Lock having magnets incorporated in rotary tumblers

Claim 2

A magnetic lock comprising a rotatable member made of nonmagnetic material and having a plurality of recesses spaced from one another longitudinally of its axis, a plurality of rotary tumblers engageable, respectively, in said recess to prevent movement of said member, each tumbler being slabbed off around a portion of its periphery so that, when it is rotated to a position where said slabbed off portion registers with the recess associated with the tumbler, the tumbler is disengaged from said associated recess, a cylindrical magnet rotatably mounted in each tumbler, each magnet having opposite polar portions extending, respectively, part way around its periphery, and a key insertable in a hole in said member, said key having a plurality of magnets rotatably mounted therein and spaced longitudinally of the key for cooperation with the magnets mounted in said tumblers.

Claim 3

A magnetic lock as claimed in claim 1, wherein the magnets in said key have the same spacing as the recesses in said member, whereby they register with the magnets in said tumbler when said key is in said hole.

Claim 4

A magnetic lock as claimed in claim 1, wherein the axis of the magnets in the tumblers are uniformly spaced from one another and the axes of the magnets in the key are uniformly spaced from one another but the distances between the axes of the magnets in the key and the magnets in the rotary tumblers is less than the distances between the axes of adjacent tumblers.

Claim 5

A magnetic lock as claimed in claim 1, wherein the magnets in the tumblers have identical polar orientation about their respective axes but the magnets in the key have different polar orientations about their respective axes.

Claim 6

A magnetic lock as claimed in claim 4, wherein the slabs on the tumblers are differently oriented relative to one another.

Claim 7

A magnetic lock, comprising a first member; a second member movable with reference to said first member to and from a starting position, said members having adjacent surfaces and one of said surfaces being provided with a first socket; a magnetic locking element turnable in said first socket between at least one first position and at least one second position in which it respectively permits and prevents movement of said second member from starting position, said locking element normally assuming said second position and the other of said surfaces having a second socket which receives a portion of sAid locking element in said starting position of said second member while said locking element assumes said second position; and a key adapted to be applied to one of said members in at least one predetermined position and having magnet means arranged to effect angular displacement of said locking element to said first position in said predetermined position of the key.

Claim 8

A magnetic lock, comprising a first member; a second member movable with reference to said first member to and from a starting position, said members having adjacent surfaces and one of said surfaces being provided with a first socket; a magnetic locking element turnable in said first socket between at least one first position and at least one second position in which it respectively permits and prevents movement of said second member from starting position, said locking element normally assuming said second position and the other of said surfaces having a second socket which receives a portion of sAid locking element in said starting position of said second member while said locking element assumes said second position; and a key adapted to be applied to one of said members in at least one predetermined position and having magnet means arranged to effect angular displacement of said locking element to said first position in said predetermined position of the key.

Claim 9

A magnetic lock as defined in claim 6, wherein said first member is a cylinder and said second member is a plug rotatable in said cylinder to and from said starting position thereof, said one surface being the peripheral surface of said plug and said first socket extending radially inwardly from said peripheral surface.