Classifications

• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B60—VEHICLES IN GENERAL
  • B60R—VEHICLES, VEHICLE FITTINGS, OR VEHICLE PARTS, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
  • B60R25/00—Fittings or systems for preventing or indicating unauthorised use or theft of vehicles
  • B60R25/01—Fittings or systems for preventing or indicating unauthorised use or theft of vehicles operating on vehicle systems or fittings, e.g. on doors, seats or windscreens
  • B60R25/04—Fittings or systems for preventing or indicating unauthorised use or theft of vehicles operating on vehicle systems or fittings, e.g. on doors, seats or windscreens operating on the propulsion system, e.g. engine or drive motor
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B60—VEHICLES IN GENERAL
  • B60R—VEHICLES, VEHICLE FITTINGS, OR VEHICLE PARTS, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
  • B60R25/00—Fittings or systems for preventing or indicating unauthorised use or theft of vehicles
  • B60R25/01—Fittings or systems for preventing or indicating unauthorised use or theft of vehicles operating on vehicle systems or fittings, e.g. on doors, seats or windscreens
  • B60R25/02—Fittings or systems for preventing or indicating unauthorised use or theft of vehicles operating on vehicle systems or fittings, e.g. on doors, seats or windscreens operating on the steering mechanism
  • B60R25/023—Countermeasures against the physical destruction of the steering lock
• • B—PERFORMING OPERATIONS; TRANSPORTING
  • B60—VEHICLES IN GENERAL
  • B60R—VEHICLES, VEHICLE FITTINGS, OR VEHICLE PARTS, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
  • B60R25/00—Fittings or systems for preventing or indicating unauthorised use or theft of vehicles
  • B60R25/01—Fittings or systems for preventing or indicating unauthorised use or theft of vehicles operating on vehicle systems or fittings, e.g. on doors, seats or windscreens
  • B60R25/04—Fittings or systems for preventing or indicating unauthorised use or theft of vehicles operating on vehicle systems or fittings, e.g. on doors, seats or windscreens operating on the propulsion system, e.g. engine or drive motor
  • B60R25/045—Fittings or systems for preventing or indicating unauthorised use or theft of vehicles operating on vehicle systems or fittings, e.g. on doors, seats or windscreens operating on the propulsion system, e.g. engine or drive motor by limiting or cutting the electrical supply to the propulsion unit

