Guardian of your security ¨C lock
2008-08-01

Lock is a mechanical device for securing a door or receptacle and an essential appliance in our daily live, any civilized society needs security, because people have always been concerned about the protection of their property. There are many kinds of locks, such as padlock, door lock, cylinder lock, brass lock, combination lock, square lock, thick type lock, Yale lock and so on. But do you know the lock history? Early history  Locksmithing is one of the oldest handicrafts known to civilized man. Long before the great Pyramids were built, Locksmiths plied their trade in Egypt, Babylon, Assyria and China. Locks and keys were known long before the birth of Christ. The lock originated in the Near East. Over forty centuries ago an Egyptian artist painted a fresco on an ancient temple, which showed a lock was, then in use. A similar lock was actually found in the ruins of a once sumptuous palace in a suburb of the biblical city of Nineveh. It is said to be the oldest lock in existence. It was a forerunner to a pin tumbler type of lock, and a common Egyptian lock for the time. This lock worked using a large wooden bolt to secure a door, which had a slot with several holes in its upper surface. The holes were filled with wooden pegs that prevented the bolt from being opened. Locks of this type have been found in Japan, Norway, and the Faeroe Islands and are still in use in Egypt, India, and Zanzibar. This is considered to be the forerunner of the modern pin tumbler style of lock that we use today. But the Egyptian type lock was created only for men of great wealth. Later models were made of brass and iron. They were ornamented with inlaid pearl, gold and silver. It is said the ancient Greeks were the first to do something about a key operated device for the lower classes.  Brass and iron padlocks found in Europe and the Far East was popularized by the Romans and the Chinese. They operated by keys that turned, screwed, and pushed. The push-key padlock was of simple construction, the bolt kept in locked position by the projection of a spring or springs. Padlocks of this type are most universally used in the Orient today. And they were often presented in pairs as gifts, with congratulatory messages in cuneiform characters. Modern locks from the Orient The ancestor of the modern lock is the flash lock. It originated in China and is believed to have been used as early as 50 B.C. The flash lock was a navigable gap in a masonry dam that could be opened or closed by a single wooden gate. Opening the gate very quickly would release a sudden surge of water that was supposed to assist a vessel downstream through shallow water. This was often very dangerous. Using the flash lock to go upstream was usually safe but extremely slow since the gap in the dam was used to winch or drag a vessel through. Development of modern types  The first serious attempt to improve the security of the lock was made in 1778 in England. Robert Barron patented a double-acting tumbler lock. In 1784 (between Barron’s lock and Chubb’s improvements on it) the safety lock was patented in England by Joseph Bramah. Bramah's lock was considered unpick. The inventor went on to create a Hydrostatic Machine, a beer-pump, the four-cock, a quill-sharpener, a working planer, and more. Joseph Bramah  Linus Yale invented a pin-tumbler lock in 1848. His son improved upon his lock using a smaller, flat key with serrated edges that is the basis of modern pin-tumbler locks.  In I857, James Sargent invented the world's first successful key-changeable combination lock. His lock became popular with safe manufacturers and the United States Treasury Department. In 1873, Sargent patented a time lock mechanism that became the prototype of those being used in contemporary bank vaults. In 1862, Linus Yale Jr. was a mechanical engineer and lock manufacturer who patented a cylinder pin-tumbler lock in 1861. Yale invented the modern combination lock in American. Mr. Samuel Segal (former New York City policeman) invented the first jimmy proof locks in 1916. Segal holds over twenty-five patents. Harry Soref founded the Master Lock Company in 1921 and patented an improved padlock. In April 1924, he received a patent (U.S #1,490,987) for his new lock casing. Soref made a padlock that was both strong and convenient using a case constructed out of layers of metal, like the doors of a bank vault. He designed his padlock using laminated steel. The current development trend Now, the types of lock to become more and more functions and more complete. With the development of the times and people’s changing needs, the types of lock, will continue to function on subdivision. Moreover, there will be more virtual lock.