Fuel tank lock assembly
A lock assembly for use in a fuel tank filling neck includes a body for insertion into the neck; a cylindrical lock and a plunger beneath the lock slidable and lockable in one position in the body; and a cam on the bottom end of the plunger for pushing latches outwardly against the bottom of the filling neck to prevent removal of the assembly from the filling neck.
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a fuel tank lock assembly.
There is a real problem with fuel theft in the trucking industry. With the ever increasing price of fuel, it is getting more and more expensive to fill up a vehicle. A fill-up for a large truck can cost several hundred dollars. When vehicles are left unattended, fuel theft is becoming increasingly more common.
2. Discussion of the Prior Art
A search in the patent literature discloses a large number of patents relating to lockable covers and other lock systems for vehicle fuel tanks. In this connection, reference is made to U.S. Pat. No. 1,499,629 (Arnold), U.S. Pat. No. 1,624,840 (Malluk), U.S. Pat. No. 1,839,423 (Stone), U.S. Pat. No. 1,902,456 (Matthews), U.S. Pat. No. 1,944,535 (White), U.S. Pat. No. 2,345,809 (Greenberg), U.S. Pat. No. 2,373,470 (Hanke), U.S. Pat. No. 3,930,388 (Barras), U.S. Pat. No. 3,998,353 (Farelli), U.S. Pat. No. 4,317,345 (Hinson), U.S. Pat. No. 5,658,036 (Benoist) and U.S. Pat. No. 6,755,057 (Foltz). Many of the available lock devices are accessible from outside of the fuel tank on which they are mounted. Others of the devices are somewhat complicated and/or can be used only on a fuel filling neck designed specifically for such devices.
A need exists for a lock assembly for a conventional, externally threaded fuel tank filling neck which cannot easily be tampered with even using a full set of tools.
GENERAL DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTIONAn object of the present invention is to meet the above defined need by providing a relatively simple, durable lock assembly for a fuel tank filling neck which is not readily accessible to a would be thief.
Accordingly, the invention relates to a fuel tank lock assembly for sealing a vehicle fuel filling neck having open top and bottom ends comprising:
tubular barrel means for mounting in said neck, said barrel means being adapted to close said neck and having a length similar to the length of the neck;
seal means for sealing the barrel means in the tube;
lock means slidable in said barrel means between a release position in which the barrel means can be removed from the neck and a locked position in which the barrel is locked in a neck sealing position;
latch means movable on a bottom end of said barrel means between a locked position in engagement with the filling neck to lock the barrel means in the neck, and a release position permitting removal of said barrel means from the neck;
plunger means slidable in said barrel means engageable by said lock means for movement with said lock means between the release and locked positions; and
cam means on a bottom end of said plunger means for moving said latch means from the release position in which the barrel means can be removed from the filling neck and the locked position in which the barrel means is locked in the neck.
