Overhead lock for metal doors: models, installation, reviews

If once all the doors were wooden, today most of the entrance doors to apartments and entrances, not to mention the wickets of country houses, are made of metal. And their design does not always allow the use of mortise locking devices, in such cases the invoice lock is installed.

Advantages of overhead locks

The door lock for the metal door has several advantages that can shift the scales in its direction when choosing:

1. A fast installation, which does not require special skills and a complex tool, that is, it is not always necessary to call a locksmith, and the owner can easily install the lock himself.
2. For installation it is not necessary to open the frame, and in many cases also the door leaf, maximally preserving its protective functions.
3. Repair of locks, which do not need to be removed from the cavity of the metal box, is easier to perform, as, indeed, and their replacement.
4. With a full door thickness, the locking device is protected from rough mechanical breaking. At least, quietly remove the lock or break its integrity will not succeed.

In addition, the flat sheet construction of the door (in the entrance, for example) can dictate its conditions for installing the lock.

Disadvantages of overhead locks

But, unfortunately, the ease of installation turns around and the ease of unlocking the lock from inside the apartment without a key, if, say, the robbers managed to penetrate it through the window. And besides, the overhead lock for the metal door can not be upgraded and changed to another design.

With the help of a mount or a hammer, this locking device is easy to open, if not to be afraid of noise.

Whatever their design, the view of the inside of the door with the overhead locks is much less aesthetic (and you have to wipe the dust) than a smooth cloth.

Mounting of the overhead lock

The door-way door lock , regardless of the model and design features, is installed on the inside of the door so that it protrudes completely above the door leaf (overlapping). For the fixing of the case a special bar is used, welded or bolted to the door by bolts.

In the bar or in the door leaf, if it is not, the holes for the fastening elements of the locking mechanism and the mating part are marked, as well as for the key. Then these holes are carefully drilled.

The overhead lock of the simplest design is screwed with screws to the door leaf from the inside, and the outside of it is fitted with a bar of its inlet opening. That's the whole installation of the overhead lock.

True, these are the main stages. And from the design features of the locking device depend additional actions, such as the installation of handles or cylinder.

Classification of overhead locks

Overhead locks are classified according to several criteria. And most, perhaps, the most important of them is the degree of security of the castle.

According to the design features, the locks can be bolts or bezrigelnye, designed for left-hand or right-hand doors. Now you can choose a suitable overhead lock for a metal door without turning it upside down and opening it in the opposite direction.

Locks can be double-sided, opening the key from the outside and from the inside, or one-sided, which are opened with a key only from the outside. Can have additional functions, such as an invoice lock with a latch, fixed or spring.

Out-of-order locks are made from different materials, which affects not only the cost, but also the reliability and durability of the device.

Materials for manufacturing locks

When choosing locks, it is necessary to pay attention to what material they are made of. So, plastic ones are generally not suitable for heavy metal doors. Soft silumin or brass, brittle cast iron, although it is stronger than non-ferrous alloys, is also not a good choice.

On the door to the entrance, which should serve as protection and in severe frosts, the shockproof cast-iron lock in the winter becomes fragile and can collapse from a slight mechanical impact.

High-strength steel can withstand both temperature extremes and impacts, and locks of them have high anti-burglar qualities.

Classification of overhead locks by type of locking mechanism

According to the type of locking mechanism, there are three types of locks, including overhead ones:

1. Cylinder. In addition to simplicity and reliability, a great advantage is easy repair of locks, by replacing the larva (cylinder mechanism). The degree of protection of the castle depends on its complexity.
2. Locked locks. They are considered the most reliable. Suvaldami called figured plates, located inside the castle. The more of them, the more reliable the castle. But the bearded keys with which the plates are displaced are large enough, as, indeed, the locks themselves. Judging by the feedback, not everyone likes these cumbersome mechanisms on the inside of the door. Another drawback of lock locks - they are also opened from the inside only with a key.
3. Smartlocks. These modern mechanisms do not need keys. They open with the help of code like many doors in the entrance. But abrasion of buttons from frequent pressing leads to the fact that the code ceases to be a secret, and it has to be changed frequently.

Smartlocks, by the way, can be opened with the help of a picture of the retina of the eye or fingerprint. Suit, most likely, such locks for safes - and only personal, but they are very expensive.

Classification by mode of action

According to the mode of operation, the overhead locks can be divided into mechanical ones, which are the most common today and are opened with the help of keys, and electrical devices.

