CROSS-SECTIONAL PROFILE FOR A FLAT KEY OR THE KEY CHANNEL OF A CYLINDER LOCK

Abstract

The invention relates to a cross-sectional profile (1) for a flat key or the keyway of a cylinder lock, comprising a back surface (2), a first lateral surface (4) and a second lateral surface (4′), wherein the lateral surfaces (4, 4′) extend in the vertical direction to the back surface (2), the lateral surfaces (4, 4′) are arranged offset to one another by a distance (5), which varies along their extension, and the outline of the cross-sectional profile (1) defines a preferably substantially rectangular base profile (6), and wherein the lateral surfaces (4, 4′) each extend at least in sections along sinusoidal profiling lines (7, 7′), wherein the centerlines (8, 8′) of the profiling lines (7, 7′) lie within the base profile (6). Further, the invention relates to a flat key (16) with such a cross-sectional profile (1) and a cylinder lock with a keyway (13) for receiving such a flat key (16).

Claims

1-24. (canceled)

25. A cross-sectional profile (1) for a flat key or the keyway of a cylinder lock, comprising a back surface (2), a first lateral surface (4) and a second lateral surface (4′), wherein a. the lateral surfaces (4, 4′) extend in the vertical direction to the back surface (2), b. the lateral surfaces (4, 4′) are arranged offset to one another by a distance (5), which varies along their extension, c. the outline of the cross-sectional profile (1) defines a substantially rectangular base profile (6), d. wherein the lateral surfaces (4, 4′) each extend at least in sections along sinusoidal profiling lines (7, 7′), and wherein e. the centerlines (8, 8′) of the profiling lines (7, 7′) lie within the base profile (6); wherein the centerlines (8, 8′) of the profiling lines (7, 7′) a. extend at an angle □ to the center plane (22) of the base profile (6), which is approximately 5°, and linearly approach one another along their extension from the back surface (2).

26. The cross-sectional profile (1) according claim 25, wherein, in addition to the profiling lines (7, 7′), any number N, of sinusoidal variation lines (9, 9′), which intersect the profiling lines (7, 7′), are provided, wherein a. for forming variation ribs (10, 10′), the lateral surfaces (4, 4′) extend at least in sections along one of the variation lines (9, 9′), and b. the centerlines of the variation lines (9, 9′) lie within the base profile (6), and c. the variation lines (9, 9′) are offset by a phase offset.

27. The cross-sectional profile (1) according to claim 25, wherein a. for forming first variation ribs (10), a number N1 of sinusoidal first variation lines (9) are provided on a first lateral surface (4) from the lateral surfaces (4, 4′), which are offset by a phase offset, and b. for forming second variation ribs (10′), a number N2 of sinusoidal second variation lines (9′) are provided on a second lateral surface (4′) from the lateral surfaces (4, 4′), which are offset by a phase offset.

28. The cross-sectional profile (1) according to claim 25, wherein the centerlines (12, 12′) of the variation lines (9, 9′) coincide and lie in the center plane (22) of the base profile (6).

29. The cross-sectional profile (1) according to claim 25, wherein the centerlines (12, 12′) of the variation lines (9, 9′) lie outside the center plane (22) of the base profile (6).

30. The cross-sectional profile (1) according to claim 25, wherein the centerlines (12, 12′) of the variation lines (9, 9′) a. extend at an angle Q to the center plane (22) of the base profile (6), which is approximately 5°, and b. linearly diverge in their extension from the back surface (2).

31. The cross-sectional profile (1) according to claim 25, wherein the profiling lines (7, 7′) and the variation lines (9, 9′) have substantially the same period duration T.

32. The cross-sectional profile (1) according to claim 25, wherein the amplitude of the profiling lines (7, 7′) is at least half the distance (5) of the lateral surfaces (4, 4′).

33. The cross-sectional profile (1) according to claim 25, wherein the profiling lines (7, 7′) and the variation lines (9, 9′) have substantially the same wherein amplitude.

