11–20 of 153 posts
"Also, locking an open door is usually not possible." A good feature to have on otherwise normal doors so that they only ways to lock it is to be inside or outside with the key. I now have a greater appreciation for deadbolts.
This is super clever, but I bet some of its potential applications conflict with egress safety requirements/laws. (If a door is part of an exit route, you probably can't require a key to open it.)
It seems like you could have a similar system which also has some type of internal lever to release the lock although I assume this wasn't part of the original design.
I doubt that’s theoretical. Kids playing in the garden and on the street could easily use that ploy.
This is super clever, but I bet some of its potential applications conflict with egress safety requirements/laws. (If a door is part of an exit route, you probably can't require a key to open it.)
It seems like you could have a similar system which also has some type of internal lever to release the lock although I assume this wasn't part of the original design.
I'm surprised some houses still use this. As it's impossible to leave the building without a key in case of a fire. I suspect it may even be illegal today.
In the US if I checked out a rental home as a possible place to live and it had any one room where you could lock someone in and they would be trapped I'd wonder what weird shit happened there.
I'm surprised some houses still use this. As it's impossible to leave the building without a key in case of a fire. I suspect it may even be illegal today.
As an American living in Switzerland one thing that has consistently surprised me is the difference in fire safety rules: not having any smoke alarm or fire extinguishers in homes is common, and it's also common to be able to lock people inside rooms/apartments/buildings so that they can't leave without having a key. It's possible to lock someone in my apartment even if they have the key if the door is locked with th…
Anecdotal, we had a fire in my building because the wrong type of lightbulbs were installed in the hallways and because of their size, they were too close to the drywall which in turn caught fire. So.. yeah. Matchstick.
This is super clever, but I bet some of its potential applications conflict with egress safety requirements/laws. (If a door is part of an exit route, you probably can't require a key to open it.)
”Its name comes from the fact that it has two key blades (the part which activates the bolt) at each end of the key, rather than the usual single blade”
How does that lead to the name “Berlin key” or either of the German names? I would guess “Berlin key” comes from the fact that it predominantly is used in Berlin.
”After unlocking the lock, the key must be pushed all the way through the lock and retrieved on the other side of the door after it has been closed and locked again”
I think the main features are:
- the key cannot be removed when the lock is open.
- you can remove the key from the other side of the door from which it was inserted.
It seems you can lock the door from the side it was unlocked from, and remove the key from that side, too. You only have to push it all the way through if you want the door closed and locked with you and the key on the other side of the door.
I also think you can close the lock and remove your key when the door is open.
Video showing how it is used, really neat! https://youtu.be/UW4jZLEgaiU
Video showing how it is used, really neat! https://youtu.be/UW4jZLEgaiU