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Padlocks are portable
locks Lock(s) may refer to: Common meanings *Lock and key, a mechanical device used to secure items of importance *Lock (water navigation), a device for boats to transit between different levels of water, as in a canal Arts and entertainment * ''Lock ...
with a shackle that may be passed through an opening (such as a
chain link A chain-link fence (also referred to as wire netting, wire-mesh fence, chain-wire fence, cyclone fence, hurricane fence, or diamond-mesh fence) is a type of woven fence usually made from galvanized or linear low-density polyethylene-coated ste ...
, or hasp staple) to prevent
use Use may refer to: * Use (law), an obligation on a person to whom property has been conveyed * Use (liturgy), a special form of Roman Catholic ritual adopted for use in a particular diocese * Use–mention distinction, the distinction between using ...
,
theft Theft is the act of taking another person's property or services without that person's permission or consent with the intent to deprive the rightful owner of it. The word ''theft'' is also used as a synonym or informal shorthand term for some ...
,
vandalism Vandalism is the action involving deliberate destruction of or damage to public or private property. The term includes property damage, such as graffiti and defacement directed towards any property without permission of the owner. The term f ...
or
harm Harm is a moral and legal concept. Bernard Gert construes harm as any of the following: * pain * death * disability * mortality * loss of abil ity or freedom * loss of pleasure. Joel Feinberg gives an account of harm as setbacks to inte ...
.


Naming and etymology

The term ''
padlock Padlocks are portable locks with a shackle that may be passed through an opening (such as a chain link, or hasp staple) to prevent use, theft, vandalism or harm. Naming and etymology The term ''padlock'' is from the late fifteenth century. T ...
'' is from the late fifteenth century. The prefix pad- is of unknown origin; it is combined with the noun
lock Lock(s) may refer to: Common meanings *Lock and key, a mechanical device used to secure items of importance *Lock (water navigation), a device for boats to transit between different levels of water, as in a canal Arts and entertainment * ''Lock ...
, from Old English ''loc'', related to German ''loch'', "hole".


