An Overview of the History of Locks
The earliest recorded use of locks was four thousand years ago. Locks and keys made of wood have been documented in Assyria at that time. Over the years locksmiths have made improvements to the basic lock, using new materials and mechanisms to create the wide variety of locks that are available today.
The pin lock was the first key lock. String a rope with a lock on it through a hole drilled in a door. The lock is a wooden cylinder with a drilled hole of a specific length to match the key. The key is inserted into the cylinder and pushes the bolt the exact distance needed to unlock it. Locking a pin lock is a simple matter of extracting the key cylinder by pulling on the rope while closing the bolt.
Although primitive pin locks are still in use in some parts of the world, modern pin locks have improved over the years by increasing the number of pins and changing their orientation so the key served as the unlocking mechanism, rather than a rope. This resulted in the pin tumbler lock that is used today.
Ward locks were another early type of lock that is still in use. The keys designed with this lock were the first to resemble what we consider to be a standard key. These employed lock puzzles that hid the actual lock mechanism. Some even provide a non-working lock that distracts thieves from picking the real lock.
Today, there are electromechanical locks using magnetic card readers or biometric readers that control a deadbolt system. There are still simple mechnical locks in use in securing homes, businesses, and other property. Some popular types include locks for door such as deadbolts, child safety locks, bicycle locks, and padlocks that can be used on many different objects. The mechanisms of locks include cylinder locks, electric strike, lever tumbler, and combination locks, amongst many others.
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