JP7229367B2 - padlock - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a padlock that locks by hooking a J-shaped shackle attached to a lock body to an object to be locked.

A typical padlock has a J-shaped shackle whose short and long legs are slidably inserted into a pair of leg insertion holes in the lock body, and the lock hole between the pair of leg insertion holes is slidably inserted. A lock cylinder is incorporated, and by inserting an operation key into the key hole of the lock cylinder and operating the lock cylinder, the lock mechanism built into the lock body is operated to lock the shackle in the locked state. I have to.

In such a padlock, the shackle may be damaged during use, or the object to be locked may change, requiring replacement of the shackle. In that case, a skilled worker usually dismantles the entire lock and then assembles it using a new shackle, which is time-consuming and costly.

On the other hand, in the padlock proposed in Patent Document 1, a shackle replacement screw having a hexagonal hole in the head is screwed into the long leg of the shackle in the radial direction, and when the shackle is unlocked, the shackle replacement screw is engaged with the shackle. When it becomes necessary to replace the shackle, rotate the shackle in the unlocked state and insert the head of the shackle replacement screw into the leg insertion hole from the surface of the lock body. After exposing it to a screw extracting hole penetrating through the shackle, a shackle replacement screw is extracted from the screw extracting hole using a hexagonal wrench, the shackle is extracted from the lock body, and a new shackle is installed in the reverse order. According to this configuration, even an unskilled worker can easily replace the shackle.

Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2007-231721

However, with the padlock disclosed in Patent Document 1, there is a risk that the removed shackle replacement screw may be lost during replacement of the shackle, and it is necessary to perform replacement work while paying attention to the prevention of loss. In addition, there is also the problem that the screw extraction hole that opens on the side surface of the lock body impairs the design of the exterior.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a padlock that allows efficient work without removing other parts when replacing a shackle, and that can ensure good design of its appearance.

In order to solve the above problems, the present invention provides a lock body having a lock hole formed between a pair of leg insertion holes, and a short leg slidably inserted into each of the leg insertion holes of the lock body. A J-shaped shackle having a portion and a long leg, and a key hole which is incorporated in the lock hole of the lock body and exposed to the lower surface of the lock body, and is operated by an operation key inserted into the key hole. A lock cylinder and a lock mechanism, which is operated by the lock cylinder and locks the shackle in a locked state, the lock mechanism can be freely engaged with and disengaged from notches formed in the long legs of the shackle. and a ball connected to the lock cylinder for engaging the ball with a notch in the long leg of the shackle to lock the shackle and allowing the ball to move to a position where the engagement is released. and a locking piece for selectively switching between the lock state and the shackle. is prevented by the engagement between the ball and the retaining portion formed on the long leg of the shackle, the padlock has an operation portion exposed on the upper surface of the lock body inside the lock body. Then, a state in which the ball is held in a position where it is rotated by the operation of the operating portion to engage the retaining portion of the shackle, and a state in which the ball is permitted to move to a position where the engagement does not occur are selected. We adopted a configuration in which a shackle retaining piece that can be switched dynamically is provided.

According to the above configuration, during normal use, the shackle retaining piece holds the ball in a position where it engages with the retaining portion of the shackle so that the shackle does not come out of the lock body when the lock is unlocked. When replacing the shackle, the shackle can be pulled out simply by turning the shackle retaining piece in the unlocked state. Therefore, in the shackle replacement work, there is no need to remove other parts and there is no fear of losing the parts, so the work can be performed efficiently. In addition, since the shackle retaining piece is provided inside the lock body, only the operation part thereof is exposed on the upper surface of the lock body, and there is no need to provide a hole or the like for replacing the shackle on the side surface of the lock body. , the design of the appearance can be secured.

Here, the locking piece of the locking mechanism includes a ball holding surface that holds the ball at a position where it engages with the notch of the shackle, and a ball that allows the ball to move to a position where it does not engage with the retaining portion of the shackle. The shackle retaining piece has a ball holding surface that retains the ball at a position where the ball is engaged with the retaining portion of the shackle, and the ball moves to a position where the ball does not engage with the retaining portion of the shackle. It is possible to adopt one that has a recess that allows it.

