[0001] The present invention relates to a card controlling device for locking, alarm and
similar units, comprising a supporting block in the inside thereof there is formed
a sliding seat for a reciprocating drawer, effective to reciprocate from a first position
corresponding to a locking condition of said unit to a second position corresponding
to a releasing condition of said unit, said supporting block and drawer including
a plurality of holes perpendicularly located with respect to said drawer sliding direction
and resiliently housing a predetermined number of locking pins and back- or counterpins.
[0002] As it is known, in these last years, some devices have been broadly developed which
use a key card for controll ing locking units, such as locks and the like. These devices
provide for the use, as locking pins, of magnetically responsive rods which are located,
in such a way as to be able of reciprocating, between a code card and the aforesaid
key card.
[0003] The devices of the above mentioned type, though they are satisfactory from,-a technical
point of view, are nevertheless not devoid of drawbacks. In fact, because of an exclusively
magnetic control of the locking pins, the relatively small forces causing the pins
to move may be deleteriously affected by dust or other extraneous materials which
can accidentally penetrate into the lock.
[0004] Another drawback related to the thereinabove mentioned devices is the possibility
of a demagnetization of the key card over a period of time, so that it becomes ineffective
to open the lock or other locking unit.
[0005] In order to eliminate the drawbacks associated with the magnetically operated controlling
devices, a lock has been designed the controlling or driving device of which, while
still providing for the use of a code card land a key card, is effective to displace
the locking pins by means of an exclusively mechanic operation. This lock has been
the subject matter of the Norwegian Patent Application No. 771,253 filed on April
6; 1977 in the name of.ELKEM SPIGELVERKET A/S thereto reference is herein made for
a further detailed description.
[0006] The lock of said Patent Application substantially comprises a casing in the inside
thereof a locking member is effective to slide, this latter being coupled, by means
of a rod, to a spring latch of the lock. On the upper portion of the casing, there
are formed two slots, respectively for housing a code card and a key card. Through
the casing and locking member there are formed, as arranged according to a chess-board
configuration, coaxially extending holes which, at the top thereof, merge with the
code card housing slbt. Locking means are resiliently housed, in each of the holes,
such lock ing means consisting of a pin, a counter pin and a ball pair.
[0007] Through the code card there are provided a number of through holes arranged according
to a given combination, and extending coaxially with respect to some of the holes
formed in the casing and locking member, whereas in the key card there are formed
through holes which are complementary to the code card holes in order to complete
the chess-board arrangement assumed by the holes of the casing and locking member.
[0008] The code card, as it is introduced into the device, will act on said balls in such
a way that some of the underlying pins and counterpins will be located with the adjacent
surfaces thereof in a coplanar relationship with respect to the sliding surface between
the casing and locking member, while other pins will intersect said sliding surface
thereby assuring the locking of said locking member.
[0009] As the key card is introduced, also these latter pins will be located with the mutually
adjacent surfaces thereof in a coplanar relationship with respect to the sliding surface
of the locking member, since a hole of said key card will correspond to each said
pin.
[0010] Upon having obtained this condition, the locking member will be able of freely sliding
in the casing to allow for the lock to be easily open or closed.
[0011] while the thereinabove described device is highly secure, it should however be pointed
out that it is not devoid of drawbacks.
[0012] These drawbacks are mainly due to the fact that, under certain conditions, an ill-intentioned
person may access the code card to easily copy it and then easily construct a key
card.
[0013] For example, during a party, an ill-intentioned person having gained access to the
home, will be able, in a period of seconds, to withdraw the code card, upon having
inserted any plate-like member into the lock slot, copy it and introduce it again
in the lock slot.
[0014] Another drawback of the thereinabove described device is the fact that, if a completely
perforated code card is introduced, then any not perforated plate-like member will
be effective to open the lock. Accordingly, by perforating the plastics material code
card of the commercially available devices, by applying heat to it, or even dissolving
said card by means of a suitable solvent as introduced from the outside, it is sufficient
a not perforated plate for opening the door.
[0015] Accordingly, the main object of the present invention is to eliminate the thereinabove
mentioned drawbacks by providing a card controlled device for locking, alarm and similar
units where the code card is eliminate ed and which is effective to give an improved
safety by increasing the locking possibilities of the locking member and decreasing
the required volume by 50%.
[0016] Another object of the present invention is to prevent possible ill-intentioned persons'from
tampering the device even if they are able of precisely detecting the positions of
the locking pins.
