GB2268140A - Vehicle anti-theft device - Google Patents

Abstract

A vehicle security device manually immobilises a motor vehicle by means of restricting the movement of steering wheels. The device (100) has an extending member (3) which extends beyond the diameter of the steering wheel 5, and is attached via hook (1) to the inside of the steering wheel and via hooks (4) and (44), which are internal end externally attached to steering wheels via rod member (5), which slides longitudinally through housing (9) which contains hardened member (18), which protects the locking member from attack. Locking member is permanently in contact with rod (5) which has a spiral groove of generally half round construction, and turned in an anti-clockwise manner, meaning that rod (5) expends rather than rotates. <IMAGE>

Description

Title: "Vehicle Security Devices" Description of the invention This invention relates to vehicle security devices, for preventing or reducing the likelihood of theft or unauthorised use of a vehicle.

The invention is particularly concerned with vehicle security devices of the kind (hereinafter referred to as being of the "kind specified") comprising first and second relatively movable members having respective formations adapted to be applied to a part, or to respective parts, of a vehicle, and means for locking said relative movement between the members.

In at least one known vehicle security device of the kind specified, said members are arranged for telescopic relative movement, and said locking means is housed on one of the members and is adapted to act upon the other of the members, to lock said relative movement.

Conventionally, however, the housings provided for such locking means do not prevent a determined thief from sawing the locking means from its housing, in order to release the device.

It is an object of the invention to provide a new and improved vehicle security device.

According to a first aspect of the invention there is provided a vehicle security device of the kind specified, in which the first of said members has an elongate portion arranged for longitudinal movement relative to locking means provided on the second of said members, said locking means being adapted to act upon said elongate portion to lock said relative movement, wherein the device further comprises, on said second member, shield means of attack-resistant material extending around said elongate portion in the vicinity of the locking means and further extending to and around the locking means.

In this manner, owing to the attack-resistance of said material, sawing off or other criminal removal of the locking means from the second member may be prevented or substantially prevented.

Preferably the shield means defines a chamber at least generally enclosing said portion of the elongate portion and said locking means, the locking means being in communication with the elongate portion within the chamber, to permit the locking means to lock movement of the elongate portion, and the chamber being at least generally closed other than to provide for entry and exit of said elongate portion and to provide for key or other authorised operator access to the locking means.

In particular, in preferred embodiments, the shield means serves as a shield for any zone or interstice between the locking means and said elongate portion.

Preferably the shield means comprises a first generally tubular portion extending around and along said elongate portion in the vicinity of the locking means, and having a lateral opening for communication with the locking means, and a second generally tubular portion disposed over said opening and extending around the locking means, the second generally tubular portion being integral with or generally seamlessly attached to the first generally tubular portion around said opening.

Preferably, the shield means is of hardened steel, and where the shield means is in accordance with the preceding paragraph, where any such seamless attachment is provided preferably such seamless attachment is by welding.

In preferred embodiments of the invention, there is disposed around the shield means a housing which may be of lighter duty material (e.g. aluminium alloy) and/or of more aesthetic design than the shield means per se.

According to a second aspect of the invention, there is provided a vehicle security device of the kind specified, in which the first of said members has an elongate portion arranged for longitudinal movement relative to locking means provided on the second of said members, said locking means being adapted to act upon said elongate portion for locking said relative movement between the members, wherein said elongate portion is of generally round cross-section with a spiral groove formed in its external surface, the spiral groove being disposed around its axis and along its length, and the locking means comprises a locking element selectively movable into or out of locking engagement with said groove.

It will be appreciated that in embodiments of the invention having such a spiral groove, when the lock is operative rotational movement of the elongate portion relative to the locking means may still be permitted, and that by virtue of said spiral groove such rotation will be accompanied by associated longitudinal translational movement of the elongate portion, but it is to be appreciated that the device is to be regarded as being "locked" in this state, inasmuch as the normal comparatively free longitudinal movement of the elongate portion, which is possible when the locking means is not operative, is no longer permitted.

Preferably said spiral groove is in the form of a helical thread.

According to a third aspect of the invention there is provided a vehicle security device of the kind specified wherein at least one of said formations is in the form of an open-ended hook formation having a base disposed generally transversely to an elongate portion of the member concerned, and adapted to engage one side of a vehicle part, first and second mutually spaced arms extending from the base generally parallel to the elongate portion and adapted to lie respectively in front of and behind said vehicle part, and one of said arms, at a location remote from said base, being provided with a generally transverse portion, adapted to engage the other side of said part.

In this manner, in use relative movement of said member relative to a vehicle part to which said hook formation has been applied, may be prevented or constrained by said hook formation.

