Padlock

[0002] The present invention relates to a padlock, particularly to a padlock that can be operated by either the key or the cipher, and has an interchangeable lock cylinder.

[0003] The padlock is the commonest lock used in the life. The padlock in the prior art may be generally unlocked with the key or the cipher. The latter is commonly called a combination lock. The traditional key-operated lock usually comprises a housing, a shackle, a lock body, a lock cylinder disposed in the lock body, slide pins arranged on the lock cylinder and lock body, a spring bolt disposed within the lock body. A key is used to drive the lock cylinder and hereby acts on the spring bolt to open the lock. The conventional combination lock comprises a housing, shackle, a lock body, a code mechanism including numeral wheels disposed in the lock body, a spring bolt acted on by the code mechanism. The combination lock can be unlocked when the numeral wheels are turned to a predetermined sequence. The problem of the key-operated lock is that people often lose the key, and that of the combination lock is that the users tend to forget the predetermined code. Therefore, it is desirable to create a lock that can be operated by either the key or the cipher. However, such a lock has not been disclosed in the art.

[0004] Therefore, the present invention is to provide a new padlock that can be operated either by the key or by the cipher.

[0005] The padlock according to the present invention comprises a shackle having a long leg, a short leg, and two bolt recesses respectively disposed at the long leg and the short leg; a housing having two shackle holes to allow the shackle passing therethrough; a lock body having a first sidewall, a second sidewall, and a first shackle groove for receiving the long leg of the lock shackle, and a second shackle groove for receiving the short leg of the lock shackle; a lock bolt mechanism disposed at the upper portion in the lock body, including a spring and two blocks connected to the two ends of the spring; a lock cylinder assembly disposed at the middle portion in the lock body, comprising a cylinder housing, a lock cylinder disposed through the cylinder housing, a key receiving recess extended axially and inwardly for receiving a first key, and a drive pin connected to the portion of the lock cylinder out of the cylinder housing; and a combination lock assembly.

[0006] The combination lock assembly comprises a fork mechanism having a fork lever and a plurality of plates parallel to the fork lever, fastened to the second sidewall by a fastening spring; a wheel mechanism comprising a plurality of numeral wheels, each numeral wheel being disposed between two adjacent plates; and a clutch mechanism disposed within the wheel mechanism, including a clutch shaft and a plurality of rotatable clutch sleeves disposed on the clutch shaft, each clutch sleeve including a disc perpendicular to the clutch shaft. Each disc has a plane at the rim in matching with the plate.

[0007] When the padlock is locked, the two blocks of the lock bolt mechanism are engaged with the bolt recesses of the shackle and the fork lever is positioned between the two blocks.

[0008] When the first key inserted into the key receiving recess is turned, the drive pin drives the fork lever to move outwards so that the two blocks move to the center of the spring by pressing the shackle downwards to unlock the padlock.

[0009] When the numeral wheels are turned to a predetermined sequence, all the planes of the discs are positioned at the same plane and contact the plates of the fork mechanism, the fork lever moves outwards by the action of the drive spring so that the two blocks can move to the center of the spring by pressing the shackle downwards to unlock the padlock.

[0010] In an embodiment of the lock body of the invention, the lock body defines two protrusions extended longitudinally for matching two recesses by the fork mechanism at its outside correspondingly, so that the fork mechanism can rotate round the protrusions to ensure the fork lever to move outwards.

[0011] In the present invention, the padlock may include a means for resetting a new cipher. The means comprises a second key that can drive the clutch shaft moving backwards so that the new cipher can be reset by turning the numeral wheels.

[0012] In an embodiment of the combination lock assembly, it may further comprise a reed mechanism. The reed mechanism includes a connecting member fastened to the second sidewall and a plurality of reeds perpendicular to the connecting member. Each reed contacts the upper rim of a numeral wheel so that the numeral wheel can only turn one number once.

