MASBREAKSM

Abus Economy Lock - ABUS

What is a lock?

In the very broadest sense of the word, a lock is a device that keeps valuables safe or restricts access to something that needs protecting. A lock can hold things out (protecting homes from intruders and banks from thieves) or keep them in (holding criminals in jail or animals in zoos). Before the modern electronic age, locks were entirely mechanical and based on intricate mechanisms made from levers, wheels, gears, and cams. During the mid-20th century, locks became more sophisticated and automated and started to incorporate electrical and electronic mechanisms. But now information is valuable too and most of it is held inside hundreds of millions of computers that are all linked together through the Internet. Modern locks that protect computers are based on encryption—a way of securing information using complex mathematical processes.

How do locks work?

Most mechanical locks are fitted to things like doors and cupboards and have two physically separate parts. One part is fitted to the frame (the static part of the door) and is essentially a sturdy, metal reinforcement for a hole cut into the door itself (to prevent the locked door from being opened with brute force). The other part of the lock fits into a rectangular hole in the door (known as a mortise) and consists of a metal mechanism that moves a heavy bolt into or out from the reinforced hole. The bolt (sometimes called a deadbolt) slides from side to side when you turn a key clockwise or anticlockwise, so it has to be operated by a mechanism that can convert rotary motion (the turning key) into reciprocating motion (the sliding bolt)—something like a cam or crank. If that were all that a lock consisted of, every key would be able to open every lock. So the other essential part of a lock's mechanism is a set of fixed or moving metal pieces (wards or tumblers) that engage with slots cut into the key, ensuring only one key can rotate, turn the cam, slide the bolt, and open the door.