US3769865A

US3769865A - Key code cutting machine

Info

Publication number: US3769865A
Authority: US
Inventors: H Kleist
Original assignee: JUNKUNC BROS AMERICAN LOCK Co
Current assignee: JUNKUNC BROS AMERICAN LOCK Co
Priority date: 1972-03-08
Filing date: 1972-03-08
Publication date: 1973-11-06
Anticipated expiration: 1990-11-06
Also published as: CA972200A

Abstract

Device for warding key blanks to code in the form of a punch and stationary anvil having a die face in the form of the deepest ward to be cut in the key. A key holder is slidably movable along the body of the device and laterally of the body towards and from the punch and holds the key to the face of the anvil and moves the key laterally relative to the face of the anvil and punch to determine the depth of the wards. A knob on one side of the body is provided to move the key holder inwardly along the body distances determined by the distances between the stations or pins of the key cylinder. A second knob on the opposite side of the body moves the key holder and blank laterally inwardly or outwardly with respect to the body through a threaded drive connection to the key holder, to determine the depths of the wards of the blank in accordance with a code pattern.

Description

United States Patent [1 1 Kleist Nov. 6, 1973 KEY CODE CUTTING MACHINE Primary Examiner-Willie G. Abercrombie [75] Inventor: Herbert H. Kleist, Oak Lawn, Ill. Attorney-Carlton H111 et [73] Assignee: Junkunc Bros. American Lock [57] ABSTRACT Company, Crete, Ill. Device for warding key blanks to code in the form of [22] 1972 a punch and stationary anvil having a die face in the [2]] Appl. No; 232,782 form of the deepest ward to be cut in the key. A key holder is slidably movable along the body of the device and laterally of the body towards and from the punch [52] U.S. Cl 83/278, 83/414, 87366911170, and holdS the key to the face of the any and moves the key laterally relative to the face of the anvil and punch 2 gs 3g 1 to determine the depth of the wards. A knob on one 1 0 care side of the body is provided to move the key holder in- 83/ 76/1 10 wardly along the body distances determined by the distances between the stations or pins of the key cylinder. [56] References C'ted A second knob on the opposite side of the body moves UNITED STATES PATENTS the key holder and blank laterally inwardly or out- 3,633,45l 1/1972 Lieptz 83/917 X wardly with respect to the body through a threaded 2,812,316 11/1957 f n v 83/4 drive connection to the key holder, to determine the 3,466,747 9/1969 'q 83/917 X depths of the wards of the blank in accordance with a 3,496,636 2/1970 Lieptz 83/917 X code pattern 2,051,139 8/1936 Griffith 83/414 14 Claims, 7 Drawing Figures PAIENTEUnuv 81975 SHEET REF 3 KEY CODE CUTTING MACHINE BACKGROUND, ADVANTAGES AND OBJECTS OF INVENTION Heretofore, key cutters have been in use for warding key blanks in accordance with code numbers. Such devices usually perform the warding operation by rotary cutting operations or cut all of the wards along the depth of the key blank in a single punching operation. This last named operation requires a key blank having a thin bit and also requires the interchanging of punches and dies to'attain the different keys required, and restricts the combination of keys attained to such an extent that many times one key, which is not a master key, will unlock more than one lock. In accordance with the principles of the present invention, the key blank is carried by a key holder and held to an anvil, and a single punch cooperates with the anvil to ward the blank to the required depth in accordance with a code pattern, determined by varying the position of the key blank with respect to the anvil and punch in accordance with preselected code numbers, and selecting the warding stations determining the centers of the wards by movement of the key holder and blank inwardly along the body of the device preselected amounts for each depthof ward.

An advantage of the present inventionis that an infinite number'of combinations of keys may be attained from a single key cutter set in accordance with preselected key codes for selectedlocks. As for example, with a fivestation key cylinder and eight code numbers determining the depths of the wards of the blank, the variety of combinations of keys that can be attained from the same cutter are five to the eighth power or 391,625. With a six station key cylinder, the number of combinations is increased to six to the eighth power of 1,679,616 different combinations of keys.

A further advantage of the invention is that a single key cutter is capable of cutting so many combinations of keys that the liability of different keys for different locks which will fit and operate'the same lock is negligible.

A further advantage of the present invention is that master keys may'readily be made for unlocking a series of related locks, but the liability of unlocking any of these related locks by a key cut for only one lock is reduced to a minimum.

