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Iron lock from Sirpur, India excavation, 12th century

Historical locks from Russia in the 1600s

A lock is a mechanical or electronic fastening device that is released by a physical object (such as a key, keycard, fingerprint, RFID card, security token, coin etc.), by supplying secret information (such as a number permutation or password), or by a combination thereof.

A key is a device that is used to operate a lock (such as to lock or unlock it). A typical key is a small piece of metal consisting of two parts: the bit or blade, which slides into the keyway of the lock and distinguishes between different keys, and the bow, which is left protruding so that torque can be applied by the user. A key is usually intended to operate one specific lock or a small number of locks that are keyed alike, so each lock requires a unique key. The key serves as a security token for access to the locked area; only persons having the correct key can open the lock and gain access. Common metals include brass, plated brass, nickel silver, and steel.

History

Antiquity

Medieval lock in Kathmandu

Ancient lock from Kerala

The earliest known lock and key device was discovered in the ruins of Nineveh, the capital of ancient Assyria.^[1] Locks such as this were later developed into the Egyptian wooden pin lock, which consisted of a bolt, door fixture, and key. When the key was inserted, pins within the fixture were lifted out of drilled holes within the bolt, allowing it to move. When the key was removed, the pins fell part-way into the bolt, preventing movement.^[2]

Simple three-disc locking mechanism
from a wooden box recovered from
the Swedish ship Vasa, sunk in 1628

The warded lock was also present from antiquity and remains the most recognizable lock and key design in the Western world. The first all-metal locks appeared between the years 870 and 900, and are attributed to the English craftsmen.^[3] It is also said that the key was invented by Theodorus of Samos in the 6th century BC.^[4]

Affluent Romans often kept their valuables in secure locked boxes within their households, and wore the keys as rings on their fingers. The practice had two benefits: It kept the key handy at all times, while signaling that the wearer was wealthy and important enough to have money and jewelry worth securing.^[5]

Modern locks

Chinese lock and key from Yunnan Province, early 20th century

With the onset of the Industrial Revolution in the late 18th century and the concomitant development of precision engineering and component standardization, locks and keys were manufactured with increasing complexity and sophistication.

The lever tumbler lock, which uses a set of levers to prevent the bolt from moving in the lock, was perfected by Robert Barron in 1778. His double acting lever lock required the lever to be lifted to a certain height by having a slot cut in the lever, so lifting the lever too far was as bad as not lifting the lever far enough. This type of lock is still currently used today.^[6]

Diagram of a Chubb detector lock

The lever tumbler lock was greatly improved by Jeremiah Chubb in 1818. A burglary in Portsmouth Dockyard prompted the British Government to announce a competition to produce a lock that could be opened only with its own key.^[7] Chubb developed the Chubb detector lock, which incorporated an integral security feature that could frustrate unauthorized access attempts and would indicate to the lock's owner if it had been interfered with. Chubb was awarded £100 after a trained lock-picker failed to break the lock after 3 months.^[8]

In 1820, Jeremiah joined his brother Charles in starting their own lock company, Chubb. Chubb made various improvements to his lock: his 1824 improved design didn't require a special regulator key to reset the lock; by 1847 his keys used six levers rather than four; and he later introduced a disc that allowed the key to pass but narrowed the field of view, hiding the levers from anybody attempting to pick the lock.^[9] The Chubb brothers also received a patent for the first burglar-resisting safe and began production in 1835.

The designs of Barron and Chubb were based on the use of movable levers, but Joseph Bramah, a prolific inventor, developed an alternative method in 1784. His lock used a cylindrical key with precise notches along the surface; these moved the metal slides that impeded the turning of the bolt into an exact alignment, allowing the lock to open. The lock was at the limits of the precision manufacturing capabilities of the time and was said by its inventor to be unpickable. In the same year Bramah started the Bramah Locks company at 124 Piccadilly, and displayed the "Challenge Lock" in the window of his shop from 1790, challenging "...the artist who can make an instrument that will pick or open this lock" for the reward of £200. The challenge stood for over 67 years until, at the Great Exhibition of 1851, the American locksmith Alfred Charles Hobbs was able to open the lock and, following some argument about the circumstances under which he had opened it, was awarded the prize. Hobbs' attempt required some 51 hours, spread over 16 days.

