Patent ID: 7207200

Claim:
A key blank for a key insertable in a keyway of a cylinder lock having a protection operatively associated with the keyway for displacement by said key, comprising: a bonnet for grasping with fingers; a blade extending in a longitudinal direction from the bonnet to a distal tip, and having top and bottom edges spaced apart along a blade height direction and left and right flanks spaced apart along a blade width direction; a longitudinal channel in at least one flank, said channel having a base between two walls which together define a channel width extending in the blade height direction and a channel depth in the blade width direction; and at least one raised node situated in said channel, each node having a front ramp facing the tip of the blade for guiding said protection parallel to the channel base and toward one channel wall, a back ramp facing the bonnet for guiding said protection parallel to the channel base and toward the other channel wall, a side face between the front and back ramps defining a substantially flat side surface substantially parallel to the blade height direction, and an actuator surface contiguous with the front ramp, back ramp, and side surface, for receiving said protection from either ramp and urging said protection in a direction away from the channel base.