EP2161396B1 - Locking cylinder - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a lock cylinder for a luggage lock, in particular a TSA luggage lock, wherein the lock cylinder is actuated by means of an associated Bohrmuldenschlüssels.

A lock cylinder with the features of the preamble of claim 1 is in DE 10 2004 011 879 A1 described.

Following the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, security measures at airports in the US were tightened. For the safety of the passengers, all checked baggage will now be screened by the Transportation Security Administration (TSA). In some cases, the luggage is also opened and examined by hand. If the luggage concerned is secured with a lock, the lock must be broken violently.

In order to avoid the break-up and thus the destruction of the respective lock, TSA locks have been developed, which can be operated with an associated special key. This allows a TSA lock to be opened non-destructively by the TSA, with only the TSA having the particular special key and with several different types of coding defined by such special keys. The buyer of a TSA lock or suitcase with TSA lock, however, does not have a special key, ie a TSA lock is delivered exclusively without the special key. This operation of a TSA lock is also explained on the website of the Transportation Security Administration (www.tsa.gov).

Meanwhile, a variety of manufacturers have released luggage locks with mechanical combination locks, which can not only be opened by a number mechanism, but also a lock cylinder, which is actuated by means of such a TSA special key. These lock cylinders can be configured, for example, for a well key with standardized coding of the TSA006 type. Such luggage lock manufacturers are, for example, Travel Sentry Inc., USA (www.travelsentry.org) and Safe Skies LLC., New York, USA (www.safeskieslocks.com).

It has been found that TSA locks can be opened without authorization by inserting the simplest manipulation tools or even everyday objects into the key channel of the lock cylinder.

The invention has for its object to provide a lock cylinder of the type mentioned, which has an increased security against breakage.

This object is achieved by a lock cylinder for a luggage lock with the features of claim 1, and in particular by a lock cylinder for a luggage lock, with a cylinder housing, further comprising a cylinder housing rotatable in the cylinder core having a key channel with a Schlüsseleinführöffnung, and with several tumblers which are arranged in two rows, which lie opposite each other along the keyway, wherein the lock cylinder is actuated by means of an associated Bohrmuldenschlüssels, on two opposite flat sides provided with a wells respective coding section and an adjoining, to the Keypad extending respective end portion, wherein the associated key in particular of the type TSA006, and wherein the most of the key insertion opening tumbler of at least one of the rows is disposed in a portion of the keyway which receives the trough-free end portion of the associated key.

The lock cylinder according to the invention is therefore adapted to an associated Bohrmuldenschlüssel, in particular to the TSA006 key with a predetermined coding. The dimple key has two flat sides. On the first flat side, a first coding portion is provided with wells arranged along a first row. The first coding section is followed by a drill-hole-free first end section in the direction of the key tip. On the second flat side, a second coding portion is provided with wells, which are arranged along a second row. The second coding section is followed, in the direction of the key tip, by a second end section which is free from drill holes.

Typically, the dimple key is designed as a reversible key. On the first flat side lying next to the first row of wells a further row of recesses is provided, which corresponds to the second row of recesses of the second flat side, and on the second flat side next to the second row of recesses a further row of recesses is provided corresponding to the first row of recesses of the first flat side.

The lock cylinder comprises a cylinder housing, a cylinder core rotatable in the cylinder housing, which has a key channel with a key insertion opening, and a plurality of tumblers. The tumblers are arranged in two rows, which are diametrically opposed along the keyway, wherein the first tumbler series with the first row of wellbore first or second flat side of the Bohrmuldenschlüssels and the second tumbler row cooperates with the second row of second or first flat side of the Bohrmuldenschlüssels when the Drill key is inserted in the keyway.

The keeper of the first tumbler row or the second tumbler row, which is furthest away from the key insertion opening, lies in a section of the keyway which receives the first and second borehole-free end portion of the dimple key, i. This guard locking is provided beyond the respective coding section of the key used. In this context, the wording "the locking of the key furthest away from the key insertion opening of at least one of the rows" means that it does not have to be the absolutely furthest held tumbler (in other words, all tumbler rows). But it is about the most remote from the Schlüsseleinführöffnung tumbler of the relevant tumbler series.