Further, in the above configuration, the shackle retaining piece is rotatably fitted to the inner periphery of the lock hole, and a pin is provided in the radial hole provided in the shackle retaining piece, and the pin protrudes from the radial hole. When the shackle retaining piece is in a state of holding the ball in a position where it engages with the retaining portion of the shackle, the tip of the pin is pushed out of the radial hole of the shackle retaining piece. It is preferable to provide a click mechanism that protrudes and enters into a recess formed in the inner peripheral surface of the lock hole. By providing this click mechanism, the shackle retaining piece will not be unintentionally rotated due to vibration or the like during normal use, and the shackle can be reliably prevented from coming off when unlocking. On the other hand, when replacing the shackle, simply applying a certain amount of force in the rotational direction to the shackle retaining piece using a tool or the like causes the pin of the click mechanism to enter the radial hole of the shackle retaining piece and rotate the shackle retaining piece. , the shackle can be easily pulled out.

In addition, it is desirable to provide an O-ring inside the lock body for sealing between the shackle retaining piece and the lock body so as to ensure the same level of waterproofness and dustproofness as the conventional lock.

As described above, the padlock of the present invention is provided with a shackle retaining piece that is operated externally to selectively switch between a state in which the shackle is retained in the lock body and a state in which the shackle is permitted to be detached. Therefore, when replacing the shackle, simply operate the shackle retaining piece in the unlocked state to allow the shackle to come out, and the replacement work can be performed efficiently without removing other parts. Nor. In addition, since the operating part of the shackle retaining piece is only exposed on the upper surface of the lock body, the appearance of the side face of the lock body is not spoiled, so that the design of the exterior can be ensured.

Appearance perspective view of the padlock of the embodiment Vertical front view of Fig. 1 Exploded perspective view of FIG. Vertical cross-sectional front view showing an enlarged main part of FIG. Cross-sectional view along line VV in FIG. Enlarged perspective view of the shackle retaining piece upside down FIG. 3 is a longitudinal front view showing an unlocked state of the lock mechanism corresponding to FIG. 2; Top view for explaining the operation of the shackle retaining piece Top view for explaining the operation of the shackle retaining piece Vertical cross-sectional front view of the main part showing the shackle extraction state corresponding to FIG.

An embodiment of the present invention will be described below based on the drawings. This padlock, as shown in FIG. 1, comprises a lock body 1, a shackle 2 protruding from the upper surface of the lock body 1, and a cylinder cap 3 covering most of the lower surface of the lock body 1. .

As shown in FIGS. 1 to 3, the lock body 1 is formed in a substantially rectangular parallelepiped shape, and protective plates 4 and 5 made of two metal plates overlap with a plate fitting recess 1a provided on the upper surface of the lock body 1. As shown in FIGS. stuck in a state. On the other hand, a projecting portion 1b is formed at one end on the lower surface side of the lock body 1, and the lower surface of the portion other than the projecting portion 1b is covered with the cylinder cap 3. As shown in FIG.

The lock body 1 is provided with a pair of leg insertion holes 6 and 7 and a lock hole 8 penetrating from the bottom surface to the bottom surface of the plate fitting recess 1a. The short leg portion 9 and the long leg portion 10 of the J-shaped shackle 2 are slidably inserted into each of the .

The lock hole 8 is provided between the pair of leg insertion holes 6 and 7 (at the center of the lock body 1). and a shackle retaining piece 13 operated from the upper surface side of the lock body 1 are incorporated.

The lock cylinder 11 consists of an outer cylinder 14 fixed to the lock body 1 and an inner cylinder 15 having a key hole 15a exposed on the lower surface of the lock body 1 and rotatably incorporated inside the outer cylinder 14. , a pin tumbler lock which is locked and unlocked by inserting an operation key (not shown) into a key hole 15a of the inner cylinder 15 and rotating the inner cylinder 15. As shown in FIG. Since the pin tumbler lock is conventionally known, the details of the lock cylinder 11 are omitted from the illustration. Further, the lock cylinder 11 is not limited to a pin tumbler lock, and may be any type that can be locked and unlocked by turning an operation key.

