GB2589598A

GB2589598A - Steering wheel lock

Info

Publication number: GB2589598A
Application number: GB1917661.9A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Hambi Alexander
Original assignee: Octi Lock Ltd
Current assignee: Octi Lock Ltd
Priority date: 2019-12-03
Filing date: 2019-12-03
Publication date: 2021-06-09
Anticipated expiration: 2039-12-03
Also published as: GB201917661D0; GB2589598B

Abstract

A steering wheel lock comprises a lock chamber 1, a first elongate member 2 and a second elongate member 3, and at least one locking shackle 9 pivotably connected to the lock chamber at its first end, and lockably engageable to the lock chamber at its second end, wherein both the first and the second elongate members each have first, second and third sections 5-8, the first sections extending from the lock chamber in a first plane, the second sections extending at the same non-zero angle from the first plane, and the third sections extending in a second plane parallel to the first. The lock may be unlocked using a biometric control such as a fingerprint scanner, or by using a near field communication system and a user’s device. An alert may be sent to a user’s device if a sudden movement of the lock is detected, either using the near field communication system or a mobile telecommunications network, the latter also being used to send a GPS derived position of the lock.

Description

Steering wheel lock The present invention relates to a novel shaped steering wheel lock, in particular a novel shaped steering wheel lock with Bluetooth® and biometric capabilities.

Background of the invention

Vehicle theft still happens. As vehicle security systems increase in sophistication, so do the methods of thieves. Careful vehicle owners often seek additional security measures to those built into their vehicles, in order to further reduce the likelihood of their falling victim to theft. One popular form taken by these additional security measures is the steering wheel lock.

A conventional steering wheel lock comprises a single bar, shaped to fit over the front of a steering wheel, locking over it at a first point on its circumference, and hooking under it or locking over it and extending beyond it at a second, opposite point on its circumference. A thief who successfully steals a vehicle fitted with a steering wheel lock will find himself or herself unable to steer the vehicle without the portion of the bar extending from the steering wheel colliding either with his/her legs or the windscreen.

Conventional steering wheel locks are nevertheless vulnerable to competent thieves. If they are locked by conventional locks, these can be picked. Furthermore, it does not take long to saw through the steering wheel proximate one of the fixing points of a conventional steering wheel lock and rotate the steeling wheel lock to the sawn region and remove it. Some steering wheel locks are vulnerable to drills cutting through their lock mechanisms.

A solution is sought which is invulnerable to picking and drilling and cannot be slidably rotated about the steering wheel circumference and removed via a sawn-off region. Preferably the solution will be integrated with modern smartphone technology, enhancing security by providing location information and tampering alerts to a remote user.

Acknowledged prior art

The inventor is aware of the following prior art:

CN201241528Y discloses a steering wheel lock comprising a single extendable bar which can be locked at a particular extension, with steering wheel engaging hooks at a first end and a variable midpoint. The locking mechanism includes a fingerprint scanner. The disclosure does not provide the unique two-armed design of the present invention, nor does it provide the additional security features provided by short-and long-range communication systems.

