CYLINDER LOCK INCLUDING MULTIPLE COOPERATING SIDEBARS FOR CONTROLLING THE LOCK

摘要

A cylinder lock includes a side bar assembly comprising a binding bar and a testing bar and code pins, each comprising a key projection, a code hole, and binding features. Partial rotation of the cylinder causes the binding bar to engage the binding features of the code pins to prevent axial movement of the pins. If the code holes of the code pins are aligned with code points of the testing bar, the testing bar is able to move inwardly with the binding bar and out of the slot so as to permit the cylinder to rotate within the bore. If one or more code holes is not aligned with a code point of the testing bar, the code point will contact the body of the code pin and thereby be prevented from moving radially inwardly out of a locking slot, thus blocking rotation of the cylinder.

主权项

1. A lock assembly comprising:
a housing including a bore and a locking slot extending longitudinally along an inner surface of said bore; a plug rotatably disposed within the bore of said housing, said plug including a sidebar slot and a keyway; a plurality of code pins transversely mounted for axial movement within said plug, each code pin comprising binding features, a code hole, and a key engaging surface disposed within said keyway; and a sidebar assembly disposed with the sidebar slot formed in said plug and comprising a binding bar and a locking bar operatively coupled together, said binding bar comprising cam features and binding projections, and said locking bar comprising code points, wherein a portion of said sidebar assembly initially extends into the locking slot and the sidebar assembly and the locking slot are cooperatively configured to permit only partial rotation of the plug with respect to the housing, and wherein the cam features of said binding bar engage a portion of the locking slot as the plug is partially rotated with respect to the housing so that the binding bar is urged out of the locking slot and into the plug such that the binding projections of the binding bar engage the binding features of the code pins to prevent axial movement of the code pins, wherein the locking bar is configured for movement with the binding bar out of the locking slot to permit rotation of the plug if the code pins are positioned by a key engaging the key-engaging surfaces to align the code holes of the code pins with the code points of the locking bar, so that the code points may enter the code holes, and wherein the locking bar is configured for movement with respect to the binding bar if the code pins are not positioned with the code holes aligned with the code points and movement of the locking bar with the binding bar is blocked by the code points contacting the code pins, thereby preventing the locking bar from moving out of the locking slot, thus preventing further rotation of the plug.