The named furthest tumbler, if appropriate of each of the tumbler rows, is therefore arranged deeper in the key channel, ie farther away from the key insertion opening of the key channel than is provided according to the predetermined coding of the associated key. The said tumbler is thus further away from the key insertion opening than is the case with known lock cylinders, as a result of which lock picking is made considerably more difficult. The named furthest tumbler, if appropriate of each of the tumbler rows, thus does not work with the respective coding section or one of the respective wells of the associated Bohrmuldenschlüssels together.

The lock cylinder may be formed only for a single key coding, as is usually the case for example for the above-mentioned luggage locks with mechanical combination lock and with additional TSA function, i. the lock cylinder can be actuated in this case only with the associated special key. In principle, however, it is also possible that the locking cylinder is part of a master key system comprising a plurality of lock cylinders, wherein the single lock cylinder with both a single key by the user and with a master key - the associated special key - is actuated by the TSA.

In addition, the cylinder core in a region which receives the key tip, a plurality of webs extending in Schlüsseleinführrichtung, wherein the webs protrude into the keyway to engage in complementary shaped grooves of the associated key when the associated key is inserted into the keyway. This complicates the copying of the associated key. In addition, keys that do not have the complementary shaped grooves can not be fully inserted into the keyway of the cylinder core.

Further, said most distal tumbler includes a core pin having a core pin axis passing through a groove of the cylinder core formed between the ridges of the cylinder core such that the core pin cooperates with a ridge of the associated key when the associated key is inserted into the keyway. As a result, the Nachschließsicherheit can be further increased because with the beginning said manipulation tools or everyday utensils can not be easily intervened in the formed between the webs of the cylinder core groove of the cylinder core to push back said outermost tumbler from the keyway.

Here, the core pin can cooperate with a chamfered part of the web of the associated key when the associated key is inserted into the keyway.

Preferably, the tumblers are coded to different depths of engagement with which the tumblers engage in the wells of the associated key. Then the said most distant tumbler can be coded to a zero depth of engagement, i. to the key blank from which the key was made, while the other tumblers are either coded to a first depth of engagement that is greater than zero, or encoded to a second depth of engagement that is greater than the first depth of engagement. As an alternative to the aforementioned embodiment, the core pin then does not interact with a chamfered part of the web of the associated key, if such a chamfered part is present, but with a part on which the web has its full height.

According to another embodiment, the tumblers arranged in a row with the exception of the said most distant tumbler equidistant distances from each other.

In addition, the keyway may be arranged off-center in the cylinder core. This is particularly advantageous when the Bohrmuldenschlüssel is designed as a reversible key.

The invention further relates to a luggage lock with a lock cylinder, as described above, further comprising a further closing device and a locking mechanism for locking a zipper or a buckle of a luggage item, wherein the locking mechanism by means of the locking device selectively securable or entsicherbar, and wherein the Locking mechanism can be unlocked by means of the lock cylinder, bypassing the locking device. The further closing device may be, for example, the named mechanical number mechanism. In addition to a conventional locking device, such a luggage lock thus has another mechanism, namely the lock cylinder described above, which allows the TSA to open the luggage lock with a special key.

Advantageous embodiments of the invention are also set forth in the subclaims, the description and the drawing.

The invention will now be described by way of example with reference to the drawings.

Fig. 1

einen Längsschnitt durch einen Schließzylinder mit einem Zylinderkern gemäß einer Ausführungsform der Erfindung,

Fig. 2

eine perspektivische Ansicht des Zylinderkerns des Schließzylinders aus Fig. 1,

Fig. 3

eine Frontalansicht des Schließzylinders aus Fig. 1,

Fig. 4

einen Längsschnitt durch den Zylinderkern des Schließzylinders aus Fig. 1 entlang der Linie 4-4, wobei der Längsschnitt gemäß Fig. 4 senkrecht auf dem Längsschnitt gemäß Fig. 1 steht,

Fig. 5

einen dem Schließzylinder gemäß Fig. 1 zugeordneten Schlüssel, und

Fig. 6

ein TSA-Gepäckschloss mit dem Schließzylinder gemäß Fig. 1.

They show, in each case in a schematic representation,

Fig. 1

a longitudinal section through a lock cylinder with a cylinder core according to an embodiment of the invention,

Fig. 2

a perspective view of the cylinder core of the lock cylinder Fig. 1 .

Fig. 3

a frontal view of the lock cylinder Fig. 1 .

