What material is better for the smart lock?

For any product, in addition to function, appearance, and performance, the material is a part that cannot be ignored. For smart locks, which material is used not only affects the price, but also the safety of the door lock. Although there is no 100% material that cannot be destroyed, the safety of the metal material is necessarily higher than that of the plastic case.

For the smart lock, different materials will be used in different positions, so each lock will be composed of many materials, among which the lock body and the outer panel material need to be paid attention to.

Material of the lock body

The lock body of the smart lock refers to the part embedded in the door with the lock tongue, which is also the core part of the safety of the door lock. Therefore, the material must be durable.

At present, the material of the smart lock body is mostly composed of copper + stainless steel. The lock tongue, the transmission structure is made of copper, the outer casing and other places use stainless steel, which is the most cost-effective match.

Smart lock body

Copper has strong wear resistance, high strength, high hardness, corrosion resistance, and copper plasticity, can make a very fine structure of the lock core, enhance the safety of the lock cylinder, but the price of copper is more expensive, so If the entire lock body is made of copper, the cost will be very high, resulting in the price of the entire smart lock.

Although the hardness of stainless steel is higher than that of copper, its plasticity is poor, it is difficult to process, and it is difficult to make a fine lock core structure, so it is usually only used for the outer structure of the lock body, which can reduce the entire lock body’s costs.

Outer panel material

The material of the smart lock outer panel is more selectable than the material of the lock body. Therefore, it is also more concerned by everyone, and there will be more discussion on panel materials. Like the lock body, the outer panel is also composed of many parts, and the materials used in each part are also different, including: stainless steel, copper, aluminum alloy, zinc alloy, glass, plastic and so on.

1. Stainless steel: high hardness, durable, difficult to form, medium price

Stainless steel is usually referred to as 304 stainless steel. This material has a high hardness and can prevent the smart lock from being violently destroyed to a certain extent. However, it is precisely because of this characteristic that stainless steel is too difficult to process. Generally, small factories can’t make complicated and beautiful shapes, so the appearance of stainless steel locks is generally simple.

2. Aluminum alloy: easy to form, light weight, low hardness, price uncertainty

The characteristics of aluminum alloy are easy to form, easy to process, and light in weight. Although the hardness is not particularly high, it is not low, and the price is moderate. It is a good choice to do the door lock. However, the position of aluminum alloy in the minds of consumers seems to be relatively low. It is believed that the door locks of aluminum alloys are very poor, so there are not many merchants using aluminum alloys as smart locks.

3. Copper: high hardness, easy to form, complicated process, slightly higher cost

Copper generally has three kinds of brass, copper and white steel. The price of white copper is relatively high, and the texture of copper is soft, which is not suitable for the creation of smart locks. Therefore, if the smart lock is made of copper, it usually refers to brass. Brass has high hardness, good durability and easy surface treatment. It is a suitable material for smart lock panels, but the process is a bit complicated, so not all manufacturers have the ability to process.

4. Zinc alloy: many advantages, the current mainstream material

Zinc alloy is currently the most used type of material for smart locks. It has the characteristics of easy processing and easy forming. At the same time, the hardness and strength are also in line with the requirements of the public for locks. At present, most of the smart lock materials on the market use zinc alloy. It is quite mature and its status will not be replaced by other materials in a short time.

5. Plastic: auxiliary

Plastic is a material we are familiar with, and it is everywhere. Some people may ask, is plastic so fragile, can it be used on smart locks? Yes, there are indeed some brands of smart lock outer panels made of plastic, especially Korean brands. The biggest advantage of plastic is that it is low in price, easy to handle, and can be done with any shape. The downside is that it is too brittle and too easy to be destroyed. In the domestic smart locks, there are not many plastics used, except those that sell hundreds of dollars, and they can’t wait for low-priced products that are not even available.

6. Glass: pure auxiliary

The glass material is a pure auxiliary material on the smart lock. It is mainly used on the password keyboard. I believe that it will not dare to make a pure glass smart lock. The glass used for the PIN pad also needs special coating treatment. It is necessary to ensure that fingerprints are not easily left after the password is pressed on the keyboard, so as to prevent the password from being cracked.

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