Spring bar lock idea

[TheSkyer]

First let me start of by saying that my technical insight is pretty limited and although I know how locks work I may have completely overlooked something essential in the following design. Please don't shoot me

Here we go. Most conventional locks work by springing each pin individually, I thought It might be a good idea if a pin was provided pressure from more than just one spring. Instead of attaching springs to each pin I thought it would be a good idea if the pins would press up against a source with multiple springs attached to it (the spring bar).

The advance would be that each individual pin is provided pressure from multiple springs therefor making it harder to lift with a pick or by the force of a bumpkey.

Secondly it would give weird feedback since common pickers are not use to a pin with multiple sources of pressure behind.

And last but not least the pressure on the pins would make it very hard to set them one by one as the force of all the springs is trying to get that little pin of the sheer line and back into the plug instead of just one spring.

Here's a little sketch to clarify the idea. Like I said I have no idea if this holds any merit but I've been toying with the idea for a while and need some feedback on the subject

[mh]

The pins in the positions where the key has deep cuts now require gravity to reach the key.

[TheSkyer]

Well I imagined that all the pins are already all at the deepest cut point...

[datagram]

I think mh has it backwards; once you pick the deepest cut position then no other pin stacks have spring pressure applied to them. It's even worse if you were planning on fixating the bar to all top pins; picking the deepest pin stack would pick the entire lock.

dg

[mh]

I think the statement is correct:
The pins in the positions where the key has shallow cuts - lift the spring bar.
The pins in the positions where the key has deep cuts - now require gravity to reach the key.

[FarmerFreak]

Mh is correct. Don't mount this upside down, it won't work. And to get it to work you may need to wiggle the key after inserting it, just to get the deeper depth pins to drop down and set.

It appears that key bumping would actually work very well. Because at the deepest depths all of the pins will have equal spring tension. Once all the bottom pins are hit at the same time all the driver pins with the spring bar should all lift together.

[TheSkyer]

Right, I get it. Forget what I said XD

[FarmerFreak]

No no no, we or at least I don't want to forget what you said. First attempts at designs are unfortunately rarely good. But working on new ideas of just about any kind breeds creativity.

For example, this is what I was trying to come up with your idea.



Yeah I know it makes little sense. At first I was thinking maybe 2 pins under each spring bar. Then somehow I cam up with an idea of connecting 2 driver pins together, looking at it now it looks like a regular spooled pin would/could have the same effect. Then I thought hey maybe I'll connect the separate chambers driver pins. Even though the premise of doing this was first seen as a bad idea by datagram. But the idea is that even though the second pin chamber has a master pin, it can only be turned on one of them because of the false set on the first pin. I was also thinking about using magnets to hold the key pins to the driver pins. I have seen somewhere on these forums an Assa ruko?? that uses magnets to hold the key pin to the driver pin. If that could be done, then having multiple pins connected could still be done...,maybe. I don't know.

But the whole point is that you should keep brainstorming. Don't worry about any setbacks, just add them to the challenge.

[TheSkyer]

How about adding a second set of springs in the pins itself. This would offer the advantage summed up for the original idea without gravity having to pull down the pins or Having the problem that if you set the pin with the deepest cut all the other pins have no pressure behind them anymore.

Furthermore if you where to over lift one pin (lets say the one with the deepest cut) other pins would come loose from the plugs top and have a chanse of falling back in to the plug (if we where to attach all pins to the top spring bar).

Just idea, still figuring out how locks exactly work after the first few comments XD

[NanoDuke]

The extra pins wouldn't work in this configuration. You'd need a shaft or something to keep them straight, otherwise the springs would bend, get jammed, pop out, or D) all of the above.

[Wizer]

I think there would be a problem with wear. When putting a key to the lock, the first pin would take all spring pressure of the lock, and it would wear the pin and key 5-7 times faster than normally.

[jwhou]

There are two problems that I see. Nothing is preventing the spring bar from tilting. Second, if it didn't tilt then pushing up on one pin compresses the springs and suddenly none of the other pins have any spring force on the at all. Like the mattress commercial where each spring is in it's own little container, the whole idea of independent springs is so that the individual pins move independently. The idea is for each bitting of the key to be at a different level representing a code hence each pin has to move independently.

I don't see any advantage to the intermediate spring bar as one pin lifting now compresses all the springs in unison and that's one thing that you do not want to happen.