Fig. 4

a longitudinal section through the cylinder core of the lock cylinder Fig. 1 along the line 4-4, wherein the longitudinal section according to Fig. 4 perpendicular to the longitudinal section according to Fig. 1 stands,

Fig. 5

a lock cylinder according to Fig. 1 assigned key, and

Fig. 6

a TSA luggage lock with the lock cylinder according to Fig. 1 ,

First of all, it should be noted that the following description refers to a type TSA006 dimple key. For security reasons, the TSA006 key is in Fig. 5 not completely correctly shown, but modified in terms of its coding and proportions. Accordingly, the associated lock cylinder is in Fig. 1 and 4 modified shown.

The in Fig. 1 Lock cylinder shown comprises a cylinder housing 11 and a cylinder core 13, which has a keyway 37 with a key insertion opening 71 and is rotatably mounted in the cylinder housing 11. In addition, a plurality of tumblers 15, 17 are provided, which are arranged in two rows, which lie opposite each other along the keyway 37. In the view according to Fig. 1 are three upper tumblers 15, which are arranged in an upper row of tumblers (see also Fig. 2 ), and three lower tumblers 17, which are arranged in a lower row of tumblers (see also Fig. 4 ), for the sake of clarity, only one tumbler 15, 17 with a reference numeral is understood from each tumbler row. Each of the tumblers 15, 17 consists of a core pin 19, a housing pin 21 and a pin spring 23. The tumblers 15, 17 allow a rotation of the cylinder core 13 in the cylinder housing 11 only if a the lock cylinder associated Bohrmuldenschlüssel ( Fig. 5 ) is inserted into the keyway 37 and thereby the core pins 19 and housing pins 21 are moved so that the pins 19, 21 release the plane of separation between the cylinder housing 11 and cylinder core 13.

Only for purposes of illustration, the tumblers 15, 17 relative to their rest position, when the keyhole associated with the key cylinder is not inserted into the keyway 37, slightly pushed back from the keyway 37. The tumblers 15, 17 have, with the exception of the Keyseinführöffnung 71 farthest tumbler 17 'of the lower tumbler row equidistant distances from each other.

The Drill key 25 for actuating the lock cylinder has according to Fig. 5 two flat sides, of which in Fig. 5 due to the selected view (top view) only the upper flat side 27 can be seen. On the upper flat side 27 a plurality of wells 29, 31 are provided, which are arranged in two rows 33, 35. Row 33 is hereinafter referred to as "top" row 33 and row 35 is referred to as "bottom" row 35. For the sake of clarity, from each row of bores 33, 35, if appropriate, only one hollow 29, 31 is provided with a reference number.

The upper row 33 comprises four hollows 29, of which the three of the key tip 39 closest to the wells 29 cooperate with the three upper tumblers 15 of the lock cylinder when the Drill key 25 in the keyway 37 of the lock cylinder is introduced. The furthest from the key tip 39 Bohrmulde 29 is not used here.

The dimple key 25 is designed as a reversible key, i. the reversible key is symmetrical about a rotation about its longitudinal axis through 180 °. On the lower flat side of the Bohrmuldenschlüssels 25, not shown, therefore, the same Bohrmuldenmuster vorgeseehn as shown on the upper flat side 27, with a corresponding "upper" row 33 and a corresponding "lower" row 35. The Bohrmuldenschlüssel 25 is eccentrically, laterally of offset from the center of the cylinder core 13, inserted into the keyway 39 of the lock cylinder.

The here immediately below the "upper" row 33 of in Fig. 5 Therefore, as shown in the upper flat side 27, the "lower" row of the lower flat side formed comprises three burrs which correspond to the burrs 31 of the "lower" row 33 of the upper flat side 27 shown. Of these three boreholes, the two boreholes 31 furthest away from the key tip 39 cooperate with the two tumblers 17 closest to the key insertion opening 71 (cf. Fig. 4 and lower half of Fig. 1 ), when the Drill key 25 is inserted into the keyway 37 of the lock cylinder.

