CHAIN LOCK

Abstract

A chain lock includes a lock body having a first closure part, a second closure part, and a combination locking mechanism that is aligned along a lock axis. The chain lock having a bolt selectively locked to the lock body by the combination locking mechanism. The lock body has a chain connection part permanently connected to the bolt via a chain. The combination locking mechanism having a plurality of rotatable code setting rings arranged between the first and second closure parts. At a first end the lock body has at least one first fastening pin that engages through the housing sleeve into an annular groove of the chain connection part. At a second end the lock body has at least one second fastening pin that engages through the housing sleeve into the second closure part of the lock body and that fixes the second closure part to the housing sleeve.

Claims

1. A chain lock comprising a lock body, which has a first closure part, a second closure part, and a combination locking mechanism that is aligned along a lock axis, and a bolt that has a bolt mandrel, which can be introduced into the lock body, and that can be selectively locked to the lock body by the combination locking mechanism, wherein the lock body has a chain connection part that is permanently connected to the bolt via a chain, wherein the chain connection part and the bolt are aligned coaxially to one another in a locked state of the bolt, wherein the combination locking mechanism comprises a plurality of rotatable code setting rings that are arranged between the first closure part and the second closure part of the lock body, wherein the lock body comprises a housing sleeve that has an access window via which the code setting rings are accessible for a manual rotation, wherein the lock body has, at a first end associated with the chain connection part, at least one first fastening pin that engages through the housing sleeve into an annular groove of the chain connection part such that the chain connection part is rotatably supported at the housing sleeve, and wherein the lock body has, at a second end associated with the bolt, at least one second fastening pin that engages through the housing sleeve into the second closure part of the lock body and that fixes the second closure part to the housing sleeve.

2. The chain lock in accordance with claim 1, wherein the housing sleeve has a cylindrical shape.

3. The chain lock in accordance with claim 1, wherein the housing sleeve is made from steel, and wherein the first closure part of the lock body is made from a zinc die casting.

4. The chain lock in accordance with claim 1, wherein the first closure part of the lock body forms a base body that has a bearing prolongation which is aligned along a lock axis and at which the code setting rings are rotatably supported.

5. The chain lock in accordance with claim 1, wherein the at least one first fastening pin engages through the housing sleeve and through the first closure part of the lock body into the annular groove of the chain connection part.

6. The chain lock in accordance with claim 1, wherein at least one of the at least one first fastening pin or the at least one second fastening pin is radially aligned with respect to the lock axis.

7. The chain lock in accordance with claim 1, wherein the lock body has, at the first end, two first fastening pins that engage into the annular groove of the chain connection part, wherein the two first fastening pins are aligned coaxially to one another.

8. The chain lock in accordance with claim 1, wherein the second closure part of the lock body is annular and has an introduction opening for the bolt mandrel.

9. The chain lock in accordance with claim 1, wherein the second closure part is made from steel.

10. The chain lock in accordance with claim 1, wherein the bolt has a further chain connection part that is rotatably supported at a fastening section of the bolt.

11. The chain lock in accordance with claim 10, wherein the bolt has at least one third fastening pin that engages through the fastening section into an annular groove of the further chain connection part.

12. The chain lock in accordance with claim 1, wherein each of the plurality of code setting rings has, at an inner periphery, a blocking web that extends in a peripheral direction and that is interrupted by a release recess, wherein the bolt mandrel has a number of elevated locking portions along the lock axis corresponding to the number of code setting rings, and wherein the release recesses of the code setting rings are only aligned with respect to the elevated locking portions of the bolt mandrel, and the bolt is thus released for being detached from the lock body, when a secret code is set at the code setting rings.

13. The chain lock in accordance with claim 12, wherein each of the plurality of code setting rings is formed in multiple parts and has an outer marking ring and an inner tumbler ring that are rotationally fixedly connected to one another in an operating state of the combination locking mechanism, wherein, in a lock secret changing state of the combination locking mechanism, an angular position of the marking rings relative to the tumbler rings is selectively adjustable to change the secret code.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0045] The present disclosure will be explained in the following purely by way of example with reference to an embodiment and to the drawings.