34. The cross-sectional profile (1) according to claim 25, wherein the profiling lines (7, 7′) and the variation lines (9, 9′) have a different amplitude at least in sections.

35. A flat key (16) with a cross-sectional profile (1) according to claim 25, comprising two longitudinally profiled key lateral surfaces (17, 17′), which extend at least in sections along the profiling lines (7, 7′) and the variation lines (9, 9′) of the cross-sectional profile (1), a key back surface (18) and an encoded key front surface (19).

36. The flat key (16) according to claim 35, wherein the flat key (16) has a key bow (20) and a key tip (21), wherein the amplitudes of the profiling lines (7, 7′) and the variation lines (9, 9′) are smaller in the area of the key tip (21) than in the area of the key bow (20), smaller by about 20% to 80%.

37. The flat key (16) according to claim 36, wherein the amplitudes of the profiling lines (7, 7′) and the variation lines (9, 9′) are in sections reduced by about 20% to 80% in the area between the key tip (21) and the key bow (20), in the area of scanning positions at which a code is provided for being read in the associated cylinder lock.

38. A cylinder lock with a keyway (13) for receiving a flat key (16) according to claim 25, comprising two lateral surfaces, which extend at least in sections along one or more profiling lines (7, 7′) and the variation lines (9, 9′) of the cross-sectional profile (1).

39. The cylinder lock according to claim 38, wherein at least one lateral surface has a trapping calotte (14), which is designed as a sinusoidal undercut around a baseline (15, 15′), the baseline (15, 15′) extending along a profiling line (7, 7′) and/or variation line (9, 9′) of the lateral surface.

40. The cylinder lock according to claim 39, wherein the baseline (15, 15′) extends at an angle of about 60° to about 90° to the central plane (22) of the base profile (6) of the cross-sectional profile (1).

41. The cylinder lock according to claim 38, wherein, for reading codes on the key front surface (19) of a flat key (16) having the amplitudes of the profiling lines (7, 7′) and the variation lines (9, 9′) are in sections reduced by about 20% to 80% in the area between the key tip (21) and the key bow (20); wherein, at least one core pin (23) is provided, which is of hip-shaped design at its end projecting into the keyway (13) and has a scanning surface (24).

42. The cylinder lock according to claim 41, wherein the scanning surface (24) extends linearly substantially along the entire diameter of a cylindrical base body.

43. The cylinder lock according to claim 41, wherein the scanning surface (24) extends linearly along a section of the diameter of a cylindrical base body.

44. A locking system, comprising one or more flat keys (16) and cylinder locks according to claim 41.

45. The locking system according to claim 44, wherein a. the flat key (16) has a cross-sectional profile (1) in which the centerlines (12, 12′) of the variation lines (9, 9′) lie outside the center plane (22) of a base profile (6), and b. the cylinder lock comprises at least one core pin (23), which is of hip-shaped design at its end projecting into a keyway (13) in order to scan codes of the flat key (16) which lie outside the center plane (22) of the base profile (6).

46. The locking system according to claim 45, comprising multiple flat keys (16) and multiple cylinder locks, wherein a locking hierarchy is formed by designing the cross-sectional profiles (1) of the flat keys (16) and the cross-sectional profiles (1) of the keyways (13) differently and hierarchically.

Description

[0033] The invention is now further explained on the basis of non-exclusive and/or non-limiting exemplary embodiments.

[0034] FIGS. 1a to 1c show views of an embodiment of a cross-sectional profile according to the invention;

[0035] FIG. 2 shows a view a further embodiment of a cross-sectional profile according to the invention;

[0036] FIGS. 3a to 3b show views of an embodiment of a cross-sectional profile according to the invention;

[0037] FIGS. 4a to 4b show views of an embodiment of a key according to the invention and a keyway according to the invention;

[0038] FIG. 5 shows a view of an embodiment of a keyway according to the invention;

[0039] FIGS. 6a to 6c show a schematic three-dimensional view and schematic lateral views of a first embodiment of a core pin for a cylinder lock according to the invention;

[0040] FIGS. 6d to 6e show a schematic sectional view of a cylinder lock and a flat key using a conventional core pin and a core pin according to the invention;

[0041] FIGS. 6f to 6g show a schematic three-dimensional view and a schematic lateral view of a second embodiment of a core pin for a cylinder lock according to the invention.