[0013] In one preferred embodiment of the present invention, the lock body defines a screw hole extended obliquely and downwards from the second shackle groove to engage with a connecting groove positioned at the surface of the cylinder housing. A connecting screw is inserted into the screw hole and the connecting groove to fix the lock cylinder assembly to the lock body.

[0014] The padlock of the present invention may further comprise a bottom cover to match the housing of the padlock. In this case the outer rim of the numeral wheel exceeds the bottom cover.

[0015] FIG. 1 is a partially exploded view of an embodiment of the padlock of the invention.

[0016] FIG. 2 shows an exploded view of the padlock as shown in FIG. 1.

[0017] FIG. 3 is an exploded view of an embodiment of the clutch mechanism of the invention.

[0018] FIG. 4 is an exploded view of an embodiment of the lock cylinder assembly of the invention.

[0019] FIG. 5 is a sectional view of an embodiment of the padlock of the invention.

[0020] FIG. 6 is the sectional view taken along the line A—A in FIG. 5.

[0021] FIG. 7 is the sectional view taken along the line B—B in FIG. 5.

[0022] The invention will be further described in detail in conjunction with the drawings.

[0023] As shown in FIG. 1, an embodiment of the padlock of the invention includes a shackle 20, a housing 40, a lock body 10, a lock bolt mechanism 30 disposed at the upper portion of the body 10, a lock cylinder assembly 60 mounted to the body, and a combination lock assembly 50. In this embodiment, the padlock further comprises a bottom cover 41.

[0024] The shackle 20 has a long leg 201 and a short leg 202. Two recesses 2011 and 2021 are respectively disposed at the long leg 201 and the short leg 202. The housing 40 provides two shackle holes 401 and 402 to allow the shackle passing therethrough.

[0025] The lock body 10 comprises a first sidewall 104 and a second sidewall 104. Corresponding to the shackle holes 401 and 402, the lock body also provides a first shackle groove 101 for receiving the long leg 201, and a second shackle groove 102 for receiving the short leg 202.

[0026] Referring to FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, the lock bolt mechanism 30 is disposed on a platform (not shown) at the upper portion of the body. The lock bolt mechanism 30 includes a spring 31 and two blocks 32 connected to the two ends of the spring 31. The lock cylinder assembly 60 is disposed at the middle portion in the lock body 10 through a hole 403 at the housing and a hole 13 at the lock body 10.

[0027] The lock body assembly 60, referring to FIG. 4, comprises a cylinder housing 61, a lock cylinder 62 disposed through the cylinder housing 61, and a key receiving recess 621 extended axially and inwardly for receiving a first key 67. In FIG. 4, reference numerals 631 and 632 represent slide pins, and reference numeral 64 is a spring. This configuration is similar to that in the prior art. However, in the invention, a drive pin 65 is connected to the portion of the lock cylinder 62 that is out of the cylinder housing 61.

[0028] Again referring to FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, the combination lock assembly 50 comprises a fork mechanism 53 having a fork lever 531, two fork arms 534 extended from the fork lever and four plates 532 connected to the fork arms and parallel to the fork lever 531; a wheel mechanism 51 comprising four numeral wheels 511, each numeral wheel 511 being disposed between two adjacent plates; and a clutch mechanism 52 disposed within the wheel mechanism 51. The fork mechanism 53 is connected with the second sidewall by a fastening spring 55 via a spring hole 533 at the middle portion of the fork mechanism 53. The fork lever can move outwards and inwards within the opening 15 with respect to the first sidewall. A part of the fork lever is positioned between the two blocks. As shown in FIG. 3, the clutch mechanism 52 includes a clutch shaft 521 and four rotatable clutch sleeves 522 disposed on the clutch shaft 521. Each clutch sleeve 522 has a canula 5221 and a disc 5222 housed on the canula 5221 and perpendicular to the clutch shaft 521. All the discs have a plane 52221 in matching with the plate 532. A positioning ring 525 is mounted to one end of the clutch shaft 521, and a spring holder 523 holding a spring 524 is connected to the other end of the clutch shaft 521.

