LOCK CYLINDER

Description

[0001] The invention relates to a locking cylinder with a core movable in a housing, with a locking channel arranged in the core and with at least one tumbler projecting into the locking channel for scanning a key inserted into the locking channel, wherein, depending on the position of the tumbler, movement of the core relative to the housing is enabled or blocked, wherein the tumbler has a pivotable probe arm and the probe arm is mounted in the core, wherein the movement of the free end of the probe arm describes a circular arc located in the locking channel, the tangent of which points transversely to the vertical towards the locking channel.

[0002] A locking cylinder of the type described above is known from GB 2 266 918 A. It has a rotatable core with a keyway and levers with prongs that scan a lateral recess of a key shaft inserted into the keyway. On the side of the levers facing away from the keyway, each lever has a circular segment with several receptacles. The circular segment has a specific angle depending on the position of the respective prong and the lateral recess of the key shaft inserted into the keyway. One of the receptacles is shaped so that, when the lever is at a suitable angle, it can receive a blocking element in the form of a rod. When an attempt is made to rotate the locking cylinder, the blocking element is pressed towards the keyway by a cam.If a key with an unsuitable lateral notch on the key shaft is inserted into the locking channel, at least one lever will remain in an angular position that blocks movement of the locking element towards the locking channel. This prevents rotation of the core.

[0003] A similar locking cylinder is known, for example, from EP 0 159 494 A1. This locking cylinder has several two-armed control levers, the ends of which, facing away from the locking channel, interact with a locking bar. The control lever has a control lug that pivots essentially vertically into the locking channel. This allows the thickness of the key or the height of a profile rib to be detected at that point.

[0004] From EP 2 309 083 A2, a locking cylinder is known in which a C-shaped pivoting lever is arranged in the core. One end of the pivoting lever is mounted in the core, while the other end is designed as a scanning end for a key inserted into the locking channel. The scanning end can be pivoted essentially perpendicularly into the locking channel and thus detects the thickness of the key at that point.

[0005] A locking cylinder with a pivotable locking lever is known from DE 102 08 893 C1. The locking lever can be deflected by a transmission element movable vertically in the locking channel. The transmission element thereby detects the thickness of the key.

[0006] From DE 35 03 660 A1, a locking channel with a double lever mounted in the core is known. One end of the double lever can be actuated by a key tip inserted into the locking channel, while the other end is designed as a probe head that pivots essentially vertically into the locking channel. The probe head scans the depth of a recess in the key at this point.

[0007] A disadvantage of conventional locking cylinders is that they can only detect the thickness of the key or the depth of a notch in the key. This severely limits the possibilities for key scanning.

[0008] The invention is based on the problem of further developing a locking cylinder of the type mentioned above in such a way that it offers the most versatile possible scanning of key features while keeping the structural effort particularly low.

[0009] This problem is solved according to the invention by arranging the locking pin in the same cross-sectional plane as a pin locking pin provided for scanning locking notches in a key face.

[0010] Locking notches arranged in the key face are generally scanned by pin tumblers with a core pin movable within the core and a housing pin movable within the housing. The solution according to the invention enables such locking cylinders to offer a particularly versatile scanning capability with minimal effort. In this design, the probe arm, or, if present, the control arm, forms a component corresponding to the core pin, which holds the housing pin of the pin tumbler, located in the same cross-sectional plane, on the dividing plane between the housing and the core. As a result, the tumbler containing the probe arm does not require a separately mounted spring element or a separately mounted housing pin. The structural effort required to produce the tumbler is therefore particularly low. Due to the fundamental design of the locking cylinder according to the invention, the probe arm does not pivot vertically into the locking channel.Rather, the tangent of the free end of the stylus, which lies parallel to the longitudinal plane of the keyway, allows a contour protruding from the key to be scanned laterally. This enables the scanning of not only the key's thickness, the depth of a recess, or the height of a profile rib, but also the flank of a profile rib, groove, or notch. This allows for a particularly versatile scanning of key features. A further advantage of this design is that, with a varying key contour, different locking mechanisms can be present at the same level of the keyway. This significantly hinders the copying of the authorized key.