[0042] FIGS. 1a to 1c show views of an embodiment of a cross-sectional profile 1 according to the invention, wherein FIG. 1a shows the cross-section of a resulting flat key, while FIG. 1b and FIG. 1c show the designs of the profiling lines and the variation lines.

[0043] The cross-sectional profile 1 comprises a back surface 2, an upper first lateral surface 4 and a lower second lateral surface 4′. The two lateral surfaces 4, 4′ extend in the vertical direction, i.e., in the normal direction or at an angle of 90°, to the back surface 2. The lateral surfaces 4, 4′ are arranged offset to one another by a distance 5, which, in this exemplary embodiment, is constant along their extension. In the design as a flat key, the distance 5 is the material thickness of the flat key. The outline of the cross-sectional profile 1 defines a substantially rectangular base profile 6, which is shown purely schematically in FIG. 1b.

[0044] The lateral surfaces 4, 4′ each extend in sections along sinusoidal profiling lines 7, 7′/sinusoidal variation lines 9, 9′.

[0045] The profiling lines 7, 7′ and the variation lines 9, 9′ are schematic construction lines which are typically realized only in sections on the flat key or in the keyway and which are used when defining the key profiles in order to form profile ribs 11, 11′ and variation ribs 10, 10′. The centerlines 8, 8′ of the profiling lines 7, 7′ extend at a distance and parallel to one another within the base profile 6. Thus, the distance of the profiling lines 7, 7′ corresponds approximately to the distance 5 of the lateral surfaces 4, 4′. In addition to the profiling lines 7, 7′, two sinusoidal variation lines 9, 9′ are provided, which intersect the profiling lines 7, 7′.

[0046] The intersections form the variation ribs 10, 10′ in that the lateral surfaces extend along one of the variation lines 9, 9′ in these sections and not along the profiling lines 7, 7′. In this exemplary embodiment, the centerlines 12, 12′ of the variation lines 9, 9′ lie within the base profile 6, i.e. on the centerline 22 of the base profile 6. The variation lines 9, 9′ are offset by a phase offset Δφ of about 180°, wherein the periods T of the profiling lines and the variation lines are substantially identical.

[0047] FIG. 2 shows a view of a further embodiment of a cross-sectional profile 1 according to the invention. In this embodiment, the amplitude of the profiling lines 7, 7′ and the variation lines 9, 9′ differs in sections. In this specific example, one of the profiling lines 7 exceeds the base profile 6 in one section of the lateral surface 4.

[0048] FIGS. 3a to 3b show views of a further embodiment of a cross-sectional profile 1 according to the invention. This cross-sectional profile 1 has a base profile 6, which tapers slightly conically starting from the back surface 2, wherein this taper is approximately 5°. FIG. 3a shows a correspondingly designed flat key 16; FIG. 3b schematically shows the arrangement of the construction lines for this cross-sectional profile 1.

[0049] In this embodiment, the centerlines 8, 8′ of the sinusoidal profiling lines 7, 7′ extend at an angle α to the central plane 22 of the base profile 6, which is approximately 5°, and the profiling lines 7, 7′ linearly approach one another along their extension from the back surface 2. In contrast, the centerlines 12, 12′ of the variation lines 9, 9′ extend in the exact opposite direction at an angle β to the central plane 22 of the base profile 6, which is approximately 5°, wherein the variation lines 9, 9′ linearly diverge in their extension from the back surface 2.

[0050] In the area of the first lateral surface 4, two sinusoidal first variation lines 9 are provided for forming first variation ribs 10, which are offset by a phase offset of about 180°.

