Patent Application
20090249845
(a) Technical Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an automobile gearshift lever lock, and in particular to an automobile gearshift lever lock that comprises protective members to protect the lock from being damaged.
(b) Description of the Prior Art
A conventional gearshift lever lock comprises a mounting plate arranged by an enclosure of an automobile transmission box and a lock is bolted to the mounting plate. The lock forms two symmetric locking holes into which two legs of a U-shaped latch extend to be positioned at front and rear sides of the gearshift lever. The two legs thus restrain the displacement of the gearshift lever, thereby making it impossible to effect gear shifting for protecting the automobile from burglary. Such a conventional gearshift lever lock is arranged beside the enclosure of the transmission box, namely the lock is exposed, and it thus is not of visual aesthetics. Also the exposure and protrusion of the lock interferes with the movement of automobile seat and passengers. Thus, concealed automobile gearshift lever lock assembly is available in the market, which is illustrated in
To prevent the above mentioned gearshift lever lock from being damaged and thus losing functionality, a concealed gearshift lever lock, which is designated at 3, shown in
Thus, it is desired to have a concealed gearshift lever lock that is applicable to automobiles of all models and brands, while ensure protection against burglary.
The primary purpose of the present invention is to provide an automobile gearshift lever lock, comprising an outer decorative cover, a latch, a lock, a coupling element, and a steel mounting plate. The lock comprises a core and a securing mechanism. The lock is housed, around an outer circumference thereof, by a lock shell. The coupling element forms an open channel. The lock shell is fit into the open channel of the coupling element and fit over the lock to form a unitary device, which can be mounted to the mounting plate by various means. Opposite sides of the lock are protected by protection members. The core is provided, on a front surface thereof, with a protective face plate. As such, the mechanical strength of the lock is enhanced and the lock can be protected against any damage to thereby reduce the chance of automobile burglary.
Another objective of the present invention is to provide an automobile gearshift lever lock, comprising an outer decorative cover, a latch, a lock, a coupling element, and a steel mounting plate. The lock comprises a core and a securing mechanism. The lock is housed, around an outer circumference thereof, by a lock shell. The coupling element forms an open channel. The lock shell is fit into the open channel of the coupling element and fit over the lock to form a unitary device, which can be mounted to the mounting plate by various means. The securing mechanism comprises a switching plate, which forms a slot for receiving the insertion of a key for rotation of the switching plate. With the rotation of the switching plate driven by the key, a pin that is coupled to the switch plate drives a securing plate to disengage from a locking slot defined in the latch, thereby allowing the latch to be removed out of the lock for unlocking the gearshift lever lock.
The foregoing object and summary provide only a brief introduction to the present invention. To fully appreciate these and other objects of the present invention as well as the invention itself, all of which will become apparent to those skilled in the art, the following detailed description of the invention and the claims should be read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. Throughout the specification and drawings identical reference numerals refer to identical or similar parts.
Many other advantages and features of the present invention will become manifest to those versed in the art upon making reference to the detailed description and the accompanying sheets of drawings in which a preferred structural embodiment incorporating the principles of the present invention is shown by way of illustrative example.
The following descriptions are of exemplary embodiments only, and are not intended to limit the scope, applicability or configuration of the invention in any way. Rather, the following description provides a convenient illustration for implementing exemplary embodiments of the invention. Various changes to the described embodiments may be made in the function and arrangement of the elements described without departing from the scope of the invention as set forth in the appended claims.
With reference to the drawings and in particular to
The outer cover 5 comprises a decorative frame 51, a face plate 52, and a case 53. The frame 51 is mounted to an outside surface of an enclosure of an automobile transmission box (not shown). The face plate 52 forms a latch bore 521 and a key hole 522. The case 53 similarly forms a latch bore 531 and a key hole 532. The face plate 52 is mounted to a surface of the case 53, while the case 53 is arranged inside the transmission box enclosure. The latch 6 comprises a latch bar 61 made of a tough material, such as metal, and a grip 62. A spring 63 encompasses the latch 6 in proximity of the grip 62. The latch bar 61 forms a locking slot 611.