The earliest patent for a double-acting pin tumbler lock was granted to American physician Abraham O. Stansbury in England in 1805,^[10] but the modern version, still in use today, was invented by American Linus Yale, Sr. in 1848.^[11] This lock design used pins of varying lengths to prevent the lock from opening without the correct key. In 1861, Linus Yale, Jr. was inspired by the original 1840s pin-tumbler lock designed by his father, thus inventing and patenting a smaller flat key with serrated edges as well as pins of varying lengths within the lock itself, the same design of the pin-tumbler lock which still remains in use today.^[12] The modern Yale lock is essentially a more developed version of the Egyptian lock.

Despite some improvement in key design since, the majority of locks today are still variants of the designs invented by Bramah, Chubb and Yale.
Each locks combination is determined by the off-set of two small wheel-like apparatus. The change in position of the wheels on top of each other creates a unique combination for the lock.

Types of locks

Locks with physical keys

Pin tumbler lock: without a key in the lock, the driver pins (blue) are pushed downwards, preventing the plug (yellow) from rotating

Tubular lock: the key pins (red) and driver pins (blue) are pushed towards the front of the lock, preventing the plug (yellow) from rotating. The tubular key has several half-cylinder indentations which align with the pins

Wafer tumbler lock: without a key in the lock, the wafers (red) are pushed down by springs. The wafers nestle into a groove in the lower part of the outer cylinder (green) preventing the plug (yellow) from rotating

A warded lock uses a set of obstructions, or wards, to prevent the lock from opening unless the correct key is inserted. The key has notches or slots that correspond to the obstructions in the lock, allowing it to rotate freely inside the lock. Warded locks are typically reserved for low-security applications as a well-designed skeleton key can successfully open a wide variety of warded locks.

The pin tumbler lock uses a set of pins to prevent the lock from opening unless the correct key is inserted. The key has a series of grooves on either side of the key's blade that limit the type of lock the key can slide into. As the key slides into the lock, the horizontal grooves on the blade align with the wards in the keyway allowing or denying entry to the cylinder. A series of pointed teeth and notches on the blade, called bittings, then allow pins to move up and down until they are in line with the shear line of the inner and outer cylinder, allowing the cylinder or cam to rotate freely and the lock to open.

A wafer tumbler lock is similar to the pin tumbler lock and works on a similar principle. However, unlike the pin lock (where each pin consists of two or more pieces) each wafer is a single piece. The wafer tumbler lock is often incorrectly referred to as a disc tumbler lock, which uses an entirely different mechanism. The wafer lock is relatively inexpensive to produce and is often used in automobiles and cabinetry.

The disc tumbler lock or Abloy lock is composed of slotted rotating detainer discs. They are considered very secure and almost impossible to pick with standard tools.

The lever tumbler lock uses a set of levers to prevent the bolt from moving in the lock. In its simplest form, lifting the tumbler above a certain height will allow the bolt to slide past. Lever locks are commonly recessed inside wooden doors or on some older forms of padlocks, including fire brigade padlocks.

A magnetic keyed lock is a locking mechanism whereby the key utilizes magnets as part of the locking and unlocking mechanism. A magnetic key would use from one to many small magnets oriented so that the North and South poles would equate to a combination to push or pull the lock's internal tumblers thus releasing the lock.

Locks with electronic keys

An electronic lock works by means of an electric current and is usually connected to an access control system. In addition to the pin and tumbler used in standard locks, electronic locks connects the bolt or cylinder to a motor within the door using a part called an actuator. Types of electronic locks include the following:

A keycard lock operates with a flat card using the same dimensions as a credit card or US and EU driver's license. In order to open the door, one needs to successfully match the signature within the keycard.

The lock in a typical remote keyless system operates with a smart key radio transmitter. The lock typically accepts a particular valid code only once, and the smart key transmits a different rolling code every time the button is pressed.
Generally the car door can be opened with either a valid code by radio transmission, or with a (non-electronic) pin tumbler key.
The ignition switch may require a transponder car key to both open a pin tumbler lock and also transmit a valid code by radio transmission.

