Schlage — Locksmith Brand Reference
Schlage is an American manufacturer of locks and security hardware founded in 1920 by Walter Schlage, a German-immigrant inventor and machinist who developed the bored cylindrical lockset that became the modern residential entry-door standard. Schlage operates today as a subsidiary of Allegion, a publicly traded security-products company spun off from Ingersoll-Rand in 2013, and Schlage continues to manufacture residential, multifamily, and commercial lock hardware from facilities in the United States, Mexico, and China.
This entry covers Schlage corporate history, the Schlage patent portfolio that established the modern residential lock category, the Schlage product families currently in production, and what a residential or commercial locksmith handles when servicing Schlage hardware.
Schlage Corporate History
Founding and Early Years
Schlage was founded in 1920 in San Francisco by Walter Schlage. Walter Schlage had emigrated from Germany in 1909 and worked initially as a telephone engineer before turning his attention to lock design. The first commercially successful Schlage product was a bored cylindrical lockset patented in 1923 — a design that combined the latch bolt, locking mechanism, and key cylinder into a single integrated unit installed through two simple bored holes in the door, rather than the elaborate mortise-pocket carpentry that earlier locks required. The bored Schlage lockset dramatically lowered installation cost and became the residential industry standard within two decades.
Schlage incorporated as Schlage Lock Company in 1926 and expanded production throughout the 1930s and 1940s. By the early 1950s, Schlage had become one of the three dominant residential lock manufacturers in the United States, alongside Yale lock brand and Kwikset hardware. Walter Schlage remained involved in product development until his death in 1946; the Schlage family retained operating control of Schlage Lock Company until 1974, when Schlage was acquired by Ingersoll-Rand.
Ingersoll-Rand and Allegion Era
Under Ingersoll-Rand ownership, Schlage continued to expand the residential product line and added commercial-grade and high-security product families. In 2013, Ingersoll-Rand spun off its security-products business as Allegion (NYSE: ALLE), and Schlage became Allegion’s flagship residential brand. Schlage operates today alongside sister brands LCN, Von Duprin, and Falcon under the Allegion corporate umbrella, with Schlage focused primarily on residential and multifamily security hardware while the sister brands handle commercial door-closure and exit-device categories.
Schlage Technology and Products
Patents and Technical Heritage
Schlage built its brand around the bored cylindrical lockset patent of 1923 and a subsequent series of patents covering pin-tumbler cylinder improvements, latch-bolt return springs, and lever-handle ADA-compliant operation. The Schlage patent portfolio established the modern residential lock geometry that every competing manufacturer now follows. Schlage also developed the Schlage Primus high-security cylinder family in the 1990s, which adds a secondary side-bar locking element to the standard pin-tumbler stack and is widely specified for institutional and commercial restricted-key applications. The Primus key blanks are patent-protected and only available through Schlage authorized dealers.
Current Schlage Product Families
Schlage currently produces several major product families. The Schlage B-series covers residential and light-commercial deadbolts in single-cylinder, double-cylinder, and keyed-alike configurations. The Schlage F-series covers residential entry knobs and levers, available in dozens of finishes and lever shapes. The Schlage Encode lock brand product line covers smart locks with built-in Wi-Fi and Z-Wave radios for app-based credential management and remote unlock. Schlage Camelot and Schlage Plymouth are decorative trim families that overlay the F-series and B-series functional hardware.
Schlage commercial product families include Schlage L-series mortise locks, Schlage AL-series cylindrical levers for institutional applications, and Schlage ND-series heavy-duty cylindrical levers for high-traffic commercial doors. The Schlage commercial families are typically specified by architects and integrated into door-hardware schedules during construction; Schlage residential families are typically purchased through retail home-improvement channels or installed by a locksmith during a homeowner upgrade.
Schlage hardware service
Low Rate Locksmith installs, rekeys, and services Schlage residential and commercial hardware on-site. Call (833) 439-8636 for current pricing on the specific Schlage product family that needs work.