A principal object of the present invention, therefore, is to provide a simplified and improved form of key cutter, particularly adapted to ward'keys for locks and so arranged as to reduce to a bare minimum the liability of making a key which will fit more than one lock, but to enable keys to be cut for a selected lock to fit only this look.

Other objects, features and advantages of the invention will be readily apparent from the following description of a preferred embodiment thereof, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, although variations and modifications may be effected without departing from the spirit and scope of the novel concepts of the disclosure.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a top plan view of a key warding device constructed in accordance with the principles. of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a view in side elevation of the key warding device shown in FIG. 1,looking at the side of the device through which the key holder extends and is guided for movement inwardly along the body of the device, in accordance with the stations or pins of the key cylinder.

FIG. 3 is a transverse sectional view taken through the device substantially along line IIlIIl of FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary sectional view taken substam tially along line IV-IV of FIG. 3.

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary vertical sectional view taken through the body and the ward depth setting knob, and showing the locator or detent means detenting the depths of the wards in accordance with a code number.

FIG. 6 is an end view of the indexing ring for the ward depth control knob, looking at the ring from the inside thereof and showing the detent grooves therein, locating the knob in accordance with the depth of the wards to be cut; and

FIG. 7 is a plan view of a key which has been warded by the key cutter of the present invention.

INVENTION In the embodiment of the invention illustrated in the drawings, a key cutter l0 forwarding key blanks in accordance withthe principles of the present invention is shown as including a base 11 having a housing or body 12 mounted on one end of said base and extending therealong for a portion of the length thereof and centered on said base equal distances from opposite sides thereof. The rear end portion of the base may be drilled to enable the base to be secured to a workbench and the like. v p The body 12 may be assembled :in sections for ease in assembling the parts of the key'cutter and has a punch 13 slidably guided in said body for vertical movement therealong and operated by a lever arm 14 pivoted to said body and extending beyond the end of said base. The punch 13 has an enlarged head 15 on the upper end thereof slidably engaging the wall of an enlarged vertically extending bore 16 in a top block part 17 of the body 12. A compression spring 19 encircles a portion of the punch 13 and is seated atone end of the underside of the head 15 and at its opposite end on the top surface of a part 20 of the body. The part 20 is shown as abuttingand may be suitably secured to a lower part 21 of the body. The punch 13 is shown in FIG. 4 as having a generally V-shaped lower cutting end 22 having a rounded apex and generally conforming to a similar recessed V-shaped die 23 formed in an anvil 24.

The anvil 24 'is suitably mounted in a rectangular inwardly and upwardly opening recess 25 (FIG. 3) in a top surface of the body part 21, with its top face flush with the top surface of said body part, and extends over a bored portion 26 of said body part, which receives the lower end of the punch 13 during a punching orwarding operation. The structure thus far is more or less conventional punch and die, for forming a preselected configuration in a piece of metal.

A key holder 27 is guided for slidable movement along the top surface of the body part 21 in directions longitudinally of said body part and transversely the die face of the anvil, distances determined by the depth of the draw to be formed in the bit of the key by the punch 13.

The key holder 27 has a partial ring-like locator on its outer end and extending outwardly of the body 12 and recessed as indicated by reference number 36 in FIG. 5 to exactly correspond and fit the head of the key blank 32. The locator ring 35 cooperates with the depending rib 30 of the key holder to retain the key to the top face of the anvil 24 and to move the key in and out as the locator is moved in and out to correspond to the centers of the stations of the key cylinder, and also to move the key laterally by lateral movement of the key holder to vary the depth of the ward to be cut.

A station indexing knob is provided on one side of the body 12 for moving the key holder inwardly in accordance with the stations or pins of the key cylinder. The station indexing knob 37 is shown as being mounted on and secured to a disk 39 for rotatably driving said disk upon turning movement of said knob. The disk 39 in turn is freely mounted on a hub 40 of a guide disk 41. The guide disk 41 is mounted on a reduced end portion 42 of a transverse shaft 43 and is retained against the shoulder formed by the juncture of the reduced end portion of said shaft to the enlarged diameter end portion of said shaft, as by a washer 44 and machine screw 45, threaded in the end of said shaft. The hub 40 and guide disk 41 may be freely mounted on the reduced end portion 42 of the shaft 43. Said guide disk has a flattened upper side 41a fitting within a downwardly opening groove 27a in the key holder 27, to move said key holder laterally upon translational movement of said disk, as will hereinafter more clearly appear as this specification proceeds. The disk 39 is recessed in and is secured to the inner side of the station indexing knob 37 to be turned by said knob to move the key locator in and out upon turning movement of the knob 37, as by a set screw 38. The drive connection between the knob 37 and key holder 27 is shown in FIG. 3 as being in the form of an elongated radial slot 46 extending through the disk 39 and slidably engaging a drive pin 47 mounted within and extendingoutwardly of the key holder 27 into said slot 46.