A smart lock is an electromechanics lock that gets instructions to lock and unlock the door from an authorized device using a cryptographic key and wireless protocol. Smart locks have begun to be used more commonly in residential areas, often controlled with smartphones.^[13][14] Smart locks are used in coworking spaces and offices to enable keyless office entry.^[15] In addition, electronic locks cannot be picked with conventional tools.

Locksmithing

Locksmith, 1451

Locksmithing is a traditional trade, and in most countries requires completion of an apprenticeship. The level of formal education required varies from country to country, from no qualifications required at all in the UK^[16], to a simple training certificate awarded by an employer, to a full diploma from an engineering college. Locksmiths may be commercial (working out of a storefront), mobile (working out of a vehicle), institutional, or investigational (forensic locksmiths). They may specialize in one aspect of the skill, such as an automotive lock specialist, a master key system specialist or a safe technician. Many also act as security consultants, but not all security consultants have the skills and knowledge of a locksmith.^{[citation needed]}

Historically, locksmiths constructed or repaired an entire lock, including its constituent parts. The rise of cheap mass production has made this less common; the vast majority of locks are repaired through like-for-like replacements, high-security safes and strongboxes being the most common exception. Many locksmiths also work on any existing door hardware, including door closers, hinges, electric strikes, and frame repairs, or service electronic locks by making keys for transponder-equipped vehicles and implementing access control systems.

Although the fitting and replacement of keys remains an important part of locksmithing, modern locksmiths are primarily involved in the installation of high quality lock-sets and the design, implementation, and management of keying and key control systems. Locksmiths are frequently required to determine the level of risk to an individual or institution and then recommend and implement appropriate combinations of equipment and policies to create a "security layer" that exceeds the reasonable gain of an intruder.

Key duplication

Play media

Video showing the process of cutting a key

Key cutting (after cutting, the metalworking term for "shaping by removing material") is the primary method of key duplication: a flat key is fitted into a vise in a machine, with a blank attached to a parallel vise, and the original key is moved along a guide, while the blank is moved against a wheel, which cuts it. After cutting, the new key is deburred: scrubbed with a metal brush to remove burrs, small pieces of metal remaining on the key, which, were they not removed, would be dangerously sharp and, further, foul locks.

Different key cutting machines are more or less automated, using different milling or grinding equipment, and follow the design of early 20th century key duplicators.

Key duplication is available in many retail hardware stores and as a service of the specialized locksmith, though the correct key blank may not be available. More recently, online services for duplicating keys have become available.

Symbolism

Heraldry

Coat of arms of the Holy See

Regimental Insignia of the U.S. Military Intelligence Corps

Keys appear in various symbols and coats of arms, the best-known being that of the Holy See – derived from the phrase in Matthew 16:19 which promises Saint Peter, in Roman Catholic tradition the first pope, the Keys of Heaven. But this is by no means the only case. Many examples are given on Commons.

Palestinian symbol

Among Palestinians, the key is widely used as a symbol of commemoration of the Nakba (the 1948 Palestine war in which Israel was created and hundreds of thousands of Palestinians became refugees). This usage is derived from the fact that many of the Palestinians who became refugees in 1948 had locked their homes when leaving, expecting to return soon, and took the keys with them. Such keys are preserved as family heirlooms in many Palestinian refugee families - even though the house to which the keys belong often does not exist anymore. In Palestinian posters and in signs carried in demonstrations, a key is used to denote the demand for the Palestinian Right of Return.

See also

• Door security


• Exit control lock


• Physical security


• Rope lock

Types of locks

References

Further reading

• Phillips, Bill. (2005). The Complete Book of Locks and Locksmithing. McGraw-Hill.
  ISBN 0-07-144829-2.


• Alth, Max (1972). All About Locks and Locksmithing. Penguin.
  ISBN 0-8015-0151-2
  


• Robinson, Robert L. (1973). Complete Course in Professional Locksmithing Nelson-Hall.
  ISBN 0-911012-15-X
  

External links

Wikibooks has more on the topic of: Lock (security device)

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Locks (security devices).

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  Historical locks by Raine Borg and ASSA ABLOY
  


• 
  Picking Locks Popular Mechanics