US1362955A - Safety-lock for vehicles - Google Patents

Description

A. E MELLER.

SAFETY LOCK FOR VEHSCLES.

'APPLICATI N Patented Dec 21,1920.

2 SHEETS-SHEET I.

A. E. MILLER.

SAFETY LOCK FOR VEHICLES. APPLICATION FILED AU G.8| 1919.

} 1,362,955. Patented Dec. 1920.

2 sHEETs- T 2.

' gnaw/whom- UNITE STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ARTHUR E. MILLER, OF SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA.

SAFETY-LOCK FOR VEHICLES.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, Ann-run E. MILLER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Sacramento, in the county of Sacramento and State of California, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Safety-Locks for Vehicles, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to a safety means used on vehicles and adapted to abnormally set the running wheels thereof so that the vehicle cannot be taken away by an unauthorized person without said means giving visible and audible indication of the act. Prior devices intended for a like purpose have been open to the objection that the con structions they employed for securing the safety of the vehicle during the owners absence were found to offer but slight impediment to skilled men equipped with various forms of cutting appliances, and who could thereby and without difficulty and without exciting public attention, either cut the fastening and remove the device, or deflate the pneumatic tire, of an automobile, for instance, and then turn the alleged securing device on and relatively to the tire and rim until the active agent thereof usually in the form of a projection or spike-was moved to one side and a smooth portion of the encircling band carrying said spike or chock was brought over the center of the tread or shoe and on this newly presented surface the machine could be run without difliculty or annoyance or the danger of exciting public attention. Many cars equipped with such prior devices such as I refer to, have been stolen in the manner stated by individuals and organized bands of men and great loss of property and annoyance have been occasioned thereby.

The leading object of the present invention is to devise a safety device or signal which is designed to embrace and receive one of the spokes of a wheel, said device being in the form of divided shackle, the two parts thereof are designed to be locked together to prevent their separation except by one who is able to unlock said parts; as for instance, by someone knowing the combination with which the lock may be set to secure said parts.

In addition to the foregoing one of the parts of the shackle is provided with a spike orprojection adapted to contact with the ground and lift that side of the car in the Specification of Letters Patent. Pate t d D 21 1920 Application filed August 8,

1919. Serial No. 316,156.

event of the car being moved and which splke or projection is located when the devlce is in place on the wheel, at one side of the vertical center of the wheel or tire, whereby if the car is run with the safety dev1 ce applied, the force applied to the aforesald point by the bumping action and weight of the car will result in the wheel being shifted laterally, either to the right or to the left according to which side of the center of the wheel the spike is located, and which shifting movement is transmitted to the steering wheel with force sufiicient to jolt said wheel out of the drivers hands.

With the above and other objects in view, my invention consists of the signal lock, and the parts thereof which I will hereinafter point out in the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawings forming part of this specification and in which similar reference characters indicate like parts in the several views;

Figure 1 is a cross sectional view of a tire with its felly and portion of a spoke showing my invention applied thereto.

Fig. 2 represents the safety signal device in its unlocked and open position.

Fig. 3 is a plan view on an enlarged scale of the meeting ends of the two parts of the shackle.

Figs. 4, 5, 6 and 7, illustrate modifications which I will hereinafter refer to.

In carrying out my invention I construct the frame or main portion of the device in the form of a divided shackle so that it may be readily applied to and detached from the tire and inner rim of a felly of an automobile wheel or like part, said frame or shackle being, preferably, specially formed so that it not only embraces or extends transversely around the shoe or tread of the tire, but it may also fit over or embrace the usual felly and have a part constructed to fit and embrace one of the spokes of the wheel. Preferably, the shackle is of a sectional character; two sections 10 and 11, are preferred and these are hinged together at 12, so that one section may be opened and closed relatively to the'other, one of said sections having an enlarged terminal, to which is rigidly and permanently fixed a lock casing, 13, of some suitable character adapted to contain complementary tumblers and actuating devices of an appropriate character and which are not shown, in detail, since they form no part of the present invention. Any of the well known suitable forms of combination or pad locks may be used for the purpose of securing the free ends of the divided shackle when these parts properly embrace the tire and spoke and are brought into engagement, as will be readily understood by those skilled in this art.

By reference to Fig. 3, it will be seen that the section 10 of the shackle which carries the lock casing has a projecting arm l-i, adapted to enter a recess, 1%, in an opposing part of the other section, 11, of the shackle, and that this last mentioned section of the shackle likewise has the projecting arm, 15, which is designed to enter hole or recess, 15, in .the enlarged portion or head of the section, 10, of the shackle which carries the lock casing, the last mentioned arm, 15, having a notch, 16, which is designed to be engaged by a suitable lock bolt, 17, in the lock casing in themanner more or less common to the usual pad-- locks, so that when the two sections of the shackle arepressed together they become securely locked and can only be released by withdrawal of the bolt from its engaging clamp or engage the inner and outer notch and which operation can be effected only by one who is familiar with the lock and the combination by which it can be opened.

The two arms, 14: and 15, are so positioned with respect to each other as to admit oi the sections of the shackle being passed one on each side of one of the spokes of the wheel; in other words, the shackle is designed to receive and embrace a spoke and hence the device when it is operatively in place cannot be turned relatively to the tire, even if the latter is deflated, a condition which has made it possible to turn other devices intended for a similar purpose.

To give added security to the lock, the upper portion thereof is fashioned with an offset or a recess, 18, which receives the usual telly and practically embraces the same on three of its sides. This recess is produced by the arms 1a and 15 and. the flat faces 18 on the inner sides of the free ends of the sections, which faces are adapted to sides of the usual wheel telly, as shown. Such a construction as I have described absolutely precludes the possibility of the device being turned'relatively to the tire unless it is substantially wholly destroyed, an act which would consume considerable time and would invite public attention and thus make it unsafe for the party who is tampering with the car.