Definitions

• This invention relates to locking systems, and more particularly to means for protecting motor vehicles against theft or unauthorised use.
• system (a) suffers from the disadvantage that a mere disconnection of the battery will quickly extinguish the alarm
• system (b) has the additional disadvantage that, if made sufficiently sensitive to respond to unauthorised interference with a vehicle, the alarm may be falsely operated by extraneous factors such as wind gusts or unskilled parking which can rock the vehicle.
• a further disadvantage of both systems is that the sound of any such alarm is most likely to be ignored by strangers, motivated either by indifference or cynicism, or a sincere belief that yet another malfunctioning system is emitting a false alarm. It is an object of the present invention to overcome the above and other disadvantages and to provide an anti-theft locking system which will even defeat a thief who is fully aware of the manner in which it operates.
• an anti-theft auto-lock comprises a key-switch locatable adjacent the controls of a motor vehicle; a cylinder locatable adjacent the engine block of said - 2 - motor vehicle; a piston movable within said cylinder; and_ a conduit extending between said cylinder and a security shell enclosing said key-switch; said conduit and cylinder..containing means for..reciprocally moving said piston through a pre-determined distance within said cylinder; a restoring spring for said piston, accommodated within said cylinder, and micro-switch means associated with said piston-and-cylinder assembly, said micro-switch means being electrically incorporated in said motor vehicle's ignition circuit in such a wa that, --.,.- when said means for reciprocally moving said piston ceases to be operative by reason of undesirable interference therewith, said restoring spring is returned to its rest position, thereby moving said piston so as to actuate said micro-switch means in such a way as to render said
• the means for reciprocally moving the piston within its cylinder is a vacuum, a though other means are nevertheless envisaged, such as hydraulic fluid or compressed air, or even mechanical means such as a
• the key-switch moves this filament to complete the ignition circuit, the arrangement being such that, if the filament is severed unlawfully, said filament rotates back to a rest position in which the micro-switch is actuated in such a way as to render the ignition circuit inoperable.
• the piston-and-cylinder assembly and associated components are mountable within a casing adapted to enclose the distributor of the engine.
• Fig. 1 is a somewhat schematic vertical cross-section through a key-switch and security shell according to the present invention
• Fig. 2 is a somewhat schematic vertical cross-section through a cylinder-and-piston assembly, in a "vacuum-held” mode;
• Fig. 3 is a corresponding view, but in a 5 "vacuum-released" mode
• Fig. 4 shows how a cylinder-and-piston assembly may be mounted within a distributor casing
• Fig. 5 is a perspective view of a distributor security cover; 1.0 .
• Fig..6 illustrates an alternative, mounting means for a cylinder-and-piston assembly;
• Fig. 7 is a cross-section corresponding to Fig. 6.
• the inventive anti-theft auto-lock will be seen to comprise a key-switch 1 which may well be a substantially standard ignition circuit key-switch and is ideally locatable adjacent the controls of a motor vehicle, perhaps in some 20 convenient position on or near the vehicle's instrument panel.
• Key-switch 1 is enclosed within a security shell 2 the purpose of which will be revealed hereinafter, and has extending therefrom a flexible conduit or hose 4 the 25 other end of which is in communication with a piston-and-cylinder assembly - to be seen in Figs. 2 and 3.
• This assembly consists in a cylinder 5 in which is a reciprocally movable piston or plunger 6; conduit 4 is sealed to the cylinder housing 13 in vacuum-tight 30 manner.
• Cylinder 5 also has, accommodated therewithin, a helical restoring spring 7 for piston 6.
• terminal block 11 which electrically connects, via wires or cables 9, 10, with a similar terminal block 8 35 within the security shell 2 enclosing key-switch 1, and which is electrically incorporated into the motor vehicle's ignition circuitry.
• Wires 9 and 10 are sealed into an end-wall 12 of conduit 4 so as to render the communicating interiors of conduit 4 and cylinder housing - 4 - 13 vacuum-tight and to prevent easy disconnection of security shell 2 and conduit 4 - with resulting exposure of terminal block 8 - by virtue of the annular flange 12A.
• the electrical elements of the invention are incorporated in the vehicle's ignition circuit, as stated, and the conduit and cylinder interiors are placed under vacuum so that the piston 6 is "sucked" towards tne key-switch end of the cylinder to thus compress spring 7 and prevent air from entering the system through the inlet 12B....
• the ingnition key-switch can be used in the normal way but it is not possible to unlawfully start the motor vehicle by such means as bridging the terminals, or "hot wiring". In order to do so, a would-be thief would have to gain access to the wiring system but this is denied to him by virtue of the fact that the circuitry becomes inoperative upon any attempt to gain this access.
• the compression spring 7 will relax to its rest position and propel piston 6 towards the end of cylinder 5, to press a contact button of a micro-switch 13A which cuts off the power to the ignition circuit of the vehicle and so renders it useless to a person wishing to "bridge” it in any way.
• the helical restoring spring is concealed within cylinder housing 13 and hense an observer cannot detect the nature or magnitude of its movement.
• the ignition lock may simply be provided with a pair of extra contacts located in the inhibiting circuit.
• the "key" may be the only key, being used
• the ignition circuit 15 solely for the purpose of opening and closing the inhibiting circuit, whereas the ignition circuit may simply be opened and closed in known manner by an ordinary switch, as in some military or farm vehicles. For reasons of convenience, it is preferable that
• a suitable casing 14 for this purpose may be cast in two halves which overlap, as at 15, the two halves being
• Such a casing as 14 may be cast from, say, aluminium or one of its alloys and may have a thickness of the order of perhaps 1.25mm. Suitable bolts may be used to fasten the casing 14 over a standard distributor 17 - shown in
• security shell 2 is slipped over the conduit 4 from its distributor end before the latter is installed, but after wires 9 and 10 are connected to terminal block 8 of key-switch 1 via the sealing flanged end 12 of conduit 4.
• security shell 2 is permanently keyed to the body of the key-switch 1 by means of a steel pin 23 inserted through a bore in security shell 2 and on into key-switch 1, as indicated at 24 in Fig. 1.
• a flexible helically-coiled spring wire may be located coaxially in the conduit.
• the thief has even less control over the manipulation of the vacuum than if a large-sectioned conduit were employed.
• a further reason for using such a spring wire insert is to make the system even more reliable.
• Figs. 6 and 7 of the drawings show an alternative to the distributor casing 14 of Figs. 4 and 5.
• This comprises a protective plate 19 having a cylinder-housing-enclosing arcuate portion 20 and wells 21 adapted to receive key-operated locking nuts designed to secure the housing - shown in chain line - to an engine block 22.
• the system provided by the invention is one of great simplicity, since to arm the system it is merely necessary before leaving the vehicle - 8 - to turn a key and then forget about it. It is not even necessary to close the windows. Likewise, it is just as easy to re-activate the system by turning the same key in .......... the,.ppposite..,directi n--... Furthermore,, contrary.to", many .. ..
• anti-theft auto-lock devices made in accordance with the present invention will provide the public with a new or much-improved article or, at the. very least, offer to it a useful and attractive choice.

Landscapes

• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
• Lock And Its Accessories (AREA)
• Burglar Alarm Systems (AREA)

Applications Claiming Priority (1)

Publications (2)

Family

ID=3762113

Family Applications (1)

Country Status (3)

Families Citing this family (2)

Citations (5)

• 1985
  • 1985-05-07 WO PCT/AU1985/000100 patent/WO1986006692A1/en not_active Application Discontinuation
  • 1985-05-07 EP EP19850901940 patent/EP0224475A4/de not_active Withdrawn
  • 1985-05-07 BR BR8507210A patent/BR8507210A/pt unknown

Patent Citations (5)

Non-Patent Citations (1)

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