Where a device is in accordance with both the second and third aspects of the invention, it may be conveniently arranged that the open end of said hook formation, and the chosen sense (left- or right-handed) for said spiral groove, are such that an attempt to twist the member having said hook formation in a direction to bring the part concerned closer to said open end will result in relative longitudinal movement between the first and second members in a direction to tighten the grip of the security device on the part or parts to which it has been applied.

It will be appreciated that where a device in accordance with the invention is required to be applied to a vehicle steering wheel, with its respective formations applied to respective generally diametrically opposite locations on the steering wheel rim, or where the device in use is required to ensure that two given vehicle parts cannot be moved closer together, each of said formations may have the general form of a hook each facing generally longitudinally outwardly of the device, such as away from each other.

Conversely, where a security device in accordance with the invention is required to prevent relative movement, between two parts to which its respective formations are applied, which would increase the distance between the parts, said formations may comprise respective hook formations with their open ends directed generally longitudinally inwardly of the device, such as towards each other.

One embodiment of the invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: FIGURES 1 and 2 are plan and side elevational views of a vehicle security device in accordance with the invention; FIGURE 3 is an exploded perspective view of two relatively movable elongate members of the device of Figures 1 and 2, but with locking means and a housing therefor permitted for clarity; FIGURES 4 and 5 are side elevational and transverse cross-sectional views respectively of locking means and a lock housing of the device showing their relationship to an elongate portion of one of said elongate members; FIGURE 6 is an exploded cross-sectional view of shield means of said device; and FIGURES 7, 8 and 9 are plan, side elevational and end elevational views respectively of the housing for the locking means.

Referring to the drawings, the vehicle security device 100 illustrated is expressly of the "kind specified" and is expressly in accordance with all three aspects of the invention.

The vehicle security device 100 comprises a first elongate member 5 in the form of a rod and a second elongate member 3 of tubular form, the members 5 and 3 being arranged for relative longitudinal movement in a telescopic manner, with a portion of the rod 5 sliding within the tube 3.

The members 4 and 3 are provided with respective hook formations 4 and 1 adapted to be applied to a part, or to respective parts, of a vehicle, and a lock 40 is provided for locking normal relative longitudinal movement between the members 5 and 3. The lock 40 is housed in a housing 9 secured to the member 3 and is adapted to act by way of a hardened steel locking pin 16 upon the member 5, to lock said relative movement.

A portion of the member 5 is elongate, slides longitudinally through the housing 9 and into the tubular part of the member 3, said elongate portion being of generally round cross-section with a spiral groove 6 formed in its external surface, the spiral groove 6 being disposed around the axis of that elongate portion and along its length, and the locking element 16 is selectively movable, in accordance with operation of the lock 40, into or out of locking engagement with said groove. It will be appreciated that said locking may be achieved at any permitted longitudinal position of the rod 5 relative to the member 3 at which the element 16, in its locking position, can enter into the spiral groove 6 and hence the length of the device 100, when locked, may suit any given application.

The spiral groove 6 is in the form of a helical thread of approximately half-round cross-section and 2 mm depth.

Importantly, the device comprises, mounted on the member 3, shield means of attack-resistant material, in this example being of hardened steel, extending around said threaded elongate portion of the rod 5 in the vicinity of the lock 40 and further extending to and around the lock 40. In this manner, owing to the attack-resistance of said material, sawing off or other criminal removal of the locking means from the member 3 or the housing 9 may be prevented or substantially prevented.

The shield means defines a chamber at least generally enclosing the portion of the threaded portion of the rod 5 and the lock 40, the lock 40 being in communication with said elongate portion within the chamber, to permit the lock 40 to lock movement of the elongate portion, and the chamber being at least generally closed other than to provide for entry and exit of the elongate portion at its ends and to provide for key or other authorised operator access to the lock 40.In the particular example illustrated, said shield means comprises a first generally tubular portion 17 extending around and along the threaded elongate portion of the rod 5 in the vicinity of the lock 40, an end portion 29 (Figure 7) of the shield means being welded to a metal tube affording the member 3, and the tubular portion 17 having a lateral opening 19 for communication with the lock 40, and the shield means having a second generally tubular portion 18 welded to the tubular portion 17 essentially orthogonally and tangentially thereto, the portion 18 being disposed over the opening 19 with an opening in the portion 18 aligned with the opening 19 to permit the locking element 16 to pass therethrough to engage the member 5 (Figure 5).The lock 40 is accommodated in rotatable manner in the tubular portion 18 by way of a split pin 10, a cover plate 11 closing a bore in the housing 9 for accommodating the lock 40.

For the present purposes the weld joining the portions 17 and 18 is to be regarded as generally seamless in that although formed in two pieces, the weld is continuous around the zone of contact with the members.

A spring-loaded ball bearing arrangement 14, 13, 12 is provided to provide a resilient detent for defining preferred rest positions for the rod 5 at which the element 16 will align with a turn of the spiral groove and provides a pleasing "clicking" sound when the rod is extended or contracted by a user prior to actual locking. Alternatively a detent mechanism providing these facilities may be incorporated in or constituted by the lock 40.