[0011] According to another advantageous embodiment of the invention, the free end of the stylus is directly opposite a lateral contour of a key during insertion when the free end of the stylus projects into the locking channel in a home position. This design also allows only a very small pivoting movement of the stylus.

[0012] The sensing arm could, like a passively designed interlock, directly block the movement of the core. However, according to another advantageous embodiment of the invention, the interlock comprising the sensing arm can be used in a particularly versatile manner if the sensing arm is connected to a control arm and if the control arm is connected to a blocking element for selectively blocking or releasing the movement of the core.

[0013] The sensing lever and control lever could, for example, be arranged on a common lever. However, according to another advantageous embodiment of the invention, the sensing and control levers can be arranged in a particularly compact manner if a bearing is provided between the control lever and the sensing lever. This design allows the sensing and control levers to form, for example, a rocker arm or an angle and to be easily adapted to the spatial conditions within the lock cylinder.

[0014] According to another advantageous embodiment of the invention, a translation ratio from the key's scanning to the control of the locking element can be easily determined if the sensing arm and the control arm have different dimensions. If the control arm is longer than the sensing arm, a small movement of the sensing arm allows the control arm to be deflected very far.

[0015] For example, a bearing axis of the probe arm could be arranged transversely to the longitudinal axis of the keyway, so that the probe arm scans a lug or a recess in the key. However, according to another advantageous embodiment of the invention, the probe arm can scan the edge of a profile groove in the key if a bearing axis of the probe arm is arranged parallel to the longitudinal axis of the keyway. This also makes it possible to scan the contour of the profile groove's edge when the key is inserted into the keyway. This contributes to a particularly large number of locking secrets for the cylinder.

[0016] The blocking element could, for example, have a core pin and a housing pin, similar to a conventional pin tumbler. However, according to another advantageous embodiment of the invention, reducing the number of components is achieved if the blocking element is designed as a housing pin pre-tensioned by a spring element, if the core has a pocket for receiving one end of the housing pin, and if the free end of the control arm is movable at least up to a parting line between the housing and the core to support the housing pin. This also ensures that, when the control arm is not deflected, the housing pin is pre-tensioned into the parting line between the housing and the core, thus blocking the lock cylinder.

[0017] The probe arm could, for example, scan the locking notches arranged in the key face. For this purpose, the probe arm would pivot into a narrow side of the keyway. However, according to another advantageous embodiment of the invention, the probe arm can also scan a profile groove arranged in a broad side of the key if it can pivot into a broad side of the keyway. This design allows the lateral contours of profile grooves to be scanned. With a corresponding design of the probe arm, the shape of the profile groove and any undercut of the profile groove can be detected.

[0018] According to another advantageous embodiment of the invention, a blockage when inserting a key can be easily avoided if the housing has a recess opposite the control arm. This design allows, for example, the control arm to pivot back into the housing without blocking the insertion of the key into the locking channel, even with a variable profile rib. Only when the core is turned to unlock the cylinder does the control arm need to be pivoted out of the recess again.

[0019] Undercuts in the profile of keys are known. According to another advantageous embodiment of the invention, the profile of such a key can be scanned by the lock cylinder if the keyway has an undercut. This design prevents a key without such an undercut from being inserted into the keyway.

[0020] A versatile scanning of the key's profile can be achieved according to another advantageous embodiment of the invention if the free end of the probe arm is designed in a hook shape to engage an undercut of the key. This design allows the lateral contour of the key's profile to be scanned.