Electromechanical devices are the same code smartlocks. There is such a door-waybill lock from the shutter mechanism and instrument panel, on which the programmed code is dialed. Its significant drawback is the dependence on the availability of electricity. It is necessary to disconnect it, and the lock stops working, and the door remains open.

The same drawback is inherent in electromagnetic locks, which are universally installed on the door to the entrance to multi-storey residential buildings. The locking mechanism is tuned to the electromagnetic fields of the keys and opens as soon as the magnetic key is brought to the reader on the outer panel.

Hacking these locks without preparation is almost impossible, to find the code you need expensive equipment.

Expensive electromechanical or magnetic locks can be operated from a battery installed on the inside of the door. And then their main flaw is eliminated.

Security classes of locks

There are four classes of security locks. They are determined not only by mechanical strength, which does not allow you to unearth the lock. By the way, many negative reviews about overhead locks are based on the experience of a distant and not very childhood, when it was possible, with a little podnatuzhivshis, knock out overhead locks on wooden doors opening inward. Modern metal doors open outward, and it is almost impossible to dislodge such a structure from a metal frame.

Another parameter that affects the security class is the degree of secrecy of the lock, that is, the ability to pick up the master key:

• First class security locks are opened in minutes. This is an English (or cruciform) castle.
• The second class includes locking mechanisms that can be opened in about 10 minutes, both noiselessly and with the help of an electric tool, which undoubtedly attracts attention. If a safety class is not indicated in the accompanying document, then the mark that the lock is suitable for interior and entrance doors, already speaks about it.
• The most demanded locking device, judging by the numerous reviews, is an overhead lock for a third-class metal door. The opening time of such a lock is from 15 to 30 minutes, and without noise it does not do. In many models, additional protective pads are installed. Suvaldnye locks belong to this class of security.
• Locking mechanisms of the fourth class can resist burglary from half an hour to three hours, depending on the degree of complexity of the lock and additional locks. They are used, for example, in safes and doors of premises, which are subject to increased protection requirements.

Secrecy of the overhead lock

The secrecy of the lock includes security (protection from mechanical impact and cracking with the help of a master key), the number of combinations of the key and lock, the wear resistance of the device and the probability of matching keys.

There are three levels of secrecy. The simplest locks of low-strength materials with the number of possible combinations of up to 10 thousand belong to a low level of secrecy.

The average privacy is from 5 thousand to 5 million combinations. In such devices, the locking mechanism is made of high-quality materials, and on the materials of the case and handles, the manufacturers save.

Locks for safes have the highest level of secrecy. They are protected from both mechanical impact and burglary, the materials are resistant even to acid, the key profile is very complex, possible key and lock combinations up to a billion, the precision of manufacturing parts is high.

Safe overhead locks

Locks for safes and depositories of values can be called the top of false locks for metal doors. They can be locked with a key and with the help of a mechanical or electronic combination, with magnetic or biometric identification.

Mechanical locks are most often suvaldnye, the keys to them have two grooves. Cylindrical or pomp locks with diagonal notches on the crossbar, which coincide with the notches of the key, are less common. When the key is pressed, its notches are pulled out of the gear with the mating part. Complex geometry allows you to open the lock only with an absolute match of incisions.

Electronic locks make it possible to complicate keys and increase the number of operations or to link work with a safe to a specific performer with certain biometric indicators, a fingerprint, for example.

Popular models of overhead locks

Overhead locks are much cheaper, but saving on price leads to a primitive and quick cracking and to a negative attitude towards overhead locking devices in general.

According to reviews, the most popular in terms of price and quality are the locks of the Polish company GERDA. This company pays attention to the aesthetic function of its overhead locks. They are produced not only in different colors, but also in several styles.

Castle bill cylinder models Gerda ZN 100 and ZN 200 is designed for entrance and interior doors, but has a sufficient degree of secrecy, reliable in operation and equipped with anti-slip ergonomic rotary handles.

High-quality lock locks are produced by the Russian-Italian company CISA-Elbor. For example, "Elbor Sapphire" 1.09.56.MA with the fourth class of security, 12 suvalds and number of combinations exceeding 10 million.

Castle waybill code "Dori-4 classic" - the most famous product of the Sevastopol company DORI. It has no analogues in the world. Despite the fact that it is a code lock, the lock can withstand impacts of up to 500 kg and has two dozen useful functions.

Overhead locks for metal doors set. They are produced by well-known manufacturers, who are seriously concerned about their own reputation, and therefore, about the high quality of the products. When choosing a lock, you need to carefully study the accompanying documentation and check the quality of the mechanism. For example, clicks and mashes indicate that the parts are not well adapted and can lead to operational problems.