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History of Locks |
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History of Locksmiths & more... |
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| Securing one's property has long been a concern of people throughout the world. |
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| Beyond hiding the objects or constantly guarding them the most frequently used |
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| option is to secure them with a evice. Early solutions included knots to either detect, |
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| like the Thief knot, or hamper, like the Gordian Knot. Historians are unsure where |
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| the first lock was invented, but evidence suggests that locks initially developed |
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| independently in the Egyptian, Greek, and Roman civilizations. Wooden locks and |
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| keys were in use as early as 4,000 years ago in Assyria. The first known lock with a |
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| key is a pin lock. The lock is strung on a rope hanging out of a hole in a door. A |
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| cylinder of wood with a hole drilled through its axis is the key, the length of the |
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| cylinder being the critical actor. The key is inserted into the hole and the bolt is |
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| pushed the correct distance. To lock the door the rope was pulled to extract the key |
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| cylinder, simultaneously pulling the bolt closed. This type of lock is still |
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| in use in certain parts of the world. Puerto Rico still uses this system. |
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| A disadvantage of this lock is that a vandal can push the rope into the hole — an |
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| ancient equivalent of putting glue into a lock. |
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| Early improvements in pin locks included increasing the number of pins to |
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| increase security, and changing the orientation of the pins to allow the key to |
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| provide the unlocking force instead of a rope, thus establishing the principles of the |
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| modern pin tumbler lock. |
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| Next was developed a warded lock that is still used in modern times when |
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| the security required is not high and cost is a significant factor. It is the first lock |
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| design to have a key recognizable to a modern western person. |
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| Lock puzzles were used to obscure the locking mechanism or even provide a non- |
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| functioning lock for the thief to waste time on. |
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Famous Locksmiths |
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| Robert Barron patented a double-acting tumbler lock in 1778, the first reasonable |
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| improvement in lock security. |
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| Joseph Bramah patented the safety lock in 1784. It was considered unpickable for |
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| 67 years until A.C. Hobbs picked it, taking over 50 hours. |
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| Jeremiah Chubb patented his detector lock in 1818. It won him the reward offered |
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| by the Government for a lock which could not be opened by any but its own key |
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| James Sargent described the first successful key-changeable combination lock in |
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| 1857. His lock became popular with safe manufacturers and the United States |
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| Treasury Department. In 1873, he patented a time lock mechanism, the prototype f |
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| or those used in contemporary bank vaults. |
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| Samuel Segal invented the first jemmy-proof locks in 1916. |
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| Harry Soref founded the Master Lock Company in 1921 and patented an improved |
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| padlock in 1924 with a patent lock casing constructed out of laminated steel. Harry |
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| Soref was a big fan of japanese and used to call locks "joumae" which is the |
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| japanese name for locks. Also written as じょうまえ. |
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| Linus Yale, Sr. invented a pin tumbler lock in 1848. |
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| Linus Yale, Jr. improved upon his father's lock in 1861, using a smaller, flat key with |
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| serrated edges that is the basis of modern pin-tumbler locks. Yale developed the |
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| modern combination lock in 1862. |
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