[0021] The invention allows for numerous embodiments. To further illustrate its basic principle, two of these are shown in the drawing and described below. This shows in Fig. 1 shows a lock cylinder with a key inserted in it in a home position, Fig. 2 shows a sectional view of the lock cylinder with the key. Figure 1 along line II - II, Fig.2a a greatly enlarged representation of the lock cylinder from Figure 2 in the area of ​​a tumbler, Fig. 3 the locking cylinder made of Figure 2After an initial rotation, Fig. 4 greatly enlarged, a locking cylinder tumbler, Fig. 5 another embodiment of a locking cylinder tumbler,

[0022] Figure 1Figure 1 schematically shows a lock cylinder 1 with a key 2 inserted therein. The lock cylinder 1 has a core 4 rotatable within a housing 3, with a keyway 5 and a series of pin tumblers 6. The lock cylinder 1 also has a separate tumbler 7. The key 2 has a bow 8 and a shaft 9 inserted into the keyway 5. The shaft 9 has several profile grooves 12 bounded by profile ribs 11 on its broad side 10 and several locking notches 14 on a key face 13. The pin tumblers 6 each have a housing pin 16 biased towards the core 4 by a spring element 15 and a core pin 17 movable within the core 4 for scanning the locking notches 14. The separate tumbler 7 scans one of the profile grooves 12 at a designated location on the shaft 9.

[0023] To simplify the drawing, only the separate locking pin 7 is shown as representative of various locking pin 7 possibilities. Naturally, the locking cylinder 1 can have several locking pin 7 arranged at different locations on its broad side 10 for scanning purposes. Furthermore, the same profile groove 12 can be variably designed along the length of the shaft 9 and scanned at different locations by a locking pin 7.

[0024] Figure 2 shows a sectional view of the lock cylinder 1 from Figure 1 along line II - II.It can be seen that the separate tumbler 7 is arranged in the same cross-sectional plane of the lock cylinder 1 as one of the pin tumblers 6. Lock cylinder 1 and key 2 are shown in a home position in which the shaft 9 of the key 2 is inserted into the keyway 5. In this position, the pin tumblers 6 engage the locking notches 14 in the key face 13. When the housing pin 16 and the core pin 17 meet in the dividing plane between the housing 3 and the core 4, this pin tumbler 6 is unlocked.

[0025] The separate locking pin 7 projects into one of the profile grooves 12 in the broad side 10 in the shaft 9 of the key 2 and is in Figure 2aShown greatly enlarged. The separate locking device 7 has a sensing leg 18 for scanning a flank 19 of the profile rib 11 that bounds the profile groove 12, and a control leg 20 which projects into a pocket 21 of the core 4. Furthermore, the separate locking device 7 has a bearing arranged between the sensing leg 18 and the control leg 20, with a bearing axis 22 arranged perpendicular to the plane of the drawing. The core 4 has bearing bores (not shown) corresponding to the bearing axis 22.

[0026] The bearing arrangement allows the free end of the probe arm 18 to describe a circular arc (shown as a dashed line) located in the closing channel 5 when pivoting. The tangent V of this arc points perpendicular to the vertical and onto the closing channel 5. This tangent V points to the lateral flank 19 of the adjacent profile rib 11, so that the probe arm 18 scans the lateral flank 19 of the profile rib 11.

[0027] If the key 2 did not have a profile groove 12, or if this groove were not deep enough, or if the adjacent profile rib 11 were too wide, the key 2 would not be able to be fully inserted into the locking channel 5, and the locking cylinder 1 would be blocked despite the matching locking notches 14 of the key 2. In the present example, the profile groove 12 is dimensioned such that the key 2 can be fully inserted into the locking channel 5.

[0028] If one starts from the in Figure 2 In the position shown, the key 2 and thus the core 4 are inserted until the control arm 20 is opposite the housing pin 16 of the pin tumbler 6; this leads to the position shown. Figure 3The depicted position of the lock cylinder 1. The free end of the lever arm 18 rests against the flank 19 of the profile rib 11, while the free end of the control arm 20 and the housing pin 16 abut each other in the parting plane between the housing 3 and the core 4. The housing pin 16 thus forms a blocking element 23 of the separate tumbler 7. This holds the housing pin 16 in the housing 3, allowing the core 4 to be rotated further and thus unlocking the lock cylinder 1.