The key holder 27 has a plurality of upwardly opening transversely extending equally spaced detent recesses 48 formed therein and adapted to be engaged by the converging end of an indexing pin 49 (FIG. 4). The indexing pin 49 slidably extends through a retainer plate 50 for the punch and'through the body part 20, and has a head 51 slidably movable along a drilled portion 52 of the body part 17, and is biased to yieldably engage the indexing grooves 48, to index the position of the key locator and the centers of the wards, as by a compression spring 53 extending along said drilled portion 52. The retainer plate 50 in turn extends within a groove 55 extending vertically along the punch 13, to limit travel of said punch in retractable and punching directions. I

A retainer and guide member 56 is secured to the outer side wall of the body 12 and extends along the top portion of the key holder 27, to retain said key holder from tilting relative to said body and to guide said key holder for lateral movement in and out relative to the body 12 and punch 13. The retainer and guide 56 may be made from a suitable form of transparent plastic material such as lucite, and has a downwardly inclined forward end 57. An indicia mark 59 extends transversely of the underside of said retainer and guide and is registerable with indicia marks 60 on the periphery of the knob 37, to designate the center line of the draw when an indicia mark 60 is in registry with an indicia mark 59, as further determined by engagement of the detent pin 49 with an upwardly opening indexing groove 48. The inclined forward end of the transparent guide and retainer 56 increases the visibility of the indicia mark 59.

The equally spaced indicia marks 60 on the periphery of the'knob 37 indicate the stations or pins in the key cylinder. As herein shown, six indicia marks are provided. The cutter may thus be used to cut a key for a six station or pin lock cylinder, a five station key cylinder or for a key cylinder having less than five stations. The number of stations may be increased, determined by the length of the key holder, but five and six station key cylinders are usually considered to be adequate for most high security locks.

Referring now in particular to the means determining the depths of the wards at the various stations of the key cylinder, a knob 63 is provided on the opposite side I of the body from the knob 37 and is arranged coaxially of the knob 37 for rotation about the axis of the shaft 43. The knob 63 is keyed or otherwise secured to an internally threaded nut 64 having threaded engagement with an externally threaded member or screw 65, suitably secured to a reduced diameter end portion of said shaft. The screw 65 abuts the shoulder formed by the juncture of the reduced diameter end portion of the shaft to the enlarged diameter end portion thereof and is secured thereto as by a washer and machine screw 66. The nut 64 has a flattened inner portion 67 adjacent the shouldered portion of the shaft 43, engageable with a corresponding flattened interior portion 69 of the body portion 21, to retain said screw from rotation upon rotatable movement of the nut 64, to thereby effect translational movement of the shaft 43 to translationally move the guide disk 41 and laterally move the key holder 27 with respect to the anvil 24.

The nut 64 has a radial flange 70 abutted by an annular shouldered portion of a retainer ring 71, to retain said nut from translational movement relative to the body portion 21 during turning movement of the knob 63. The retainer ring 71 is secured to the body portion 21, as by machine screws (not shown) or any other suitable securing means. The knob 63 in turn may be secured to the nut 64 to effect turning movement of said 7 nut upon turning movement of said knob, as by a set screw 72.

A flanged indexing ring 75 extends about the periphery of the inner portion of the knob 63 and has a right angled radial flange 76 extending inwardly along the inner side of the knob 63 and abutting the side face of the body 21. The'radial flange 76 of the flanged indexing ring 75 has a series of radially extending indexing grooves 77, spaced thereabout equal distances apart, and engaged by the tapered end of an indexing pin 79, slidably guided in the body portion 21 in a stepped, drilled portion 80 (FIG. 5) of the body part 21. The detent pin 79 has a head 81 guided in an enlarged diameter portion of the stepped, drilled portion for the detent pin 79. A compression spring 82 is seated at its inner end on the head 81, and at its outer end on a screw 83 threaded in the body part 21 from the outer end thereof.

As shown in FIG. 6, there are eight equally spaced indexing grooves 77 extending about the radial flange of said indexing ring. Each indexing groove 77 corresponds to a code number for the key, designating a different depth of ward to be out along the reduced thickness portion of the bit of the key. There are also eight code numbers of the peripheral surface of the ring'75, each code number of which is centered with respect to an indexing groove. These code numbers, when aligned with an index mark 85 onthe body part 21, designate a depth setting for the ward to be cut in the key and thereby designate a lateral position of the key holder 27 and key blank 32, relative to the top surface of the anvil 24.

