JP7553118B2 - Concealed cylinder lock - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to a concealed cylinder lock used to lock and unlock doors.

Recently, cylinder locks used for locking and unlocking doors, which are equipped with electronic locks for electrically controlling them, have been increasingly used.
In electronic locks, the key is basically opened and closed electrically, but in order to deal with situations where the electronic key, such as an IC card, is lost and the door cannot be opened, electronic locks may also be equipped with a keyhole that can be opened and closed with a key that is not an electronic key.

However, the keyhole for the non-electronic key is only actively used when the electronic key is lost, and is often not used normally. In this case, from a crime prevention point of view, it is desirable for the keyhole for the non-electronic key not to be exposed.

On the other hand, the keyhole must be used to open the lock by physical means in an emergency if the electronic control of the electronic lock becomes inoperable due to an unforeseen event. Therefore, if the keyhole is hidden to the extent that its location is impossible to predict, there is a problem of delays in responding quickly in an emergency.

The concealed cylinder lock of the present invention, which solves the above problems, is characterized by comprising a ring-shaped antenna, a control device capable of unlocking the lock using identification data read by the antenna via wireless communication, a cylinder section that includes the antenna and has an extension extending rearward from the inside of the ring formed by the antenna, a keyhole provided on the front surface of the cylinder section, and a cover that covers the antenna, the keyhole, and a plate-shaped section that protrudes from the front surface of the door to which the cylinder section is attached.

The concealed cylinder lock of the present invention is also preferably characterized in that it comprises a ring-shaped antenna, a control device capable of unlocking the lock using identification data read by the antenna via wireless communication, a cylinder section equipped with the antenna and having an extension extending rearward from the inside of the ring formed by the antenna, a keyhole provided on the front surface of the cylinder section, a cover having an opening exposing the periphery of the keyhole and a plate-shaped section protruding from the front surface of the door to which the cylinder section is attached, the cover covering the antenna, and a dummy key removably inserted into the keyhole, the end of which is part of the cover and covers the opening of the cover.

Furthermore, it is preferable that the cover is cylindrical. If the cover is cylindrical and covers the cylinder portion in a disk shape protruding from the outer surface of the door, the user can use the concealed cylinder lock while naturally assuming that the cylinder portion has a keyhole, even during normal use of the electronic key. Therefore, in an emergency, the user can quickly determine that the keyhole can be found by removing the cover, and can quickly expose the keyhole and use the physical key to unlock the door.

Furthermore, it is also preferable that the concealed cylinder lock is provided with a light-emitting part. It is also preferable that the light-emitting part is provided on the inside of the cover, and the cover part corresponding to the light-emitting part of the cover is translucent.

According to the present invention, the position where the electronic key is held to unlock the door can be recognized as the same as the keyhole position. Therefore, in both normal situations where the electronic key is used, and in emergencies where the keyhole is used, the user can easily recognize the target position for the unlocking operation.

In addition, because the cylinder is covered, the keyhole can be quickly exposed even in an emergency by removing the cover itself or part of it, allowing unlocking to be performed without having to worry about where the keyhole is.

Furthermore, because the cover that covers the cylinder portion is cylindrical, even during normal times when the keyhole is not visible, the operator can easily assume that the part covered by the cover is the cylinder with the keyhole. Therefore, even in an emergency, the operator can easily recognize that the cylindrical cover is the object to be operated to expose the keyhole, which encourages quick operation.

Keyholes for keys that are not electronic keys are either entirely covered with a cover, including the ring-shaped antenna on the outside of the keyhole, or covered by a cover that covers the ring-shaped antenna and a cover that is integrated with the end of the dummy key, making the keyhole completely hidden and invisible from the outside. To open the door using the keyhole, the cover must be removed, or if a dummy key is inserted, the dummy key must be removed, preventing tampering with the keyhole and increasing crime prevention by making the keyhole invisible at a glance.

1 is a view of a door 30 equipped with a concealed cylinder lock 1 according to the present invention, as viewed from the outside of the room. 1 is a diagram of the frame 31 of the door 30. FIG. 1 is a view of a door 30 equipped with a concealed cylinder lock 1 according to the present invention, as seen from inside the room. 1 is a diagram showing the concealed cylinder lock 1 of the present invention with the cover 10 removed. FIG. 1 is an external view of a concealed cylinder lock 1 according to the present invention having a dummy key 3. FIG. 1 is an external view of the concealed cylinder lock 1 according to the present invention in a state in which the dummy key 3 is removed.