[0046] There are shown:

[0047] FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a chain lock with a combination locking mechanism;

[0048] FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the chain lock with the cover removed;

[0049] FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the chain lock with the cover removed and the bolt released from a lock body of the chain lock;

[0050] FIG. 4A is a respective perspective exploded representation of the chain lock with the cover removed to illustrate the components of the chain lock;

[0051] FIG. 4B is a respective perspective exploded representation of the chain lock with the cover removed to illustrate the components of the chain lock;

[0052] FIG. 5A is a respective perspective view of a housing sleeve of the lock body with a first closure part fixed thereto, with a chain connection part, and with a second closure part fixed to the housing sleeve;

[0053] FIG. 5B is a respective perspective view of a housing sleeve of the lock body with a first closure part fixed thereto, with a chain connection part, and with a second closure part fixed to the housing sleeve;

[0054] FIG. 6A is a perspective view of the bolt;

[0055] FIG. 6B is a perspective view of a code setting ring with a marking ring and a tumbler ring for locking the bolt introduced into the lock body;

[0056] FIG. 6C is a front view of the code setting ring with the marking ring and the tumbler ring for locking the bolt introduced into the lock body;

[0057] FIG. 7A is a perspective view of the code setting rings supported at the first closure part; and

[0058] FIG. 7B is a perspective view of the code setting rings with partly removed marking rings to illustrate a possibility of disarranging a secret code.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0059] FIG. 1 shows a chain lock 11 that extends along a lock axis S and that has a lock body 13 and a bolt 21 that is introduced into the lock body 13 and that may be selectively locked to the lock body 13 by a combination locking mechanism 19. For this purpose, the combination locking mechanism 19 has a plurality of code setting rings 27 that are rotatable about an axis of rotation D and that are accessible through an access window 31 for a manual rotation. A combination of four numbers that may be checked through the access window 31 may be set by the code setting rings 27. The bolt 21 may only be detached from the lock body 13 when the combination corresponds to a secret code, whereas the bolt 21 is locked to the lock body 13 when the secret code is not set.

[0060] A chain connection part 25 rotatably supported about the axis of rotation D is fastened to a first end 33 of the lock body 13. A second end 41 of the lock body 13 is associated with the bolt 21. The bolt 21 has a further chain connection part 55 that is likewise rotatably supported about the axis of rotation D at a fastening section 57 of the bolt 21 (cf. FIGS. 2 and 3). The chain connection parts 25 and 55 are provided to be connected to one another via a chain, not shown, for example a link chain or a wire-like chain, such that the chain connection part 25 of the lock body 13 is permanently connected to the bolt 21 via the chain. This makes it possible to form a loop from the chain lock 11 by introducing the bolt 21 into the lock body 13 in order, for example, to connect a two-wheeler to a stationary object by such a loop and to secure the two-wheeler against an unauthorized removal when the bolt 21 is locked. The chain connection part 25 and the bolt 21 are aligned coaxially to one another in the locked state of the bolt 21 (cf. FIGS. 1 and 2).

[0061] FIG. 3 shows the bolt 21 detached from the lock body 13. The bolt 21 has a bolt mandrel 23 that extends along the lock axis S and that may be introduced into the lock body 13 and may be locked there. For this purpose, the bolt mandrel 23 has a plurality of elevated locking portions 71 that are configured to cooperate with the code setting rings 27 to be able to lock the bolt 21 when the bolt mandrel 23 is introduced into the lock body 13.

[0062] As FIG. 1 further shows, the chain lock 11 has a first cover part 79, which surrounds the lock body 13, and a second cover part 81 that surrounds the bolt 21 and that may be detached together with the bolt 21 from the lock body 13 (cf. FIG. 3). While the cover parts 79 and 81 may in particular serve as a decorative cover and for a comfortable handling of the chain lock 11, the lock body 13 has a housing sleeve 29 which is surrounded by the first cover part 79 and within which the combination locking mechanism 19 and in particular the code setting rings 27 are received in order to protect the combination locking mechanism 19 against external influences and in particular against break-open attempts (cf. FIGS. 2 to 5B). The housing sleeve 29 may be made from a stable material and, for example, from steel to be able to achieve a reliable protection of the combination locking mechanism 19 with respect to force effects and in particular a high load capacity of the chain lock 11 with respect to tensile loads that are applied via the chain connection parts 25 and 55 during a break-open attempt.