The locking mechanism 12 is incorporated between a tail piece 16, a stopper plate 17 and a locking piece 18 which are incorporated above the lock cylinder 11, and between the locking piece 18 and the short leg 9 and long leg 10 of the shackle 2, respectively. It is composed of a ball 19 that is attached.

The tail piece 16 is fixed to the upper end of the inner cylinder 15 of the lock cylinder 11 so as to rotate integrally with the inner cylinder 15 . A key 16a having a rectangular cross-section extending radially is provided on the upper portion of the tailpiece 16, and an O-ring 20 is fitted to a small-diameter cylindrical portion 16b formed in the center for sealing with the lock hole 8. ing.

The stopper plate 17 is formed in an annular shape, and a pair of protruding pieces 17a are formed at positions facing the inner periphery of the lock hole 8 so as to be in contact with the upper surface of the small-diameter cylindrical portion 16b of the tailpiece 16. It is prevented from rotating by fitting it into the longitudinal groove (recess) 8a. The key 16a of the tailpiece 16, which is rotatably passed through the stopper plate 17, abuts against a projection 17b formed on the inner periphery of the stopper plate 17, so that the tailpiece 16 and the inner cylinder 15 are locked. The rotation angle is restricted to 90 degrees.

The locking piece 18 has a radially extending key groove 18a formed in the lower end surface that abuts on the upper surface of the stopper plate 17. By fitting the key groove 18a to the key 16a of the tailpiece 16, the locking piece 18 is integrated with the tailpiece 16. It is designed to rotate to

In addition, on the outer periphery of the locking piece 18, a ball holding surface 18b formed by a partial cylindrical surface on the upper end side and an inclined surface continuing to the lower end thereof, and a pair of axial grooves (recesses) 18c facing each other in the radial direction are provided. It is The ball holding surface 18b faces each ball 19 placed at a position where it engages with the shackle 2 (hereinafter referred to as "engagement position") as will be described later. The ball 19 is held at the engagement position by preventing movement in the disengagement direction (inward direction). On the other hand, each axial groove 18c has a depth capable of accommodating a portion of the ball 19, allowing the ball 19 at the engagement position to move inward.

The ball 19 is housed in a pair of pockets 21 and 22 that communicate with the lock hole 8 and the leg insertion holes 6 and 7, respectively, so that the short leg portion 9 and the long leg portion 10 of the shackle 2 face each other. It can be freely engaged with and disengaged from notches 9a and 10a formed in the . A position where a part of the ball 19 is fitted into these cutouts 9a and 10a is the engagement position of the ball 19 described above.

Here, the long leg portion 10 of the shackle 2 is formed with a notch portion 10b toward the lower end side from the notch portion 10a, and a notch-shaped retaining portion is provided along the entire circumference at a position continuous with the lower end of the notch portion 10b. 10c is formed. As will be described later, even if the shackle 2 is pulled up when unlocking, the long leg portion 10 is prevented from coming off by engaging the retaining portion 10c with the ball 19. As shown in FIG. When the retaining portion 10 c is engaged with the ball 19 , the short leg portion 9 is pulled out of the leg insertion hole 6 .

As shown in FIGS. 2 to 5, the shackle retaining piece 13 is formed in a substantially disc shape, and is rotatably fitted to the inner periphery of the lock hole 8 while being placed on the upper surface of the locking piece 18. and is retained by a retaining ring 23 attached to the upper part of the lock hole 8. - 特許庁

As shown in FIGS. 4 and 6, the shackle retaining piece 13 has a ball holding surface 13a formed of a partially conical surface and two recesses 13b and 13c. The ball holding surface 13a moves from a position where the ball 19 on one end engages with the retaining portion 10c of the shackle 2 (hereinafter referred to as a "retaining position") in a direction (inward direction) in which the engagement is released. The ball 19 is held at the retaining position (see FIG. 7). Each of the recesses 13 b and 13 c has a depth capable of accommodating a part of the ball 19 . The other concave portion 13c allows movement to a position where the ball 19 on the one end side does not engage with the retaining portion 10c of the shackle 2 (Fig. 9). That is, depending on the rotational position of the shackle retaining piece 13, a state in which the shackle 2 is retained during unlocking and a state in which the shackle 2 can be detached are switched.

