Profile Cylinder Key With Modular Extension Piece
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current profile cylinder keys can be easily copied using existing methods, compromising security, as the structural features necessary for proper alignment are not sufficiently obscured, allowing unauthorized duplication and potential misuse.
Innovation Solution
The introduction of a modular extension piece with a coded outer contour and anti-twist device on the key shank, which interacts with corresponding fitting parts on the lock cylinder, ensuring proper alignment only when the key is encoded to match the lock, thus preventing easy imitation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If profile cylinder keys are made with simple structural features for easy manufacturing, then manufacturing cost and ease of production are improved, but security against copying deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The key shank is divided into a main body and a separate extension piece that is attached to it. This segmentation allows the extension piece to carry complex coded outer contours and angled contact surfaces that are difficult to copy, while the main key body remains relatively simple to manufacture. The extension piece can be produced separately and attached, enabling complex security features without requiring the entire key to be manufactured with high complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The extension piece introduces a new dimensional aspect to the key structure by adding angled contact surfaces and coded outer contours that extend beyond the simple cross-sectional profile. These features create multi-dimensional geometric relationships that must be precisely matched in the lock cylinder, making unauthorized copying significantly more difficult while the extension piece itself can be manufactured using standard processes.
2Reliability
If profile cylinder keys are made with complex structural features to prevent copying, then security against copying is improved, but manufacturing cost and device complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
By separating the key into a simple main body and a distinct extension piece, the complex security features are isolated to one component. This allows the extension piece to be manufactured separately using standard processes, and the simplicity of the main key body keeps overall manufacturing costs reasonable. The modular structure reduces the complexity burden on the entire key manufacturing process.
Solution Approach 2:
The extension piece acts as an intermediary element that carries the complex coded features between the simple key body and the lock cylinder. It mediates the security function by providing the coded outer contours and angled contact surfaces that encode the key's function, while the simple key body provides the basic mechanical interface. This intermediary structure distributes the complexity rather than concentrating it throughout the entire key.
3Adaptability or versatility
If extension piece is designed as separate component attached to key shank, then adaptability and hierarchical coding are improved, but device complexity and manufacturing steps increase
Solution Approach 1:
The extension piece serves multiple functions: it provides coded outer contours for hierarchical identification, creates angled contact surfaces for mechanical alignment, and can be attached in different orientations to create different key codes. This multi-functionality allows a single component design to support hierarchical key systems with multiple levels of access control, making the system versatile without requiring entirely different key designs for each hierarchy level.
Solution Approach 2:
The extension piece can be attached to the key shank at different angles and orientations, creating dynamic variation in the key's coded profile. This dynamic attachment capability allows the same extension piece to generate multiple different key codes by simply changing its orientation, providing adaptability for hierarchical key systems without requiring multiple physical components or complex manufacturing variations.
Data Source
Figure 1~1a
Figure 2
AI summary
The profile cylinder key has a key grip and a key shaft coming out from the key grip. The cross-section of the key shaft is consistently equal over the length of the key shaft. An extension piece (15) is firmly provided on the tip of the key and is twisted around a longitudinal axis of the key shaft with a predetermined twisting angle (21). An independent claim is also included for a profile cylinder key-profile cylinder-combination with a key channel.