Disk Cylinder Key Blank Notches for Chamfered Key Insertion
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Solution Overview
Problem
Disk cylinders with rotatable disk tumblers require keys that facilitate comfortable handling and smooth actuation, as existing keys often have sharp edges that can cause discomfort and damage to clothing or objects.
Innovation Solution
A key blank with a key shaft featuring a series of transversely extending notches of equal depth, which are used to form drive slopes and chamfers, allowing for a smooth introduction into the keyway and reducing sharp edges during handling.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If traditional key blanks without notches are used, then the manufacturing process is simpler, but the key has sharp edges that cause discomfort and damage to clothing
Solution Approach 1:
The key blank is pre-formed with notches before the final key cutting process. These notches are created in advance to guide the formation of chamfered edges during subsequent machining operations, eliminating sharp edges before the key is completed and used.
Solution Approach 2:
The key shaft is divided into multiple notches that segment the originally continuous sharp edge into multiple smaller chamfered surfaces. This segmentation transforms the harmful continuous sharp edge into multiple controlled chamfered edges that are comfortable to handle and won't damage clothing.
2Object-affected harmful factors
If notches are added to the key blank, then chamfered edges are created for comfortable handling, but the manufacturing process becomes more complex
Solution Approach 1:
The notches are created as preliminary features on the key blank before final key encoding. This preliminary action establishes the locations where chamfered edges will form, allowing the main key cutting operation to efficiently create both the notches and chamfers in an integrated process.
Solution Approach 2:
The formation of notches and chamfered edges is combined into a single manufacturing process step. The notches serve dual purposes: they define the locations for edge chamfering and simultaneously create part of the key's functional geometry, merging what could be separate operations into one efficient process.
3Ease of operation
If notches of equal depth at equal spacings are formed, then smooth introduction into keyway is achieved, but additional manufacturing steps are required
Solution Approach 1:
The key blank manufacturing process uses standardized parameters for notch depth and spacing. By establishing fixed parameters (equal depth, equal spacing) for all notches, the process achieves consistent chamfered edges that ensure smooth keyway introduction while using efficient standardized manufacturing operations.
Solution Approach 2:
The notches serve multiple functions simultaneously: they create chamfered edges for smooth introduction, provide reference features for drive slope formation, and establish consistent spacing for proper key alignment. This multi-functionality reduces the need for separate manufacturing steps for each feature.
Data Source
AI summary
A key blank for manufacturing a key for a disk cylinder having rotatable disk tumblers has a key shaft that extends along a longitudinal axis. The key shaft further has a plurality of notches that extend transversely to the longitudinal axis, that extend at equal spacings from one another, and that have the same depth. In a key, these notches may form chamfers of drive slopes for driving the disk tumblers.