[0029] As shown in FIG. 3, a project 5223 is provided at each canula 5221 to engage a recess provided at the inner wall of the numeral wheel (not shown). The numeral wheel is arranged on the canula 5221 of the clutch sleeve 522 by the engagement of project 5223 and the recess at the inner wall of the numeral wheel. The clutch mechanism 52 is mounted into the body 10 through a hole 14 at the lower portion of the body, as shown in FIG. 2. The disc 5222 of the clutch sleeve contacts the plate 532.

[0030] In FIG. 2, the combination lock mechanism may further comprise a reed mechanism 54. The reed mechanism includes a connecting member 542 fixed to the second sidewall of the lock body 10, and four reeds 541 perpendicular to the connecting member 542. Each reed presses the upper rim of the numeral wheel 511. There are Arabic numbers from 0 to 9 at the outer rim of the numeral wheel 511. Turning the numeral wheel 511 can drive the disc 5222 to rotate correspondingly. With the reed's action, the numeral wheel can be turned only one number once.

[0031] Referring to FIG. 2, two protrusions 11 are provided in the body 10 to engage two recesses 534 (only showing one) provided by the fork mechanism at its outside correspondingly so that the fork mechanism can rotate round the two protrusions 11.

[0032] Now referring to FIGS. 1, 5, and 6, when the padlock of the invention is locked, the two blocks 32 are engaged with two shackle recesses 21. Because a part of the fork lever 531 is positioned between the two blocks, the blocks 32 are barred from removing out of the shackle recesses. When the lock cylinder 62 is driven to turn by the first key, the drive pin 65 pushes the fork lever 531 to move outwards. In this case, the two blocks move to the center of the spring 31 by pressing the shackle 20 downwards, the padlock is unlocked under the action of a drive spring 80 disposed at the bottom of the first shackle groove 101 for acting on the long leg 201 of the shackle 20. When the numeral wheels 511 are turned to a predetermined sequence, all the planes 52221 of the discs 5222 are positioned at the same plane as shown in FIG. 6 and contacts the inner surface of the plates 532. The fork mechanism 53 rotates round the protrusions by the action of the fastening spring 55 and the fork lever 531 moves outwards. In this case, the two blocks move to the center of the spring 31 by pressing the shackle downwards. The padlock is unlocked under the action of the drive spring 80.

[0033] The padlock of the invention also provides a means for resetting the cipher. The means includes a second key 70 that can be inserted into the lock body 10 through a second key receiving recess 17 in the lock body 10, as shown in FIG. 2. The second key receiving recess 17 is positioned to face the clutch shaft 521. When the padlock is unlocked, the second key can drive the clutch shaft 521 to move backwards so that the discs 522 are separated from the plates 532. A new cipher can be set by turning the numeral wheels to a new sequence and taking out the second key.

[0034] The lock cylinder assembly 60 of the invention can be replaceable, as shown in FIG. 2 and FIG. 7. The lock cylinder assembly 60 is inserted into the body 10 through the hole 403 at the housing 40 and the hole 13 at the body 10. The holes 403 and 13 are matched with the configuration of the lock cylinder assembly. Within the body 10, an oblique screw hole 106 extended downwards from the shackle recess 21 is provided. The oblique screw hole 106 is extended to reach a connecting groove 611 at the surface of the lock housing 61 so that a screw 66 can be screwed into the screw hole 106 and the connecting groove 611 to fasten the lock cylinder assembly 60 to the lock body 10. When necessary, the lock cylinder assembly can be replaced by drawing the screw 66 out of the receiving groove 611.

[0035] Although the invention is illustrated by the above embodiments and descriptions, it is understood that any varieties and modifications to the invention without departure from the spirit of the invention will fall within the scope of appended claims.