In this embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 2 to 5, a click mechanism 24 is provided to keep the shackle retaining piece 13 in a state in which the shackle retaining piece 13 is retained. It is designed so that it will not rotate unintentionally.

The click mechanism 24 is provided with a radial hole 13d passing through a portion of the shackle retaining piece 13 that does not interfere with the ball holding surface 13a and the concave portions 13b and 13c. A coil spring 26 as an elastic member is inserted to urge the pins 25 of the shackle in the direction of separating from each other (the direction of projecting from the radial hole 13d), and the ball holding surface 13a of the shackle retaining piece 13 faces the ball 19 on the one end side. When the pin 25 is in the position where the pin 25 is located, the semispherical tip of each pin 25 protrudes from the radial hole 13d of the shackle retaining piece 13 and enters the longitudinal groove 8a of the inner peripheral surface of the lock hole 8. .

The shackle retaining piece 13 has a small-diameter cylindrical operation portion 13e exposed from the upper protective plate 4 of the lock body 1, and an operation groove 13f formed on the upper surface of the operation portion 13e is fitted with a screwdriver or the like. The tool (see FIG. 7) can be rotated by inserting the tip of the tool (see FIG. 7). The operation groove 13f extends in the radial direction and is formed in the shape of an arrow. The positional relationship makes it possible to easily determine the rotational position of the shackle retaining piece 13 .

Here, in order to expose the operating portion 13e of the shackle retaining piece 13, a hole 4a having approximately the same diameter as the operating portion 13e of the shackle retaining piece 13 is provided in the central portion of the upper protective plate 4. A hole 5a having a diameter larger than that of the operating portion 13e is provided in the central portion. An O-ring 27 for sealing between the shackle retaining piece 13 and the upper protecting plate 4 forming the upper surface of the lock body 1 is provided inside the hole 5a of the lower protective plate 5, and there is no shackle retaining piece. The same level of waterproofness and dustproofness as the conventional one is ensured.

As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, holes 4b and 5b into which the long legs 10 of the shackle 2 are inserted are provided at one end of each of the protective plates 4 and 5. A cylindrical portion 4c into which the short leg portion 9 of the shackle 2 is inserted is provided at the other end portion. The cylindrical portion 4c is fitted into the leg insertion hole 6 through a hole 5c formed in the other end of the lower holding plate 5, and a ball hole 4d for incorporating the ball 19 on the other end side is formed. ing.

A slide pin 28 fixed to the upper surface of the other end of the cylinder cap 3 is inserted into the leg insertion hole 6 on the other end side in a lower portion that does not interfere with the short leg 9 of the shackle 2 . The slide pin 28 is directed upward together with the cylinder cap 3 by a coil spring 30 incorporated between the head of a screw 29 screwed into the upper end surface of the slide pin 28 and the stepped surface of the small diameter hole portion 6a at the lower end of the leg insertion hole 6. is energized by

The cylinder cap 3 is formed to have substantially the same planar shape as the lower surface of the lock body 1 except for the projecting portion 1b, and is rotatable about the slide pin 28. As shown in FIG. A cap seal 31 is fixed to the recessed portion 3a formed on the upper surface of the cylinder cap 3 to seal the key hole 15a of the inner cylinder 15 of the lock cylinder 11 by closely contacting the lower surface of the lock body 1. As shown in FIG. The cap seal 31 is made of an elastic material such as rubber.

Next, the operation of locking an object to be locked using this padlock will be described below. When the padlock is not in use, it is normally positioned as shown in FIGS. That is, the ball 19 is engaged with the cutouts 9a and 10a of the short leg 9 and long leg 10 of the shackle 2, and the ball 19 is held by the ball holding surface 13a of the locking piece 18 at the engagement position, thereby allowing the shackle to operate. 2 is locked. At this time, the ball holding surface 13a of the shackle retaining piece 13 faces the ball 19 on one end side, and the concave portion 13b on one side faces the ball 19 on the other end side with a gap in the radial direction. 25 is inserted into the longitudinal groove 8a of the lock hole 8. As shown in FIG. The cylinder cap 3 is pressed against the lower surface of the lock body 1 except for the protruding portion 1b by the elastic force of the coil spring 29, thereby shielding the key hole 15a of the lock cylinder 11. As shown in FIG.