History

There are padlocks dating to the Roman Era, 500 BC300 AD. They were known in early times by merchants traveling the ancient trade routes to Asia, including China. Padlocks have been used in Europe since the middle
La Tène period LA most frequently refers to Los Angeles, the second largest city in the United States. La, LA, or L.A. may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * La (musical note), or A, the sixth note * "L.A.", a song by Elliott Smith on ''Figur ...
, subsequently spreading to the Roman world and the
Przeworsk Przeworsk (; uk, Переворськ, translit=Perevors'k; yi, פּרשעוואָרסק, translit=Prshevorsk) is a town in south-eastern Poland with 15,675 inhabitants, as of 2 June 2009. Since 1999 it has been in the Subcarpathian Voivodeship ...
and
Chernyakhov culture The Chernyakhov culture, Cherniakhiv culture or Sântana de Mureș—Chernyakhov culture was an archaeological culture that flourished between the 2nd and 5th centuries CE in a wide area of Eastern Europe, specifically in what is now Ukraine, Rom ...
s.Katarzyna Czarnecka, "Padlocks In The Przeworsk And The Chernyakhov Cultures In The Late Roman Period, As An Evidence Of Mutual Contacts." Roman padlocks had a long bent rod attached to the case, and a shorter piece which could be inserted into the case. Przeworsk and Chernyakhov padlocks had a sleeve attached to the case, and a long bent rod which could be inserted into the case and the sleeve. Padlocks have been used in China since the late Eastern Han Dynasty (25–220 AD). According to Hong-Sen Yan, director of the
National Science and Technology Museum The National Science and Technology Museum (NSTM; ) is a museum of applied science and technology in Sanmin District, Kaohsiung, Taiwan. History The museum was established in November 1997. Architecture The museum covers an area of 19 hectares ...
, early Chinese padlocks were mainly "
key Key or The Key may refer to: Common meanings * Key (cryptography), a piece of information that controls the operation of a cryptography algorithm * Key (lock), device used to control access to places or facilities restricted by a lock * Key (map ...
-operated locks with splitting springs, and partially keyless letter
combination lock A combination lock is a type of locking device in which a sequence of symbols, usually numbers, is used to open the lock. The sequence may be entered using a single rotating dial which interacts with several discs or ''cams'', by using a set o ...
s". Padlocks were made from bronze, brass, silver, and other materials. The use of bronze was more prevalent for the early Chinese padlocks. Padlocks with spring tine mechanisms have been found in York, England, at the Jorvik Viking settlement, dated 850 AD.
Smokehouse A smokehouse (North American) or smokery (British) is a building where meat or fish is cured with smoke. The finished product might be stored in the building, sometimes for a year or more.
locks, designed in
England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
, were formed from
wrought iron Wrought iron is an iron alloy with a very low carbon content (less than 0.08%) in contrast to that of cast iron (2.1% to 4%). It is a semi-fused mass of iron with fibrous slag Inclusion (mineral), inclusions (up to 2% by weight), which give it a ...
sheet and employed simple lever and ward mechanisms. These locks afforded little protection against forced and surreptitious entry. Contemporary with the smokehouse padlocks and originating in the Slavic areas of Europe, "screw key" padlocks opened with a
helical Helical may refer to: * Helix, the mathematical concept for the shape * Helical engine, a proposed spacecraft propulsion drive * Helical spring, a coilspring * Helical plc, a British property company, once a maker of steel bar stock * Helicoil A t ...
key that was threaded into the
keyhole 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 or coin), by supplying secret information (such as a number or letter permutation or pas ...
. The
key Key or The Key may refer to: Common meanings * Key (cryptography), a piece of information that controls the operation of a cryptography algorithm * Key (lock), device used to control access to places or facilities restricted by a lock * Key (map ...
pulled the locking bolt open against a strong spring. Padlocks that offered more key variance were the demise of the screw lock. Improved manufacturing methods allowed the manufacture of better padlocks that put an end to the Smokehouse around 1910. Around the middle of the 19th century, "Scandinavian" style locks, or "Polhem locks", invented by the eponymous Swedish inventor
Christopher Polhem Christopher Polhammar (18 December 1661 – 30 August 1751) better known as Christopher Polhem (), which he took after his ennoblement in 1716, was a Swedish scientist, inventor and industrialist. He made significant contributions to the econom ...
, became a more secure alternative to the prevailing smokehouse and screw locks. These locks had a
cast iron Cast iron is a class of iron–carbon alloys with a carbon content more than 2%. Its usefulness derives from its relatively low melting temperature. The alloy constituents affect its color when fractured: white cast iron has carbide impuriti ...
body that was loaded with a stack of rotating disks. Each disk had a central cutout to allow the key to pass through them and two notches cut out on the edge of the disc. When locked, the discs passed through cut-outs on the shackle. The key rotated each disk until the notches, placed along the edge of each tumbler in different places, lined up with the shackle, allowing the shackle to slide out of the body. The McWilliams company received a patent for these locks in 1871. The "Scandinavian" design was so successful that JHW Climax & Co. of
Newark, New Jersey Newark ( , ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey and the seat of Essex County and the second largest city within the New York metropolitan area.railroads Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a prep ...
for locking switches and cars because of their economical cost and excellent ability to open reliably in dirty, moist, and frozen environments. Around the 1870s, lock makers realized they could successfully package the same locking mechanism found in cast heart locks into a more economical steel or brass shell instead of having to cast a thick metal body. These lock shells were stamped out of flat metal stock, filled with lever tumblers, and then riveted together. Although more fragile than the cast hearts, these locks were attractive because they cost less. In 1908,
Adams & Westlake Adams may refer to: * For persons, see Adams (surname) Places United States * Adams, California *Adams, California, former name of Corte Madera, California *Adams, Decatur County, Indiana * Adams, Kentucky *Adams, Massachusetts, a New England t ...
patent A patent is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the legal right to exclude others from making, using, or selling an invention for a limited period of time in exchange for publishing an enabling disclosure of the invention."A p ...
ed a
stamped Stamped may refer to: * Stamped (application), an iPhone app * Stamped (song), by The Verve *'' Stamped from the Beginning'', a book by Ibram X. Kendi See also *Stmpd Rcrds Stmpd Rcrds (stylised in all caps; pronounced "stamped records") is ...
& riveted switch lock that was so economical that many railroads stopped using the popular cast hearts and went with this new stamped shell lock body design. Many lock manufacturers made this very popular style of lock. In 1877 Yale & Towne was granted a patent for a padlock that housed a stack of levers and had a shackle that swung away when unlocked. It was a notable design because the levers were sub-assembled into a "cartridge" that could be slid into a cast brass body shell. The assembly would remain together by means of two taper pins passed through the shell and cartridge. This design gave the commercial padlock market a serviceable, rekeyable padlock. About twenty years later
Yale Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wor ...
made another "cartridge" style padlock that employed their famous pin tumbler mechanism and a shackle that slid out of the body instead of swinging away. Although machining metal was a method that was available to lock makers since the early 19th century, it was not economically feasible to do so until the very early 20th century when electrical generation and distribution became widespread. Some of the earliest padlocks (c. 1905) that were made from a machined block of cast or extruded metal resemble today's modern padlock. Corbin and Eagle were one of the first lock makers to machine a solid block of metal and insert a relatively new pin tumbler mechanism and a sliding shackle into the holes machined into the body. This style of padlock was both strong and easy to manufacture. Many machined body padlocks were designed to be disassembled so that locksmiths could easily fit the locks to a certain key. The machined body padlocks are still very popular today. The process of machining allows many modern padlocks to have a "shroud" covering the shackle, which is an extension of the body around the shackle to protect the shackle from getting sheared or cut. In the early 1920s,
Harry Soref Harry Soref (1887–1957) was an American locksmith and businessman. He was the founder of the Master Lock company. Soref was born in Russian Empire ( Bilozirka, Ternopil Oblast, Ukraine), and immigrated to the United States. In 1921, he founded ...
started
Master Lock Master Lock is an American company that develops padlocks, combination locks, safes, and related security products. Now a subsidiary of Fortune Brands Home & Security, Master Lock Company LLC was formed in 1921 by locksmith-inventor Harry E. ...
off with the first laminated padlock. Plates that were punched from sheet metal were stacked and assembled. Holes that were formed in the middle of the plates made room to accommodate the locking mechanism. The entire stack of plates, loaded with the lock parts in it, was riveted together. This padlock was popular for its low cost and impact-resistant laminated plate design. Today, many lock makers copy this very efficient and successful design. File:Central_Pacific_Railroad_of_Cal_brass_car_lock_1884.jpg, 1884 Central Pacific Railroad of Cal. brass boxcar padlock File:Kathmandu-05.JPG, Old padlock in Kathmandu File:Viking Age lock.png,
Viking Age The Viking Age () was the period during the Middle Ages when Norsemen known as Vikings undertook large-scale raiding, colonizing, conquest, and trading throughout Europe and reached North America. It followed the Migration Period and the Ger ...
padlock found at
Birka Birka (''Birca'' in medieval sources), on the island of Björkö (lit. "Birch Island") in present-day Sweden, was an important Viking Age trading center which handled goods from Scandinavia as well as many parts of the European continent and ...
. File:Early padlock.jpg, Early padlock style, on the front gates of
St. Peter's Basilica The Papal Basilica of Saint Peter in the Vatican ( it, Basilica Papale di San Pietro in Vaticano), or simply Saint Peter's Basilica ( la, Basilica Sancti Petri), is a church built in the Renaissance style located in Vatican City, the papal e ...
File:TurkishHandmadePadlocks.jpg, Ottoman style handmade padlocks in
Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...


