Maxcess Card Systems

THE MAXCESS CODE MODULE AND INTERNAL PLASTIC MAGNET-CARRYING CORE

Code Module Housing Front of core Side Front with inserted Magnetic
Tumbler Pins

The housing of the Maxcess Code Module contains a flat plastic sliding plate about 1 ¾" by 1 ½" inch by ¼" thick called the "Core". In one face of the Core are 26 holes that do not go all the way through the Core. Into some of these holes magnet pins are placed. The pins are a smaller diameter than the holes so they can move in and out with little friction. When they are fully seated in the holes the exposed ends of the pins are flush with the surface of the Core.


Brass Locking Plate	Locking Plate and Plastic core	Pins inserted

Adjacent that Core surface is a fixed brass plate punched with multiple round holes. It's called the "Locking Plate". The Core can slide down and up behind the Locking Plate. A coil spring urges it up at all times. Fully "UP" is the LOCKED position of the Core where all the core holes are aligned with Locking Plate holes. The Core pins can slide into and out of the Locking Plate holes. The plastic ledge at the bottom of Core prevents it from moving up too far.


Cover Plate	Shield Plate

To prevent the pins from passing completely through the holes in the Locking Plate, a thin non-magnetic, metal "Cover Plate" covers all the holes. The opposite side of this plate is one side of the card slot into which Maxcards are inserted. The other side of the card slot is formed by another plate that is spring biased to press against the surface of the Cover Plate. This effectively closes the card slot when no card is inserted. This "Shield Plate" is made of steel, which is magnetic. See drawing below.

When a Maxcard is pushed into the card slot it forces the Shield Plate away from the Cover Plate so the card can fully enter the slot. When pushed in as far as it will go it reaches a ledge on the bottom edge of the Core. At this position the magnetic areas encoded in the Maxcard in the form of invisible round "dots" about 1/8 inch in diameter are aligned with some of the holes in the Locking Plate and their respective core hole magnets. If the card's "dot" is the same magnetic polarity as the exposed end of the core pin that it aligns with, the pin will be repelled away from the card and become fully seated in its core hole. If however the "dot" is reverse polarity to the end of the pin it will attract the pin out of its hole in the core into the aligned hole in the fixed Locking Plate. The Cover Plate prevents the pin from passing all the way through the plate.

A correctly coded Maxcard is able to repel all the pins in the Core back into their core holes. When no pins are in any Locking Plate hole a single shear line has been formed between the Core and the Locking Plate and there is nothing to prevent further downwards pressure on the Maxcard from pushing the Core downwards into the UNLOCKED position. In this position the Core is mechanically linked with the unlocking mechanism in the lock by the core driver in the back of the core meshing with the tailpiece driver.

In some locks, rotating the Code Module Housing while keeping the card inserted will unlock the lock. In others the lock is unlocked when the Core reaches the bottom of its travel. When the Maxcard is pulled out of the card slot the Core follows it urged by the Core Return Spring. The Shield Plate again presses against the Cover Plate. This effectively closes the card slot keeping out dirt and excess moisture. But the Shield Plate has a more important function: being magnetic, all the pins in the core holes, both North and South polarity are attracted to the Shield plate and they all enter their respective holes in the fixed Locking Plate as a result of this attraction. As one end of each pin is still in the core hole and its other end is in the Locking Plate hole, the Core can no longer be pushed down into the unlocked position. One single pin in a Locking Plate Hole prevents the downward movement of the Core.

Example 1: Retracting the latch by inserting a Maxcard and turning the Knob.

Example 2: Retracting the latch by inserting a
Maxcard. The housing does not rotate.

THE MAXCARD

Front view of
Maxcard

Rear view of
Maxcard

It looks similar to a military "Dog Tag" but is larger. Inside the card is a flat sheet of magnetic rubber, which is sealed into the card during manufacture when the top and bottom steel covers are pressed together and the bottom edge is bent over the sides of the top cover. Then an eyelet is installed in the card so it can be carried on a key ring. All cards are uncoded blanks at this stage. Only after the magnetic "dots" are applied to correct locations with correct polarities is the card coded for use in one or thousands of differently coded locks. The top cover of the card is stamped with an arrow to denote the correct end to insert in the locks and which side of the card should be facing outwards during insertion. This side is called the "Arrow Side". The Magnetic "dots" can only be encoded on the side opposite the Arrow, because that side is made of non-magnetic stainless steel. The dots can be either South or North polarity. The Arrow side is made of magnetic stainless steel and will not accept encoded "dots".

