ASSA was established in 1881 by the blacksmith August Stenman after buying a small hinge manufacturer in the town of Eskilstuna, Sweden. One day his wife embroidered a pillow slip with his name forwards and backwards – “August Stenman, Stenman August” and so ASSA became the name of the new company and the name we know today.
In 1984 ASSA entered the North American market by establishing ASSA, INC. an arm of ASSA AB in Sweden. ASSA, INC. was a full line manufacturer of mortise locks, padlocks, auxiliary locks, and high security key systems. While ASSA, INC. is well known for high security and mogul detention locks, they carry one of the most complete and competitively priced cylinder lines in the market today.
The locksmith market has many high security lock systems to offer but few can boast a utility patent that extends until 2030. ASSA, Inc. announces its latest UL 437 listed high security patented key system, Maximum+. This new key profile is backward-compatible to existing Twin Maximum products and easily upgrades patent protection for existing Twin Maximum key systems merely by replacing existing keys with new Maximum+ keys cut to the same bittings. Best of all, the only new components required are the keys & plugs as all other Twin Maximum components can be used with Maximum+.
The innovation on which the new Maximum+ utility patent is based is a unique geometric relationship created between the side walls in the key undercut adjacent to the side code location on the key blank. The undercut process, covered under patent rights granted to ASSA AB of Stockholm, is a speed controlled punch which creates the shape of the undercut. Picture a needle-like tool with a unique tip that carves out the key undercut which is clamped in a stable fixture from tip to bow. The acceleration of the tool must be precisely controlled. Too fast and the tip can jump out of the undercut; too slow and the sidewalls can chip or become misshapen lacking the symmetry required to mate with the corresponding ward in the keyway. This process creates a uniquely shaped Security RidgeTM for the side codes on Maximum+ keys.
The new utility patent offers legal protection against unauthorized duplication of keys that will not expire until 2030. The system is available to all ASSA authorized wholesalers, distributors, service centers & dealers. ASSA, Inc. is filling Maximum+ orders for the most popular retrofit cylinders from their inventory today and will expand the product offering as market demand dictates.
The extensive master keying capability highly desired by large institutional, commercial and government customers remains intact as we progress systems over 9 cut depths at 6 positions for the top cuts and 2,805 different side code combinations at the 5 side cut locations. This allows enough permutations to offer 160,000 usable combinations per key profile with the physical security advantage of two independent locking mechanisms at the sidebar and traditional shear lines.
The large number of side bar combinations allows ASSA to offer proprietary geographically protected territories controlled through legal agreements with each of our customers. These proprietary agreements are enforceable under the rights granted from the utility patents and are valued by our end user customers for the physical protection. ASSA commercial locksmith customers value the proprietary advantage gained through owning unique side bars in their market.
ASSA CLIQ electronic keys will now be offered with the Maximum+ profile exclusively to extend patent protection for ASSA access control customers. The Maximum+ profile continues to offer the same large cross section of a 0.12 inch thick key blade which stands up to demanding environments like jails and prisons where our other key profiles are used extensively as an override key.