[0017] These and other objects,which will become more apparent from the following description,
are achieved, according to the present invention, by a card controlling device for
locking, alarm and similar lockable units, comprising a supporting block wherein a
sliding seat is formed effective to slidingly fit a drawer member reciprocating from
a first position corresponding to a locking condition of said unit to a second position
corresponding to a releasing condition of said unit, said supporting block and movable
drawer including a plurality of holes perpendicularly disposed with respect to said
drawer sliding direction and resiliently housing a predetermined number of locking
pins and counterpins, characterized in that said movable drawer is provided with a
central slot into which a key card can be inserted on the faces thereof there are
formed a plurality of recesses located at predetermined positions coinciding with
the positions said pins assume in said respective holes, thereby, as said key card
is introduced, the contacting surfaces between said pins and counterpins.are coplanar
with the sliding surfaces of the drawer in said block, in at least one of said holes
there being housed a pin having a height less than that of the other pins, the contacting
surface with the respective counterpin coinciding with one of the sliding surfaces
of said drawer as, at said pin, there is located a solid portion of said key card,
said drawer being associated with a releasing and controlling or driving means of
said unit.
[0018] Further characteristics and advantages of the present invention will become more
apparent from the following detailed description of a preferred, though not exclusi
ve embodiment, of a card controlling device for locking, alarm and similar units,
with reference to the accompanying drawings, given by way of an indicative and not
limitative example only, and where:
- Fig. 1 is a front view of the device according to the invention;
- Fig. 2 is a cross-section view taken along the line II-II of Fig. 1;
- Fig. 3 is a plan view of the frame supporting the device according to the invention;
- Fig. 4 is a plan view of the key card stripped in its two plate-like portions;
- Figs. 5 to 9 are longitudinal cross-section views illustrating the operative sequence
related to the inserting of the key card and to the consequent releasing of the movable
drawer;
- Fig. 10 is a longitudinal cross-section view illustrat ing the situation occurring
as an erroneous key card is inserted.
[0019] With reference to the figures, at 1 there is overally indicated a card controlling
device for locking, alarm and similar lockable units, housed in a box-like portion
2 of a frame 3, this latter being effective to be fixed, by means of screws or similar
means, to a fixed portion of said unit. On the open side of the box-like portion 2
there is formed a sliding vertical guide pair 4, therewith a small plate 5 engages
effecti ve to close the device 1 in said box-like portion 2. The sliding limit of
the plate 5 in the guides 4 is defined by a horizontally extending guide pair 6, which
latter are disposed along the lower or bottom side of said box-like portion 2 and
define an abutment for the lower edge 5a of the closure plate 5. This latter, finally,
is provided at the central portion whereof, with a slot 7, adapted to receive a key
card, which is generally indicated at 8, and which will be described in a more detailed
way hereafter.
[0020] Referring now to Figs. 1 and 2, the controlling device for locking, alarm and similar
lockable units 1 consists essentially of a supporting block 9 in which a sliding seat
10 is formed, this seat 10 being effective to be slidingly engaged by a drawer member
11, this latter being driven with a reciprocating movement.
[0021] The movable drawer 11 is provided with a central slot 12 and a lug 13 provided for
push-engaging a releasing or driving means of said unit.
[0022] The movable drawer 11 and the supporting block 9 further include a plurality of coaxially
extending holes, indicat ed respectively at 11' and 9' (Figs. 6 to 10), effective
to house resiliently a corresponding plurality of locking means. More specifically,
the holes 9' related to the supporting block 9 are throughgoing and have a constant
diameter, whereas the holes 11' of the movable drawer 11, while being also throughgoing,
have a diameter variation effective to define an annular abutment 14.
[0023] Furthermore, said locking means include, for'each coaxially extending hole pair 9'
and 11', a pin 15 and a counter pin 16. These latter consist of constant diameter
cylindrical elements, whereas the pins 15 have a diameter variation allowing for the
pins 15 to abut against the annular abutment 14 of the hole 11'. Final-
ly, in each hole 9' of the supporting block 9 there is received a pretensioned coil
spring 17 effective to push the pin-counterpin assembly toward the slot of the movable
drawer 11.
[0024] Referring now to Figs. 1 and 2, the supporting block 9 is provided, at the top and
bottom portions thereof, with guiding slots 18 and 19, effective to engage with respective
closure covers 20 and 21 of the supporting block 9.
