AllAbout Pin Tumbler locks
There is a system called the pin tumbler lock, the system uses pins that differ in length to keep the closed unless you have the correct key. Locks usually using the pin tumblers are the cylinder, radial, & tubular locks.
Around 2000BC, in Egypt is when the pin tumbler came into play. the lock consisted of a wooden post affixed to the door, and a horizontal bolt that slid into the post. The bolt had an opening that went up and down and a set of fitted pins slid into. To unlock the door you have to use the key to the right level and move the bolt.
Inventor Linus Yale, Sr. patented a pin tumbler lock in 1848, a designthat was improved and patented by his son, Linus Yale, Jr. He did this in 1861 Yale, Jr.'s is the same design used in pin tumbler locks today.
The pin tumbler is most commonly used in cylinder locks but is used in other applications also. In this system a cylindrical hole containing a plug, in an outer casing. For the lock to open the plug must turn.
The plug has a straight shaped slot known as the keyway at one end to allow the key to enter the plug; the other end may have a cam or lever which activates a mechanism to retract a locking bolt. The keyway often has protruding ledges which serve to prevent the key pins from falling into the plug, and to make the lock more resistant to picking. A series of holes, typically five or six of them, are drilled vertically into the plug.
These holes contain key pins of various lengths, which are rounded to permit the key to slide over them easily. Above each key pin is a corresponding set of driver pins, which are spring-loaded. Easier locks for each key have one driver pin, but locks requiring multi keyed entry, such as a group of locks having a master key, may have extra driver pins known as spacer pins.
The casing on the outside which holds the spring loaded pins has many different vertical shafts. One of the most common systems fixed by a locksmith is this type of lock, this is on a daily basis.
When the plug and outer casing are assembled, the pins are pushed down into the plug by the springs. The shear point is where the plug and cylinder meet. To get the pins to exactly line up with the shear point you use the key that is exact. The plug will turn to open the system.
For the pins to straddle the shear point the key cannot be in the plug, this stops the plug from turning. Each lock will come with a key the master key and they have points, these are the same in the set and each one is different on each lock. The average consumer uses this easy lock for protection.
Jim Corkern is a respected writer and promoter of modern locksmith and writes for several chicago locksmith and new york locksmith companies.
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