GB2303539A - Cover for keys - Google Patents

Abstract

A cover for use with warders' keys has a portion which conceals the lock-engaging part of a key when not in use, and means to enable the cover to move relative to the key to expose the lock-engaging part when the key is required for use. The portion may be a cover 2, Figure 3, slidably mounted on the key and urged by a spring 4 to the concealing position, or a cover clipped on to the key. Alternatively the key may be pivotably or slidably mounted in a holder, Figure 7, and may have means to releasably lock it in its concealing or exposing positions.

Description

COVER FOR KEYS Field of the Invention This invention relates to covers for keys in particular to covers for keys used by warders.

Background to the Invention Conventional keys of the type that incorporate a "bow", "shank", "bit" and "heights" (see Figure 1) have been known for generations. Today, the meaning of the word key has broadened and can now encompass such devices like an electronic swipe card.

Nevertheless, ~;e use of such an electronic device has not been universally adopted, especl > ,y not in the security industry. This is because such electronic swipe cards can become "corrupted" relatively easily.

Furthermore, although, in prisons, other forms of electronic lock and key security combinations operated from a central control room are known, these are expensive to set up and maintain and usually require their own back-up system (in the event of a power cut) which contribute further to their cost.

For these reasons, bank security warders and prison warders are often seen carrying out their duties (loading money into vans and looking after prisoners respectively) wearing conventional bunches of keys attached to their waists.

In fact, the advent of modern technology has yet to produce a more reliable security device than the conventional lock and key.

Although the reliability of the conventional lock and key is not being brought into question, an incident that occurred earlier this year at H M Prison on The Isle of Wight has brought into question the (until recently) hitherto unrecognised problem of key copying by prisoners.

Three prisoners were able to escape from H M Prison on The Isle of Wight, not by scaling the walls, or by tunnelling, but through the use of a key which they were able to manufacture in the prison workshop. This they were able to do, as a result of staring at the "shank" and 'bit" of the main key on the waist of one of their prison warders.They were apparently, through the use of trial and error, able to calculate the "heights" of the "bit" sufficiently accurately through observation, that a working key was manufactured and used for their escape! An object of the present invention, therefore, is to provide a set of keys for use by warders, be they prison warders, bank warders or the like, that cannot be copied as a result of visual inspection Summary of the Invention According to the invention the problem as just described is alleviated by a cover for use with warders keys, at least a portion of which, in use, is so sized and shaped to conceal at least the "heights" of the lock engaging portion (or "bit") of a key when not in use and characterised by the feature that there is provided an actuating means to enable the cover to move relative to the key to expose at least the "bit" when the key is required for use.

Preferably the cover is a retractable cover. This has the advantage that the cover need not necessarily be fully removed from the key when the key is required for use. A retractable cover is less likely to get lost as it is not fully removable from the key.

Optionally, the actuating means for the cover is resiliently biased. This has the advantage that some form of "positive pressure" or bias is exerted to maintain the cover in place when the key is not in use.

More preferably still, the actuating means is provided with a releasable locking means that enables the "bit" to exist in one of two locked states, either concealed or exposed. This has the following advantages; firstly, a user of the key will not have to worry about whether the "bit" is exposed or concealed, especially if the user knows that the "bit" is locked into its concealed state, and secondly, when the user requires the "bit" to be in its exposed state, the fact that the cover can be locked into a position to expose the "bit" can only help to facilitate key-to-lock engagement.

Arguably, the bit has a flick-knife-style movement. This has the advantage that the "bit" can be moved from its concealed state to its exposed state rapidly (and vice versa).

Preferably the actuating means is of the kind used in "butterfly knives". This has the advantage that the required concealment and exposure of the "bit" can still be maintained, without the need for any elaborate engineering.

More preferably still the cover is provided with an abutment that aids exposure of the "bit". This is particularly advantageous because not only does it aid exposure of the "bit" but it can also serve the dual purpose of acting as a guide when the key user is inserting the key into the lock.

The invention includes within its scope a cover substantially as herein described with reference to and as illustrated by any appropriate selection or combination of Figures 2-6 in the accompanying diagrams; since this represents currently the best method known to the applicant of putting the invention into practice.

The invention further includes within its scope, a key incorporating a cover in accordance with any of the arrangements specified above.

Brief Description of the Drawings Figure 1 illustrates a conventional key and the accepted terminology amongst locksmiths for the various "anatomical" aspects of the key.

Preferred embodiments of the present invention will now be more particularly described by way of examples with reference to the accompanying drawings wherein: Figure 2 shows, in perspective, a cover for keys according to one embodiment of the invention.

Figure 3 shows in perspective an alternative embodiment of a cover for keys.

Figure 4 shows a perspective view of yet another alternative embodiment of a cover for keys.

Figure 5 shows a perspective view of yet a further alternative embodiment of a cover for keys.

Figure 6 shows a perspective view of yet another alternative embodiment of a cover for keys for this invention.

Figure 7 shows a final perspective view of an alternative embodiment of a cover for keys for this invention.

Figure 8 shows a perspective view of a new type of key.

Description of the Preferred Embodiments Throughout this specification, the use of the word "bit" is a generic term for the lock engaging portion of a key and is in intended to include the "heights" of the key as well. The "heights" illustrated in Figure 1 are those normally associated with a key that is sold commercially under the trade mark CHUBB and are intended to cover CHUBB type keys as well. The "heights" of the key are not intended to be limited to those keys which have a CHUBB type character, but are also intended to include "heights" associated with keys sold commercially under the trade mark YALE and YALE type keys. For the avoidance of doubt, the heights for all of the keys thus far described are substantially in the same plane as the "bow".However, the specification is intended to cover "heights" that are not substantially in the same plane as the "bow". Furthermore, the definition of "heights" is intended to include keys where the "heights" are actually recessed into the shank and also any combination of the arrangements described above.

