Yale

	Yale
	;
Name	Yale
Founded	1868
Founder(s)	Linus Yale, Jr., Henry Robinson Towne
	Products
	Padlocks, Lock cylinders, Electronic locks

Yale

Yale is an American lock manufacturer that produces low and medium security padlocks, lock cylinders, and electronic locks. Yale is best know for originating the common pin-tumbler design in the 1800s. This basic design is still in use today.

Yale is part of the ASSA-Abloy group.

History

Yale's origins date back to the 1840s when Linus Yale, Sr. opened the Yale Lock Shop in Newport, New York.^[1] Yale focused on handmade bank locks, patenting a variety of combination lock designs. He also redesigned the Egyptian pin-tumbler design, the basis for modern pin-tumblers. Yale's son, Linus Yale, Jr., went on to continue his fathers work. He improved on the design of the pin-tumbler lock and in 1868 formed the Yale Lock Manufacturing Company with Henry Robinson Towne. The duo used the Yale patents to design a variety of door locks and padlocks.

In 1929 Yale purchased H. and T. Vaughan Ltd, in England. In 2000 Yale was purchased by the ASSA-Abloy group. Since then the company name has simply been "Yale."

The Yale lock began with the original flat trefoil key which was superseded by the corrugated key in 1882 which itself was replaced by the paracentric key in 1892.

Trivia: Linus Yale Sr. is a distant relative of Elihu Yale, who was an early benefactor and namesake of Yale University. Although both Yale locks and Yale University are both located in the state of Connecticut (USA), there is no business relationship between the two.