US 4,903,511 AGranted

Anti-theft steering shaft lock

AssigneeGeneral Motors Corporation

InventorsDonald A. Niedzielski, Indulis Piziks, Dantar P. Oosterwal

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Abstract

An anti-theft steering shaft lock having a lost motion connection between the steering shaft and a stationary lock keeper on the steering column to dissipate restoring torque on the steering shaft after the driver locks the steering shaft so that subsequent withdrawal of a lock bolt from the lock keeper is not impeded. The lost motion connection includes a lost motion sleeve slidably and rotatably supported on the steering shaft and carrying the lock bolt thereon, a drive pin on the steering shaft received in a V-shaped notch in an end of the lost motion sleeve, a relatively low rate spring biasing the lost motion sleeve against the pin, and a relatively high rate spring which is engaged by the lost motion sleeve after a predetermined angular interval of relative rotation between the steering shaft and the lost motion sleeve to effectively prevent further relative rotation and thereby render the shaft unsteerable.

Claims7

Dependent claims

In an automotive steering column including a stationary part and a steering shaft rotatably supported on said stationary part,

a steering shaft lock comprising:
a lock bolt means including an engaging part movable between a locked position and an unlocked position,
a lock keeper means including a receiving part adapted to receive said engaging part in said locked position of said engaging part and prevent relative movement between said lock bolt means and said lock keeper means,
means mounting one of said lock bolt means and said lock keeper means on said stationary part of said steering column, and
lost motion means mounting the other of said lock bolt means and said lock keeper means on said steering shaft such that said steering shaft is rotatable in substantially unrestrained fashion through a predetermined included angle relative to said other of said lock bolt means and said lock keeper means to relieve restoring torque on said steering shaft in said locked position of said lock bolt means engaging part and thereafter restrained against rotation relative to said other of said lock bolt means and said lock keeper means to render said steering shaft substantially ineffective for steering a vehicle.

2 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.