Patent ID: 7516633

Claim:
An electric lock comprising: a manual operation mechanism including a rotary knob unit, a first attracting member mounted fixedly to said rotary knob unit, a key-operated lockset, and a lock-connecting rod connected to and rotatable by said rotary knob unit and said key-operated lockset; an electric control mechanism including a power source unit, a clutch gear driven by said power source unit to rotate in two directions, and a second attracting member mounted fixedly to said clutch gear; and a lock housing unit for mounting with said electric control mechanism, and a handle unit mounted on said lock housing unit, said handle unit including a first handle disposed rotatable on said lock housing unit and allowing said rotary knob unit to be mounted rotatably thereon, and a second handle disposed rotatable on said lock housing unit and allowing said key-operated lockset to be mounted thereon; wherein, when said clutch gear is driven by said power source unit to rotate to align said first and second attracting members with each other, a magnetic attraction force is generated between said first and second attracting members to allow for co-rotation of said rotary knob unit with said clutch gear; wherein, said first handle has a rotation-limiting portion formed with at least one notch and a circumferentially extending limiting slot that has a first end and a second end in spatial communication with said notch; and said rotary knob unit includes a rotary knob, and a hand-operated connecting rod, said hand-operated connecting rod having a handle-retaining portion connected to and co-rotatable with said rotary knob, an annular mounting portion disposed around said handle-retaining portion and allowing said first attracting member to be mounted thereon, and a connecting portion interconnecting said handle-retaining portion and said mounting portion, said connecting portion being received movably within said limiting slot in said first handle and movable between said first end and said second end so that a maximum rotational angle of said hand-operated connecting rod relative to said first handle is 90°, said notch in said first handle allowing said connecting portion to be moved into said limiting slot therethrough.