Components

A padlock is composed of a body, shackle, and locking mechanism. The typical shackle is a "U" shaped loop of metal (round or square in cross-section) that encompasses what is being secured by the padlock (e.g., chain link or hasp). Generally, most padlock shackles either swing away (typical of older padlocks) or slide out of the padlock body when in the unlocked position. Less common designs include a straight, circular, or flexible (cable) shackle. Some shackles split apart and come together to lock and unlock. There are two basic types of padlock locking mechanisms: integrated & modular. Integrated locking mechanisms directly engage the padlock's shackle with the tumblers. Examples of integrated locking mechanisms are rotating disks (found in "Scandinavian" style padlocks where a disk rotated by the key enters a notch cut into the shackle to block it from moving) or lever tumblers (where a portion of the bolt that secures the shackle enters the tumblers when the correct key is turned in the lock). Padlocks with integrated locking mechanisms are characterized by a design that does not allow disassembly of the padlock. They are usually older than padlocks with modular mechanisms and often require the use of a key to lock. The more modern modular locking mechanisms, however, do not directly employ the tumblers to lock the shackle. Instead, they have a plug within the "cylinder" that, with the correct key, turns and allows a mechanism, referred to as a "locking dog" (such as the ball bearings found in American Lock Company padlocks) to retract from notches cut into the shackle. Padlocks with modular locking mechanisms can often be taken apart to change the tumblers or to service the lock. Modular locking mechanism cylinders frequently employ
pin A pin is a device used for fastening objects or material together. Pin or PIN may also refer to: Computers and technology * Personal identification number (PIN), to access a secured system ** PIN pad, a PIN entry device * PIN, a former Dutch ...
,
wafer A wafer is a crisp, often sweet, very thin, flat, light and dry biscuit, often used to decorate ice cream, and also used as a garnish on some sweet dishes. Wafers can also be made into cookies with cream flavoring sandwiched between them. They ...
, and disc tumblers. Padlocks with modular mechanisms are usually automatic, or self-locking (that is, the key is not required to lock the padlock)


