Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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TITLE OF THE INVENTION:
Anti-theft nut protecting assembly
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a nut protecting assembly and, in particular,
a nut
protecting assembly suitable for use in preventing theft of vehicle wheels.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
United States Patent 5,214,945 (Martin 1993) discloses an invention entitled
"locking
assembly for use on a nut or bolt head". Unfortunately, the locking assembly
disclosed in the
Martin reference in not suitable for use in confined spaces and, as such is
not suitable for
protecting nuts which hold on vehicle wheels. Wheel theft is becoming an
increasing
problem, and there is a need for some type of protective device to combat such
theft.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
What is required is an anti-theft nut protecting assembly suitable for use in
confined
spaces.
According to the present invention there is provided an anti-theft nut
protecting
2 0 assembly which includes a polygonal shaped nut having a threaded internal
aperture defining
a rotational axis and a plurality of external flat engagement faces disposed
about the rotational
axis. A groove extends across at least one of the flat engagement faces of the
nut in an
orientation transverse to the rotational axis. The groove is adapted to
receive a locking key.
A locking cap is provided which is adapted to overlie the nut. The locking cap
has a threaded
2 5 opening which, when overlying the nut, aligns with the groove in the nut.
The locking cap
has a smooth exterior surface, thereby making it difficult to engage the
locking cap with a nut
removal tool. A locking key is provided which is adapted to engage the
threaded opening in
the locking cap and extend into the groove on the nut, thereby securing the
locking cap to the
nut. The locking key has a remote end with a unique tool coupling.
With the nut protecting assembly, as described above, the locking cap makes
removal
of the nut difficult, if not impossible, using conventional nut removal tools.
The locking cap
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is, in turn, secured in position by the interaction of the locking key and the
groove in the nut.
The locking key can only be removed with the assistance of a tool capable of
engaging the
unique tool coupling. The intent is that thieves will not have in their
possession, such a tool.
This nut protecting assembly is intended for use in confined spaces where more
elaborate locking mechanisms cannot be used. In such confined spaces, it will
be difficult for
a thief to inspect the unique tool coupling in order to consider removing the
locking key to
release the locking cap. Even if the thief has an opportunity to inspect the
unique tool
coupling, presumably, there will be little incentive for the thief to take the
time and effort to
fashion a removal tool when wheels on neighbouring vehicles do not have any
protective
devices on their securing nuts.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
These and other features of the invention will become more apparent from the
following description in which reference is made to the appended drawings, the
drawings are
for the purpose of illustration only and are not intended to in any way limit
the scope of the
invention to the particular embodiment or embodiments shown, wherein:
FIGURE 1 is a cut away perspective view of a nut protecting assembly
constructed in
2 0 accordance with the teachings of the present invention.
FIGURE 2 is a side elevation view, in section, of the nut protecting assembly
illustrated in FIGURE 1.
FIGURE 3 is a top plan view, in section, of the nut protecting assembly
illustrated in
FIGURE 1.
2 5 FIGURE 4 is an exploded perspective view of the nut protecting assembly
illustrated
in FIGURE 1, in the process of being installed on a vehicle wheel.
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DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
The preferred embodiment, an anti-theft nut protecting assembly generally
identified
by reference numeral 10, wild now be described with reference to FIGURES 1
through 4.
Structure and Relationship of Parts:
Referring to FIGURE 1, nut protecting assembly 10 has as key components a
polygonal shaped nut 12 having a groove 14, a locking cap 16 and a locking key
18.
Referring to FIGURE 3, nut 12 has a threaded internal aperture 20. Referring
to FIGURE 2,
aperture 20 is adapted to receive and engage a wheel stud 22. Aperture 20 also
serves to
define a rotational axis, generally identified by reference numeral 24, about
which nut 12
rotates. Referring to FIGURE 3, nut 12 has a plurality of external flat
engagement faces 26,
which are disposed about the rotational axis. In the illustrated embodiment,
nut 12 is a
hexagonal nut with six engagement faces 26. Referring to FIGURE 1, groove 14
extends
across at least one of flat engagement faces 26 of nut 12 in an orientation
which is transverse
to rotational axis 24. In order to facilitate positioning of locking cap 16 in
various
orientations, it is preferred that groove 14 extend across more than one of
flat engagement
surfaces 26. In the illustrated embodiment, groove 14 extends across each of
flat engagement
surfaces 26. Groove 14 is adapted to receive locking key 18. Refernng to
FIGURES 2 and 3,
locking cap 16 is adapted to overlie nut 12. Locking cap 16 has a threaded
opening 28 which,
2 0 when overlying nut 12, aligns with groove 14. Referring to FIGURE 2, in
the illustrated
embodiment, locking cap is shown as having a substantially cylindrical body 17
with a blind
bore 19. Referring to FIGURE 4, locking cap 16 has a smooth exterior surface
30, which
makes it difficult to engage locking cap 16 with a nut removalL tool (not
shown). Referring to
FIGURE l, locking key 18 is adapted to extend into groove 14 on nut 12.
Referring to
2 5 FIGURES 2 and 3, locking key 18 has engagement threads 32 which are
adapted to engage
threaded opening 28 in locking cap 16, thereby securing the locking cap to the
nut. Locking
key 18 has a remote end 34 with a unique tool coupling 36.
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Operation:
Referring to FIGURE 4; there is illustrated a vehicle wheel 38. Nut 12 is
positioned
on some or all of wheel studs 22 of wheel 38. Referring to FIGURES 1 through
3, locking
cap 16 is then placed onto nut 12 and locking key 18 is inserted through
threaded opening 28
in locking cap 16 into groove 14 along one of flat engagement faces 26 of nut
12. The
engagement of locking key 18 with groove 14 prevents locking cap 16 from being
removed
from nut 12. Locking key 18 is secured in position by engaging engagement
threads 32 of
locking key 18 with threaded opening 28. Remote end 34 of locking key l8 has
unique tool
coupling 36, which enables a tool (not shown) to be used to tightly secure
locking key in
position. If a thief attempts to use any conventional nut removal tool to
remove nut 12, his
attempts are frustrated by the presence of locking cap 16. Locking cap 16 has
a smooth
surface which is difficult, if not impossible, to engage with a conventional
tool. It is
theoretically possible to use a pipe wrench with locking jaws to remove
locking cap 16 and
nut 12 as a unit. However, nuts on truck wheels are usually secured according
to the
manufacturers rating of foot pounds of torque. It will be difficult, if not
impossible, to apply
the necessary amount of torque to remove locking cap 16 and nut 12 together.
The thief will
then be faced with the task of attempting to remove locking cap 16, so he can
apply a nut
removal tool to nut 12. However, locking key 18 has a unique tool coupling 36,
which
requires a unique removal tool. In confined spaces provided by the positioning
of wheels
2 0 studs 22 on vehicle wheel 38, it will be difficult for the thief to
inspect unique tool coupling
36. It is believed that there will be little incentive for the thief to take
the time and effort to
fashion a removal tool, when wheels on neighbouring vehicles do not have any
protective
devices on their securing nuts.
In this patent document, the word "comprising" is used in its non-limiting
sense to
mean that items following the word are included, but items not specifically
mentioned are not
excluded. A reference to an element by the indefinite article "a" does not
exclude the
possibility that more than one of the element is present, unless the context
clearly requires that
3 0 there be one and only one of the elements.
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It will be apparent to one skilled in the art that modifications may be made
to the
illustrated embodiment without departing from the spirit and scope of the
invention as
hereinaifer defined in the Claims.
