Linus Yale invented the pin tumbler lock, also known as the Yale lock. Linus Yale was born in Salisbury, New York, on April 4, 1821. During his childhood, Yale was curious about locks and keys, as his father, Linus Yale Sr., opened a shop and began manufacturing bank locks in Newport, N.Y., during 1840. His father, Linus Yale Sr., was a successful lock inventor.
During the 1840s, Yale invented one of the first modern locks based on the pin-tumbler design. He opened the Yale Lock Shop in Newport, New York, and Shelburne, Massachusetts, in 1847 and 1860, respectively. At his lock shop in Shelburne Falls, he developed the Yale Magic Bank Lock and the Yale Double Treasury Bank Lock. In 1862, he introduced the combination lock.
Yale’s shops specialized in bank locks. Linus Yale invented the “Yale Infallible Bank Lock” for safes and vaults.
Yale Lock Manufacturing Company
In 1868, he founded a lock company with Henry Robinson Towne called the Yale Lock Manufacturing Company in the South Stamford, CT. The name of the Yale Lock was later changed to Yale & Towne. Today, Yale lock company is owned by Assa Abloy, a Swedish lock manufacturer.
Yale patented more than 20 lock designs and mechanisms, first on 6 May 1851 (Pat. #8071) in Newport, New York.
Yale Lock or Pin Tumbler Lock
Yale’s most significant invention is the cylinder lock, which is based on the pin-tumbler mechanism. The pin-tumbler lock mechanism can be traced back to primitive forms of tumbler locks used in Egypt around 4000 BC. These early locks consisted of a wooden post affixed to the door and a horizontal bolt that slid into the post, serving as the key.
In 1848, Linus Yale, Sr. invented the modern pin-tumbler lock. His son, Linus Yale, Jr., made further modifications to this lock in 1861. Linus Yale, Jr. improved the original design by creating a smaller flat key with serrated edges and incorporating pins inside the lock itself. This modified design was patented by Linus Yale, Jr., and the pin-tumbler lock, with its enduring design, continues to be used today.
Yale patented his cylinder pin-tumbler lock in 1861. Yale was awarded by National Inventors Hall of Fame, Inducted 2006. Yale died of a sudden heart attack in the same year the Yale Manufacturing Company was founded.