[0025] As it is also shown in Figs. 1 and 2, on the lower side of the box-like portion 2
of the frame 3 there are provid e
d guides 22 with which a slide 23 slidingly and resiliently engages, adapted to be
pushed by the lug 13 of the movable drawer 11, against the biasing provided by a pretensioned
spring pair 24, one only thereof has been represented in the figures.
[0026] The slide 23 is provided, at the lower portion thereof, with at least a foot 25 which,
in the closed condition of the device 1, is latched or engaged by a detent member
26 as resiliently pivoted at 27 to a snap member effective to release the lockable
unit.
[0027] According to a variation of the present invention, the
lug 13 of the movable drawer 11 may also act directly on any snap members, without
necessarily providing for the use of the slide 23 with its foot 25 and of said detent
member 26.
[0028] Referring now particularly to Figs. 6 to 10, and according to a further feature of
the present invention, the key card 8 is provided, on both faces thereof, with a plurality
of recesses 29 effective located at predetermined positions coinciding with the positions
assumed by the pins 15 in their respective holes 11'. In this manner, as the key card
is introduced, the contact ing surfaces between the pins 15 and counterpins 16 are
coplanar with the two sliding surfaces of the movable drawer 11 in said supporting
block 9.
[0029] In order to easily form the recesses 29 in the key 8, the latter is formed by two
plate-like portions 8a and 8b, provided with snap coupling means, for superimposing
and joining said portions. In each said portion 8a and 8b there are provided a plurality
of notches 30, of substantially circular shape, and disposed according to two mutually
perpendicular directions, their axes coinciding, as the card key is inserted, with
the axes of the holes 9' and 11'.
[0030] Each of the notches 30, accordingly, delimitates a disk 31 which is held rigid with
the plate-like member 8a or 8b by means of spokes 32. By acting with the point of
any suitable tools on the disks 31, these latter are perforated, thereby providing
through holes which, as said plate-like portions are superimposed, coincide with the
recesses 29 of the key card 8. Thus, it is possible to provide the key card 8 with
the desired combination by taking care that, as said disks 31 are perforated, the
holes formed through the plate-like portion 8a are not coincident with those formed
on the other plate-like portion 8b, since, in this latter case, a through hole would
be formed in the key card 8 susceptible to prevent the movable drawer 11 from being
released.
[0031] It should be noted that,with the device according to the present invention, since
the pins 15 and counterpins 16 act on two sliding surfaces, the occupied space is
notably reduced (50%) for the same number of combinations.
[0032] Furthermore in order to prevent an ill-intentioned person able of locating the precise
positions of the pins 15 from correctly falsifying the key card, according to a further
feature of the present invention, at least one of the pins 15, indicated at 15a in
the figures has a height less than that of the other pins 15. The height of the pin
15a has to be selected in such a way that the contacting surface thereof with the
corresponding counterpin 16 be coincident with one of the sliding surfaces of the
movable drawer 11 only at a solid portion of the key card 8 (Figs. 6 to 9). Referring
now to figures 5 to 9, as into the slot 12 there is introduced the key card 8, the
pins 15a and 15 are displaced proportionately to the advancing of the key card in
the slot 12. As the key card stops to advance (Fig. 8), due to the pushing action
provided by the springs 17, the pins 15 penetrate the recesses 29 of the key card
8 and locate, with their contacting surfaces with the respective counterpins 16, in
a copla nar relationship with respect to the sliding surfaces of the movable drawer
11.
[0033] Similarly, as at the lower height pin 15a a solid portion is provided on the key
card 8, also this pin will locate in such a way that its surface contacting the respective
counterpin 16 will be coplanar to one of the sliding surfaces of the movable drawer.
At this time, the movable drawer 11 will be released and it can be pushed leftwards,
as clearly shown in Fig.
9.
[0034] Referring now to Fig. 10, the case will be illustrated occurring as an improper key
card 8' is introduced into the slot 12.
[0035] Three possible errors have been illustrated on this key card 8', which may occur
as an ill-intentioned person attempts to falsify the key card. It should however be
pointed out that a single error will be effective to prevent the movable drawer from
sliding in the seat 10 therefor. As it is shown in figure 10, the pin 15a, as it is
coincident with a recess 29, will locate in such a way that the lower sliding surface
of the movable drawer 11 will interfere with the counterpin associated with the pin
15a.
