanism  30  includes a spring  31  and two blocks  32  connected to the two ends of the spring  31 . The lock cylinder assembly  60  is disposed at the middle portion in the lock body  10  through a hole  403  at the housing and a hole  13  at the lock body  10 . 
     The lock body assembly  60 , referring to FIG. 4, comprises a cylinder housing  61 , a lock cylinder  62  disposed through the cylinder housing  61 , and a key receiving recess  621  extended axially and inwardly for receiving a first key  67 . In FIG. 4, reference numerals  631  and  632  represent slide pins, and reference numeral  64  is a spring. This configuration is similar to that in the prior art. However, in the invention, a drive pin  65  is connected to the portion of the lock cylinder  62  that is out of the cylinder housing  61 . 
     Again referring to FIG.  1  and FIG. 2, the combination lock assembly  50  comprises a fork mechanism  53  having a fork lever  531 , two fork arms  534  extended from the fork lever and four plates  532  connected to the fork arms and parallel to the fork lever  531 ; a wheel mechanism  51  comprising four numeral wheels  511 , each numeral wheel  511  being disposed between two adjacent plates; and a clutch mechanism  52  disposed within the wheel mechanism  51 . The fork mechanism  53  is connected with the second sidewall by a fastening spring  55  via a spring hole  533  at the middle portion of the fork mechanism  53 . The fork lever can move outwards and inwards within the opening  15  with respect to the first sidewall. A part of the fork lever is positioned between the two blocks. As shown in FIG. 3, the clutch mechanism  52  includes a clutch shaft  521  and four rotatable clutch sleeves  522  disposed on the clutch shaft  521 . Each clutch sleeve  522  has a canula  5221  and a disc  5222  housed on the canula  5221  and perpendicular to the clutch shaft  521 . All the discs have a plane  52221  in matching with the plate  532 . A positioning ring  525  is mounted to one end of the clutch shaft  521 , and a spring holder  523  holding a spring  524  is connected to the other end of the clutch shaft  521 . 
     As shown in FIG. 3, a project  5223  is provided at each canula  5221  to engage a recess provided at the inner wall of the numeral wheel (not shown). The numeral wheel is arranged on the canula  5221  of the clutch sleeve  522  by the engagement of project  5223  and the recess at the inner wall of the numeral wheel. The clutch mechanism  52  is mounted into the body  10  through a hole  14  at the lower portion of the body, as shown in FIG.  2 . The disc  5222  of the clutch sleeve contacts the plate  532 . 
     In FIG. 2, the combination lock mechanism may further comprise a reed mechanism  54 . The reed mechanism includes a connecting member  542  fixed to the second sidewall of the lock body  10 , and four reeds  541  perpendicular to the connecting member  542 . Each reed presses the upper rim of the numeral wheel  511 . There are Arabic numbers from 0 to 9 at the outer rim of the numeral wheel  511 . Turning the numeral wheel  511  can drive the disc  5222  to rotate correspondingly. With the reed&#39;s action, the numeral wheel can be turned only one number once. 
     Referring to FIG. 2, two protrusions  11  are provided in the body  10  to engage two recesses  534  (only showing one) provided by the fork mechanism at its outside correspondingly so that the fork mechanism can rotate round the two protrusions  11 . 
     Now referring to FIGS. 1,  5 , and  6 , when the padlock of the invention is locked, the two blocks  32  are engaged with two shackle recesses  21 . Because a part of the fork lever  531  is positioned between the two blocks, the blocks  32  are barred from removing out of the shackle recesses. When the lock cylinder  62  is driven to turn by the first key, the drive pin  65  pushes the fork lever  531  to move outwards. In this case, the two blocks move to the center of the spring  31  by pressing the shackle  20  downwards, the padlock is unlocked under the action of a drive spring  80  disposed at the bottom of the first shackle groove  101  for acting on the long leg  201  of the shackle  20 . When the numeral wheels  511  are turned to a predetermined sequence, all the planes  52221  of the discs  5222  are positioned at the same plane as shown in FIG.  6  and contacts the inner surface of the plates  532 . The fork mechanism  53  rotates round the protrusions by the action of the fastening spring  55  and the fork lever  531  moves outwards. In this case, the two blocks move to the center of the spring  31  by pressing the shackle downwards. The padlock is unlocked under the action of the drive spring  80 . 
     The padlock of the invention also provides a means for resetting the cipher. The means includes a second key  70  that can be inserted into the lock body  10  through a second key receiving recess  17  in the lock body  10 , as shown in FIG.  2 . The second key receiving recess  17  is positioned to face the clutch shaft  521 . When the padlock is unlocked, the second key can drive the clutch shaft  521  to move backwards so that the discs  522  are separated from the plates  532 . A new cipher can be set by turning the numeral wheels to a new sequence and taking out the second key. 
     The lock cylinder assembly  60  of the invention can be replaceable, as shown in FIG.  2  and FIG.  7 . The lock cylinder assembly  60  is inserted into the body  10  through the hole  403  at the housing  40  and the hole  13  at the body  10 . The holes  403  and  13  are matched with the configuration of the lock cylinder assembly. Within the body  10 , an oblique screw hole  106  extended downwards from the shackle recess  21  is provided. The oblique screw hole  106  is extended to reach a connecting groove  611  at the surface of the lock housing  61  so that a screw  66  can be screwed into the screw hole  106  and the connecting groove  611  to fasten the lock cylinder assembly  60  to the lock body  10 . When necessary, the lock cylinder assembly can be replaced by drawing the screw  66  out of the receiving groove  611 . 
     Although the invention is illustrated by the above embodiments and descriptions, it is understood that any varieties and modifications to the invention without departure from the spirit of the invention will fall within the scope of appended claims.