When locking the object to be locked from this state, first, the cylinder cap 3 is pulled down integrally with the slide pin 28 against the elastic force of the coil spring 29, as indicated by the two-dot chain line in FIG. Then, as shown in FIG. 7, the cylinder cap 3 is rotated around the slide pin 28 to expose the key hole 15a of the lock cylinder 11, and the operation key is inserted into the key hole 15a and rotated. As a result, the inner cylinder 15 of the lock cylinder 11 and the tail piece 16 and locking piece 18 of the lock mechanism 12 are integrally rotated by 90 degrees.

Then, the axial grooves 18c of the locking piece 18 face the balls 19, allowing the balls 19 to move inward. At this time, since the shackle retaining piece 13 is also in a state of allowing the balls 19 to move inward, by pulling up the shackle 2, the balls 19 are pulled out of the notches 9a and 10a of the shackle 2, and the locking pieces are engaged. 18, the short leg portion 9 of the shackle 2 is pulled out from the leg insertion hole 6, and the shackle 2 is put into an unlocked state in which the shackle 2 can be attached to and removed from the object to be locked.

In this unlocked state, the long leg portion 10 of the shackle 2 is retained by the retaining portion 10c engaging the ball 19 held on the ball retaining surface 13a of the shackle retaining piece 13. As shown in FIG. Therefore, there is no possibility that the shackle 2 as a whole will slip out of the lock body 1, and the lock object can be engaged and disengaged with peace of mind.

After hooking the shackle 2 on the object to be locked, the short leg 9 and the long leg 10 are pushed into the leg insertion holes 6 and 7 to the position before unlocking, and the operation key is rotated again. Then, the locking piece 18 rotates, and after the ball 19 pushed out by the edge of the opening of the axial groove 18c engages the notches 9a and 10a of the shackle 2, the ball holding surface of the locking piece 18 is engaged. 13a faces ball 19 and holds ball 19 in the engaged position. As a result, the shackle 2 is locked and the object to be locked is locked.

After that, the cylinder cap 3 is pulled down and rotated to a position covering the lower surface of the lock body 1, and the keyhole 15a of the lock cylinder 11 is returned to the state of covering.

On the other hand, when replacing the shackle 2 of this padlock, first, the shackle 2 is unlocked as in normal use to bring it into the unlocked state shown in FIG. At this time, the ball holding surface 13 a of the shackle retaining piece 13 retains the ball 19 on the one end side at the retaining position where it engages with the retaining portion 10 c of the shackle 2 . Further, as shown in FIG. 8A, the tip of each pin 25 of the click mechanism 24 is inserted into the vertical groove 8a of the lock hole 8, and the arrow-shaped operation groove 13f of the operation portion 13e of the shackle retaining piece 13 is located on the upper side. 2 indicates the mark II written on the upper surface of the protection plate 4 of FIG.

Then, from the above unlocked state, as indicated by a chain double-dashed line in FIG. 7, the tip of the tool T is inserted into the operating groove 13f of the operating portion 13e of the shackle retaining piece 13, and the tool T is rotated. As a result, as shown in FIG. 8B, the pin 25 of the click mechanism 24 is pushed into the radial hole 13d of the shackle retaining piece 13 against the elastic force of the coil spring 26, and the operation groove 13f is positioned in the upper protective plate 4. Rotate the shackle retaining piece 13 to the position pointing to the mark I.