Now let's return to the subject of this report, Maxcess Masterkeying compared to Pin Tumbler.

Masterkeying of Pin Tumbler Locks decreases their security but is a necessary evil. The first criticism usually made of masterkeying is that it makes locks easier to pick, and indeed it does. When we add one master pin in one chamber of a six pin lock, we have created an additional shear line. That's not bad, but few masterkeyed systems have just one master pin. If we add three master pins we now have eight shear lines. In a system with a master pin in each of the six chambers we have created 64 shear lines! Even the most inept person should be able to pick such a cylinder. These multiple shear lines also allow "jiggle" keys a better chance of opening the lock.

The Maxcess lock is based on a different principle. Multiple shear lines do not exist. Adding pins actually enhance the security of the lock. As the magnetic pins, do not enter the key slot; the Maxcess lock cannot be picked by conventional means.

Rapidly inserting and withdrawing a Maxcard will not open a Maxcess lock. The proper Maxcard must be completely inserted in the housing for the lock to open. Even with the proper Maxcard, the moment it is withdrawn, the magnets spring back into the holes in the locking plate. And as both polarities of pins are used in the locks, a card coded all "North" or all "South" polarity will not serve as a "master" or a "jiggle" key.

Impressioning

A masterkeyed pin tumbler cylinder is easier to impression than a keyed-different cylinder, because there are so many more shear lines to pick up. The Maxcard is not susceptible to impressioning at all. Score one more for Maxcess.

De-coding

Criminals are known to "de-code" Masterkeyed systems by taking cylinders apart. If the locksmith has made his Masterkey with either all "high" cuts or all "low" cuts, it is a simple matter to produce a Masterkey by de-coding one cylinder. In any event, Masterkeyed cylinders are susceptible to de-coding by access to one or more locks, and to one or more keys in the system. Even a glance at a Masterkey or Grandmaster can tell the criminal much of what he needs to know. On the other hand, Maxcess card codes are invisible. All cards look alike.

Because all the Maxcess pins are the same size and shape and only one magnetic pin is used per hole, it is not possible to determine the masterkey from analyzing the locations of the pins in a single Maxcess lock. Each lock contains only the pins necessary for that specific lock and no other. Even analysis of several locks will not provide complete masterkey codes.

If there is concern that someone may try to decode the Maxcard, "decoy" spots can be used that have no relation to the actual code. In a well-designed system all Maxcess cards have dots in all locations that are used yet each card has a different magnetic pattern of polarities. With this method there is no cross keying in the system and every card operates only the locks it is coded for and no other.

Multiple key sections

In large masterkeyed systems, it is often necessary to use more than one key section to accommodate the large number of changes needed. Everyone who has started out to do a multi-level masterkey system has run head-on into the problem of the limitation on the number of change keys that can be obtained.

For instance, in a six pin lock system using five master pins if you need only a Grand Master key and four Master keys you can get 1,024 change keys. But in more complex systems, which seem to be the rule rather than the exception, you might be required to provide a Great Grand Master key, 4 Grand Master keys and 64 Master key's. This leaves you with only 16 change keys.

So, with those limitations you often have no choice but to use several "sections" in the same system. This can cause complications in laying out the system and planning for future expansion. Also, there is usually very little difference in the "wards" of the various sections in a system. Thus, any key in the system or a blank can be filed down to become a "master". The security implications of this are obvious.

Maxcess has only one section, the standard Maxcess blank card. But one is all that is needed. With 35 magnetic dots on that card it is theoretically capable of mastering 4,560,000,000 different codes. In case you think that is a misprint, it is four billion five hundred sixty million codes! Naturally, the more complex the system the fewer codes are available. If more changes are needed, the location of the holes in the core can be different in some locks as long as all the holes can be represented by coded dots on the Maxcard. There are very few complex keying requirements that cannot be Mastered by Maxcess.

Most coding you do may be progressive codes such as used in Hotels and Apartments. Maxcess can serve you well there, here is an example:

Maxcess could code a large hotel of 56 floors of Guest rooms, each with 120 rooms per floor and provide:1- Great Grand Master, 56-Floor Grand Masters, 336-Maid Masters each operating 20 rooms and 6,720 change cards for Guests. This would require only 18 magnetic "dots" on the GGM and each lock would contain 8 pins. But that takes little more than half of the available number of pin locations in a Standard Pattern Maxcess core (35). The same GGM could be additionally coded for 17 more "dots" and if 8 pins more were placed in each lock that single GGGM card would master 24,310 ADDITIONAL HOTELS of exactly the same size and configuration, with absolutely no cross-keying! There are two other pin locations in every lock, one of which would be a constant in the System. By using the other pin and adding that dot on the same GGGM it could become the GGGGM of twice that many large hotels: 48,620 containing 326,726,400 guest rooms, with no cross keying!

