Dual-Rotor Lock Mechanism Preventing Unauthorized Rotation
Solution Overview
Problem
Mechanical locks are vulnerable to lock-picking due to mechanical tolerances between components, allowing pins and counter-pins to incline and potentially be forcibly removed, compromising the lock's security.
Innovation Solution
A mechanical lock design featuring a dual-rotor system with a first rotor housing a second rotor, where the engagement elements and holes form an encryption code, and positioning means with springs to maintain alignment and reduce friction, preventing unauthorized rotation without the correct key.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If traditional pin and counter-pin mechanisms are used in mechanical locks, then the lock can be actuated through key insertion, but the pins can incline due to mechanical tolerances and be forcibly removed through lock-picking
Solution Approach 1:
The lock mechanism is divided into two independent rotor systems: a first rotor containing engagement elements with holes, and a second rotor containing pins. This segmentation creates two separate security layers that must both be compromised for the lock to fail, preventing traditional lock-picking methods from working on a single pin mechanism.
Solution Approach 2:
The second rotor is nested inside the first rotor, with the pins in the inner rotor engaging with holes in the outer rotor. This nested configuration creates a dual-rotor system where the inner rotor's pins must align with the outer rotor's holes simultaneously, making unauthorized rotation impossible without the correct key alignment.
2Ease of manufacture
If mechanical tolerances between rotor and pins/counter-pins are present, then the lock can be assembled and manufactured, but the pins can be made to jump outside the radial cavity through torsional tension
Solution Approach 1:
The engagement elements incorporate spring-loaded pins that can dynamically adjust their position. The springs allow the pins to move radially within controlled limits, absorbing torsional tensions without permitting the pins to jump outside their radial cavities, thus neutralizing the exploitation of mechanical tolerances.
Solution Approach 2:
Spring elements are pre-installed to cushion and absorb torsional tensions before they can cause the pins to jump outside their radial cavities. This beforehand cushioning prevents the harmful effect of torsional tension exploitation while maintaining the mechanical tolerance necessary for assembly.
3Strength
If the rotor is destroyed to compromise the lock, then the pins can be forcibly removed, but the rotor can still freely rotate with respect to the stator
Solution Approach 1:
The dual-rotor design segments the security mechanism into two interdependent parts. Even if one rotor is destroyed or removed, the other rotor remains constrained by its own engagement elements, preventing free rotation and maintaining security through the remaining intact rotor.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Enhances security by preventing lock-picking and ensuring that the rotors cannot be kept in tension for unauthorized rotation, maintaining the lock's integrity even if engagement elements are forcibly destroyed.
Implementation Method 1
Between each pin and the stator there is a spring suitable for pushing the pin and the counter-pin in a radial direction from outside inwards
Implementation Method 2
positioning means, in particular springs, for the first rotor and for the second rotor, arranged so as to come into abutment with the engagement elements and holes, respectively, of the other rotor, and suitable for reducing friction between these elements
Data Source
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AI summary
A lock (100) is described, comprising: a body (1) suitable for defining a housing (2) having a main development direction (D) along a direction of insertion (I) of the key; a first rotor (30) suitable for being rotationally housed inside said housing (2) of such a body (1) around the main development direction (D) of such a body (1), said first rotor (30) being suitable for defining a further housing to receive a second rotor (40) that can rotate inside said first rotor (30) around the main development direction (D) of such a body (1). The lock (100) is characterised in that said second rotor (40) can be rotated by the key between a position of disengagement and a position of engagement with said first rotor (30), in said position of engagement said first rotor (30) and said second rotor (40) being suitable for translating as a unit along the main development direction (D) of the body (1) to reach a position in which the lock (100) is actuated.