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Almost everywhere you go you will see a lock protecting an entrance, container, fenced off area or any other type of device that is designed to keep something secure. That translates to there being a lot of locks around you in your life. Just at your place of work, home and on your car, you probably have over 100 locks in total. Not all of these locks will be the same types of locks though. There are different locks that handle different types of security needs. In this article, I will go over the most common types of locks that are found protecting residences, businesses, and automobiles.
This is the absolute most common type of lock that’s found in the entire world. These are simple mechanical type locks in most cases that just need a matching key to open. Locks of this type can be found protecting everything from home entranceways to office desks. Many of them are even found on automobiles.
These are one of the toughest types of locks that are made. They are also a popular type of lock because they are harder to defeat and pry open than regular keyed locks are. Deadbolts are also a popular second lock option found on entryway doors to help increase the security of those doors.
Quickly gaining in popularity are keyless electronic locking devices such as keycard locks. These locks use magnetic sensors to activate their corresponding locks into opening. This is done by either swiping them through a card reader or by putting the magnetic sensor close to the lock itself. You see these protecting secured areas in businesses and main entrances in multi-unit dwellings.
The most popular type of electronic keyless entry locks is keypad locks. These locks open by activating a locking mechanism with a numeric or alphabetic code. It makes gaining entry into your home, car or place of business much easier than if you had to use a key. These keyless entry devices are also easy to reprogram the codes on and they offer businesses some means of area accountability too.
One of the most convenient ways to gain entry through any lock is to have it triggered by radio frequency. You probably do this every day without even noticing it. That happens when you press one of the buttons that’s found on the plastic end of your car key. This is called a transponder key because it sends a radio signal to your car to unlock it, set its car alarm and even opens up your trunk.
Over the year’s thieves came up with a smart and easy method to easily gain access into a home through its keyed locks. They did what was called ‘bumping’ the lock. To do this a thief would simply make a rough key blank and insert it as far as they could into the lock. They would then tap that rough key blank with a hammer and it would trigger that lock to open. Once manufacturers got wind of this, they designed these types of lock that were nearly impossible to bump open.
Sidewinder locks also came about because of how easily thieves were gaining access to vehicles that had keyed locks in them. These locks were developed to prevent lock jimmying and picking to gain access into a vehicle. Sidewinder locks use special laser cut keys that are very difficult to reproduce without special equipment. These keys are very distinct looking because they have smooth edges and the lock-triggering pattern is cut into the sides of the key.
Biometric locks represent the future of locking devices and it all starts with fingerprint scanning locks. These locks detect distinct fingerprint patterns in order for them to be opened. This helps make them very secure because no two people have the exact same fingerprint pattern.
Along the very same line as fingerprint scanning locks is retina scanning locking devices. They are a biometric type lock that uses the distinct pattern of one’s retina to determine if a lock opening mechanism should be triggered or not. Once again, no two people have the exact same retina pattern.