Statement of invention

A first aspect of the invention provides a steering wheel lock comprising a lock chamber, a first elongate member and a second elongate member, and at least one loch* shackle pivotably connected to the lock chamber at its first end, and lockably engageable to the lock chamber at its second end, wherein both the first and the second elongate members each have first, second and third sections, the first sections extending from the lock chamber in a first plane, the second sections extending at the same non-zero angle from the first plane, and the third sections extending in a second plane parallel to the first. ;The steering wheel lock may comprise biometric controls for unlocking the locking shackle. The biometric controls comprise a fingerprint scanner. ;The steering wheel lock may also comprise n accelerometer and associated control circuitry, configured to identify sudden movement of the steering wheel lock which may be associated with an attack. ;The steering wheel lock may comprise a near field communication system. It may be configured to receive an unlocking command from a user device over the near field communication system. An alert may be sent to a user device over the near field communication network in the event that a sudden movement which may be associated with an attack is identified. ;The steering wheel lock may comprise a mobile telecommunications system. An alert may be sent to a user device over the mobile telecommunications network in the event that a sudden movement which may be associated with an attack is identified. ;The lock chamber may contain a locking mechanism for engaging with the shackle to lock it in place. The locking mechanism may comprise a shackle engagement member resiliently biased in an unlocked position. A cam fixed to the rotor of an electric motor may be rotatable between a locking position and an unlocking position, wherein in the locking positing the cam may push the shackle engagement member against the resilient bias to engage with the shackle to lock it in place. ;The steering wheel lock may comprise a (WS locator system, wherein the (WS locator system is configured to communicate the steeling wheel lock's location to a user device over the mobile telecommunication network. ;The steering wheel lock may comprise an alarm system, wherein the alarm system 35 is configured to generate an audible alert in the event that a sudden movement which may be associated with an attack is identified. ;Brief description of drawings ;The invention will be described in more detail, by way of example, with reference to the following drawings: figure 1 depicts a steering wheel lock of the invention from a front view; Figure 2 depicts a steering wheel lock of the invention from a side view; Figure 3 depicts a steering wheel lock of the invention from a rear view; Figure 4 depicts the inside of the lock chamber of a steering wheel lock of the invention; Figure 5 depicts the mechanical components of the lock mechanism of a steering 10 wheel lock of the invention; Figure 6 depicts a steering wheel lock of the invention in place on a steering wheel. Detailed description of drawings Figures 1 to 3 depict the wheel lock of the invention from a front, side and rear view respectively. For the purposes of the specification, the 'front' is taken to be the side which faces a user in the driver's seat of a car to which the wheel lock is being locked and the 'rear' is taken to be the side which faces away from a user in the same circumstances. The top is taken to be the end which points substantially upwards when installed according to Figure 6, and the bottom is taken to be the opposite end. ;The front view of Figure 1 depicts a wheel lock of the invention having a lock chamber 1 and two legs 2, 3. The lock chamber 1 is an enclosure which, in a preferred embodiment, is welded closed. In other embodiments it may be closed with bolts, as long as those bolts are resistant to removal by conventional tools. The lock chamber 1 securely houses the locking mechanism and circuitry required by the invention. A biometric reader 4 is disposed on the front face of the lock chamber 1. The biometric reader is preferably a fingerprint scanner, but may alternatively or additionally comprise, for example, a retina scanner or a facial recognition scanner. ;The biometric e.g. fingerprint lock will only be unlockable by an authorised administrator's biometric identifying characteristic e.g. fingerprints (the authorised administrator may be an agent of the manufacturer or supplier) and by the biometric identifying characteristic of any subsequently authorised persons (such as an end user). In this way, steering wheel lock of the invention will not be vulnerable to the lock being picked or bumped by thieves, nor to keys being stolen from a user's home. ;fri a preferred embodiment, the biometric lock will allow the administrator to add up to twenty authorised biometric identifying characteristics e.g. fingerprints, which provides flexibility when a user shares his or her vehicle with others, such as family members. ;The legs 2, 3 extend generally 'downwards' from the lock chamber 1. From a front view, they are not parallel but define an angle where they meet proximate the lock chamber 1, the angle preferably being less than 90 degrees, and being selected to allow the legs 2, 3 to fit through a steering wheel as will be described later, preferably with each leg abutting or proximate to a respective spoke member of the steering wheel. ;The body of the lock, including the lock chamber 1 and the legs 2, 3, are preferably made from a hardened steel alloy, coated in rubber so as not to scuff a vehicle interior. ;Figure 2 depicts a wheel lock of the invention from a side view. From this perspective it can be seen that the legs 2, 3 are not straight, but each leg has two bends. Assuming a starting point at the lock chamber 1, each leg 2, 3 extends in a substantially straight line for a first length 5, and then bends 6, proximate the middle of the leg, in a substantially rearwards direction, then bends again 7 in a substantially downwards direction, and then extends for a second length 8 in a substantially straight line which is substantially parallel to the first length 5. It will be seen later that this shape is selected to enable the wheel lock to hook over a lower sector of a steering wheel, such that the lock chamber and the first length 5 are above or in front of the steering wheel once mounted, and the second length 8 is below or behind the steering wheel once mounted. From a side perspective, the two legs 2, 3 extend substantially parallelly from the lock chamber 1. ;This shape renders the steering wheel lock of the invention compatible with most steering wheel designs, making it substantially universal in application. ;Also visible from the perspective given in Figure 2 are the locking shackles 9. These extend from the rear face of the lock chamber 1, and their connection to the lock chamber 1 will be explained in detail later. They extend to form a substantially semi-circular or u-shaped loop which is capable of receiving, in use, a portion of the outer rim of a steering wheel. ;The shackles 9 are preferably made from hardened steel alloy (for example, Boron) and will be resistant to bolt cutters, multi tool attacks and impact or levering attacks. ;The two shackles 9 extend substantially parallelly from this side perspective, and their respective positions on the rear face of the lock