[0063] As, for example, the exploded representations of FIGS. 4A and 4B show, the housing sleeve 29 is hollow cylindrical and, at the lateral surfaces, only has the access window 31 and a plurality of fastening openings 87 for fixing a first closure part 15 and a second closure part 17, as will be explained in more detail in the following. Due to this simple design, the housing sleeve 29 may be produced without problem, quickly and inexpensively from strong materials, for example from steel, to be able to achieve the required load capacity of the chain lock 11.

[0064] The first closure part 15 and the second closure part 17 are insertable into the housing sleeve 29 to close the lock body 13 at the first end 33 or the second end 41 in an axial direction and to fix the locking mechanism 19 in the housing sleeve 29. The first closure part 15 forms a base body 45 of the lock body 13 and has a bearing prolongation 47 which extends along the lock axis S and at which the code setting rings 27 of the locking mechanism 19 are supported in the assembled state of the chain lock 11 (cf. also FIG. 7A). This may make it possible to first arrange the code setting rings 27 at the bearing prolongation 47 of the first closure part 15 during an assembly of the chain lock 11, and thereupon to insert them together with the first closure part 15 axially with respect to the lock axis S through the opening at the first end 33 of the lock body 13 into the housing sleeve 29. The relatively small-part and multi-part combination locking mechanism 19 may thus be assembled outside the housing sleeve 29 such that this part of the assembly may take place without any space restriction and the total combination locking mechanism 19 may be inserted into the housing sleeve 29 in one step.

[0065] In addition to the support of the code setting rings 27, the bearing prolongation 47 also serves to form a passage 51 into which the bolt mandrel 23 may be introduced for a locking into the lock body 13. The bearing prolongation 47 extends through the housing sleeve 29 in the direction of the second closure part 17 that has an introduction opening 49 through which the bolt mandrel 23 may be introduced into the lock body 13 (cf. also FIG. 5A). A slit 53 extending along the lock axis S is formed at the bearing prolongation 47, through which slit 53 the elevated locking portions 71 of the bolt mandrel 23 engage when the bolt mandrel 23 is introduced into the lock body 13 in order to enable a locking of the bolt 21 by the code setting rings 27.

[0066] To fasten the first closure part 15 to the housing sleeve 29, the lock body 13 has a first fastening pin 35 that engages through a fastening opening 87 of the housing sleeve 29 and a fastening opening 87 of the first closure part 15 in the assembled state of the chain lock 11. The lock body 13 further comprises a further first fastening pin 37 that is aligned coaxially to the first fastening pin 35 and that so-to-say engages through respective fastening openings 87 of the housing sleeve 29 and of the first closure part 15 (cf. also FIG. 5B).

[0067] The two first fastening pins 35 and 37 engage radially through the housing sleeve 29 into an annular groove 39 formed at the chain connection part 25 such that the chain connection part 25 is rotatably supported at the first closure part 15 (cf. also FIG. 5B). The first fastening pins 35 and 37 thus serve, on the one hand, to axially fix the first closure part 15 to or in the housing sleeve 29 and, on the other hand, to rotatably support the chain connection part 25 at the first closure part 15. Due to this rotatable support of the chain connection part 25, the chain connection part 25 may be rotated about the axis of rotation D of the code setting rings 27 relative to the first closure part 15 and to the housing sleeve 29. Accordingly, the access window 31 may, for example, always be rotated relative to the chain fastened to the chain connection part 25 to be able to set a combination by the code setting rings 27 or to be able to check a set combination.

[0068] While the first closure part 15 has a relatively complex shape as the base body 45 of the lock body 13, the second closure part 17 is formed in an annular shape with the introduction opening 49 for introducing the bolt 21 or the bolt mandrel 23 into the lock body 13 and thus has a very simple geometric shape. In the assembled state of the chain lock 11, the second closure part 17 is arranged at the second end 41 of the lock body 13 within the housing sleeve 29 and so-to-say forms a cover of the housing sleeve 29 at which the code setting rings 27 lined up on the bearing prolongation 47 are supported. To fix the second closure part 17 to the housing sleeve 29, a second fastening pin 43 is provided that engages radially through fastening openings 87 of the housing sleeve 29 and of the second closure part 17 (cf. also FIG. 5B).