Furthermore, the use of the word "integral" is intended to cover not only something which is formed from the outset as one single-entity component, but also anything which, whilst being assembled from a plurality of initially disparately-produced integers ends up as one overall and non-dismantalable structure.

Figure 2 shows a key 1 incorporating a cover 2 the cover 2, substantially surrounding the "bit".

In this particular embodiment (as illustrated in Figure 2) the cover is envisaged to be one that is of the sliding "friction fit" type, although "snap fit" or "clip on" alternatives (not illustrated) can be selected without further inventive thought by the skilled addressee.

In alternative embodiments (not illustrated), similar types of cover to those just described can be visualised that just substantially enshroud the "heights" of the "bit".

Figure 3 shows a key 1, incorporating a cover 2 with an integral spring 3 wound around a portion of the shank 4.

In this embodiment (as illustrated in Figure 3), the cover is retractable along the longitudinal axis of the shank 4.

The spring 3 exerts a positive "bias" to ensure that the cover 2 conceals the "bit" when the "bit" is not required for use (i.e when it is not required for engagement with a lock). However, the cover 2 and spring 3 are so designed to allow the positive "bias" to be overcome through the use of a warder's thumb and forefinger placed on the cover and moved along a parallel axis to the shank and towards the "bow".

Alternatively, once the cover of the concealed "bit" has made contact with the external surface of the lock face, continued pushing of the key into the lock will over come the positive "bias" of the spring 3 and force the cover to retract along the shank exposing the "bit" as required.

In alternative embodiments (not illustrated), a spring need not be used. This is because keys of this type worn by warders are usually found worn around the waists, "bow" up. That is to say, that when worn, the normal attitude of operation of the "bit" is lower than the "bow" and as such gravity will force the retractable cover to enshroud the "bit" when not required for use. Thus far, the word spring has been used, nevertheless, any form of resiliently biasing means can be used in alternative embodiments (not illustrated) without further inventive thought by the skilled addressee.

In yet another alternative embodiment, and as illustrated in Figure 4, a similar arrangement to that shown in Figure 3 is depicted with an additional feature, that of a cover including a abutment 5.

This abutment can be used as a guide to aid key insertion into the lock, the relatively bulky cover hindering the otherwise rapid key-to-lock engagement.

Obviously this arrangement of a cover 2 incorporating an abutment 5 can be used without a spring 3, for the same reasons as the embodiment associated with Figure 3.

In an alternative embodiment (not illustrated), the cover can be locked into both its concealed and exposed states through the use of a locking means.

Various forms of locking means can be selected without any further inventive thought by the intended skilled address of this specification. One such locking means that is envisaged is a retractable cover that has a flick-knifestyle movement, the cover for the "bit" forming part of the handle of this envisaged flick-knife arrangement. This can reduce the length of the overall key substantially by half which may enable the user to maintain this form of key in a series of leather pouches around his/her waist instead of as a bunch on one side of the waist.

In yet another alternative embodiment and as illustrated in Figure 6, this same reduction in the length of the key can be achieved if one were to use a "butterfly-knife-style" of movement. Figure 6 illustrates a key 1, with a cover 2 that doubles up as the "bow" and substantially part of the "shank" when the key is required for use. The pivotal movement of the cover is the essence behind the reduction in length of the key.

In a further embodiment illustrated in Figure 7, a key 1, is shown incorporating a cover 2 and a key-ring 6. In this embodiment and as illustrated in Figure 7, the "bit" is exposed through the action of the conventional key-ring 6 actuated by a finger. In alternative embodiments (not illustrated) the key can be resiliently biased to automatically retract back into the cover when not in use. Alternative methods of exposure/concealment of this type of arrangement (e.g flick-knife style) can be envisaged without any further inventive thought by the skilled addressee.

A new type of key can also be envisaged and used with the arrangement illustrated in Figure 7. The new key 1 will have protrusions 7 extending either side of the plane of the "bow" which will enable the thumb and forefinger to be used to expose the key. This type of key also has the advantage that one of the protrusions could be used as a "peg" when inserted into a "peg board" slot, the slots being formed into an array and acting as a key holder.

It is envisaged that the cover and its component parts for all the embodiments as described can be made from metallic or plastics material or combinations of both.

Claims (9)

1. A cover for use with warders keys, at least a portion of which, in use is so sized and shaped to conceal at least the "heights" of the lock engaging portion (or "bit") of a key when not in use and characterised bv the feature that there is provided an actuating means to enable the cover to move relative to the key to expose at least the "bit" when the key is required for use.

2. A cover as claimed in claim 1 characterised in that the cover is a retractable cover.

3. A cover as claimed in either claim 1 or claim 2 characterised in that the cover is resiliently biased.

4. A cover as claimed in any of the preceding claims characterised in that the actuating means is provided with a releasable locking means that enables the "bit" to exist in one of two locked states, either concealed or exposed.

5. A cover as claimed in any of the preceding claims characterised in that the bit has a flick-knife-style movement.

6. A cover as claimed in any of claims 14 characterised in that the actuating means is of the kind used in "butterfly knives".

7. A cover as claimed in any of the preceding claims characterised in that the cover is provided with an abutment that aids exposure of the "bit".

8. A cover substantially as herein described with reference to and as illustrated by any appropriate selection or combination of figures 2-6 in the accompanying diagrams.

9. A key incorporating a cover as claimed in any of the preceding claims.