About Us

Who We Are

Inventor Al created Image Combination Lock (Design and Utility Patented in USA/China) after returning from serving overseas for the United States Marine Corps on the front lines in Afghanistan. Al saw how important it is to have a reliable lock with an easy-to-remember combination to protect one’s belongings. He also wanted to make a lock that was fun. My name is Al. I’m an inventor and a devoted family man. I immigrated to the United States at age 15 with the aspiration of working in the criminal justice field. Once I achieved this goal, I decided to channel my energy into my passion for invention. Shortly after this decision, I received an opportunity to serve overseas with the U.S. Marines, Recon Unit as a Combat Cultural Adviser. While serving in Afghanistan, I came across many complications, such as carrying my personal belongings without them being secure even though I kept my things padlocked. When I was engaged in battle and under heavy fire and stress, I found it was very easy to lose both lock keys and forget my combination lock number codes. One day I was in the town of Sungin, Afghanistan, sitting atop a mountain base called “Rock.” I had a simple yet effective idea to come up with a solution to securing one’s belongings. My idea: instead of remembering padlock number combinations, why not remember your favorite images? Right there and then, I decided that once I returned back to New York City, I would begin working on this idea. When I returned home, I immediately got started on putting a new spin on an old invention. I soon discovered, however, that it wouldn’t be quite as easy as I would have liked. I worked diligently to reach out to manufacturers, both domestically and overseas. Once I found a reliable manufacturer, I then began the process of designing the lock. After a year and a half of hard work, I finally received my locks, which I appropriately named, the ImageLOCK. I’m currently working on getting my locks in stores and fitness centers nationwide. I designed the ImageLOCK to be both secure and enjoyable for users ranging from children to seniors. The symbols and shapes will enable users to remember their combination codes more easily. I’ve come to find that locks with keys are not practical and number combination locks can be difficult to remember, especially when you are dealing with multiple locks. I realized that there is a need for a lock with a combination that is easy for the owner to remember while still being as secure as a traditional lock. With all of this in mind, I came up with the idea for the ImageLOCK, a combination lock that features shapes and symbols instead of numbers. There are several varieties of the ImageLOCK in the pre-production stages and your support will help us to create a full line of secure and innovative locks. To test my belief that the ImageLOCK combinations are easier to remember I conducted a brief survey with individuals ranging from 10 years old to 74 years old. The results were overwhelmingly in favor of ImageLOCK. Most of the children, adults and senior citizens I surveyed found the ImageLOCK combinations easier to remember than traditional number combinations. The ultimate test, though, was my mother. I gave her an ImageLOCK and had her make her own combination. My mother is in her mid-60s, and she set her combination to be “snake-bird-cat.” A few days later, I visited my mom and asked her if she remembered her combination. Her reply was both funny and informative. She told me she easily her image combination by remembering “grass-sky-meow.” Whatever it takes, I say, but most of the people I surveyed had their own special way of remembering their image combinations over that of a number combination padlock. After my survey, I’m now more convinced that ImageLOCK is both a necessary and beneficial product. Below is a picture of Al in Sungin, Afghanistan while serving with the U.S. Recon Marines. US Recon Marine Bravo 2nd, 3rd Battalion/January of 2011. Thank you for keeping each other safe and love you all!