There is disposed around the shield means the body of the housing 9, said body being of lighter duty material (e.g. aluminium alloy, and being of more aesthetic design than the shield means per se. In the example illustrated, the device 100 is intended to be applied to a vehicle steering wheel, for inhibiting rotation of the wheel, with the respective hook formations 4 and 1 applied to respective generally diametrically opposite locations on the steering wheel rim, and with this aim each of the hook formations 4 and 1 faces generally longitudinally outwardly of the device, essentially away from each other. (Of course other hook formations and orientations may be adopted, for other applications).

The hook formation 1, which has an end cap 22, is of mild steel and engages a steering wheel rim as shown in part broken lines in Figure 2, whilst the hook formation 4 for engaging the opposite side of the steering wheel rim is of a unique design being in the form of an open-ended hook formation having a base 44 disposed generally transversely to the elongate threaded portion of the member 5 and adapted to engage the inner side of that portion of the steering wheel rim, first and second mutually spaced arms 45 and 46 extending from the base generally parallel to the elongate portion of the rod and adapted to lie respectively in front of and behind said portion of the wheel rim, and the arm 45, at a location remote from the base being provided with a generally transverse portion 25 which may be rectilinear or arcuate (e.g. 1800) adapted to engage the outer side of said steering wheel portion. In this manner when the device 100 has been applied to the steering wheel, movement of the device relative to the steering wheel is substantially prevented by the hook formation 4.

Although, when so applied, and with the lock 40 operative, the device is regarded as being "locked" in fact some rotational and hence longitudinal relative movement between the members will still be permitted owing to the spiral groove, but the hooks limit the extent of such movement and furthermore it is arranged that in this example if the rod 5 is twisted in such a way as to bring the steering wheel portion engaged by the hook 4 closer to the open end of the hook 4, the left-handed thread on the rod 5 is such as to tighten the grip of the securing device 100.

It will be appreciated that when so secured to the steering wheel, normal rotation of the steering wheel to any useful extent is prevented by the longitudinally extending tubular handle part, with non-slip handle 2, of the member 3, which protrudes substantially beyond the steering wheel rim such as to interfere with (according to the type of vehicle) the drivers legs and/or the windscreen or other part of the vehicle, to prevent normal driving of the vehicle.

The hook formation 1 is of case hardened mild steel tube, welded to the main tube 3, and both the main tube and the hook formation are provided with a plastics coating.

The preferred pitch of the thread on the rod 5 is approximately 3 turns per inch (3 turns per 25 mm approximately) and the angle of pitch of the spiral is approximately 160.

The outer surface of the lock 40 is provided with a protruding hardened steel dome, to help prevent access by unauthorised keys.

The ball bearing 14 acts through a hole 20 in the tubular portion 17.

The other end 30 of the member 17 protrudes slightly from the body of the housing 9, to help prevent damage to the body.

The hook 4 has an outer protective plastics coating 38.

The hooks 4 and 1 are so sized as to allow a passageway of approximately 1 3/ånches (approximately 35 mm) width/diameter for passage of the rim of the steering wheel S.

The features disclosed in the foregoing description, or the accompanying drawing, expressed in their specific forms or in tenns of a means for performing the disclosed function, or a method or process for attaining the disclosed result, may, separately or in any combination of such features, be utilised for realising the invention in diverse forms thereof.

Claims (1)

1. An anti theft device which attaches internally and externally to the rims of a motor vehicle steering wheel, comprising of a telescopic rod assembly (5) which moves within hardened lock housing (18) and into tubuler member (3).

Member (5) has an outwardly facing hook (44) attached, with an additional hooking member (4) fixed in such a manner as to partially encompass the outer rim of the steering wheel. Tubuler member (3) has an outwardly facing hook (1) to attach to the inner side of the steering wheel.

Hooks (4), (44),(1) and tubuler member (3) severely restrict the movement of device (100) within the confines of the steering wheel and vehicle construction, member (18) protects locking device (40) from attack by encasing it within hardened steel. Locking member (40) is permanently attached to member (5) via ident (16) which is of hardened steel and moves within (40) and alongspiral groove (6) to (7) on rod member (5). This allows a positive locking position of the telescopic members (5) to (3) within the spira; grooves. There is no dis-engagement of (16) within (40) from rod (5).

3. A device as defined in claim 1 and 2 and manufactured of metallic material of a tubuler and solid steel nature, with (18) being surrounded by (9) and of an alloy moulding for aesthetic purposes.

4. A device as defined in claim 1, 2, and 3, characterised in that member (16) is permanently attached to rod (5) via locking device (40), and operated within the confines of housing (18) and (9).