Wear, Binding and Lockouts

In conventional pin tumbler systems, the master disks or pins are often so thin that they tend to jam between the plug at the cylinder, especially as the lock wears. This can cause lockouts. There is no such problem with Maxcess. Remember, all the pins are the same length and diameter and the pins do not enter the card slot and so are not touched by the inserted card.

The Maxcess System, as its name implies provides Maximum Access Control with mechanical locks. The system has not been designed to withstand physical attack, on the contrary, Dealers are shown various methods to enter through doors fitted with Maxcess locks using standard tools and commercially available devices.

Although Maxcess offers an armored lock it is for very specialized locations. If interested, ask about the Rostex lock which was designed and manufactured in the Czech Republic for use in jails and other high security facilities. It uses the TriSec variable code system and Maxcess cards and can be mastered into that type of system.


Armored Rostex lock

In bitted key masterkey systems, as the lock, pins and keys wear, there is a probability of lockouts or balky operation. With Maxcess there are no driver springs, there is no contact between the pins and the key. There is virtually no pin, chamber or lock plate wear. You can throw away your key extractor too. There will be no more keys broken off in locks by users who think the key is a leverage tool. Maxcards slide smoothly into the lock housing.

Re-keying conserves material

When it comes time to re-key a Masterkey system it is usually necessary to throw away the keys and start over. While this is good business for the locksmith, or so he thinks, it's bad for customer relations. No one likes to throw away a perfectly good key (even though it may have lost its security) just as no one wants to throw away a pair of shoes not worn for two years. Conservation is real. People don't want to waste resources, whether it is gas or brass. A Stainless Steel Maxcess card is good forever! It can be erased and recoded hundreds of thousands of times and seldom shows much wear. (We admit that some brass eyelets for key rings have worn out after a few years but there is no damage to the coding on the card). If it is necessary to remaster a building the original Maxcards can be re-coded to the new system. The customer is pleased because he does not have to buy new cards and he is likely to change combinations more often when cards are lost because it is so easy to do. With the savings he obtains he will be more inclined to add more Maxcess locks into his system and you didn't have to buy a new full set of key blanks and cut each one at the shop hoping they will all work.

The dealer makes money with a re-keying charge (which is high profit because he uses his customer's old Maxcards to recode and not blanks from his own stock). He can also charge for a new "re-key layout" and even rent the coding kit to his customer so he can re-code all the cards in his facility himself over a period of a few days and then return the coding kit to the dealer. A Dealer in Honolulu has been doing this for years with managers of condos and time-shares who need to change their door lock codes often.

How permanent is the code of a Maxcard?

One of the first questions asked about the Maxcess coded card is: "Can it be erased by placing it on a TV set, or by a strong magnet"? The answer is that the TV set will have no affect on the card. The magnetic buttons used on purses that can destroy the code on the magnetic stripe of most credit cards placed in the purse have little or no effect on a Maxcess card. (Some credit cards now use a very strong magnetic stripe which will not be damaged by these buttons). A very strong permanent magnet will "smear" the code on a Maxcard and it might not work a lock thereafter but this will NOT create a code on the card that will open any Maxcess lock that has been properly coded, because a permanent magnet will cause a single polarity to be impressed in the card and all Maxcess locks should have pins of BOTH polarities. If a Maxcess card is reported as not working, inspecting the card code with the Magnetic Viewing Film supplied to Maxcess Dealers will make the "smear" visible. Then the card can be erased and recoded and become as good as new.

			There is a caution however. The magnetic code of a fully coded (multi-spot) Maxcard might affect the magnetic code of low strength magnetic stripes used on some credit cards. It is best NOT to slide a coded Maxcard into your credit card wallet. Maxcess cards are to be used as keys and should be carried on key rings. It is wise to advise your customers to do this.
Maxcard on Keyring	Don't store them next to credit cards

Key Control

One of the greatest breaches of security in any keying system is lack of "Key control". Manufacturers try to offset this problem by offering "restricted" keyways. There are a few tightly controlled key sections around but all Dealers have heard the story that "everybody in this building has a master key." Maxcard has some advantages here. The metal Maxcard blank is only available to Authorized Maxcess Distributors and is not found in any retail store. Specialized encoding equipment is required to code a Maxcard . Although an experienced Maxcess Dealer might be able to decode and duplicate a Maxcard from a system he did not provide, he should discourage the practice and instead suggest to the customer that he could re-key the customer's system and then provide continuing service for future years.