The inner end of the hand lever 14 extends along opposite sides of a boss 86 extending upwardly of the body and spaced rearwardly of a head of the punch 13 and is pivotally mounted on said boss on a pivot pin 87. The outer end of the lever 86 has a pressure pad 88 thereon adapted to be engaged by the hand, to depress the lever about the axis of the pin 87. A screw 90 is threaded in the lever 86 above the head 15 of the punch 13 and has a rounded engaging end engaging the head 15 to effect depression of the punch and the cutting of a ward in the bit of the key upon depression of said hand lever.

When it is desired to duplicate a key for a five station key cylinder, the station selector knob 37 is set with the indicia number 1" in alignment with the indexed line 59. The code number for the key may be determined from a key code book giving the correct code number forwarding the bit of a particular key required for the five station key cylinder. If the code number should be 12345, the code number 1 is dialed to come into alignment with the index mark 85 by turning movement of the knob 63. This will bring the key holder 27 and key blank in an extreme inward position relative to the die 25 and punch 13 and will effect the cutting of the deepest ward in the bit of the key, designated by numeral 1 in FIG. 7. The station selector dial 37 will then be moved to register the indexing numeral 2 with the index mark 59 and the code selector knob 63 will be moved to register the indexing number 2 on the indexing ring 75 with the indicia mark 85. The hand lever 86 may then be depressed to cut a second ward in the key cylinder, designated in FIG. 7 by numeral 2. The

stations

3, 4 and 5 are then selected in the order named and'the code selector dial 63 is moved to successively register the

indexing numerals

3,4,5 with the indicia mark 85 and to depress the punch 13 each timean indexing numeral on the selector dial registers with the indicia mark 85. A key will then be warded which will appear like the key shown in FIG. 7.

It should here be understood that each time the station selector dial is turned to register a number with the indicia mark 59, that the key locator is indexed in the proper position in centered relation with respect to the cut or ward formed in the key blank. Further, each time the indexing pin 79 engages a radial indexing groove 77 in the flange 76 of the ring 75, a key holder and key blank will be moved in or out relative to the die face 25 of the anvil 24 and the punch 13, and indexed in a proper position by said index pin 79 to assure the accurate warding of the key blank to freely operate the required key cylinder.

The foregoing structures make it possible to accurately center the wards for each station and to move the key locator and blank in and out to cut the selected ward to the exact depth, and the rigid support and guide for the key in the key holder result in an accurately formed key which may be selected from an indefinite combnation of keys for various key cylinders and particularly suitable for locks used for security purposes.

I claim as my invention:

1. In an apparatus for warding key blanks to code and in combination with a key blank having a bit having kerfs extending along opposite sides thereof and a portion of reduced thickness extending along one side of the kerfs and warded in accordance with the tumbler pins of a key cylinder,compising:

a base,

a body mounted on said base and extending upwardly therefrom,

a key holder slidably guided to extend within said body,

an anvil fixedly mounted in said body beneath said key holder and registering with the reduced thickness portion of said bit,

said key holder retaining the key blank to rest on said anvil, said key holder having a downwardly facing rib extending therealong slidably engageable with the upwardly facing kerf of the bit of the key blank and retaining the bit to said anvil and moving the blank laterally of said body by lateral movement of said key holder in accordance with the depths of the wards cut in said bit as determined by the code number of the key, means moving said key holder into said body in steps in accordance with the number of wards to be cut in the bit, to center the wards relative to the bit,

indexing means indexing said key holder into positions determined by the centers of the wards to be cut in the bit and the number of tumbler pinsin the key cylinder,

a punch guided in said body for movement toward and from said anvil,

spring means seated within said body and biasing said punch to project above the top of said body,

a manually operable lever pivoted to said body above the top thereof and extending over said punch and engaged therewith by gravity, and having an indexing end spaced from said body adapted to be pressed by the hand of the operator to effect warding operations of varying depths and locations by moving said key holder and the key carried thereby in and out and along said anvil, and

means moving said key holder laterally of said body in accordance with the code numbers of the key, to determine the depths of the wards to be cut by said punch.

2. The key warding apparatus of claim 1,

wherein the means moving'the key holder laterally and inwardly or outwardly relative to said body comprises a knob on one side of said body and having means operated thereby for moving said key holder and key laterally, amounts determined by the depth of the ward to be cut at a particular indexed position of the key holder.