[0051] Analogously, two sinusoidal second variation lines 9′ are provided on the second lateral surface 4′ for forming second variation ribs 10′, which are offset by a phase offset of 180°. For their part, these two groups of variation lines are out of phase with one another in such a way that variation ribs 10, 10′ are each defined alternately by one of the four variation lines 9, 9′ both on the first lateral surface 4 and on the second lateral surface 4′. This allows a particularly easy and structured definition of a plurality of profile variations for forming profile hierarchies.

[0052] This exemplary embodiment also shows that the variation lines 9, 9′ have a substantially bigger amplitude than the profiling lines 7, 7′. The advantage is that the pitch of the profile ribs 11, 11′ is flatter than the pitch of the variation ribs 10, 10′. This is particularly clearly visible in FIG. 3a. Consequently, a longitudinal groove L is formed between the tips of a profile rib 11, 11′ and a variation rib 10, 10′ in this embodiment, which can be used particularly advantageously for securely inserting the key into the keyway.

[0053] FIGS. 4a to 4b show views of an embodiment of a key 16 according to the invention and a keyway 13 according to the invention. The flat key 13 comprises two longitudinally profiled key lateral surfaces 17, 17′, which extend in sections along the profiling lines 7, 7′ and variation lines 9, 9′ of the cross-sectional profile 1, a key back surface 18 and an optionally encoded key front surface 19.

[0054] Further, the flat key 16 comprises a key bow 20 and a key tip 21, wherein the amplitudes of the profiling lines 7, 7′ and the variation lines 9, 9′ are smaller in the area of the key tip 21 than in the area of the key bow 20, in particular smaller by about 50%. In this exemplary embodiment, the area of reduced amplitude extends over about 20% of the length of the key shank. FIG. 4b is a top view of the keyway 13 with the key inserted, wherein the key tip 21 is visible.

[0055] FIG. 5 shows a view of an embodiment of a keyway 13 according to the invention in a cylinder lock designed to receive a flat key 16. The keyway 13 comprises two lateral surfaces 4, 4′, which extend in sections along the profiling lines 7, 7′ and variation lines 9, 9′ of the cross-sectional profile 1, and has a rectangular base profile 6 with a centerline 22. The cross-sectional profile 1 is paracentric, since at least one of the profile ribs 11 projects beyond the baseline 22.

[0056] The two lateral surfaces 4, 4′ each have a trapping calotte 14, 14′, which is designed as a sinusoidal undercut around a baseline 15, 15′. This makes it more difficult to scan the codes in the cylinder core (which, in the present embodiment, are located on the right-hand side). The needles of the electro-picking tool would be inserted from the left, i.e., the area of the back surface 2, and attempt to advance to the area of the front surface 3, i.e., to the right. As these scanning needles move back, they get caught on the trapping calottes, causing the scanning attempt to fail.

[0057] However, since the trapping calottes 14, 14′ are formed as undercuts, i.e., cutouts of the profile ribs 11, 11′, they do not interfere with the insertion of an authorized key into the keyway 13. In this exemplary embodiment, the baselines 15, 15′ extend along the profiling line 7, 7′ of the lateral surface of the keyway 13 provided at this point.

[0058] In this exemplary embodiment, the baselines 15, 15′ of the sinusoidal undercuts extend at an angle γ or δ of about 60° to about 90° to the center plane 22 of the base profile 6 of the cross-sectional profile 1. The amplitudes of the undercuts forming the trapping calottes 14, 14′ are substantially smaller than the amplitudes of the profiling lines 7, 7′ and approximately in the range of 10% to 20% thereof.

[0059] FIGS. 6a to 6c show a schematic three-dimensional view and schematic lateral views of a first embodiment of a core pin 23 for a cylinder lock according to the invention. In this exemplary embodiment, the cylinder lock is designed to read codes on the key front surface 19 of a flat key 16 according to the invention. For this purpose, core pins 23 with a special geometry are provided which project into the keyway 13. At least one of the core pins 23 is of hip-shaped design at its end projecting into the keyway 13 and has a scanning surface 24. The specially shaped, hip-shaped end region enables the scanning surface 24 to selectively scan codes of the key front surface 19. Conventional core pins with a conical tip and a substantially circular scanning surface, however, would get caught on the sinusoidally profiled lateral surfaces of the flat key 16 or at least provide an incorrect scanning result. In particular, if the tip angle, i.e., the angle at the conical tip of a conventional core pin, is too small, it would potentially get caught on the lateral surfaces. If the extent of the scanning surface of the conventional core pin is too large, it cannot follow the sinusoidal profiling of the flat key.