[0069] Since the chain connection part 25 is connected to the housing sleeve 29 via the two first fastening pins 35 and 37, a tensile force applied via the chain connection part may be conducted past the first closure part 15 via the fastening pins 35 and 37 directly to the housing sleeve 29. A force flow from the chain connection part 25 at the lock body side leads via the two first fastening pins 35 and 37, the housing sleeve 29, and the second fastening pin 43 to the second closure part 17 that supports the code setting rings 27 at which the bolt mandrel 23 engages on a development of a tensile force and when the secret code is not set. Due to this conducting of the force flow past the first closure part 15, the latter may generally be less loadable with respect to tensile forces, wherein the necessary tensile stability of the chain lock 11 or of the lock body 13 may be ensured by a stable design of the housing sleeve 29 and of the second closure part 17 and of the fastening pins 35, 37 and 43.

[0070] This in particular makes it possible to manufacture the relatively complex first closure part 15, which forms a base body 45, from a zinc die casting, while, due to these simple geometric shapes, the hollow cylindrical housing sleeve 29 and the annular second closure part 17 may be manufactured without problem from stable materials that are necessary for a sufficient tensile stability, for example from steel. All the parts of the lock body 13, and in particular also the complex first closure part 15, may thus be manufactured very quickly such that the manufacture of the chain lock 11 may be simplified and accelerated overall and may thereby take place inexpensively without this being accompanied by a loss of stability. In addition, the production of the first closure part 15 from a zinc die casting enables an uncomplicated and precise reproducibility of the shape of the closure part 15 for a large number of chain locks 11.

[0071] To further improve the flexibility of the use of the chain lock 11, the further chain connection part 55, via which the bolt 21 may be connected to the chain connection part 25 of the lock body 13 by a chain that is not shown, is also rotatably supported about the axis of rotation D at the bolt 21 and thus relative to the lock body 13 or the housing sleeve 29. For this purpose, the bolt 21 has a fastening section 57 having two fastening openings 87 through which two third fastening pins 59 and 61 engage radially into an annular groove 63 of the chain connection part 55 to rotatably support the chain connection part 55 at the fastening section 57. The lock body 13 and the bolt 21 fastened thereto may thus be rotated with respect to both chain connection parts 25 and 55 such that the access window 31 may always be rotated into an orientation desired for operating the code setting rings 27.

[0072] FIGS. 6A to 6C in particular illustrate the cooperation of the code setting rings 27 with the bolt mandrel 23 to be able to selectively lock the bolt 21 to the lock body 13. As FIGS. 6B and 6C show, the code setting rings 27 are formed in multiple parts and have a respective outer marking ring 73 and an inner tumbler ring 75 that is fixed for rotation with the marking ring 73 in an operating state of the combination locking mechanism 19. For this purpose, a plurality of elevated coupling portions 89 are formed at respective outer peripheries of the tumbler rings 75 and engage into coupling recesses 91 formed at inner peripheries of the marking rings 73 such that the tumbler rings 75 are taken along on a manual rotation of the marking rings 73.

[0073] At an inner periphery 65, the tumbler rings 75 have respective blocking webs 67 that are interrupted by a respective release recess 69. The release recesses 69 of the tumbler rings 75 may be oriented in alignment with one another by setting the secret code at the code setting rings 27 in order to allow the elevated locking portions 71 of the bolt mandrel 23, which is introduced into the lock body 13 or into the passage 51, to pass during a removal of the bolt mandrel 23 from the lock body 13 (cf. also FIGS. 3 and 6A). If the secret code is, in contrast, not set at the code setting rings 27, at least one of the blocking webs 67 of the tumbler rings 75 is arranged in alignment with the associated elevated locking portion 71 of the bolt mandrel 23. When the secret code is not set, a pulling of the bolt mandrel 23 out of the lock body 13 is therefore prevented by the cooperation of the respective elevated locking portion 71 with the associated blocking web 67 such that the bolt 21 is locked to the lock body 13.

[0074] As FIG. 7A shows, separating disks 85 are arranged between two code setting rings 27, which are sequentially supported at the bearing prolongation 47 of the first closure part 15, and are rotationally fixedly held at the bearing prolongation 47 by respective elevated blocking portions 95 formed at the first closure part 15. These separating disks 85 in particular serve to prevent a co-rotation, for instance a friction-induced co-rotation, of adjacent code setting rings 27 on the rotation of the code setting rings 27. In addition, the separating disks 85 make it possible to selectively change the secret code.