chamber 1 can be more clearly seen from the rear perspective given in Figure 3. ;Figure 4 depicts the inner workings of the lock chamber 1. It can be seen that in the depicted embodiment the two legs 2, 3 are formed form a single piece of material, which extends into the lock chamber 1 as a single elongate member, or a third leg 10. This extends through substantially the whole length of the lock chamber 1. A lower portion of the lock chamber 1 houses a lock mechanism 11. An upper portion of the lock chamber 1 houses a shackle pivot securing member 12. ;A drill plate is preferably placed at the centre of the front face of the lock chamber 1, behind the bio metric sensor 4, rending the lock resistant to drilling attack. In this way, the lock will be resistant to drilling attacks, cutting attacks, impact attacks and multi tool attacks. ;'the shackle pivot securing member 12 is an elongate metal plate which covers the front face of the uppermost portion of the third leg 10, bends around the top of the third leg 10 and covers the rear face of the uppermost portion of the third leg 10. It is secured in place, for example by means of bolts 13. \There it covers the front face of the third leg 10, it is bent to form a width-wise channel 14 to receive the shackle joint member 15. ;The two shackles 9 are preferably both formed of a single piece of material, and are therefore joined together by a cross bar element, the shackle joint member 15. This is pivotally secured to the third leg 10 within the lock chamber 1 by means of the channel 14 defined by the shackle pivot securing member 12. ;The lock mechanism 11 is enclosed within a lock mechanism cover 16. This encloses the inner workings of the lock mechanism 11, which are shown in Figure 5. ;Figure 5 depicts the inner workings of the lock mechanism 11 from a front perspective, through the top surface of the lock mechanism cover 16. The inner workings comprise an electric motor 17. The rotor of the motor 17 has an axis of rotation substantially perpendicular to the front face of the lock chamber 1. The rotor is fixedly attached to a cam 18, which is caused to rotate by the rotation of the rotor of the motor 17. ;Also included in the inner workings of the lock mechanism 11 is a shackle engaging member 19. This will be described with reference to both Figures 5 and 6. The shackle engaging member 19 is rigid and engages on its lower side with the cam, and is resiliently biased in a lower position, in the depicted embodiment by eng,agement with two compressible springs 20 which eng,age with its upper side. When the cam 18 is rotated such that it pushes the shackle engaging member 19 against the resilient bias of the springs 20, the compression of the springs 20 is guided by spring guiding protrusions 21 from the upper side of the shackle eng,ag,ing member 19, and spring g,uiding-hollow cicrlindrical protrusions 22 from the upper inner side surface of the lock mechanism cover 16. The spring guiding protrusions 21 are slidably received into the hollow cylindrical protrusions 22. The springs 20 arc slidably disposed around the protrusions 21, 22. Shaddc engaging protrusions 23 extend from the upper side of the shackle engaging member 19. ;The distal ends of the shackles 9 protrude through holes in the base of the lock mechanism 11, when in the closed position. kngagement holes are formed in the distal ends of the shackles 9. When the cam 18 is rotated to push the shackle engaging member 19 upwards against the springs 20, and the shackles 9 are in the dosed position, the shackle engagement protrusions 23 slide into the engagement holes and locks the shaddes in the closed position. When the cam 18 rotates so as not to push the shackle engaging member 19 upwards, the springs 20 push the shackle engaging member 19 downwards and so release the shaddes 9 from the shackle engaging protrusions 23. It will therefore be apparent that the steering wheel lock is locked and unlocked by the controlled rotation of the cam 18 by the motor 17. ;Figure 7 depicts a steering wheel lock of the invention in use on a steering wheel 24. The shackles 9 are wrapped around an upper section of the circumferential ring of the steering wheel 24 and locked in place. The lock chamber 1 is held in place on the driver side of said upper section of the steering wheel 24. The first and second legs 2, 3 of the steering wheel lock hook under two respective lower sections of the circumferential ring of the steering wheel 24, and extend below it. In this way, the steering wheel lock cannot be removed without unlocking the shackles, and the car cannot be driven without the steering wheel lock being removed. ;In a preferred embodiment, the steering wheel lock of the invention has a built in GPS tracker device which is connectible to a user's smart device (such as a smart phone or tablet). If a vehicle in which the steering wheel lock of the invention is being used is stolen, for example by a low loader or tow truck, the user will be able to track the location of the vehicle to aid the police in recovering it. The circuity, including transmitters and receivers, are housed inside the lock chamber 1. ;In a preferred embodiment, the steering wheel lock of the invention has a motion sensor and transmitter, built into the lock chamber 1, configured to identify sudden movement which may be indicative of attack or tampering, and alert the user, for example via Bluetooth 0 class 1 and an application on the user's smart device. ;The range of this alert will be up to 100 metres, depending on environmental factors, and will therefore be particularly useful when the vehicle is parked outside a user's home or place of work. The Bluetooth CD is preferably military grade 128-bit _AES encrypted class 1 Bluetooth CD and is always on, in low power standby mode until needed. ;In addition to alerting a user, the steering wheel lock of the invention preferably has an alarm system, housed within the lock chamber 1, generating an audible alarm in the event that possible tampering is detected by the motion sensor. ;In addition to the biometric lock 4, the device can be unlocked using an application on a user's smart device. A QR code could be provided, for example, with the steering wheel lock to pair the particular lock to the user's smart device. ;Preferably, the steering wheel lock of the invention is equipped with a high-quality lithium rechargeable battery that will last for up to twenty-four months on standby, or 3000 unlocking operations. The battery will be chargeable by a USB socket located at the side of the lock chamber 1. If the battery dies while lock is attached a short charge of 8 seconds from any USB power supply will enable the release of the lock. The battery and its associated charging circuitry will be housed within the lock chamber 1. ;The smart device application associated with the steering wheel lock of the invention will preferably enable to user to monitor the state of charge of the battery, as well as unlock the steering wheel lock and alert the user to possible tampering events. As mentioned above, the application will associate a particular steering wheel lock with a particular user smart device by means of a unique identifying QR code. Preferably, the smart device application will monitor the time and whether or not the steering wheel lock is engaged, and will alert the user if he or she has apparently forgotten to apply the steering wheel lock at a time the lock is usually applied, such as at *ht.