[0060] For clarification, this function is shown in simplified form in FIG. 6d and FIG. 6e using the example of a flat key 16 according to the invention with a sinusoidal profiling. Due to the sinusoidal profiling, the code 26 is not located centrally at this scanning position of the flat key 16, but eccentrically to the center plane 22 of the base profile of the flat key 16. Consequently, the conventional core pin 27 shown in FIG. 6d with its conical tip and centered scanning surface 28 cannot read the actual code 26, but penetrates too far into the key profile. In contrast, the core pin 23 designed according to the embodiment shown in FIGS. 6a to 6c is of hip-shaped design at its end projecting into the keyway 13 and has a scanning surface 24, which extends essentially linearly along its entire diameter. This specially designed hip-shaped end region enables the core pin 23 to correctly scan the eccentric codes 26 with its scanning surface 24.

[0061] In the exemplary embodiment of the core pins according to FIGS. 6a to 6c, the scanning surface 24 of the core pin 23 is designed substantially symmetrically to the longitudinal axis 25 of the base body of the core pin 23. The laterally arranged guide does not count as part of the base body. The lateral surfaces of the hip-shaped end form substantially identical angles of approximately 45° with the central longitudinal axis 25.

[0062] FIGS. 6f to 6g show a schematic three-dimensional view and a schematic lateral view of a second embodiment of a core pin 23 for a cylinder lock according to the invention. In this exemplary embodiment, the core pin 23 has a hip-shaped end region, which extends asymmetrically to the longitudinal axis 25 of the cylindrical base body.

[0063] The scanning surface 24 is located entirely on one side of the longitudinal axis 25 of the base body of the core pin 23 so that the lateral surfaces of the formed hip form different angles with the longitudinal axis 25. Thus, the scanning surface 24 is formed asymmetrically to the longitudinal axis 25. This allows the particularly targeted insertion of the scanning surface into a code on the key front surface 19 of the flat key 16.

[0064] Embodiments of cylinder locks according to the invention are also provided, in which both core pins with scanning surfaces 24 arranged symmetrically to the longitudinal axis 25 and core pins with scanning surfaces 24 arranged asymmetrically to the longitudinal axis 25 are provided.

[0065] The invention is not limited to the illustrated embodiments, but rather comprises any flat keys/cylinder locks or locking system according to the following patent claims. In particular, the optionally used term “incision milling” is not limited to cutouts formed by means of a milling tool but it comprises cutouts formed by any means.

LIST OF REFERENCE SIGNS

[0066] 1 Cross-sectional profile [0067] 2 Back surface [0068] 3 Front surface [0069] 4 First lateral surface [0070] 4′ Second lateral surface [0071] 5 Distance [0072] 6 Base profile [0073] 7, 7′ Profiling lines [0074] 8, 8′ Centerlines of the profiling lines [0075] 9, 9′ Variation lines [0076] 10, 10′ Variation ribs [0077] 11, 11′ Profiling ribs [0078] 12, 12′ Centerlines of the variation lines [0079] 13 Keyway [0080] 14, 14′ Trapping calotte [0081] 15, 15′ Baseline of the trapping calotte [0082] 16 Flat key [0083] 17, 17′ Key lateral surface [0084] 18 Key back surface [0085] 19 Key front [0086] 20 Key bow [0087] 21 Key tip [0088] 22 Center plane of the base profile [0089] 23 Core pin [0090] 24 Scanning surface [0091] 25 Longitudinal axis of the core pin [0092] 26 Code [0093] 27 Conventional core pin [0094] 28 Scanning surface of the conventional core pin