Card-operated lock

Claim 1

A card-operated lock comprising: a lock body having upper and lower housing members, a slot for inserting a card therebetween and a releasable shackle; said housing members enclosing a sliding block and a sliding plate mounted thereover, said block having three bottom blocks therein, and a front fork mounted thereon; three letter profiles formed on the upper surface of said three bottom blocks each having an embossed or engraved letter thereon and a side lever mounted at each lateral side of each bottom block; two retaining plates mounted on either side of said sliding block each having three chambers receiving said side levers of said bottom blocks; shackle retaining means including two sliding pieces each having a notch with V-shaped slant surfaces and a compression spring mounted within the lock body registering in on the front fork for releasably holding said shackle; and a card in the form of a rectangular strip having three embossed or hollow letters corresponding to the letters on the letter profiles whereby insertion of the card will match the letters thereon in the profiles so that the block may be moved forward whereby the front fork engages the slant surfaces to release the shackle by urging said sliding pieces together.