Anti-theft Apparatus For A Motor Vehicle

Abstract

Anti-theft apparatus for a motor vehicle which has a conventional distributor driven by a distributor shaft which shaft is divided into first and second separated portions. A clutch member is provided which in a first position leaves the two shaft portions disconnected and when moved to a second position rotatively connects the two shaft portions together. Electrical coil means are provided adjacent the clutch member and when the coil means are appropriately energized the clutch member is moved from the first to the second position to connect the two shaft portions together which enables the distributor shaft to be rotatively driven. The coil means are made up of a plurality of separate coils, each of which is connected to an electrical power source, such as the vehicle battery, by its own separate electrical circuit. The electrical conductors which make up the separate electrical circuits for each of the coils normally pass through a key actuated switch which is rendered relatively inaccessible to a thief or any other person by means of housing the same within a resin-impregnated assembly or otherwise protected enclosure. As a result of this construction, essentially the only portion of the apparatus which is accessible to a thief are the plurality of conductors which make up the separate electrical circuits and in order to appropriately energize the coil means all of the plurality of coils must be properly electrically connected or else sufficient lifting force will not be provided to move the clutch member from the first to the second position to appropriately connect the shaft portions together. In other words, without appropriate electrical equipment the possibility of a thief properly jumping the wires to the separate coils is rendered relatively impossible. Additionally provision is made in the apparatus whereby if, in jumping any of the coil circuits, the polarity of a given coil is reversed, the clutch member is moved to an inoperative position whereat it is latched in this inoperative position.

Description

The theft of motor vehicles has long been a problem and is becoming an increasingly larger problem as the population expands and the number of motor vehicles becomes more plentiful. The problem manifests itself in all phases of our economic life, for example in increased insurance rates, in increased activities of our law enforcement agencies which must be diverted to attending to this problem and in the economic loss suffered by the citizens who own the motor vehicles. Many provisions and many attempts have been made in the past, with varying degrees of success, to provide some relatively inexpensive construction for conveniently preventing or rendering quite difficult the theft of a motor vehicle by a thief. As heretofore mentioned, some of these have met with varying degrees of success and the relative cost of the devices has varied between wide limits.

The present invention relates to an anti-theft device which acts in the area of the electrical distributor of the motor vehicle, which distributor construction and operation are well-known to those skilled in the art. The present construction is available without large changes in the construction of a distributor as they are presently manufactured and as will be understood from a review of the specification occurring hereinafter, the apparatus is quite reliable in operation and is relatively simple and economic in its construction.

Other objects and a fuller understanding of this invention may be had by referring to the following description and claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is an elevational view in section of the apparatus of the present invention and particularly the means for rotationally connecting the first and second shaft portions of the distributor shaft together;

FIG. 2 is a view taken generally along the line 2--2 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary view of a portion of the structure shown in FIG. 1 and showing the clutch member moved from a first or unconnected position to a second or connected position whereat it connects the two shaft portions together;

FIG. 4 is a view similar to FIG. 3 but showing the clutch member moved downwardly from the first position shown in FIG. 1 to an inoperative position where it is latched in this position until released by an operator of the device; and,

FIG. 5 is a view showing the electrical circuit means for electrically energizing the coil shown in FIG. 1 so as to appropriately move the clutch member as seen in FIGS. 1 and 3.

The anti-theft apparatus of the present invention is best understood by referring to FIGS. 1 and 5 of the drawings and is indicated generally by the reference numeral 20. The apparatus is designed to function in cooperation with the conventional distributor of a motor vehicle such as an automobile and the distributor is adapted to be contained within a distributor housing 23 as seen in FIG. 1. The details of construction of the distributor per se have not been shown because they are conventional and are well understood by those skilled in the art. The distributor is adapted to be rotatively driven by a distributor shaft indicated generally by the reference numeral 26 and this shaft 26 is disconnected as at 29 to form first and second shaft portions 27 and 28. It will be understood that when the two shaft portions 27 and 28 are connected together (FIG. 3) by means of a mechanism which will hereinafter be referred to as a clutch armature 36, the distributor shaft 26 may be rotatively driven and when the clutch armature is in a disconnected position (FIG. 1) then the distributor shaft may not be rotatively driven. A gear 31 is attached to the lower end of the shaft or one might say to the first shaft portion and is adapted to be driven in a conventional manner upon appropriate movement imparted thereto by the vehicle engine. As indicated, the entire assembly is mounted in the engine block 33 in a conventional manner.

