Vehicular steering wheel lock

Information

  • Patent Grant
  • 6758072
  • Patent Number
    6,758,072
  • Date Filed
    Friday, August 1, 2003
    21 years ago
  • Date Issued
    Tuesday, July 6, 2004
    20 years ago
  • Inventors
  • Original Assignees
  • Examiners
    • Gall; Lloyd A.
    Agents
    • Rosenberg, Klein & Lee
Abstract
A vehicular steering wheel lock includes a hollow tube and a rod. The tube has a lock core transverse through one end, a pair of slots close to the center portion, and a cross bar extending from one end to the center of the tube and above the slots. The rod comprises a pair of posts extending from one side corresponding to the slots and aligning with the cross bar to form an enclosure for confining the movement of the steering wheel.
Description




FIELD OF THE INVENTION




This invention relates to a vehicular steering wheel lock, and more particularly to a lock with a pair of posts aligning with a cross bar to form an enclosure for confining the movement of a steering wheel.




BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION




There are many steering wheel locks on the market, such as US Pat. Nos. 6,223,568 and 6,223,569. Both the patents describe a tube with a lock core. Wherein a rod is in the tube and is controlled by the lock core to slide in the tube. The sliding movement allows the rod to extend or to retreat within the tube. That increases the difficulty of turning the steering wheel when the lock is attached on the steering wheel. However, the rod may break the window accidentally. Thus it is not convenient in use.




SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION




It is the primary objective of the present invention to provide a vehicular steering wheel lock, which is easy to operate.




It is another objective of the present invention to provide a vehicular steering wheel lock, which is safe in use.




It is a further objective of the present invention to provide a vehicular steering wheel lock, which is compact in size and is easy to store.











BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS





FIG. 1

is a perspective view of the present invention;





FIG. 2

is a perspective view similar to

FIG. 1

, depicting the rotation of the posts to form an enclosure with respect to the cross bar of the tube,





FIG. 3

is a perspective view showing a steering wheel being in a locked position by the lock of the present invention;





FIG. 4

is a perspective view showing an unlocked position of the lock of the present invention;





FIG. 5

is a side cross-sectional view of

FIG. 1

;





FIG. 6

is a perspective view of a second embodiment of the present invention; and





FIG. 7

is a perspective view of

FIG. 6

showing the lock in a locked status.











DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS




As shown in

FIG. 1

, the present invention comprises a hollow tube


1


. The tube


1


has a lock core


11


at one end, a pair of slots


12


having two sides


121


and


122


, and an arcuate cross bar


13


protruding from the tube


1


with a pair of engaging edges


131


facing one side


121


or


122


of each of the slots


12


.




The tube


1


is provided with a rod


14


at the rear end. The rod


14


has a pair of posts


141


extending outward from the slots


12


. When rotating the rod


14


, the two posts


141


rotate simultaneously within the slots


12


. The rotation of the posts


141


within the slots


12


brings the posts


141


to either side


121


or


122


. When reaching to the side


122


of the slots


12


, the posts


141


will be underneath the engaging edges


131


of the cross bar


13


to form an enclosure. When the rotation of the posts


141


brings the posts


141


to the other side


121


, the posts


141


depart from the cross bar


13


and the enclosure is in an open status. The rotation of the posts


141


is linked by the rod


14


which is controlled by the lock core


11


.




To operate the present invention, as shown in

FIG. 2

, the lock core


11


is turned off and the rod


14


is rotated to bring the rotation of the post


141


from the side


122


to the other side


121


. The posts


141


depart from the engaging edges


131


of the cross bar


13


. The lock may be placed on a steering wheel A with the two posts


141


cross over an arm B of the steering wheel A, as shown in

FIGS. 3

,


4


and


5


. The cross bar


13


is placed underneath the steering wheel A. The rod


14


is rotated to move the two posts


141


from the side


121


of the slots


12


to the other side


122


and aligned with the cross bar


13


and facing the engaging edges


131


, thus the steering wheel A is confined to move.




To unlock the steering wheel A, the lock core


11


is unlocked and the rod


14


is rotated to bring the two posts


141


from the side


122


to the other side


121


of the slots


12


, and depart from the engaging edges


131


of the cross bar


13


, thus the lock is free to lift from the steering wheel A.





FIG. 6

shows a second embodiment of the present invention, which includes a tube


1


A having a lock core


11


A, a pair of slots


12


A, a cross bar


13


A, a rod


14


A, and a pair of posts


141


. The lock core


11


A is a push type, which can be pushed inward to reach a locked status without the need of a key.



Claims
  • 1. A vehicular steering lock comprising a tube with a lock core, said tube having two slots at a center portion thereof,said tube comprising a cross bar protruding upwardly from said tube, a rear end of said tube being provided with a rod, said rod comprising a pair of posts protruding therefrom and extending outwardly from said slots of said tube and being able to rotate within said slots.
  • 2. The vehicular steering wheel lock, as recited in claim 1, wherein said cross bar is located above one side of said slots.
  • 3. The vehicular steering wheel lock, as recited in claim 1, wherein said cross bar is in an arcuate shape and comprises engaging edges.
US Referenced Citations (13)
Number Name Date Kind
5024069 Hull et al. Jun 1991 A
5052201 Liou Oct 1991 A
5097685 Lien Mar 1992 A
5199284 Lin Apr 1993 A
5400627 Liao Mar 1995 A
5426960 Jan Jun 1995 A
5435158 Ta-Yung Jul 1995 A
5454242 Su Oct 1995 A
5595078 Harrell Jan 1997 A
5765415 Savinsky Jun 1998 A
5816082 Gabrielyan Oct 1998 A
5842360 Somerfield Dec 1998 A
6460385 Vito Oct 2002 B1