The upper row 33 of wells 29 of the upper flat side 27 defines a coding section 41 of the upper flat side 27 of the Drill key 25. This is followed by extending to the key tip 39 boring trough-free end portion 43 of the upper flat side 27 of the Drill key 25. Similarly, the lower row 35 of wells 31 of the upper flat side 27 defines a coding portion 45 of the upper flat side 27 of the Bohrmuldenschlüssels 25 to which a drill hole-free end portion 47 of the upper flat side 27 of the Bohrmuldenschlüssels 25 connects. Corresponding coding sections and end sections are present on the lower flat side of the dimple key 25.

The keeper 17 'of the lower tumbler row, which is furthest away from the key insertion opening 71, is also the keeper that is furthest away from the key insertion opening 71 (cf. Fig. 4 and lower half of Fig. 1 ), is provided in a portion of the keyway 37 which receives the trough-free end portion of the row which on the lower flat side of the Bohrmuldenschlüssels 25 of in Fig. 5 shown "lower" row 35 of the upper flat side 27 corresponds. Said farthest tumbler 17 'is therefore located deeper in the keyway 37 than provided by the trough 31' of the "bottom" row 35 (or by the corresponding trough on the lower flat side of the dimple key 25). This makes it difficult to lock-pick the lock cylinder. The named furthest tumbler 17 'therefore does not interact with the predetermined wells 29, 31 of the wellbore key 25.

Like from the Fig. 1, 3 and 4 can be seen, the cylinder core 13 in a region which receives the key tip 39, a plurality of webs 49, each extending in the key insertion direction. The webs 49 protrude into the keyway 37. Between the webs 49 of the cylinder core 13 grooves 51 of the cylinder core 13 are formed. The key tip 39 of the Bohrmuldenschlüssels 25 is complementary thereto, so that the webs 49 of the cylinder core 13 in grooves 55 of the Bohrmuldenschlüssels 25 (FIGS. Fig. 5 ) engage and the webs 53 of the Bohrmuldenschlüssels 25 engage in the grooves 51 of the cylinder core when the Drill key 25 is inserted into the keyway 37. Therefore, only dimpled keys, which have a profiling complementary to the profile of the cylinder core 13 explained above, can be completely inserted into the keyway 37.

The said most distant tumbler 17 'is arranged such that the core pin 19' with the web 53 'of the Drill key 25 cooperates when the Drill key 25 is inserted into the keyway 37. In Fig. 5 the impact point of the core pin 19 'on the web 53' is marked with the reference numeral 57. Out Fig. 4 It can be seen that the core pin axis 59 of the core pin 19 'extends through the groove 51' of the cylinder core 13 formed between the webs 49 of the cylinder core 13 for this purpose. In this way, the Nachschließsicherheit the lock cylinder can be further increased, since it is hampered by the groove 51 'limiting webs 49, push back the tumbler 17' by means of said specially made Aufbruchwerkzeugs from the keyway 37.

The tumblers 15 and 17 of the lock cylinder are coded to two different depths of engagement, with which the tumblers 15, 17 engage in the recesses 29, 31 of the Bohrmuldenschlüssels 25. The said furthest tumbler 17 ', however, engages in any of the wells 29, 31 of the Bohrmuldenschlüssels 25, but interacts with the web 53' of the Bohrmuldenschlüssels 25 together. In the region of the impact point 57, the web 53 'has a height which corresponds to the height of the depression key 25 at a position of the coding section 41, 45 at which no hollows 29, 31 are provided. The named furthest tumbler 17 'is thus coded on the key blank, from which the dimple key 25 is formed, ie the tumbler 17' is coded to an engagement depth of zero. The other tumblers 15, 17 of the lock cylinder, which each cooperate with a bore 29, 31 of the Drill key 25, are either coded to a first engagement depth which is greater than zero, or to a second engagement depth which is greater than the first engagement depth. In this case, those tumblers 15, 17, which cooperate with wells 29, 31, in the plan view in Fig. 5 have a smaller outer radius, encoded on the first depth of engagement. Those tumblers 15, 17, which cooperate with wells 29, 31, which in plan view in Fig. 5 have a larger outer radius, are coded to the second depth of engagement.

In principle, however, it is also possible for the impact point 57 of the core pin 19 'to rest on the web 53' in a region in which the web 53 'is beveled towards the key tip 39. This beveled area begins in Fig. 5 beyond the auxiliary drawn line 61. The said furthest tumbler 17 'is in this case no longer encoded to an engagement depth of zero. As a result, intermediate engagement depths can be coded in order to further increase the security against tampering.