The clutch armature 36 as referred to hereinabove has an opening 37 (FIG. 2) which is generally semi-circular in configuration which is the same configuration as the shaft portions 27 and 28 at least in that area where the clutch armature 36 is adapted to move between its limits as demonstrated in FIGS. 1, 3 and 4. The clutch armature 36 is in what will hereinafter be referred to as a first position in FIG. 1 whereat the shaft portions are disconnected and in its second position as shown in FIG. 3, it connects the shaft portions 27 and 28 together so that the distributor may be rotatively driven. Springs 40 and 41 are located on opposite sides of the clutch armature 36 and serve as centering springs to appropriately locate the clutch armature 36 in its first position. Additionally spring 40 functions to always urge the clutch armature to its first position and particularly to its first position from the second position in which it is shown in FIG. 3.

The clutch armature 36 is adapted to be moved from the first position shown in FIG. 1 to the second position shown in FIG. 3 by means of electrical coil means 43 which surround the clutch armature in the manner shown in FIG. 1. The coil means are adapted to receive their electrical energization through conductors contained in an armored cable 44 in a manner which will be described more fully hereinafter, from a source of electrical energy such as the vehicle battery 60. The coil means 43 are made up of or comprise a plurality of separate coils sometimes referred to as coil portions, in this particular instance four in number and identified by the reference numerals 46, 47, 48 and 49 (See FIG. 5). Each of the coil portions 46 through 48 is connected to the vehicle battery 60 by means of separate electrical circuits. For the purpose of identification, the coil portion 46 is connected to the battery by means of conductors 54, the coil portion 47 is connected by conductors 55, the coil portion 48 is connected by means of conductors 56 and coil portion 49 is connected by means of conductors 57. All of the electrical circuits which are comprised of conductors 54 through 57 find their way from the enumerated coil portions to the battery 60 through means of a switch 62 which is in most cases a key operated switch. The key operated switch 62 may be a separate switch or it may be operated off of the same key which is utilized in starting the vehicle engine. The switch 62 is under normal circumstances rendered relatively inaccessible either by means of locating it in an inaccessible portion of the vehicle or by impregnating the entire device with resin or by otherwise appropriately protecting the contacts so they cannot be tapered with.

The separate coil portions which all contribute toward the entire construction of the coil means 43 are appropriately wound and are connected to the battery 60 with the same polarity so that when each of the coil portions is electrically energized their lifting force will all be in the same direction or in other words contributing towards lifting the clutch armature 36 from its first position shown in FIG. 1 to its second position shown in FIG. 3. In other words, all of the coil portions must be connected with the same polarity in order to give the required lifting force and if any one is either disconnected or has its polarity reversed there will not be sufficient lifting force to move the clutch armature 36.

It will thus be apparent to those skilled in the art that essentially the only portion of the system which is accessible to a would-be thief would be the armored cable 44 which contains the conductors 54 through 57 and the normal means of stealing the vehicle would be to cut the wires in this area, jumping them to the source of electrical energy in order to appropriately energize the coil means 43 so as to properly connect the distributor shaft 26. It will be appreciated that once the would-be thief has severed these conductors there are innumerable possible electrical connections that he can make rendering it relatively impossible, within the time limited, to get all of the coil portions 46 through 49 properly connected so as to move the clutch armature to the position of FIG. 3.

