simplemind
JF-Expert Member
- Apr 10, 2009
- 16,806
- 9,742
Padlocks are small and portable
locks that have been used for several
thousand years to defend against
theft, unauthorized entrance,
vandalism and sabotage. They first
appeared in Ancient Egypt and
Babylon, and slowly started to spread
across ancient civilizations such as
China, Greece and Rome. During their
travel through our history, padlocks
received numerous improvements in
their design, creation of basic
components and usability, making
them one of the most common types
of locks in the world. Today,
padlocks are created in industrial
facilities that create padlocks of
numerous sizes (from protecting
bicycles to large hangars), types
(keys, combination locks), and
security ratings (regulated by
government sponsored organizations
from all around the world).
History of padlocks started with the
appearance of the first mechanical
rocs, several thousand years ago.
Initial efforts made by Egyptians did
not manage to find appeal outside
North Africa and Middle East, but
Chinese models had no such
problems. They developed first
models od padlocks around 1000BC
and continued improving them all
until the reign of the Eastern Han
Dynasty (25220 AD), when they
were used openly by royalty, nobility
and wealthy class. Romans
encountered first models of padlocks
around 500 BC with the help of
traders who went to Asia and
returned to Europe bringing many
new inventions and rare objects. This
trading connection between Roman
civilization and China continued up to
300 AD, when the disruption of
ancient trade routes brought the start
of the isolation of Europe and the
start of Dark Ages.
During Dark and Middle ages two
distinct types of padlock become
commonplace across Europe.
Smokehouse locks originated in
England and consistent from wrought
iron sheet using simple lever and
plain lever and ward mechanisms.
Sadly, Smokehouse locks did not
manage to receive wide success
because of the inefficiencies of
building materials which were easily
breakable. On the other side of
Europe in Slavic areas, simple
padlock that used helical key to lock
and unlock bolt against a spring was
used for centuries, but it also was
not secure and reliable. As time went
by and manufacturing technologies
improved, more advanced designs
started appearing. Cast iron was
used to create padlock that was
secured with the array of rotating
disks. When key was inserted, its
notched rotated each disk, lining
them up to the shackle and releasing
bolt. One of the rare successful
padlock designs of 19th century were
Scandinavian style locks (they used
array of stacked iron rotating diskns)
and even more popular cast heart
locks which were cheap to produce,
sturdy, offered a lot of protection and
were reliable in frozen, moist and
dirty environments. For many years,
cast heart locks were used by
railroad industry for locking switches
and train cars.
As modern industry made significant
advances in resource gathering,
manufacturing and tool production,
so did locksmith gain new ways of
creating ever more intricate, reliable
and stronger locks. In late 19th
century, invention of small cartage
that housed reliable locking
mechanism enabled locksmiths to
finally start producing locks in
industrial environment - majority of
the lock could be mass produced,
and then locking mechanism can be
simply inserted and secured. At the
turn of the century, famous locksmith
family Yale implemented famous
"cartridge" style padlock that used
sliding pin tumbler mechanism, a
basic design that is still used today.
Machining metal techniques
appeared in early 20th century, which
brought the end of the fully manual
production of locks by locksmiths),
in 1920s laminated padlock were
introduced by Harry Soref and his
Master Lock company, and Die-
casting entered into production
during 1930s.
Today, padlocks are created by
simple production processes that
create main body, shackle (usually in
U shape) and locking mechanism
that can have several security
grading.
locks that have been used for several
thousand years to defend against
theft, unauthorized entrance,
vandalism and sabotage. They first
appeared in Ancient Egypt and
Babylon, and slowly started to spread
across ancient civilizations such as
China, Greece and Rome. During their
travel through our history, padlocks
received numerous improvements in
their design, creation of basic
components and usability, making
them one of the most common types
of locks in the world. Today,
padlocks are created in industrial
facilities that create padlocks of
numerous sizes (from protecting
bicycles to large hangars), types
(keys, combination locks), and
security ratings (regulated by
government sponsored organizations
from all around the world).
History of padlocks started with the
appearance of the first mechanical
rocs, several thousand years ago.
Initial efforts made by Egyptians did
not manage to find appeal outside
North Africa and Middle East, but
Chinese models had no such
problems. They developed first
models od padlocks around 1000BC
and continued improving them all
until the reign of the Eastern Han
Dynasty (25220 AD), when they
were used openly by royalty, nobility
and wealthy class. Romans
encountered first models of padlocks
around 500 BC with the help of
traders who went to Asia and
returned to Europe bringing many
new inventions and rare objects. This
trading connection between Roman
civilization and China continued up to
300 AD, when the disruption of
ancient trade routes brought the start
of the isolation of Europe and the
start of Dark Ages.
During Dark and Middle ages two
distinct types of padlock become
commonplace across Europe.
Smokehouse locks originated in
England and consistent from wrought
iron sheet using simple lever and
plain lever and ward mechanisms.
Sadly, Smokehouse locks did not
manage to receive wide success
because of the inefficiencies of
building materials which were easily
breakable. On the other side of
Europe in Slavic areas, simple
padlock that used helical key to lock
and unlock bolt against a spring was
used for centuries, but it also was
not secure and reliable. As time went
by and manufacturing technologies
improved, more advanced designs
started appearing. Cast iron was
used to create padlock that was
secured with the array of rotating
disks. When key was inserted, its
notched rotated each disk, lining
them up to the shackle and releasing
bolt. One of the rare successful
padlock designs of 19th century were
Scandinavian style locks (they used
array of stacked iron rotating diskns)
and even more popular cast heart
locks which were cheap to produce,
sturdy, offered a lot of protection and
were reliable in frozen, moist and
dirty environments. For many years,
cast heart locks were used by
railroad industry for locking switches
and train cars.
As modern industry made significant
advances in resource gathering,
manufacturing and tool production,
so did locksmith gain new ways of
creating ever more intricate, reliable
and stronger locks. In late 19th
century, invention of small cartage
that housed reliable locking
mechanism enabled locksmiths to
finally start producing locks in
industrial environment - majority of
the lock could be mass produced,
and then locking mechanism can be
simply inserted and secured. At the
turn of the century, famous locksmith
family Yale implemented famous
"cartridge" style padlock that used
sliding pin tumbler mechanism, a
basic design that is still used today.
Machining metal techniques
appeared in early 20th century, which
brought the end of the fully manual
production of locks by locksmiths),
in 1920s laminated padlock were
introduced by Harry Soref and his
Master Lock company, and Die-
casting entered into production
during 1930s.
Today, padlocks are created by
simple production processes that
create main body, shackle (usually in
U shape) and locking mechanism
that can have several security
grading.