One of the leading features of my inventionis the location of the spike or pro je'ctioh, I9, with which the shackle is provided. As 1 shown in the drawings, this spike or projection is carried by one of the sections of the shackle and it is located at one side of the vertical center of the tire and the length of the projection is such that in the event of the car being run the point of the spike will contact with the ground, and this will lift that side of the car to a con siderable extent and the ar thus produced will serve as a visible and audible signal that the car is being operated without the owners permission.

Another and important result grows out of the location of the spike to one side oi the center of the tire and that is when the point of the spike or projection comes into contact with the ground and the weight of that side of the car rests thereon, it will be found that the wheel on beinglifted will also be shifted forcibly to the right or to the left, depending upon which side of the center of the tire the point has been positioned. This sidewise shifting oi the wheel will not only prevent the car from being driven straight ahead, but the lateral thrust applied to the point or projection will turn the steering wheel so rapidly as to forcibly twist it out of the hands of the driver. Consequently, the car can only be driven in a circle, even if it can be driven at all,which is extremely doubtful. The point of the projection or spike may be blunted or rounded, as shown at 20, in Fig. 4, or it may be provided with a ground roller, 21, as shown in Fig. 5, or the point of the spike may be relatively sharp as indicated in Fig. 1.

I It is also not necessary that the spike or projection should be an integral portion of the shackle, projection as being formed of a separate piece, 22, turnably mounted on the axis of the pintle which constitutes the joint between the two parts of the shackle. By making the device as a separate part pivoted on the shackle, the shock which is given to the driver and to the car in the event of the attempt to run the latter, will be similar to that before described, except that the lateral shifting of the car will be in the opposite direction. When the pivoted projection or block is employed I prefer that when it is not in forcible contact with the ground, that it beheld by some appropriate spring in the oint as indicated at 23, the arrange ment of the parts being such that the weight of the wheel will force the block into the position shown in Fig. 7 and this will forcibly throw the wheel to one side andtwist the steering wheel out of the hands of the operator.

In the instances noted it will be seen that the device is not only applied to the car in such manner that it cannot be axiallyturned, as it embraces both the telly and the spoke, but that it the attempt is made to run the and in Figs. 6 and 7, I show the.

car equipped with the device there will result the audible signal due to the action of the projection in its contact with the ground, and the lateral shifting of the car to the right or left and sudden turning of the steering wheel so that the car cannot be run in a straight direction. The maximum security is therefore afforded the owner of the car provided with one of my improved attachments.

Having thus described my invention what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is 1. A safety device for wheeled vehicles, said device being composed of hinged sections each having its free end provided with a rigid arm, one of said sections having a projection adapted to engage the road, said arms adapted to extend on opposite sides of and to inclose a spoke of the wheel, and a locking mechanism for securing the free ends of the sections.

2. A safety device for wheeled vehicles, said device being composed of hinged sections each having its free end provided with a rigid arm, one of said sections having a projection adapted to engage the road, said arms adapted to extend on opposite sides of and to inclose a spoke of the wheel, and a locking mechanism for securing the free ends of the sections, each of said sections having a recess adapted to receive the outer end of the arm of the other section.

3. A safety device for wheeled vehicles, said device being composed of hinged sections each having its free end provided with a rigid arm, one of said sections having a projection adapted to engage the road, said arms adapted to extend on opposite sides of and to inclose a spoke of the wheel, and a locking mechanism for securing the free ends of the sections, each of said sections having a recess adapted to receive the outer end of the arm of the other section, and one of said arms having a detent end engaged by the locking mechanism.

4. A safety device for wheeled vehicles, said device being formed of hinged sections having free ends extending past and adapted to embrace the wheel felly, said free ends of the sections having rigid arms crossing the inner side of the felly and extending on opposite sides of a spoke, a projection on one of the sections adapted to engagethe road, and a locking device for securing said sections in closed position.

5. A safety device for wheeled vehicles,

said device being formed of hinged sections having free ends extending past and adapted to embrace the felly, a projection on one of the sections adapted to engage the road, a locking device for securing the free ends of the sections in closed position, said looking device comprising a bolt and a locking casing made rigid with one of said sections and provided with a rigid arm, an arm rigid with the other section and extending oppositely to the first named section and spaced therefrom, and a detent carried by one of said arms adapted to be engaged by the looking bolt.

6. A safety device for wheeled vehicles, said device being composed of hinged sections each having its free end provided with a lateral projection, said projections adapted to extend on opposite sides of and to inclose a spoke of the wheel, and a locking mechanism for securing the free ends of the sections, one of said sections having a projection on the lower portion thereof, and adapted to contact with the ground and impart a bumping action to the vehicle during the running thereof.

7. A safety device for wheeled vehicles, said device being composed of hinged sections, the free end of each of said sections having inner faces which are parallel when the sections are closed, rigid arms projecting in opposite directions from said inner faces and spaced apart and adapted to extend one on each side of a spoke, a projection on one of the sections adapted to engage the road, and locking mechanism for securing the free ends of the sections and thereby holding the device in engagement with both the felly and spoke.

8. A safety device for wheeled vehicles, said device adapted to transversely embrace a wheel of the vehicle and having a projection on its lower portion positioned to one side of the vertical longitudinal center of the wheel and adapted to contact with the ground and to impart a sharp sudden side thrust to said wheel during the rotation thereof, said projection being pivotally mounted on the device and adapted to be rocked about its axis and its position shifted when the projection is subjected to the weight of the vehicle.

In testimony whereof I aifix my signature.

ARTHUR E. MILLER.

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