IC Product Overview Even though this article looks primarily at the large format interchangeable cores manufactured by Medeco, this brief list shows how interchangeable cores in gen- eral fit into the picture: Original Product 3100/3200 ICs – Side- bar and Rotating Bottom Pins; BHMA Grade 1 Biaxial 3100 Series LFIC (Yale Retro- fit); non-UL437 Biaxial 3200 Series LFIC; UL437; BHMA Grade 1 Medeco 3200 Series LFIC; UL437; BHMA Grade 1 Medeco Hotel Function LFIC; UL437 Medeco Classic KeyMark and Medeco x4 LFIC; non-UL437; Angled Keyway to Vertical Keyway; Retrofits LFIC Mede- co, Sargent, Corbin Russwin, Schlage and Yale; Standard SFIC Pinning in Classic; selective in x4. KeyMark SFIC; non-UL437; Angled Key- way to Vertical Keyway; SFIC Pinning Historical Perspective It all started in the basement of a Salem, VA home that functioned as Roy Spain’s small tool and die shop in the 1950s. Roy was no novice, by any means. He had leſt his employer, Yale & Towne, a manufac- turer of doors, in 1955 — in the good old days. With insight and creativity, he formed a new business called “Mechanical Development Company” in 1968. Later, with 2,000 square feet of space and 10 employees, an idea emerged. With the assistance of Paul Powell, Elvis Flora and Roy Oliver, and in a small work area, it was here that the concept of angled key cuts with elevated and rotating pin tum- blers would revolutionize the industry. Even though this new concept would pro- vide millions of key combinations and fur- nish a level of security unmatched for its time, a problem ensued. As oſten happens, in 1957, a prototype of the key was created, WWW.ALOA.ORG but it was decided to not produce such a key, as such decisions oſten happen within startup companies for various reasons. Therefore, the concept that Roy Spain in- vented lay dormant for almost 10 years before he realized that these angled cuts, coupled with elevated and rotating tum- blers, would create a third-dimension in key origination and that the idea should be pursued. The unique bottom pins, angled- cut with a related sidebar and hardened steel inserts to protect against virtually all forms of attack, would be a major offer- ing in the world of security. With the help of Flora, Powell and Oliver (with equal shares of the patent rights), they agreed to this pursuit, and on October 14, 1968, Medeco was born. The company name was created as an acronym from the first two letters of each word: Mechanical Develop- ment Company. Determination What’s odd here is that both partners did not even want to become lock manufac- turers, even though Roy Oliver was put in charge of the project. Aſter approaching car manufacturers and other lock com- panies, responses were: “too expensive,” and “too difficult to make,” phrases all too oſten heard by the creators/inven- tors. In time, Roy and the company set up a small-scale production process to prove to the world that this lock could be manufactured. And they were right. They knew that the angled cuts on the key and the attack-resistant design of the cylinder were so unique that even though a utility patent was issued, more was to come. As a matter of fact, their patent was so successful and their foresight so attuned, that throughout the 17-year life of the patent, the manufacturing rights pertaining to the key blanks and key con- trol were proven successful in court nu- merous times. Going to Market Most wise people in business know that one must give the market what it wants, and that’s exactly what Medeco did. For some time, it was clear that New York City had a true need for pick-resistant locks, and Medeco was ready to deliver Figure 5. The proper pronunciation of “Biaxial” often confuses people; the factory- supported pronunciation is close to “bi-ak-see-al.” NOVEMBER 2015 KEYNOTES 33