3. The key warding apparatus of claim 2,

wherein the means for indexing the warding stations of the key blank comprise a plurality of equally spaced recesses extending across the top face of said key holder, and a detent pin biased into engagement with selected of said recesses.

4. The key warding apparatus of claim 3,

wherein a second knob is provided on the opposite side of said body from said first knob for setting up the warding stations of the blank in accordance with the number of stations and tumbler pins in the key cylinder, and

wherein an operative connection is provided between said second knob and said key holder, for moving said key holder in and out upon rotatable movement of said second knob.

5. The key warding apparatus of claim 4,

wherein the key holder extends beyond one side of said body and has a downwardly opening slot therein,

wherein a guide disk is mounted coaxially of said knobs and is moved inwardly and outwardly relative to said body by turning movement of said first knob and extends within said downwardly opening slot, to move said key holder and a key blank carried thereby inwardly and outwardly relative to said anvil, in accordance with the depth of the wards to be formed in the bit of the key.

6. The key warding apparatus of claim 5,

wherein the first mentioned knob is indexed in accordance with the key code and depths of the wards to be cut in the key,

the second mentioned knob is indexed in accordance with the warding stations and tumbler pins in the key cylinder and has indicia thereon cooperating with said key holder to center said key holder with respect to the required warding station.

7. The key warding apparatus of claim 5,

wherein the indexing means includes indexing marks equally spaced along the periphery of said knob in accordance with the number of pins in the key cylinder,

a transparent guide extending along said body and slidably engaged by said key holder for a substantial portion of the length thereof and having an indexing mark on the underside thereof visually detected from the top of said guide and cooperating with said locator means to locate the centers of the warding stations of the key blank and with said indexing marks spaced along the periphery of said knob, to designate the warding stations.

8. The key warding apparatus of claim 7, including radial grooves on said first mentioned knob spaced thereabout in accordance with the code numbers of the key and a spring pressed locator pin engageable with said grooves to index the warding depths in accordance with a required key code number any corresponding tumbler pin of the key cylinder.

9. The key warding apparatus of claim 6, wherein the connection for moving the key holder in and out and determining the depths of the wards cut in the key blank comprises a threaded connection between said first mentioned knob and said guide disk, moving said guide disk along the axis thereof, upon turning movement of said first mentioned knob, and thereby laterally moving said key holder in accordance with the depths of the wards to be cut in the bit of the key. 10. The key warding apparatus of claim 9, wherein the anvil has a recessed generally V-shaped die face having a rounded apex, and wherein the punch has a cutting face generally conforming to said die face and a depth equal to the depth of said die face and equal to the depth of the deepest ward of the key. 11. The key warding apparatus of claim 8, wherein the two knobs are coaxial and are positioned on opposite sides of said body, wherein a threaded connection is provided between said first knob and said guide disk, moving said guide disk translationally and said key holder laterally inwardly and outwardly with respect to said body determined by the depths of the wards to be formed in the bit of the key upon rotatable movement of said first knob. 12. The key warding apparatus of claim 11, wherein the key holder has an open locator ring on the end thereof conforming to the head of the key blank and cooperating with said depending rib to rigidly hold the key blank to the top face of said anvil and for movement with said key holder upon movement of said key holder inwardly and laterally with respect to said body. 13. The key warding apparatus of claim 12, wherein the anvil has a recessed die face of a V- shaped formation having a generally rounded apex and of a depth substantially equal to the depth of the deepest ward of the key, and wherein the punch has a cutting face generally conforming to the form of the die face in said anvil. 14. The key warding apparatus of claim 12, wherein the drive from said second mentioned knob to said key holder comprises a radial slot in cooperation with said second mentioned knob, and a pin on said key holder engageable with said slot.