[0029] If the flank 19 of the profile rib 11 did not support the probe arm 18 as shown, the housing pin 16 would protrude into the pocket 21 in the core 4 and block further movement of the core 4.

[0030] Figure 4The figure shows, greatly enlarged for clarity, the separate locking pin 7 with adjacent areas of the key 2 and the housing pin 16 in a perspective view. For the sake of simplicity, the housing 3 and the core 4 of the lock cylinder 1 are not shown.

[0031] Figure 5 Figure 1 shows a further embodiment of a separate locking pin 107 of the locking cylinder 1, which differs from the Figure 4 The only difference is that the free end of a key arm 118 is hook-shaped, designed to engage an undercut 124 of a profile rib 111. A key 2 without an undercut 124 could not close the lock cylinder 1.

[0032] In the drawing, the tumbler 7, 107, which has the tactile arm 18, 118, is designed as a separate tumbler. Of course, the locking cylinder 1 can also have a series of tumblers 7, 107 with tactile arms 18, 118. This series of tumblers 7, 107 with tactile arms 18, 118 could scan different profile ribs 19 or a profile rib 19 with a variable shape at different points on the shaft 9.

Claims

1. Locking cylinder (1) comprising a core (4) which is movable in a housing (3), a locking channel (5) arranged in the core (4), and at least one tumbler (7, 107) projecting into the locking channel (5) for sensing a key (2) inserted into the locking channel (5), a movement of the core (4) relative to the housing (3) being released or blocked depending on the position of the tumbler (7, 107), the tumbler (7, 107) having a pivotable sensing member (18, 118), and the sensing member (18, 118) being mounted in the core (4), the movement of the free end of the sensing member (18, 108) describing a circular arc located in the locking channel (5), the tangent (V) of said arc pointing transversely to the perpendicular to the locking channel (5), characterized in that the tumbler (7, 107) is arranged in the same cross-sectional plane as a tumbler pin (6) provided for sensing locking notches (14) in a key face (13).

2. Locking cylinder according to claim 1, characterized in that the free end of the sensing member (18, 118) projects into the locking channel (5) in a basic position.

3. Locking cylinder according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the sensing member (18, 118) is connected to a control member (20), and in that the control member (20) is connected to a blocking element (23) for selectively blocking or releasing the movement of the core (4).

4. Locking cylinder according to claim 3, characterized in that a bearing is arranged between the control member (20) and the sensing member (18, 118).

5. Locking cylinder according to claim 3 or 4, characterized in that the sensing member (18, 118) and the control member (20) have different dimensions.

6. Locking cylinder according to at least one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that a bearing shaft (22) of the sensing member (18, 118) is arranged in parallel with the longitudinal axis of the locking channel (5).

7. Locking cylinder according to at least one of claims 3 to 6, characterized in that the blocking element (23) is designed as a housing pin (16) preloaded by a spring element (15), in that the core (4) has a pocket (21) for receiving one end of the housing pin (16) and in that the free end of the control member (20) is movable at least up to a separation plane between the housing (3) and the core (4) in order to support the housing pin (16).

8. Locking cylinder according to at least one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that the sensing member (18, 118) can be pivoted into a broad face of the locking channel (5).

9. Locking cylinder according to at least one of claims 1 to 8, characterized in that the locking channel (5) has an undercut.

10. Locking cylinder according to at least one of claims 1 to 9, characterized in that the housing (3) has a recess (25) opposite the control member (20).

11. Locking cylinder according to at least one of claims 1 to 10, characterized in that the free end of the sensing member (107) is hook shaped in order to engage behind an undercut (124) of the key (2).