[0075] As FIG. 7B shows, the tumbler rings 75 are supported at the first closure part 15 via a spring 77 in the direction of the first end 33 of the lock body 13. To be able to change the secret code, the combination locking mechanism 19 has a setting element 83 which is accessible when the bolt 21 is removed and by which a compression force may be applied to the separating disks 85 and, via the separating disks 85, to the tumbler rings 75. For this purpose, the setting element 83 may be configured to convert a rotation into an axial movement such that a user may transmit an axial force to the tumbler rings 75 by rotating the setting element.

[0076] Due to the development of such a compression force, the tumbler rings 75 may be moved axially relative to the marking rings 73 against the force of the spring 77 such that the elevated coupling portions 89 may be brought out of engagement with the coupling recesses 91 and the rotationally fixed coupling between the marking rings 73 and the tumbler rings 75 may be dissolved. In this secret code changing state of the combination locking mechanism 19, the marking rings 73 may be rotated relative to the tumbler rings 75 to set a new secret code, wherein, on a dissolving of the compression force exerted via the setting element 83, the tumbler rings 75 may automatically come back into engagement and may enter into a rotationally fixed coupling with the marking rings 73 due to the force of the spring 77. As a result, the release recesses 69 are still arranged in alignment with one another such that the key combination now set at the code setting rings 27 represents the new secret code.

[0077] To reliably prevent an unwanted co-rotation of the tumbler rings 75 during a setting of the new secret code, the tumbler rings 75 further have, in addition to the release recesses 69, a respective blocking recess 93 that comes into engagement with the elevated blocking portions 95, which are formed at the bearing prolongation 47 of the first closure part 15, after the axial displacement of the tumbler rings 75. In the operating state of the combination locking mechanism 19, the blocking webs 67 are, in contrast, arranged in respective intermediate spaces between two elevated blocking portions 95 to enable a rotation of the tumbler rings 75 relative to the bearing prolongation 47.

[0078] The chain lock 11 thus enables a simple manufacture and assembly in that in particular the complex first closure part 15 forming a base body 45 may, for example, be made from a zinc die casting since the required tensile stability may be ensured by conducting tensile forces via the two first fastening pins 35 and 37 to the housing sleeve 29 and via the second fastening pin 43 to the second closure part 17. Due to the simple shape of the housing sleeve 29 as a hollow cylinder with only a few openings, the fastening openings 87 and the access window 31 and due to the simple shape of the second closure part 17 as an annular cover of the housing sleeve 29 with the introduction opening 49, these parts may be produced without problem from stable materials, for example from steel. The chain lock 11 may thereby be produced in an overall simple and inexpensive manner without this simplified manufacture being accompanied by a loss of stability or security.

REFERENCE NUMERAL LIST

[0079] 11 chain lock [0080] 13 lock body [0081] 15 first closure part [0082] 17 second closure part [0083] 19 combination locking mechanism [0084] 21 bolt [0085] 23 bolt mandrel [0086] 25 chain connection part [0087] 27 code setting ring [0088] 29 housing sleeve [0089] 31 access window [0090] 33 first end of the lock body [0091] 35 first fastening pin [0092] 37 further first fastening pin [0093] 39 annular groove of the chain connection part [0094] 41 second end of the lock body [0095] 43 second fastening pin [0096] 45 base body [0097] 47 bearing prolongation [0098] 49 introduction opening [0099] 51 passage [0100] 53 slit [0101] 55 further chain connection part [0102] 57 fastening section [0103] 59 third fastening pin [0104] 61 further third fastening pin [0105] 63 annular groove of the further chain connection part [0106] 65 inner periphery [0107] 67 blocking web [0108] 69 release recess [0109] 71 elevated locking portion [0110] 73 marking ring [0111] 75 tumbler ring [0112] 77 spring [0113] 79 first cover part [0114] 81 second cover part [0115] 83 setting element [0116] 85 separating disk [0117] 87 fastening opening [0118] 89 elevated coupling portion [0119] 91 coupling recess [0120] 93 blocking recess [0121] 95 elevated blocking portion [0122] D axis of rotation [0123] S key axis