subject: From Wooden Locks To Exit Alarms [print this page] Some of the first people who ever tried to pick a lock had to deal with crocodiles. True! Long ago in India, the treasures of the rich were kept inside small, wooden boxes that were submerged in pools of water inside palaces, surrounded by very hungry crocodiles. This method might be worth ten of today's locks, but even so, locks have come a long way from their toothy predecessors.
The idea behind locks is old. The ancient Egyptians had locks 4000 years ago. They likely invented them around the same time the Chinese did. The locks were similar in design to the pin and tumbler locks that later became the standard, save that these pins and tumblers were all made of wood. A wooden key was slipped into the lock and turned to press the pins up against gravity and allow the door to open.
Wooden locks were all the rage for thousands of years, and it wasn't until the end of the first millennium AD that metal locks were conceived. The English are attributed with this innovation. The lock was primitive compared to today's locks, not much more than a bolt fitted with a guard against tampering. Still, the idea that locks could be forged from metal continued to prosper, each progression of the design becoming more and more sophisticated while still retaining the same general idea.
Padlocks were initially the preferred method of securing things. Beginning life as portable locking mechanisms designed to travel with caravans along trade route or on ocean-going voyages, this particular lock still remains in use today as a method of securing many things from gates to lockers.
It wasn't until Walter Shlage invented door locks with a push-button between the two handles that modern day pushbutton locks were born. This system was similar to the ancient Egyptian method of pins and tumblers, but this lock was an essential element in the design of the door. The doors were given the innate ability to lock without the use of an external locking mechanism. This idea caught on rapidly, fast becoming the industry standard. More and more locks were made, each design a variation of Shlage's cylindrical tumbler idea.
These days, locks are an essential part of our lives, guarding and protecting valuables, property, harmful substances and machinery, and allowing restricted access to the use of such things as cars, modern machinery, and detonation systems. And if locks are not enough, buildings are now equipped with exit alarms, entrance alarms, and hi-tech security systems requiring fingerprint scans and facial recognition software to validate access; this, all in an effort to restrict access. Who knows what the next iteration of lock might be?
