Anti-theft apparatus for motor vehicle steering column

In a generic steering column for a motor vehicle including

• a tubular mast jacket,
• a bearing support housing attached to an upper end of said mast jacket having a platform for bolt-on style attachment of any one of a plurality of modularized accessories,
• a steering shaft in said mast jacket,
• bearing means supporting said steering shaft on said bearing support housing for rotation about a centerline of said mast jacket, and
• a disc-shaped lock plate rigidly attached to said steering shaft adjacent said bearing support housing in a plane perpendicular to said centerline and including a plurality of notches in a peripheral edge of said lock plate,
• a modular anti-theft apparatus comprising:
• a case adapted for bolt-on style attachment to said bearing support housing on said platform thereof,
• a bolt carrier,
• means mounting said bolt carrier on said case for bodily movement in the direction of an axis of said case parallel to a centerline of said steering shaft between an extended position and a retracted position,
• a lock bolt,
• means mounting said lock bolt on said bolt carrier for bodily movement relative thereto in the direction of said axis of said case between a first position against a bolt stop on said bolt carrier and a second position disengaged from said bolt stop,
• a spring means between said lock bolt and said bolt carrier biasing said lock bolt toward said first position thereof relative to said bolt carrier, said lock bolt protruding beyond said case into a notch on said lock plate in said extended position of said bolt carrier and said first position of said lock bolt relative to said bolt carrier and being remote from said lock plate in said retracted position of said bolt carrier and said first position of said lock bolt relative to said bolt carrier,
• an electric motor mounted on said case having an output shaft rotatable in a first direction and in an opposite second direction, and
• gear means between said electric motor and said bolt carrier operative to effect bodily movement of said bolt carrier between said extended and said retracted positions thereof when said motor output shaft rotates in said first and said second directions thereof.