Lock Types

In the last few decades of the 20th century, locks entered a whole new era: the high-tech era of keycard locks. The keycard lock originated with the hotel industry. There was a costly trend in t970s of guests stealing room keys and making copies. They would use these to subsequently break into those rooms and steal from the guests. Leaders in the industry decided a locking system that did not rely on traditional keys was needed. And so in 1977, a device was installed at the Peachtree Plaza Hotel in Atlanta, Georgia that required only a card to be swiped in a box-like mechanism to gain access to the room. The keycard lock was born.

The "key" for these new security systems are the size of a standard credit card.

Older keycard locks were mechanical based, using simple detainers that were arranged in pre-selected positions by the key in order to make the bolt move. Newer keycard locks (most of them now being made) are based on a magnetic strip. The keycard's strip is run over a sensor as it goes through the lock mechanism. The sensor reads the strip, and its contents are compared to the information stored for that room in a central system. If the information matches, the computer grants the holder access to the room. The value of these systems is that, if a key is stolen, with little time or expense, the box can be reprogrammed rather than requiring the purchase and installation of a new lock for the door.