The following describes in detail an embodiment of the present invention with reference to the drawings. Note that in this specification and the drawings, components that have substantially the same functional configuration are designated by the same reference numerals, and redundant explanations are omitted.

Figure 1 is an external view of the concealed cylinder lock 1 according to the present invention when attached to the door of a room, as seen from the outside of the room, and shows an example in which the cover 10 described below is provided. Note that even in the case of the structure of Figure 7 described below, the cover 10 in Figure 1 can be explained as being replaced with a structure in which the end portion 15 of the dummy key is included as part of the cover 10 in the opening 10b of the cover 10. Note that the cover 10 is formed in a cylindrical shape that covers the plate-shaped portion 12a that protrudes from the outer surface of the door 30. Specifically, as shown in Figure 5, the cover 10 has a peripheral wall that extends from the periphery of the blocking plate that blocks the front side to the back side, and is preferably a cylindrical shape in which the back side is opened and formed in a concave shape. In this embodiment, the cover 10 is formed in a cylindrical shape. Since the cover 10 is cylindrical, it is possible to maintain a shape similar to the shape of the plate-shaped portion 12a of the cylinder portion 12, which is exposed from the door 30 and easily recognized as a cylinder. Therefore, in an emergency, a user who wants to expose the keyhole and unlock it with a key can easily predict where the cylinder is located with the cover 10 attached. Figure 2 is a diagram of the frame 31 to which the door 30 shown in Figure 1 is attached.

The concealed cylinder lock 1 of this embodiment is attached to the front of the door so as to protrude toward the outside of the room.
The deadbolt 21 and the latch bolt 22 are attached at positions corresponding to a strike 24, which is a recess provided in the frame 31 of the door 30 shown in FIG.
When the door 30 is in a locked state, the lever handle 23 cannot be turned and the door cannot be opened because the latch bolt 22 is restricted from retracting into the lock body B. When the door 30 is in an unlocked state, the restriction on the latch bolt 22 is released, and by turning the lever handle 23 of the door, the latch bolt 22 retracts into the lock body B and disengages from the strike 24, allowing the door to be opened.

Figure 3 shows the appearance of the concealed cylinder lock 1 of the present invention when attached to a door 30 of a room, as seen from inside the room. A thumb turn 25 used for manual locking and unlocking is attached to the inside of the room. A lever handle 26 is also attached to the inside of the door.

The lock body B installed inside the door 30 can be unlocked by an electric actuator provided inside the lock body B, a power transmission mechanism, and a control device working together to release the backward restriction on the latch bolt 22.
The control device is preferably an electronic circuit consisting of a calculation unit that performs wireless communication with the concealed cylinder lock 1 via a ring-shaped antenna 14, a memory unit, etc., and controls the drive of the electric actuator.
The electric actuator functions as an electric drive source for the locking and unlocking operations of the lock body B, and can be constituted by, for example, an electric motor or a solenoid.
The power transmission mechanism releases the restriction of the latch bolt 22 in response to the operation of the electric actuator.

As shown in FIG. 1, when an electronic key C such as an IC card is held from outside the room toward the antenna 14 from the front of the concealed cylinder lock 1 as shown by the two-dot dashed arrow, the control device installed in the lock determines the identification data that identifies the electronic key C, and if it recognizes that it is the key for that room, the latch bolt 22 is released and the lever handle 23 can be moved. When the lever handle 23 is turned while the latch bolt 22 is released, the latch bolt 22 retracts toward the inside of the side of the door 30, allowing the door to be opened. After the door is opened by the unlocking operation, the latch bolt 22 returns to the restricted state when the door is closed, and the door 30 is automatically locked. The control device may be stored in the plate-shaped portion 12a together with the antenna 14, or may be stored inside the lock body B.

After entering the room, if the thumb turn 25 is manually rotated in the locking direction, the deadbolt 21 protrudes from the side of the door 30 and engages with the striker 24 provided on the frame 31 of the door 30, locking the door 30. The deadbolt 21 cannot be unlocked by the electronic key C, so the door 30 can be doubly locked.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the concealed cylinder lock 1 according to the present invention with the cover 10 removed.
The cover 10 is made of a material that does not interfere with the unlocking operation using the electronic key C. For example, when the electronic key C performs the unlocking operation using short-range wireless communication, the cover is made of a material that does not block the short-range wireless communication, for example, a plastic resin with a thickness that does not affect the short-range wireless communication.