The invention has been described with reference to a preferred embodiment. The description is intended to enable a skilled person to make the invention, not to limit the scope of the invention. The scope of the invention is determined by the

Claims

Claims 1. A steering wheel lock comprising a lock chamber, a first elongate member and a second elongate member, and at least one locking shackle pivotably connected to the lock chamber at its first end, and lockablv engagcablc to the lock chamber at its second end, wherein both the first and the second elongate members each have first, second and third sections, the first sections extending from the lock chamber in a first plane, the second sections extending at the same non-zero angle from the first plane, and the third sections extending in a second plane parallel to the first.
2. A steer* wheel lock according to claim 1 comprising biometr c controls for unlocking the locking shackle.;
3. A steering wheel lock according to claim 2 wherein the biometric controls comprise a fingerprint scanner.;
4. A steering wheel lock according to any preceding claim comprising an accelerometer and associated control circuitry, configured to identify sudden movement of the steering wheel lock which may be associated with an attack.;
5. A steering wheel lock according to any preceding claim comprising a near field communication system.;
6. A steering wheel lock according to claim 4 which can receive an unlocking command from a user device over the near field communication system.;
7. A steering wheel lock according to any one of claim 5 or claim 6 when dependent on claim 4, wherein an alert is sent to a user device over the near field communication network in the event that a sudden movement which may be associated with an attack is identified.;
8. A steering wheel lock according to any preceding claim comprising a mobile telecommunications system.;
9. A steering wheel lock according to claim 8 when dependent on claim 4, wherein an alert is sent to a user device over the mobile telecommunications network in the event that a sudden movement which may be associated with an attack is identified.;
10. A steering wheel lock according to any preceding claim wherein the lock chamber contains a locking mechanism for engaging with the shackle to lock it in place.;
11 A steering wheel lock according to claim 10 wherein the locking mechanism comprises a shackle engagement member resiliently biased in an unlocked position.;
12. A steer* wheel lock according to claim 11 wherein a cam fixed to the rotor of an electric motor is rotatable between a locking position and an unlocking position, wherein in the locking positing the cam pushes the shackle engagement member against the resilient bias to engage with the shackle to lock it in place.
13. A steering wheel lock according to claim 9 comprising a GPS locator system, wherein the GPS locator system is configured to communicate the steering wheel lock's location to a user device over the mobile telecommunication network.
14. A steering wheel lock according to claim 4 comprising an alarm system, wherein the alarm system is configured to generate an audible alert in the event that a sudden movement which may be associated with an attack is identified.