ProSecurityNews

In this episode we take a close look at a new padlock soon to be released by Master Lock. Named Axis, this lock was invented by Yehonatan Knoll, an Israeli engineer. Included in this podcast is an interview with Yeshai Knoll, the CEO of Knollan, about the concept and development of this new lock. Also included is an interview with Michael Huebler, a German lock sport enthusiast who dissected this lock and analyzed how it works. Click “Continue Reading” for the full script of the show.

Show Links

Welcome to Knollan a new locking mechanism

patent document

blackbag » Michael Huebler’s masterlock article on Toool.nl and discussion thread

Michael Huebler’s original analysis.

Lock Mechanism Visualizer

Pro Security News – PSN007 Script

Master Lock to launch AXIS Combination Padlock

It is not often that we get to report on a new product that very few people have seen, or even heard about. Today is one of those days. Consequently this show will focus on one topic and we will resume our news briefing next week.
Master Padlock will be launching a new combination padlock in May of 2009. Now ordinarily, a new padlock is not really newsworthy, however this product is very different. It breaks all the rules as you know them.
The lock is called Axis, and it presents an entirely  new user interface for unlocking a lock. When you think of a traditional school or gym-locker combination lock, you probably visualize a dial with 30 numbers, or small wheels with 10 numbers each. Now imagine a lock that can be could be opened in complete darkness, with one hand, and one finger, and without a key, in 2 seconds or less.
That is exactly what this new patented mechanism delivers. It was invented by Yehonatan Knoll and licensed to Master Lock company. Mr. Knoll is a principle in the design company of Knollan located in Israel.
The AXIS presents an entirely new interface for opening a padlock. It is the only padlock I know of that could be used by a blind person. Instead of a dial to turn and numbers to set, there is a knob which can slide in 4 directions, top, bottom, left & right.

Opening the Lock

To operate the lock, you must first clear it by pushing down on the shackle. The factory code is TOP, BOTTOM, LEFT, & RIGHT, so you slide the spring loaded knob sequentially in each direction and then pull the shackle to open.

Changing the Combination

The user can set a new combination by first opening the lock, and sliding the lever on the back of the lock to the “R” position. Next, depress the shackle to clear the lock, and then enter a new combination.
There is NO LIMIT to the number of movements you can make with the slide knob. It is limited only by what you can remember. Furthermore, any movement can be repeated any number of times. For example, you could have a combination that required only one down movement, or it could, for example, require 10 down movements.
The lock I have described here has no numbers, however a visit to the website of the inventor shows how numbers could be associated with the direction of movement. For example, TOP could be labeled with the number 1, Right with the number 2, etcetera. The illustration on the website actually shows each direction associated with a grouping of numbers  so as to use all numbers from 0 through 9.
Another method to help remember combinations could be to use letters to correspond to the direction of movement. The letters could appear in an acronym or word that the user can remember. For example, if we label the direction of movement North, South, East & West, the word NEWS could be used as the combination. If you add Up, Down, Top, Bottom, Left & Right, then you increase the words that could be used to help remember the sequence.

How it works

A very good description  and technical analysis of this lock was written by Michael Huebler from Germany. There is a link to his paper on our website. It includes photographs of the inside mechanism, and a well written analysis of how the mechanism operates, and some thoughts about the number of possible combinations.
Michael also created an animated visualization to help understand what is going on when you move the knob. You can interact with this program from any web browser that supports Flash objects. That link is also on our website along with a link to the original patent drawings, and to the website of the inventor.

Conclusions

From a physical strength point of view, the construction of this padlock indicates that the intended market is areas such as school and gym lockers. As to manipulation or other methods of surreptitious entry, I’m sure the locksport community and others will let us know soon enough. Regardless of that outcome it is very refreshing to see  a new security design that is clearly new and innovative. As you will hear in the interview in a few moments, it is possible to create a more secure version of this idea by adding more disks to the design, and by changing the plastic parts to metal parts at an increased cost of course.

Interview

What follows next is an interview I had with Yeshai Knoll, the CEO of Knollan, the company that was founded by the inventor, Yehonatan Knoll and his father, Yeshai, to develop and market this idea.
The next interview is with Michael Huebler from Germany. Michael is a locksport enthusiast who obtained a sample of this padlock at last years hardware show in cologne germany. He wrote a detailed explanation of how it works which can be found as a link in the show notes.
Michael and I ended our conversation a few minutes later & I am most grateful to him for spending some time with us to discuss his finding with this lock. During our conversation we discovered that our sample locks operated differently. His sample lock and his simulator both show that a lock set to the cod of up, down, left & right can also be opened with left left right, however my sample padlock does not behave the same way. I will look into this and report back when I have an answer. In the meantime, watch for the release of this lock, I think you will enjoy playing with one. It truly is unique.