The cylinder portion 12 is generally columnar, and has a keyhole 11 on the front surface of the disk-shaped portion 12a. An extension portion 12b is provided from the rear end of the disk-shaped portion 12a toward the rear from the center of the inside of the annular antenna 14.
4, when there is no dummy key, the cover 10 covers the plate-shaped portion 12a housing the annular antenna 14 and the keyhole 11. When the cover 10 covering the antenna 14 and the keyhole 11 is attached, the cover 10 is completely removed to expose the keyhole 11 when the door is opened from the outside of the door with a key other than the electronic key C.

The light emitting unit 13 preferably emits light in response to the recognition of the electronic key C by the lock, for example, when the lock recognizes the electronic key C and performs an unlocking operation. The light emitting unit 13 preferably emits different light when locked and unlocked, for example, so that the locked and unlocked states can be distinguished. Furthermore, the light emitting unit 13 preferably emits light different from that when unlocked, for example, to indicate an error state such as failure to read the electronic key C, failure to unlock, or battery depletion. This allows the cover 10 to be quickly recognized in an emergency. The light emitting unit 13 preferably turns off after a certain time (for example, several seconds to several tens of seconds) has elapsed after performing an unlocking or locking operation in order to prevent power consumption.
When the concealed cylinder lock 1 of the present invention is provided with a light-emitting portion 13, it is preferable that the cover portion 10a covering the light-emitting portion is translucent.

When the dummy key 3 is inserted into the keyhole 11, as shown in FIG. 6, the end 15 of the dummy key 3 is fitted along the inner edge of the opening 10b of the cover 10, forming part of the cover 10 and blocking the opening 10b. According to this embodiment, the front surface of the end 15 is flush with the other parts of the cover 10 and does not protrude. Therefore, the presence of the keyhole 11 is not visible from the outside at first glance, and the crime prevention effect can be improved when the concealed cylinder lock 1 is used normally. In addition, if the end 15 is continuous with the cover 10 and forms one surface, when an electronic key C such as an IC card is held over the concealed cylinder lock 1, the card will not get caught and interfere with the unlocking operation.

Unlike the key used to lock and unlock the lock body B, the dummy key 3 does not have a handle, so when removing the dummy key 3 inserted in the keyhole, it is preferable to bring a magnet (not shown) into contact with the end portion 15 of the dummy key and pull it out of the keyhole by magnetic force, as shown in Fig. 7. In this case, it is preferable that the whole, part, or interior of the end portion 15 of the dummy key is made of a metal that is attracted by magnetic force so that it can be pulled out by magnetic force. When the dummy key 3 is removed, the keyhole 11 of the lock that was hidden by the end portion 15 of the dummy key is exposed.
The dummy key is flat and thin enough to fit into the keyhole, and may have some irregularities so that it can fit into the keyhole without resistance.

1 Concealed cylinder lock 3 Dummy key 10 Cover 11 Keyhole 12 Cylinder section 13 Illuminating section 14 Antenna 15 Dummy key end section 21 Deadbolt 22 Latch bolt 23 Lever handle (outside of the room)
24 Strike 25 Thumb turn 26 Lever handle (inside)
30 Door

Claims (5)

A ring antenna,
A control device capable of performing an unlocking operation using the identification data read by the antenna via wireless communication;
a cylindrical portion including the antenna and having an extension portion extending rearward from an inner side of a ring formed by the antenna;
A keyhole provided on the front surface of the cylinder portion;
a cover that covers a plate-shaped portion that protrudes from the front surface of a door to which the cylinder portion is attached, together with the antenna and the keyhole ;
A light-emitting portion is provided inside the cover, and a cover portion of the cover corresponding to the light-emitting portion is translucent.
A concealed cylinder lock. A ring antenna,
A control device capable of performing an unlocking operation using the identification data read by the antenna via wireless communication;
a cylindrical portion including the antenna and having an extension portion extending rearward from an inner side of a ring formed by the antenna;
A keyhole provided on the front surface of the cylinder portion;
a cover that covers, together with the antenna, a plate-shaped portion that has an opening that exposes the periphery of the keyhole and that protrudes from the front surface of the door to which the cylinder portion is attached;
A dummy key removably inserted into the keyhole;
A concealed cylinder lock, characterized in that an end portion of the dummy key serves as a part of the cover and covers an opening of the cover. 3. The concealed cylinder lock according to claim 1, wherein the cover is cylindrical. The concealed cylinder lock according to claim 2, further comprising a light emitting portion. 5. The concealed cylinder lock according to claim 4, wherein the light-emitting portion is provided on the inside of the cover, and the cover portion corresponding to the light-emitting portion of the cover is translucent.

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