The lock 7 comprises a body 71, a core 72, two protection members 73, a securing mechanism 74, a coupling element 75, and a lock shell 76. The body 71 forms a core bore 711 and a latch bore 712. The core 72 is received in the core bore 711 of the body 71. A plurality of protective pads 721, which is subjected to for example heat treatment, is arranged outside the core 72. The core 72 is also provided with a protective face plate 722 that is attached to a surface thereof and is subjected to for example heat treatment. The protective pads 721 and the protective face plate 722 protect the core from being damaged. The body 71 has upper and lower surfaces in which positioning grooves 713 that correspond in position to each other are defined. The protection members 73 are made of tough and properly treated material, such as what has been heat treated to possess high hardness. Upper and lower edges of each protection member 73 forms fitting sections 731. The securing mechanism 74 is arranged rearward of the body 71 and the securing mechanism 74 comprises a switching plate 741, a pin 742, and a securing plate 743. The switching plate 741 forms a slot 7411 and a positioning hole 7412. The slot 741 functions to receive the insertion of a key K, while the positioning hole 7412 serves to receive and position the pin 742. The securing plate 743 forms a pin hole 7431, which is a through hole of a substantially triangular shape. The securing plate 743 also forms, in a side edge thereof, a notch 7432, in which a resilient element 7433 is received. The pin hole 7431 serves to partially receive and engage the pin 742 therein. When the key K is inserted into the slot 7411 of the switching plate 741 for rotating the switching plate 741, the pin 742 drives, through engagement thereof with the triangular pin hole 7431 of the securing plate 743, a transverse displacement of the securing plate 743. The body 71 has a rear surface that is recessed and that has upper and lower edges along which a plurality of raised positioning devices 714 are formed for fitting engagement with the coupling element 75. The coupling element 75 comprises a U-shaped plate comprised of opposite first and second boards delimiting an open channel 751 therebetween. The surface area of the first board of the coupling element 75 is substantially corresponding to the recessed area of the rear surface of the body 71 and upper and lower edges of the first board of the coupling element 75 forms notches 752 corresponding to and fit to the positioning devices 714 of the body 71. With the fitting engagement of the notches 752 with the positioning devices 714, the coupling element 75 is mounted to the body 71. The boards of the coupling element 75 form aligned latch bores 753. The lock shell 76 is received into the open channel 751 of the coupling element 75 and fit over the body 71 in a transverse direction to secure the board of the coupling element 75 that forms the notches 752 between the rear surface of the body 71 and a side wall of the lock shell 76. With the fitting engagement between the positioning devices 714 and the notches 752, the coupling element 75 cannot be detached from the lock 7, whereby the body 71 and the coupling element 75 are secured together.
The mounting plate 8, which is preferably made of steel, is mounted inside the enclosure of the automobile transmission box. The mounting plate 8 has an upper portion forming a through hole 81 for the extension of the latch 6. The mounting plate 8 also forms bolt receiving holes 82 for the extension of bolts 83 to fasten to the coupling element 75.
To assemble the lock 7, the core 72 that is covered by the protective pads 721 is put into the core bore 711 of the body 71 and the protective face plate 722 is mounted to the front of the core 72. The fitting sections 731 of the protection members 73 are fit into the positioning grooves 713 of the body 71. And, the securing mechanism 74 is positioned on the rear surface of the body 71. Thereafter, the coupling element 75 is fit to the recessed area of the rear surface of the body 71 with the notches 752 of the coupling element 75 engaging the positioning devices 714 of the body 71 for positioning. Finally, the lock shell 76 is fit into the open channel 751 of the coupling element 75 and fit over the body 71 in the transverse direction to complete the assembling of the lock 7.
Also referring to
Also referring to
The advantage of the present invention is that the lock 7 and the mounting plate 8 are fixed together by the coupling element 5, rather then employing screws and a fixing pin as are found in the conventional arrangements. In such a coupling arrangement of the present invention, the size of the lock 7 can be remarkably reduced. This not only saves the manufacturing costs, but also prevents an end portion of the lock 7 from projecting beyond the side wall of the transmission box enclosure, because the size of the lock 7 is reduced. Thus, movement of automobile seat and passengers are not interfered with by the gearshift lever lock. Further, with the size reduction of the lock assembly 4, various arrangements for the combination of the sized-reduced lock assembly 4 and the mounting plate 8 can be effected. Therefore, the present invention is applicable to vehicles of various brands and models and is not subjected to any limitation due to the limited interior space inside the transmission box enclosure, all these widening the application of the present invention and enhancing convenience of assembling. In addition, the body 71 of the lock 7 is protected by the two protection members 73, which are members subjected to heat treatment, arranged on opposite sides of the body 71 and is also housed in the lock shell 76, which can be also heat-treated, so that the core 72 of the lock 7 is protected from being damaged by burglary that breaks through the sides of the body 71 by drilling to access the core 72 encased in the body 71. The front surface of the core 72 is similarly protected by a protective face plate 722 that is also subjected to heat treatment, so that direct access and damage of the core 72 from the front surface thereof is prevented. In this way, the lock 7 is securely protected against physical damage and locking is ensured and secured.
It will be understood that each of the elements described above, or two or more together may also find a useful application in other types of methods differing from the type described above.
While certain novel features of this invention have been shown and described and are pointed out in the annexed claim, it is not intended to be limited to the details above, since it will be understood that various omissions, modifications, substitutions and changes in the forms and details of the device illustrated and in its operation can be made by those skilled in the art without departing in any way from the spirit of the present invention.
