American Pushbutton Padlock

[v8mercury]

Edited Title and cleaned up the rest. See below for the rest of the thread - schuyler

[v8mercury]

Sorry about those last posts...I kept getting error, so the one time I don't re-type the post it goes through! Twice!!

Anyway, I have recently bought a pad lock that fits the follwing discription. I'm interested in finding out as much as I can about it. I hope this doesn't turn into another hobby

"8 Buttons" - "NO-KEY TRADEMARK" - American. 2 3/4" high x 1 7/8" diameter. All brass. "PAT. 9-17-07 4-27-09" is stamped on the obverse of the shackle. Mfg by: American Keyless Lock Co. Orson J. Blakesley #'s 866567 919415 992400.

I've taken it to a locksmity but they couldent open it, I'm interested in determining the combination and any history that someone may be able to share about the lock.

Thanks in advance

Nic

[MacGyver101]

While only a small part of the history, the six-digit numbers are the corresponding U.S. Patent numbers: U.S. Patent 992,400

[v8mercury]

While only a small part of the history, the six-digit numbers are the corresponding U.S. Patent numbers: U.S. Patent 992,400

Thanks for that link... the firewall I am behind would not let the .jpg from the us patent office come through.

Nic

[raimundo]

look at those buttons, there may be some that show fingertipwear if it was used for a long time. this would help you work out the comb. Also, there is a site called "old locks.com or another about antique locks, that may offer some clues, I believe that this is the second time that that type of lock has appeared on the 101, the previous mention was years ago. but perhaps the person who posted that one has learned something and is still monitoring the site.

[v8mercury]

Yeah, I started out searching this site for posts. I didn't find anything, could be I was just searching for the wrong text.

I've been reading through the patent, interesting stuff. My students (jr / sr high Science) are really finding this little lock interesting too.

I will keep you all up dated.

thanks again

Nic

[dougfarre]

Try holding down the center button and at the same time feeling the difference in pressure that is associated with the buttons that correspond to numbers. You might find that certain numbers are spongy, and others are very hard. Maybe a certain combination of the spongy buttons with decode the lock? or vise versa?

[greyman]

I met with a fellow who is a collector of such locks last weekend and the American keyless combo lock is one that I had a brief look at. I was surprised to find out that the buttons do NOT stay down when pressed. I was told that there is a "spider" or some such multi-fingered spring plate inside. You have to hold down all the buttons in the combo, at the same time, to get it to open. THere is no order to worry about, just figure out the ones to press.

Good luck

[v8mercury]

I said I would write an update. Just 13 years late. LoL.

The rest of the story is a few years later a student was casually leaning on a desk while playing with the lock. While we chatted the lock popped open. Luckily the student remembered where his fingers were. So he claimed the prize I had out for the combination. The lock works by pressing two buttons down and one up. The shackles is spring loaded so it just pops open when the combination is pressed.

Nic

[GWiens2001]

Welcome back!

Been looking for a NoKey padlock for a while now. Someday I'll get one.

Gordon