A puzzle lock or puzzle padlock is a type of
mechanical puzzle
A mechanical puzzle is a puzzle presented as a set of mechanically interlinked pieces in which the solution is to manipulate the whole object or parts of it. While puzzles of this type have been in use by humanity as early as the 3rd century BC ...
. It consists of a
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 ...
with unusual or hidden mechanics. Puzzle locks are reconfigurable mechanisms where the topological structure changes during the operation.
Such locks are sometimes called trick locks, because there is a trick to opening them which needs to be found. Puzzle locks exist both with keys and without keys.
China
Puzzle locks with exposed keyholes were widely used in ancient China and can be very tricky to open.
There are three main types in China:
* Locks with extra obstacle
* Locks with indirect insertion
* Multi-stage locks.
Europe
In Europe, many small puzzle padlocks had front plate with a face or mask. The padlocks were designed to secure small bags or pouches and could be found across Europe with the most around the
Danubian provinces
The Danubian provinces of the Roman Empire were the provinces of the Lower Danube, within a geographical area encompassing the middle and lower Danube basins, the Eastern Alps, the Dinarides, and the Balkans. They include Noricum, Dacia ( Trajan ...
and
Aquileia
Aquileia / / / / ;Bilingual name of ''Aquileja – Oglej'' in: vec, Aquiłeja / ; Slovenian: ''Oglej''), group=pron is an ancient Roman city in Italy, at the head of the Adriatic at the edge of the lagoons, about from the sea, on the river ...
. They were often shaped like rings and may have been fitted around the mouth of a bag as a sort of tamper-proof seal. The earliest Roman puzzle locks date back to the 2nd century BCE.
In the 1850s in the UK, "puzzle lock" was synonymous with "letter lock" and used to denote a lettered
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 ...
.
See also
*
Puzzle box
A puzzle box (also called a secret box or trick box) is a box that can be opened only by solving a puzzle. Some require only a simple move and others a series of discoveries.
Modern puzzle boxes developed from furniture and jewelry boxes with ...
References
{{locksmithing
Mechanical puzzles
Locksmithing