A Historical Look at the Yale Lock
Having already invented the Cylinder lock in 1848, it was Linus Yale, Jr. who invented the pin tumbler lock in 1868, along with Henry R Towne. Taking a historical look at the Yale Lock it does have British connections, but its origins are over the pond in America. It was the Yale family who invented the Yale Lock, which is essentially a pin tumbler lock.
Yale Lock Manufacturing Co was the original company that invented the Yale lock and it was based in Connecticut in America. The company name was later changed to Yale & Towne, after the co-inventor, where they registered 8 patents for their safe lock, bank lock, pin tumbler safe lock, vault and safe door bolt and padlock.
In the 20th century, the British connection came when Yale & Towne expanded its business worldwide and acquired H&T Vaughan, a British lock company. Based in Willenhall, this British company was a long established lock manufacturer based in the historic centre of the British lock industry.
In Britain, the Yale Lock had great prominence in the British motor industry in the early years. This prominence diminished in the 1930’s when cheaper ‘leaf tumbler’ technology became more available. A resurgence happened in the 1960’s when the M69 window lock became popular as a security device especially in vans. It was at this point that the generic term of pin tumbler lock was changed to Yale Locks.
Today, Yale locks are synonymous with commercial and domestic buildings and are widely viewed as the worlds favourite lock. The entrance door lock with cylinder came to be the traditional surface mounted front door lock for many homes and businesses nationwide in Britain. In our next blog we will look at the design and versatility of the Yale Lock.