IE53789B1

IE53789B1 - Motor vehicle provided with improved anti-theft means

Info

Publication number: IE53789B1
Application number: IE21/83A
Authority: IE
Original assignee: Ferrero Spa
Priority date: 1982-01-06
Filing date: 1983-01-05
Publication date: 1989-02-15
Also published as: IT1212650B; DK165497B; NL191144C; BE895542A; GB2115751B; LU84573A1; DK1683A; NL191144B; FR2519370A1; DE3248415A1; DE3248415C2; IE830021L; NL8205031A; DK1683D0; GB2115751A; IT8267007A0; FR2519370B1; DK165497C

Abstract

A motor vehicle (1), which includes a body with glazed apertures (2, 3, 4) and wheel arches (5), is provided with protective shutters (12, 13, 14, 15) in correspondence with each glazed aperture (2, 3, 4) and wheel arch (5). Each shutter (12, 13, 14, 15) is slidable between an inoperative position in which it is hidden from view, and an operative position in which it covers the respective glazed aperture (2, 3, 4) or wheel arch (5). The shutters (15) associated with the wheel arches (5) are shaped so as to prevent access to the means (8) for fixing the wheels (6) to their respective rotary mountings (7) in the operative positions. The shutters (15) associated with the wheel arches (5) for the steered wheels are shaped so as to prevent steering of the wheels in their operative positions.

Description

The present invention relates to motor vehicles provided with anti-theft means and is concerned particularly with motor vehicles including a body with glazed apertures and wheel arches.

In motor vehicles, particularly motor cars, the provision of .5 anti-theft means for preventing the removal of the vehicle and parts thereof, such as the wheels and accessories mounted within the passenger compartment, is problematical.

The problem is accentuated by the increasingly widespread theft of objects from within the passenger compartment, such as purses, cameras, and to the like laid on the seats.

In many cases, these thefts are perpetrated during brief stops of the vehicle and in the presence of passengers therein.

The anti-theft means provided on conventional types of motor vehicles are intended essentially to prevent the theft of the vehicle and are not ι S' generally able to provide sufficient protection against the theft of parts of the vehicle or objects carried thereby, particularly the passenger compartment.

The object of the present invention is to provide a motor vehicle of - 2 the type specified above which does not have the aforementioned drawbacks.

In order to achieve this object, the present invention provides a wheeled motor vehicle including a body with glazed apertures and wheel arches, r in which the body is provided with protective shutter means that are arranged to co-operate with corresponding glazed apertures and wheel arches, the shutter means being slidable between inoperative positions in which they are wholly or principally hidden from view, and operative positions in which they substantially wholly cover their respective glazed apertures or wheel arches.

By virtue of this construction, when the protective shutter means are in their operative positions, the breakage of the glass closing the glazed apertures of the body does not allow access into the passenger compartment of the vehicle according to the invention. In the same way, the protective shutter means associated with the wheel arches prevent access to upper and t s' central parts of the wheels.

The invention will now be described, purely by way of non-limiting example, with reference to the appended drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a perspective view of a motor vehicle according to the invention; 2.0 Figure 2 is a section taken on the line II-II of Figure 1, and Figure 3 is a section taken on the line III-III of Figure 1.

In Figure 1, a motor vehicle generally indicated 1, includes a body with side windows 2 closed by panes 2a, a front window 3 closed by windscreen 3a, and a rear window 4 with which a pane 4a is associated. as- In addition to the glazed apertures 2, 3, 4, the body of the vehicle has arches 5 in which the wheels 6 are fixed to respective rotary mountings 7 by wheelnuts 8 or equivalent screws or bolts.

Protective shutter means in the form of shutters 12, 13, 14 are associated with the glazed apertures 2, 3, 4 and each shutter is slidable adjacent that surface of the respective pane 2a, 3a, 4a which faces - 3 outwardly of the vehicle.

Each shutter 12, 13, 14 is slidable between an inoperative position in which the shutter is wholly or principally hidden from view, and an operative position in which it substantially wholly covers its respective glazed aperture, or, in the case of each shutter 13, a respective part of a glazed aperture or the remainder of the same glazed aperture.

In Figure 1, the shutter 12 associated with the front left-hand side window is illustrated in its operative position, while the shutter associated with the corresponding rear window is illustrated in its inoperative position. >o As best seen in Figure 2, the shutters 12 associated with the side windows 2 are slidable substantially vertically in lateral guides 12a located in the sides of the vehicle which allow the shutters 12 to retract into the body of the vehicle until they are located principally below the vehicle waistline.

