Francisco J Castellanos

6337618, Jan 8, 2002

Oct 7, 1999

09/414183

James J. Craig - Boca Raton FL, 33431
Francisco Castellanos - North Miami FL, 33161
Ziomara Castellanos - North Miami FL, 33161

G08B 1900

340 522

An electromechanical lock includes a housing containing a microcontroller, a power source, a cam, and a locking lever for holding a U-shaped lock bar in a closed, locked position within the housing. The lock further includes several buttons on the housing for entering a sequence of alphanumeric characters of a combination code and a Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) for showing the alphanumeric characters, independently, when entering the code. Messages may also be displayed, including advertisements and company logos, upon completion of a correct code entry to open the lock. The microcontroller stores one or more combination codes and message data and controls actuation of the cam, upon entry of the correct combination code, to momentarily release the lever from the lock bar, allowing the lock bar to be pulled out from the housing, thereby opening the lock. In another embodiment, the lock is further provided with a transceiver and an antenna for wireless communication with a provider of the lock, thereby allowing the provider to change and/or update stored message data and to remotely program and manipulate data stored on the microcontrollers of a large number of the electromechanical lock units throughout a vast geographical area of distribution.