An additional feature of the present invention has to do with providing a latching mechanism to completely inactivate the distributor should the device be tampered with. In this regard, the clutch armature 36 is constructed in the form of a permanent magnet. If, in tampering with the conductors 54 through 57, a would-be thief reverses the polarity of one of the coil portions 46 through 49, the coil portion serves to repell or push downward the clutch armature rather than lifting the same and when this happens, a latch 65 carried by the clutch armature 36 locks under a shoulder 66 carried by the housing by means of the urging of a spring 67. Once the clutch armature 36 is rendered completely inoperative as just described, it is necessary that the latch 65 be disconnected before the distributor can once again be rendered operative.

It will thus be seen that a relatively simple, yet reliable mechanism has been provided for rendering ineffective the attempts of persons to take the motor vehicle with the present mechanism installed without authorization from the owners thereof. The resulting economic advantages will be apparent to those reviewing the hereinabove description.

Although this invention has been described in its preferred form with a certain degree of particularity, it is understood that the present disclosure of the preferred form has been made only by way of example and that numerous changes in the details of construction and the combination and arrangement of parts may be resorted to without departing from the spirit and the scope of the invention as hereinafter claimed.

Claims

What is claimed is:

1. Apparatus for preventing the theft of an automobile which has a distributor adapted to be driven by a shaft which has first and second axially in line and spaced shaft portions including in combination a clutch armature having an opening within which the first shaft portion resides in a first position thereof and in a second position of said clutch armature both the first and second shaft portions reside in the said opening to rotationally connect the first and second shaft portions together, spring means urging said clutch armature to said first position, electrical coil means around said clutch armature and when appropriately energized causing movement of said clutch armature from said first to said second position to rotationally connect the first and second shaft portions together, said coil means comprising a plurality of coil portions, each coil portion being connected to a battery by first and second electrical conductors through relatively inaccessible switch means, all said coil portions acting in the same direction being required to move said clutch armature from said first to said second position.

2. Anti-theft apparatus for a vehicle having a distributor shaft which is connectable by means of a clutch member; including in combination electrical coil means adjacent the clutch member and when appropriately energized moving the clutch member to connect the control shaft, said coil means comprising a plurality of coils which must be electrically connected in a predetermined manner to appropriately energize said coil means to move the clutch member to connect the control shaft, each of said coils being connected to a source of electrical energy by means of separate electrical circuits.

3. Anti-theft apparatus as claimed in claim 2, wherein the predetermined manner of electrically connecting the plurality of coils is to connect them in such manner that the force exerted by each on the clutch member is in the same direction; the total force required to move the clutch member being the force exerted by all of said coils.

4. Anti-theft apparatus as claimed in claim 3, wherein the distributor shaft is disconnected to form first and second portions and the clutch member has an opening within which said first portion resides and when the clutch member moves to connect the shaft both said first and second portions reside in said opening.

5. Anti-theft apparatus as claimed in claim 3, wherein the source of electrical energy is the vehicle battery and said separate electrical circuits to said battery are made through relatively inaccessible switch means.

6. Anti-theft apparatus as claimed in claim 5, wherein the clutch member is constructed of a permanent magnet having its north and south poles so related to the normal polarity of the coils that if the polarity of a coil is reversed the clutch member will be moved to an inoperative position; latch means for latching the clutch member in the inoperative position.

7. Anti-theft apparatus including a vehicle shaft which is connectable by means of a clutch member, comprising in combination electrical coil means adjacent the clutch member and when appropriately energized moving the clutch member to connect said shaft, said coil means comprising a plurality of coils which must be electrically connected in a predetermined manner to give the additive effect of all of the coils to move the clutch member to connect the control shaft and the same condition must be maintained to keep the clutch member connected, substantially inaccessible switch means located remote from said coil means, electrical conductor means extending from each of said coils to said switch means and when said switch means are actuated connecting said coils in said aforementioned predetermined manner.