Fig. 6 FIG. 5 shows a luggage lock with a mechanical numbering mechanism 63 that can be used to secure or unlatch latches 65 that are provided for locking a zipper or a buckle of a luggage in receiving gaps 69 of the luggage lock. When correctly set number combination (unlocked state), the latch 65 can be withdrawn from the receiving gaps 69 to release the respective zipper or the respective buckle. This is done by pressing push buttons 67. However, if an incorrect number combination is set (secured state), the latch 65 are blocked against retraction from the receiving gaps 69. In addition to the mechanical numbering mechanism 63, FIG Fig. 6 shown luggage lock on a lock cylinder 9, as he in connection with the Fig. 1 to 5 is described. Regardless of the set number combination, the latch 65 can be unlocked by means of the locking cylinder 9 associated Bohrmuldenschlüssels. The luggage lock shown is therefore a so-called dual mechanism lock, as it is for example in US 6,513,356 B1 and US 6,598,434 B2 is described.

LIST OF REFERENCE NUMBERS

9

lock cylinder

11

cylinder housing

13

cylinder core

15

tumbler

17

tumbler

19

core pin

21

housing pin

23

pin spring

25

dimple

27

upper flat side

29

dimple

31

dimple

33

upper row

35

bottom row

37

keyway

39

key tip

41

coding section

43

end

45

coding section

47

end

49

web

51

groove

53

web

55

groove

57

of impact

59

Core pin axis

61

line

63

combination mechanism

65

bars

67

push-button

69

receiving gap

71

key introduction

Claims (6)

1. A lock cylinder for a baggage lock,
   having a cylinder housing (11), furthermore having a cylinder core (13) which is rotatable in the cylinder housing (11) and which has a keyway (37) with a key insertion opening (19) and having a plurality of tumblers (15, 17) which are arranged in two rows which are oppositely disposed along the keyway (37), wherein the lock cylinder is actuable by means of an associated dimpled key (25) which includes, on two mutually oppositely disposed flat sides (27), a respective coding section (41, 45) provided with dimples (29, 31) and a respective end section (43, 47) adjoining said coding section and extending up to the key tip (39), wherein the associated key (25) is in particular of the type TSA006,
   wherein the tumbler (17') of at least one of the rows furthest from the key insertion opening (19) is arranged in a section of the keyway (37) which receives the dimple-free end section (43, 47) of the associated key (25),
   characterized in that
   the cylinder core (13) has, in a region which receives the key tip (39), a plurality of webs (49) which extend in the key insertion direction, with the webs (49) projecting into the keyway (37) to engage into complementary made grooves (55) of the associated key (25) when the associated key (25) has been inserted into the keyway (37), wherein the named furthest remote tumbler (17') includes a core pin (19') with a core pin axis which extends through a groove (51') of the cylinder core (13) formed between the webs (49) of the cylinder core (13) so that the core pin (19') cooperates with a web (53') of the associated key (25) when the associated key (25) has been inserted into the key passage (37).
2. A lock cylinder in accordance with claim 1,
   wherein the core pin (19') cooperates with a chamfered part of the web (53') of the associated key (25) when the associated key (25) has been inserted into the keyway (37).
3. A lock cylinder in accordance with claim 1,
   wherein the tumblers (15, 17) are coded to different engagement depths at which the tumblers (15, 17) engage into the dimples (29, 31) of the associated key (25), with the named furthest tumbler (17') being coded to an engagement depth of zero, whereas the other tumblers (15, 17) are either coded to a first engagement depth which is larger than zero or are coded to a second engagement depth which is larger than the first engagement depth.
4. A lock cylinder in accordance with at least one of the preceding claims,
   wherein the tumblers (15, 17) arranged in a row have equidistant spacings from one another with the exception of the named furthest remote tumbler (17').
5. A lock cylinder in accordance with at least one of the preceding claims,
   wherein the keyway (37) is arranged off-center in the cylinder core (13).
6. A baggage lock having a lock cylinder (9) in accordance with any one of the preceding claims, furthermore having a further locking device (63) and having a latching mechanism (65) for the latching of a zip or of a buckle of a piece of baggage, wherein the latch mechanism (65) is selectively securable or releasable by means of the locking device (63) and wherein the latching mechanism (53) is releasable by means of the lock cylinder (9) while bypassing the locking device (63).

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