GB2115751A - Motor vehicle provided with improved anti-theft means - Google Patents

Abstract

A motor vehicle (1), which includes a body with glazed apertures (2, 3, 4) and wheel arches (5), is provided with protective shutters (12, 13, 14, 15) in correspondence with each glazed aperture (2, 3, 4) and wheel arch (5). Each shutter (12, 13, 14, 15) is slidable between an inoperative position in which it is hidden from view, and an operative position in which it covers the respective glazed aperture (2, 3, 4) or wheel arch (5). The shutters (15) associated with the wheel arches (5) are shaped so as to prevent access to the means (8) for fixing the wheels (6) to their respective rotary mountings (7) in the operative positions. The shutters (15) associated with the wheel arches (5) for the steered wheels are shaped so as to prevent steering of the wheels in their operative positions. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Motor vehicle provided with improved antitheft means The present invention relates to motor vehicles provided with anti-theft means and is concerned particularly with motor vehicles including a body with glazed apertures and wheel arches.

In motor vehicles, particularly motor cars, the provision of anti-theft means for preventing the removal of the vehicle and parts thereof, such as, the wheels and accessories mounted within the passenger compartment, is problematical.

The problem is accentuated by the increasingly widespread theft of objects from within the passenger compartment, such as, purses, cameras, and the like laid on the seats.

In many cases, these thefts are perpetrated during brief stops of the vehicle and in the presence of passengers therein.

The anit-theft means provided on conventional types of motor vehicles are intended essentially to prevent the theft of the vehicle and are not generally able to provide sufficient protection against the theft of the parts of the vehicle or objects carried thereby, particularly the passenger compartment.

The object of the present invention is to provide a motor vehicle of the type specified above which does not have the aforementioned drawbacks.

In order to achieve this object, the present invention provides a motor vehicle of the type specified above, characterised in that it is provided with protective shutters in correspondence with each glazed aperture and wheel arch, each of these shutters being slidable between an inoperative position in which the shutter is hidden from view, and an operative position in which it covers its respective glazed aperture or wheel arch.

By virtue of this characteristic, when the protective shutters are in their operative positions, the breakage of the glass closing the glazed apertures of the body does not allow access into the passenger compartment of the vehicle according to the invention. In the same way, the protective shutters associated with the wheel arches prevent access to the wheels themselves.

The invention will now be described, purely by way of non-limiting example, with reference to the appended drawings, in which: Figure 1 is a perspective view of a motor vehicle according to the invention; Figure 2 is a section taken on the line Il-Il of Figure 1, and Figure 3 is a section taken on the line Ill-Ill of Figure 1.

In Figure 1, a motor vehicle, generally indicated 1, includes a body with side windows 2 closed by panes 2a, a front window 3 closed by a windscreen 3a and a rear window 4 with which a pane 4a is associated.

In addition to the glazed apertures 2, 3, 4, the body of the vehicle 1 has arches 5 in which the wheels 6 are fixed to respective rotary mountings 7 by fixing screws (bolts) 8.

Protective shutters 1 2, 1 3, 14 are associated with the glazed apertures 2, 3, 4 and each is slidable adjacent that surface of the respective pane 2a, 3a, 4a which faces outwardly of the vehicle.

Each shutter 12, 13, 14 is slidable between an inoperative position in which the shutter is hidden from view, and an operative position in which it covers its respective glazed aperture.

In Figure 1 , the shutter 1 2 associated with the front left-hand side window is illustrated in its operative position, while the shutter associated with the corresponding rear window is illustrated in its inoperative position.

As best seen in Figure 2, the shutters 12 associated with the side windows 2 are slidable vertically in lateral guides 1 2a located in the sides of the vehicle which allow the shutters 12 to retract into the body to below the waistline.

A similar arrangement allowing the vertical sliding of the shutter 14 is present in correspondence with the rear window 4.

The shutter 1 3 associated with the windscreen 3a is constituted by two shutter elements slidable horizontally towards each other.

In Figure 1, one of these elements is illustrated in its operative position, while the other is illustrated in an intermediate position between the operative position and the inoperative position in which the shutter element is hidden from view in one of the side pillars of the windscreen.

Protective shutters 1 5 are associated with the wheel arches 5 and each of these is slidable between an inoperative position in which the shutter is hidden from view, and an operative position in which it covers its respective wheel arch 5.

In Figure 1, the shutters 1 5 associated with the front ieft-hand and rear left-hand wheel arches of the vehicle 1 are illustrated in the operative position and inoperative position, respectively.

As best seen in Figure 3, the protective shutters 1 5 are shaped so as to prevent access to the screws 8 for fixing the wheels to their respective rotary mountings in their operative positions.

The shape of the shutters 1 5 is also such as to prevent steering of the steered wheels of the vehicle in their operative position.

From what has been described above and illustrated, it is clear that the shutters 12, 13, 14, 1 5 constitute an anti-theft system which can prevent both the removal of the vehicle and parts of the vehicle and the removal of objects carried thereby in the passenger compartment.

In their operative positions, the shutters 1 2, 1 3, 14 associated with the glazed apertures 2,3,4 extend so as to protect the panes 2a, 3a, 4a and prevent access to the interior of the passenger compartment by breakage of one of these panes.

The shutters 12, 13, 14 may be formed in such a manner as to allow vision from the passenger compartment even when the shutters themselves are in their operative positions.

Such an embodiment is particularly advantageous for preventing thefts attempted by breaking a window of a vehicle which has stopped briefly in the traffic with passengers therein.

The shutters 1 5 associated with the wheel arches, which render the screws 8 for fixing the wheels 5 inaccessible from the outside in their operative positions, prevent the removal of the wheels from the vehicle when it is stopped.

In their operative positions, the shutters 1 5 associated with the arches of the steered wheels prevent steering of the wheels and hinder theft of the vehicle.

Naturally, while the principle of the invention remains the same, the details of construction and forms of embodiment may be varied widely with respect to that described and illustrated, without thereby departing from the scope of the present invention.

Claims (7)

1. A wheeled motor vehicle including a body with glazed apertures and wheel arches, in which it is provided with protective shutters in correspondence with each glazed aperture and wheel arch, each shutter being slidable between an inoperative position in which the shutter is hidden from view, and an operative position in which it covers its respective glazed aperture or wheel arch.

2. A motor vehicle as claimed in Claim 1, in which each protective shutter associated with a glazed aperture is slidable adjacent that surface of the respective closure pane which faces outwardly of the motor vehicle.

3. A motor vehicle as claimed in Claim 1, in which the shutters associated with the wheel arches of the steered wheels are shaped so as to prevent the steering of the wheels in their operative positions.

4. A motor vehicle as claimed in Claim 1, in which the protective shutters associated with the wheel arches are shaped so as to prevent access to the means for fixing the wheels to their respective rotary mountings in their operative positions.

5. A motor vehicle as claimed in Claim 1 or Claim 2, in which the shutters associated with the side windows and/or the rear window are slidable vertically and, in their inoperative positions, retract into the body to below the waistline.

6. A motor vehicle as claimed in Claim 1 or Claim 2, in which the shutter associated with the windscreen is constituted by two shutter elements which are slidable horizontally towards each other and are housed in the front window pillars in their inoperative positions.

7. A wheeled motor vehicle substantially as described with reference to, and as shown in, the appended drawings.