Then, as shown in FIG. 9, one concave portion 13b of the shackle retaining piece 13 faces the ball 19 on the other end side at a position different from that before the turning operation, and the other concave portion 13c faces the ball 19 on the one end side. It opposes and allows the ball 19 to move inward. Therefore, by pulling the shackle 2 in this state, the ball 19 on the one end side moves inward from the retaining position, and the retaining portion 10c of the shackle 2 passes through the side of the ball 19 to lock the entire shackle 2. It can be pulled out from the main body 1 . After extracting the shackle 2, a new shackle is assembled and the shackle retaining piece 13 is rotated again.

As described above, in the unlocked state, the shackle 2 can be removed simply by operating and rotating the shackle retaining piece 13 from the outside, so other parts need to be removed when replacing the shackle. The replacement work can be performed more efficiently than the conventional one, and there is no fear of losing parts. In addition, the operation part 13e of the shackle retaining piece 13 is only exposed on the upper surface of the lock body 1, and the appearance of the side face of the lock body 1 is not spoiled, so that the appearance design of the entire padlock can be ensured.

Further, since the shackle retaining piece 13 is mounted on the upper surface of the locking piece 18, the conventional locking piece can be divided into upper and lower halves and the upper portion can be deformed. . In this way, most of the inventory parts can be used as they are when the specifications of the conventional product are changed.

1 Lock body 2 Shackle 3 Cylinder caps 4, 5 Protection plates 6, 7 Leg insertion hole 8 Lock hole 8a Vertical groove (recess)
9 short leg 9a notch 10 long leg 10a notch 10c retaining portion 11 lock cylinder 12 locking mechanism 13 shackle retaining piece 13a ball holding surfaces 13b, 13c recess 13d radial hole 13e operating portion 13f operating groove 15a keyhole 18 locking Piece 18b Ball holding surface 18c Axial groove (recess)
19 ball 24 click mechanism 25 pin 26 coil spring (elastic member)
27 O-ring

Claims (4)

A lock body having a lock hole formed between a pair of leg insertion holes, and a J-shaped shackle having short and long legs slidably inserted into the leg insertion holes of the lock body. a lock cylinder incorporated in the lock hole of the lock body and having a key hole exposed on the lower surface of the lock body and operated by an operation key inserted into the key hole; A locking mechanism that locks the shackle in a locked state,
The lock mechanism is connected to a ball that can be freely engaged with and disengaged from notches formed in the long legs of the shackle and to the lock cylinder, and the balls are engaged with the notches in the long legs of the shackle. a locking piece that selectively switches between a state in which the shackle is locked by moving the shackle and a state in which the ball is allowed to move to a position where the engagement is released;
When the engagement between the ball of the lock mechanism and the cutout portion of the shackle is released and the unlocked state is established, the shackle is prevented from coming out of the lock main body by the retaining portion formed on the long leg portion of the ball and the shackle. In a padlock adapted to be blocked by engagement with
The lock body has an operation portion exposed on the upper surface of the lock body inside the lock body, and is rotated by the operation of the operation portion to hold the ball at a position where it engages with the retaining portion of the shackle; A padlock comprising a shackle retaining piece for selectively switching between a state in which movement of a ball to a position in which engagement does not occur and a state in which movement of the ball is permitted. The locking piece of the locking mechanism has a ball holding surface that holds the ball at a position where it engages with the notch of the shackle, and a recess that allows the ball to move to a position where it does not engage with the retaining portion of the shackle. is a
The shackle retaining piece has a ball holding surface that retains the ball at a position where it engages with the retaining portion of the shackle, and a concave portion that allows the ball to move to a position where it does not engage with the retaining portion of the shackle. 2. A padlock according to claim 1, characterized in that there is a The shackle retaining piece is rotatably fitted to the inner circumference of the lock hole, and a pin and an elastic member for biasing the pin in a radial direction hole provided in the shackle retaining piece in a direction of protruding from the radial hole are provided. When the ball is inserted and the shackle retaining piece holds the ball at a position where it engages with the retaining portion of the shackle, the tip of the pin protrudes from the radial hole of the shackle retaining piece and enters the lock hole. 3. The padlock according to claim 1, further comprising a click mechanism adapted to enter a recess formed in the peripheral surface. 4. The padlock according to any one of claims 1 to 3, wherein an O-ring is provided inside said lock body for sealing between said shackle retaining piece and said lock body.

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