Claims

1. In an apparatus for warding key blanks to code and in combination with a key blank having a bit having kerfs extending along opposite sides thereof and a portion of reduced thickness extending along one side of the kerfs and warded in accordance with the tumbler pins of a key cylinder, compising: a base, a body mounted on said base and extending upwardly therefrom, a key holder slidably guided to extend within said body, an anvil fixedly mounted in said body beneath said key holder and registering with the reduced thickness portion of said bit, said key holder retaining the key blank to rest on said anvil, said key holder having a downwardly facing rib extending therealong slidably engageable with the upwardly facing kerf of the bit of the key blank and retaining the bit to said anvil and moving the blank laterally of said body by lateral movement of said key holder in accordance with the depths of the wards cut in said bit as determined by the code number of the key, means moving said key holder into said body in steps in accordance with the number of wards To be cut in the bit, to center the wards relative to the bit, indexing means indexing said key holder into positions determined by the centers of the wards to be cut in the bit and the number of tumbler pins in the key cylinder, a punch guided in said body for movement toward and from said anvil, spring means seated within said body and biasing said punch to project above the top of said body, a manually operable lever pivoted to said body above the top thereof and extending over said punch and engaged therewith by gravity, and having an indexing end spaced from said body adapted to be pressed by the hand of the operator to effect warding operations of varying depths and locations by moving said key holder and the key carried thereby in and out and along said anvil, and means moving said key holder laterally of said body in accordance with the code numbers of the key, to determine the depths of the wards to be cut by said punch.

2. The key warding apparatus of claim 1, wherein the means moving the key holder laterally and inwardly or outwardly relative to said body comprises a knob on one side of said body and having means operated thereby for moving said key holder and key laterally, amounts determined by the depth of the ward to be cut at a particular indexed position of the key holder.

3. The key warding apparatus of claim 2, wherein the means for indexing the warding stations of the key blank comprise a plurality of equally spaced recesses extending across the top face of said key holder, and a detent pin biased into engagement with selected of said recesses.

4. The key warding apparatus of claim 3, wherein a second knob is provided on the opposite side of said body from said first knob for setting up the warding stations of the blank in accordance with the number of stations and tumbler pins in the key cylinder, and wherein an operative connection is provided between said second knob and said key holder, for moving said key holder in and out upon rotatable movement of said second knob.

5. The key warding apparatus of claim 4, wherein the key holder extends beyond one side of said body and has a downwardly opening slot therein, wherein a guide disk is mounted coaxially of said knobs and is moved inwardly and outwardly relative to said body by turning movement of said first knob and extends within said downwardly opening slot, to move said key holder and a key blank carried thereby inwardly and outwardly relative to said anvil, in accordance with the depth of the wards to be formed in the bit of the key.

6. The key warding apparatus of claim 5, wherein the first mentioned knob is indexed in accordance with the key code and depths of the wards to be cut in the key, the second mentioned knob is indexed in accordance with the warding stations and tumbler pins in the key cylinder and has indicia thereon cooperating with said key holder to center said key holder with respect to the required warding station.

7. The key warding apparatus of claim 5, wherein the indexing means includes indexing marks equally spaced along the periphery of said knob in accordance with the number of pins in the key cylinder, a transparent guide extending along said body and slidably engaged by said key holder for a substantial portion of the length thereof and having an indexing mark on the underside thereof visually detected from the top of said guide and cooperating with said locator means to locate the centers of the warding stations of the key blank and with said indexing marks spaced along the periphery of said knob, to designate the warding stations.

9. THe key warding apparatus of claim 6, wherein the connection for moving the key holder in and out and determining the depths of the wards cut in the key blank comprises a threaded connection between said first mentioned knob and said guide disk, moving said guide disk along the axis thereof, upon turning movement of said first mentioned knob, and thereby laterally moving said key holder in accordance with the depths of the wards to be cut in the bit of the key.

10. The key warding apparatus of claim 9, wherein the anvil has a recessed generally V-shaped die face having a rounded apex, and wherein the punch has a cutting face generally conforming to said die face and a depth equal to the depth of said die face and equal to the depth of the deepest ward of the key.

11. The key warding apparatus of claim 8, wherein the two knobs are coaxial and are positioned on opposite sides of said body, wherein a threaded connection is provided between said first knob and said guide disk, moving said guide disk translationally and said key holder laterally inwardly and outwardly with respect to said body determined by the depths of the wards to be formed in the bit of the key upon rotatable movement of said first knob.

12. The key warding apparatus of claim 11, wherein the key holder has an open locator ring on the end thereof conforming to the head of the key blank and cooperating with said depending rib to rigidly hold the key blank to the top face of said anvil and for movement with said key holder upon movement of said key holder inwardly and laterally with respect to said body.

13. The key warding apparatus of claim 12, wherein the anvil has a recessed die face of a V-shaped formation having a generally rounded apex and of a depth substantially equal to the depth of the deepest ward of the key, and wherein the punch has a cutting face generally conforming to the form of the die face in said anvil.

14. The key warding apparatus of claim 12, wherein the drive from said second mentioned knob to said key holder comprises a radial slot in cooperation with said second mentioned knob, and a pin on said key holder engageable with said slot.