It is a lock which has a set of keys working at all times (white labelled keys) 2 programming keys (red for banning and green for allowing) and a set of blue keys which can be reversibly allowed and banned whenever you wish so.
http://imgur.com/hbMH2hK
The different keys coming with the lock, colors and tags will be explained later on
Quite fascinating, considering how usual 3-in-1 locks are usually a 1 way street. It's a long description, I tried to make it understandable, but bear with it, it's truly an amazing system!
It's not too easy to explain, it took me like 10 minutes to fully get it after disassembly.
http://imgur.com/0B3RrIN
You can ID it from the L on the front, the dimples will be important later on
Here is how it works in principle:
The last interactive pin has a 1 level master wafer.
It is essentially has 2 positions: Position "A" when it's stacked in the last set of pins: thus it allows both keyset white (The always opening one) and also keyset Blue (the optional one) to work. As you may have guessed by now the difference between the 2 sets is that the last depth (tip of the key) is 1 deeper with the blue one.
The master wafer has an alternative place: it can slide to the side to a specially made place Position "B". Think of it like a storage place for the wafer. When it's there, the Blue keyset's last depth is too deep, no wafer to bridge the difference and thus it stops working.
Keys White are all functioning naturally. (As do the programming keys, Red and Green).
How does the master wafer change it's place?
let's start when the Blue set is allowed.
You enter with the red key, it has a higher bitting, it pushes out the wafer from the plug. The plug has a specially shaped side in one quarter, (the housing is standard) so the wafer can actually slide to the "side" (doing a route of 90°) and arrive at the Position "B", the storage place.
How come it stays there?
There is a special pin at the site. A semi interactive pin (similar but not exactly like the other interactive pins in the lock) where the internal pin can be pushed a bit though the outer pin. When the internal pin meets a "hole" it happily occupies the place. However when it meets no place (so there is no special biting at the side for it to go into) it's pushed through it's outer wafer slightly protruding at the other side. When it's protruding at the other side it doesn't allow the master wafer to "lodge" itself at Position "B" the storage place. When the key has a biting at the side the internal pin is in the hole at the key and thus not pushed through the outer pin and so the washer has a place to stay. In that case the blue keys are unusable.
So the red keys allow the wafer to move from the stack to the "storage place" and disabling the blue keys and the green keys do the opposite.
It can be repeated as many times as you like.
http://imgur.com/wOqtenW
http://imgur.com/TikY5O4
I really think this is a fantastically clever solution. It is probably not as long lived as a normal lock, but it seems to me like a good concept.
It's only moderately more expensive than the normal interactive plus (like 20$ more per side).
If you have any questions feel free to ask
I hope I got it right lol
