Partner · Product manufacturer
ÜLock Novus: the electronics disappear into the lock case
Südmetall's answer to the reader on the wall is to not have one. Everything that decides about the door lives inside the lock, behind the door itself.
Südmetall, of Ainring in Bavaria, makes fittings, handles and locking systems. ÜLock Novus is its mortice lock with the access control electronics built in: all the sensitive components sit in the lock case, protected by the door and the lock. The only thing on the outside is the reading unit in the key rosette, which passes card data to the evaluation unit inside and cannot be tampered with to any useful effect.
That has a consequence worth stating plainly for anyone specifying a building: the handle is no longer dictated by the access control. Lever models stay freely selectable in design and colour, special finishes, PVD and antimicrobial surfaces are all available, and a mechanical profile cylinder for emergency opening is retained. No reader on the wall, and no additional components, drilling or milling for a retrofit.
Bluetooth, and what it opens up
Südmetall equipped the Novus with a Bluetooth module in response to where the European market was going: control by smartphone, and specific variants built for OEM customers. That is the manufacturer's half of this platform's bargain — the hardware ships ready for mobile, and the customer-facing service can carry somebody else's name.
Two power options
- Battery. Two AAA cells, invisible inside the lock case, replaced quickly and without tools. Easy to retrofit, since nothing else is needed.
- Inductive. Charged through the striking plate, so no battery changes and no maintenance — the variant Südmetall puts forward as the sustainable one.
Either way, opening is by RFID medium or by smartphone, and the lock keeps its 20 mm mechanical self-locking.
Summarised from Südmetall's own description of ÜLock Novus. Süd-Metall Beschläge GmbH, Ainring, Germany.