As Maxcess Card Systems is selective in setting up Authorized Dealers, your shop may be the only Maxcess Dealer in your area. In that case Maxcess products provide you with a proprietary keying system only available from you in your area. There are very few proprietary systems available to dealers today.

Some Maxcess Dealers have made proprietary systems for their customers by drilling additional holes in plastic cores and lock plates for non-standard pin locations. Such systems are truly unique to a customer. The added locations are used as constants in every lock.

Re-mastering

One of the unique features of the Maxcess systems is the way in which Maxcess locks can be remastered by "revalidating". Unlike pin tumbler systems where it is usually necessary to make a massive changeover of cylinders and keys at one time, Maxcard systems provide a smooth transition. Cardholders bring their Maxcards to the manager's office. Change keys are "re-validated" in seconds by adding a single new "dot". The same dot is added to every card.

The revalidated keys will continue to work the locks that have the original combination so the cardholder can continue to use the newly coded card, (you can't do that with bitted keys). But when the lock code is changed later, the cards will work the remastered locks as well. When all Maxcards have been revalidated, the Dealer is called in to change the codes in the locks. This process takes about 10 seconds per lock by inserting a special Re-Key Mastercard into each card slot and pushing in and turning a tool in the front of the housing.

This moves an internal pin to another location in the core of the lock and so changes the code of that lock. This is the Maxcess "TriSec" system. “TriSec” means there are 3 independent Security Codes in the lock, two of which can be changed from the outside of the lock.

With Maxcess, there is no pressure to complete the re-keying job in one day because the revalidated keys will continue to work the originally coded locks. Once the changeover is completed, the revalidated Maxcards continue to work the new codes. Cards that have not been revalidated, including all previously lost or stolen cards, will no longer work the re-coded locks.

Making changes in an existing Masterkey System

"We have a new tenant, make me a new sub-master card for the two front offices on the sixth floor. Make it also operate the main entry door and the elevator and still be under the GGM that I carry." Sounds like a logical request from a building manager, but when you have to sift through someone else's master key system to try to find those codes (assuming that you can get such a document), you know how frustrating and time consuming it can be. It's a temptation to make off-master cards and tell the manager he has to carry another master key. With Maxcess, you could re-code those offices in less than 10 seconds per lock, and not have to consult any master key charts. You wouldn't even have to open a door or remove a cylinder! That's because Maxcess uses the revolutionary Variable Code lock called the "TriSec". With special tools you can change the internal combination of a TriSec lock 16 different times from the outside of the lock. Don't jump to the conclusion that the lock has only 16 codes. It has 16 changes of each of the thousands of codes that could be in a masterkey system. Not one of those changes has any affect on the design of the Masterkeying of the System.

The TriSec Maxcess lock is ideal for the Lodging Industry. With that lock on a guest room of a hotel or time share the lock code can be changed without changing the Masterkeys above it. For example, the Maid's Master code is not affected when the code of a guest room in her section is changed. But if the Maid Master was lost or stolen it also can be changed without having to round up or recode a single guest card.

US Military Use

A complement to the Maxcess system is its acceptance by the US Military for use on their bases in the USA and throughout the world. These systems are marketed by the Licensor of Maxcess Card Systems Ltd, which is CorKey Control Systems Inc. Some of you will remember CorKey being offered to dealers many years ago. Since that time CorKey has been supplying complex Masterkey Systems to the Military for their many Schools throughout the world, and for Dormitories, Hotels, Family Housing facilities, Offices and Commercial businesses on the bases.

Maxcess Card Systems Ltd., has been formed to bring this well accepted product line back into the Security Industry and CorKey has Licensed Maxcess for this purpose. Maxcess does not sell coded and assembled complete locks, only the components to allow Dealers to code Maxcards and pin Maxcess Code Modules and assemble them to a large variety of "MaxKits" which are the components that adapt the Code Modules to fit: Mortise Locks, Cylindrical knob and Lever locks, Rim locks, Deadbolts and Deadlatches, Cabinet locks, Mailboxes, Electric Switch control locks, and even Padlocks.

I will be happy to demonstrate the Maxcess System in your commercial business including the Hotels, Apartments, Condo's, Time shares and schools in your area. Call or e mail us for an appointment today.

This system is completly Failsafe,

It does not rely on Wires, Electricity, Batterys or Computers or ANY other external source once installed and Key cards are coded

Will not interfier or effect any pre existing Security or Alarm systems you currently have in place