A similar arrangement allowing the substantially vertical sliding of the shutter 14 is present in correspondence with the rear window 4.

The shutter means for the protection of the windscreen 3a. is constituted by two shutters 13 slidable substantially horizontally towards each other. za In Figure 1, one of these windscreen shutters 13 is illustrated in its operative position in which it covers part (substantially half) of the windscreen, while the other is illustrated in an intermediate position between the operative position, in which it covers the remainder (substantially the other half) of the windscreen, and an inoperative position in which the shutter 13 concerned is substantially hidden from view in one of the side pillars of the windscreen.

Protective shutter means in the form of shutters 15 are associated with the wheel arches 5 and each of these shutters is slidable between an inoperative position in which the shutter is principally hidden from view, and an operative position in which it covers its respective wheel arch 5. - 4 5 3 7 81) In Figure 1, the shutters 15 associated with the front left-hand and rear left-hand wheel arches of the vehicle 1 are illustrated in the operative position and inoperative position, respectively.

As best seen in Figure 3, the protective shutters 15 are shaped and ·* disposed so as to prevent access to the wheelnuts 8 for fixing the wheels to their respective rotary mountings in their operative positions.

The shape of the shutters 15 is also such as to prevent steering of the steered wheels of the vehicle in the operative positions of those shutters . io From what has been described above and illustrated, it is clear that the protective shutter means afforded by the shutters 12, 13, 14 and 15 constitutes an anti-theft system which can prevent both the removal of the vehicle and parts of the vehicle and the removal of objects carried thereby in the passenger compartment. is- In their operative positions, the shutters 12, 13, 14 associated with the glazed apertures 2, 3, 4 extend so as to protect the panes 2a, 3a, 4a, and prevent access to the interior of the passenger compartment by breakage of one of these panes.

The shutters 12, 13, 14 may be formed in such a manner as to allow go vision from the passenger compartment even when the shutters themselves are in their operative positions.

Such an embodiment is particularly advantageous for preventing thefts attempted by breaking a window of a vehicle which has stopped briefly in the traffic with passengers therein.

The shutters 15 associated with the wheel arches, which render the wheelnuts 8 for fixing the wheels 5 inaccessible from the outside in their operative positions, prevent the removal of the wheels from the vehicle when it is stopped.

In their operative positions, the shutters 15 associated with the arches of the steered wheels prevent steering of the wheels and hinder - 5 537B& theft of the vehicle.

Naturally, while the principle of the invention remains the same, the details of construction and forms of embodiment may be varied widely with respect to that described and illustrated, without thereby departing from the scope of the present invention as set forth in the following claims.

Claims

1. A wheeled motor vehicle including a body with glazed apertures and wheel arches, in which the body is provided with protective shutter means that are arranged to co-operate with corresponding glazed apertures and wheel arches, the shutter means being slidable between inoperative positions in jr which they are wholly or principally hidden from view, and operative positions in which they substantially wholly cover their respective glazed apertures or wheel arches.

2. A motor vehicle as claimed in Claim 1, in which the shutter means associated with the glazed apertures are slidable adjacent those surfaces of /o the respective closure panes which face outwardly of the motor vehicle.

3. A motor vehicle as claimed in Claim 1 or 2, in which the shutter means associated with the wheel arches of the steerable wheels are shaped so as to prevent the steering of said wheels in the operative positions of those shutter means. 'S'

4. A motor vehicle as claimed in any preceding claim, in which the shutter means associated with the wheel arches are shaped and disposed so as to prevent access to the means for fixing the wheels to their respective rotary mountings in the operative positions of those shutter means.

5. A motor vehicle as claimed in any preceding claim, in which the 20 shutter means associated with the side windows and with the rear window of the vehicle are slidable substantially vertically and, in the inoperative positions thereof, are retracted into the body of the vehicle until they are located principally below the vehicle waistline.

6. A motor vehicle as claimed in any preceding claim, in which the 2.S shutter means for the windscreen comprises two shutters that co-operate with a part and with the remainder of the windscreen, respectively, said two shutters being slidable substantially horizontally towards each other, and being housed substantially wholly in corresponding front window pillars when in their respective inoperative positions. - 7 5378S

7. A wheeled motor vehicle when provided with protective shutter means arranged substantially as described with reference to, and as shown in, the appended drawings.