Types


Combination

Combination locks do not use keys. Instead, the lock opens when its wheels are lined up correctly to display the correct
combination In mathematics, a combination is a selection of items from a set that has distinct members, such that the order of selection does not matter (unlike permutations). For example, given three fruits, say an apple, an orange and a pear, there are th ...
. A padlock was invented by John I. W. Carlson in 1931 (a patent was granted in November 1934) that has both a combination on one side and a key on the other.


Electronic

Electronic padlocks are categorized as either "active" or "passive" electronic padlocks. Active electronic padlocks are divided into rechargeable electronic padlocks and replaceable battery electronic padlocks. The key of this type of electronic padlock is no longer a key in the traditional sense, but is unlocked through mobile phone Bluetooth, NFC, and fingerprint. Unlike active electronic padlocks, passive electronic padlocks do not require electricity. Due to its "no power needed" characteristic, the use environment is more extensive. The passive electronic lock can be unlocked with an electronic key which needs to be programmed (Who, when can unlock), otherwise, it cannot be unlocked.


Steel cable

Steel cable padlocks have a wider range of uses than padlocks because they have a variable length of the locking mechanism, only limited by the length of the cable. When the cable is bent and passed through the hole, lock it at the proper length.


Resistance

A quantitative measure of a padlock's
tensile strength Ultimate tensile strength (UTS), often shortened to tensile strength (TS), ultimate strength, or F_\text within equations, is the maximum stress that a material can withstand while being stretched or pulled before breaking. In brittle materials t ...
and resistance to forced and surreptitious entry can be determined with tests developed by
organization An organization or organisation (Commonwealth English; see spelling differences), is an entity—such as a company, an institution, or an association—comprising one or more people and having a particular purpose. The word is derived from ...
s such as ASTM, Sold Secure (United Kingdom), CEN (Europe), and TNO (The Netherlands).


Symbolism

Images of closed padlocks (sometimes physical padlocks) are sometimes used to indicate that something is secure or inaccessible. A widely known example is on
the Web The World Wide Web (WWW), commonly known as the Web, is an information system enabling documents and other web resources to be accessed over the Internet. Documents and downloadable media are made available to the network through web s ...
, where data in secure transactions is encrypted using
public-key cryptography Public-key cryptography, or asymmetric cryptography, is the field of cryptographic systems that use pairs of related keys. Each key pair consists of a public key and a corresponding private key. Key pairs are generated with cryptographic alg ...
; some
web browser A web browser is application software for accessing websites. When a user requests a web page from a particular website, the browser retrieves its files from a web server and then displays the page on the user's screen. Browsers are used on ...
s display a locked padlock icon while using the
HTTPS Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure (HTTPS) is an extension of the Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP). It is used for secure communication over a computer network, and is widely used on the Internet. In HTTPS, the communication protocol is enc ...
protocol.
Love lock A love lock or love padlock is a padlock that significant other pairs lock to a bridge, fence, gate, monument, or similar public fixture to symbolize their love. Typically the sweethearts' names or initials, and perhaps the date, are inscribe ...
s are physical padlocks attached to fixtures such as bridges, gates, and monuments by sweethearts to declare their love for each other is permanent. This practice perhaps originated in
Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe, Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Bas ...
. In some popular tourist locations, huge numbers of such padlocks are treated as a nuisance by local authorities. File:Gnome-mime-application-pgp.svg, A padlock icon File:Love padlocks at Butchers' Bridge (Ljubljana).JPG,
Love padlocks A love lock or love padlock is a padlock that significant other pairs lock to a bridge, fence, gate, monument, or similar public fixture to symbolize their love. Typically the sweethearts' names or initials, and perhaps the date, are inscribe ...
by night on Butchers' Bridge in Ljubljana, Slovenia. File:A young man has trouble in finding the right key to fit the Wellcome V0038918.jpg, A young man has trouble in finding the right key to fit the padlock on the woman's chastity belt


See also

* Mästermyr chest *
Pin tumbler lock The pin tumbler lock is a lock mechanism that uses pins of varying lengths to prevent the lock from opening without the correct key. Pin tumblers are most commonly employed in cylinder locks, but may also be found in tubular pin tumbler locks ( ...


References


External links


inventors.about.com
History of Locks {{Locksmithing Locks (security device)