[0036] The upper pin 15, located laterally with respect to the pin 15a provides a further
error possibility occurring as a through hole is formed in the key card 8'. In this
case the full lowering of the pin 15 brings the counterpin 16 to intefere with the
upper sliding surface of the movable drawer 11.
[0037] The other possible error occurs, finally, as a solid portion on the key card 8' is
provided at a pin 15 (the lower one in Fig. 10). In this case, the related spring
17 is compressed and the pin 15 itself will locate at an interfering position with
respect to one of the sliding surfaces of the movable drawer 11.
[0038] It should be noted that, with the device according to the present invention, the
user himself will be able to form the desired combination, by removing the disk 31
at the selected positions and then locating the pin-counterpin-spring assembly in
the holes 11' of the drawer 11 and 9' of the supporting block, corresponding to the
recesses 29 previously formed by the user in the key card 8.
[0039] In an analogous manner, as the user desires to change the previously set combination,
he will simply take two other plate-like portions 8a and 8b forming the key card 8,
remove other disks 31 and again assemble two plate-like portions 8a, 8b of the key
card 8. Upon having atteined to this operation and withdrawn the supporting block
9 from the box-like portion 2 of the frame 3, the user will alternatively remove the
closure covers 20 and 21, and change the positions of the pins 15 and courterpins
16, according to the new combination set on the key card 8.
[0040] Obviously several modifications and variations can be made in the structure of the
card controlling device for locking, alarm and similar units according to the present
invention, without departing from the scope thereof, as it is define in the accompanying
claims.
1. Card ccrtrolling device for locking, alarm and similar lockable units, comprising
a supporting block (9) wherein a sliding seat (10) is formed effective to slidingly
fit a drawer member (11) reciprocating from a first position corresponding to a locking
condition of said unit to a second position corresponding to a releasing condition
of said unit, said supporting block (9) and movable drawer (11) including a plurality
of holes (9' - 11') perpendicularly disposed with respect to said drawer (9) sliding
direction and resiliently housing a predetermined number of locking pins (15) and
counterpins (16), characterized in that said movable drawer (11) is provided with
a central slot (12) into which a key card (8) can be inserted, on the faces of which
there are formed a plurality of recesses (29) located at predetermined positions coinciding
with the positions said pins (15) assume in said respective holes (11';, thereby,
as said key card (8) is introduced, the contacting surfaces between said pins (15)
and counterpins (16) are coplana with the sliding surfaces of the drawer (11) in said
block (9), in at least one of said holes (11') there being housed a pin (15a) having
a height less than that of the other pins (15), the contacting surface with the respective
counterpin (16) coinciding with one of the slicing surfaces of said drawer as, at saio pin
(15a), there is located a solid portion of'said key card (8), said drawer (11) being
associated with a releasing and controlling or driving means of said unit.-
2. A device according to claim 1, characterized in that said drawer (11) is. provided
with a lug (13) which, as said key card (8) is inserted, is brought to a pushing relation-
.ship on a slide (23) slidingly engaged with guides (23) rigid with said supporting
block (9), said slide (23) being effective to release, during the stroke thereof,
a detent member (26) associated with a snap member.-
3. A device according to claim 1, characterized in that said movable drawer lug (13)
is effective to directly act on said snap member.-
4. A device according to claim 1, characterized in that said supporting block (9)
is provided with an upper cover member (20) and a lower cover member (21) effective
to be removably applied for the introducing of said pins (15) and counterpins (16).-
5. A device according tc claim 1, characterized in that said block (9) is housed in
a box-like portion (2) of a frame (3) effective to be fixed to a wall of said urit.-
6. A device according to claim 1, characterized in that said recesses (29) formed
on the faces of said key card (8) correspond to a half of the thickness of said key
card (8), said recesses (29) formed on a face being offset located with respect to
the recesses (29) formed on the other face.-
7. A device according to claim 1, characterized in that said key card (8) consists
of two plate-like portions (8a - 8b) effective to be superimposed onto one another
and joined to one another by adhesion, in each said oor- tion (8a - 8b) there being
formed a plurality of essentially circular notches (30) ordinately disposed according
to two mutually perpendicular directions, each whereof encompasses a disk member (31)
made rigid with said plate-like member (8a - 8b) by means of spoke members (32), said disks (31) being effective to be perforated by a pointed member or the like
in order to form holes located according to a predetermined combination.-