Preferred embodiment of the invention are described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings, wherein:
Referring to
A longitudinally extending passage 9 (
In an unlock or release position, the bolt 18 extends into a hole 19 in the bushing 10 (
When the lock 11 and the bushing 10 are pushed down in the passage 9, the lock engages the upper end of the top portion 23 of the plunger 12 to move downwardly. Downward movement of the plunger 12 is stopped when an annular flange 24 on the top end of the plunger encounters a second shoulder stop 26 in the passage 9. During downward movement, the flange 24 compresses a spring 14 around the plunger 12 against a third shoulder 29 in the passage 9. When the bushing 10 is unlocked, the spring 14 returns the bushing 10, the lock 11 and the plunger 12 to rest position (
The bottom 35 of the cam 31 is beveled, i.e. tapers downwardly. The tapered bottom end 35 of the cam 31 engages three latching discs 37, which are pivotally connected to the bottom end 38 of the barrel 1. For such purpose, the cylindrical bottom end 38 of the barrel includes three radially outwardly extending devises 40 spaced equidistant apart at 120° to each other. Pins 41 pivotally connect one side of the discs 37 to the devises 40. A resilient band 42 extending through keyhole notches 43 in the sides of the discs 37 diametrically opposed to the pins 41 biases the discs to inner or release positions (shown in solid lines in
With reference to
With reference to
A central hole 56 (
The top plate 71 and a metal plate 72 are sandwiched between the top end of the body 45 and the cap 51. As shown in
As best shown in
As in the case of the first embodiment of the invention, the passage 58 in the barrel 46 slidably receives the lock 65 and a plunger 85. Downward movement of the lock 65 and of the plunger 85 are limited by a shoulder 86. The bolt 89 of the lock 65 is slidable in a vertical groove 90 in a metal insert 91. The insert 91 is mounted in a tubular socket 92 (
In the unlocked position, the bolt 89 of the lock 65 is retracted and free to slide in the groove 90. In the locked position, the bolt 89 enters a socket 97 at the bottom of the groove 90. When the lock 65 is pushed downwardly using a key (not shown), a helical spring 98 beneath the head 99 of the plunger 85 is compressed against a shoulder 100. When the lock 65 is unlocked, the spring 98 returns the plunger 85 and the lock 65 to upper, unlocked or release position.
A generally cylindrical cam 102 mounted on the bottom end of the plunger 85 is slidable in the cylindrical bottom end 103 (
Each latch 105 includes a notch 1 10 on the inner side thereof. The top edge of the notch 110 normally rests on a circular bottom ledge 111 of the cam 102. A projection 113 on the top, outer edge of the latch 1 05 is engaged by a ramp 115 (
Claims
1. A fuel tank lock assembly for sealing a vehicle fuel filling neck having open top and bottom ends comprising:
- tubular barrel means for mounting in said neck, said barrel means being adapted to close said neck and having a length similar to the length of the neck;
- seal means for sealing the barrel means in the tube;
- lock means slidable in said barrel means between a release position in which the barrel means can be removed from the neck and a locked position in which the barrel is locked in a neck sealing position;
- latch means movable on a bottom end of said barrel means between a locked position in engagement with the filling neck to lock the barrel means in the neck, and a release position permitting removal of said barrel means from the neck;
- plunger means slidable in said barrel means engageable by said lock means for movement with said lock means between the release and locked positions; and
- cam means on a bottom end of said plunger means for moving said latch means from the release position in which the barrel means can be removed from the filling neck and the locked position in which the barrel means is locked in the neck.
2. The lock assembly of claim 1, wherein said latch means include a plurality of discs pivotally mounted on the bottom end of the barrel means for rotation between the locked position against a bottom edge of the filling neck and the release position.
3. The lock assembly of claim 2, wherein said latch means includes a resilient band interconnecting said discs for biasing said discs to the release position.
4. The lock assembly of claim 1 including spring means in said barrel means for returning said lock means, plunger means and cam means from the locked position to the release position.
5. The lock assembly of claim 4 including stop means in said barrel means for limiting movement of said lock means, plunger means and cam means from the release to the locked position.
6. The lock assembly of claim 4, including bushing means carrying said lock means, said bushing means being slidable in said barrel means for movement between said release and locked positions.
7. The lock assembly of claim 1 including a cap connected to a top end of said barrel means for connecting the barrel means to a top end of the fuel filling neck.
8. The lock assembly of claim 7 including a top plate connected to the top of said barrel beneath said cap; and a metal plate sandwiched between said top plate and said barrel.
9. The lock assembly of claim 7, wherein said barrel is formed of plastic.
10. The lock assembly of claim 9, including a metal insert in said barrel for receiving a bolt of said lock.
11. The lock assembly of claim 10 including a groove in said insert for slidably receiving the lock bolt, and a recess at a bottom end of said groove for receiving the lock bolt in the locked position.
Type: Application
Filed: Dec 18, 2006
Publication Date: Jun 19, 2008
Inventor: Gerard Bisaillon (Magog)
Application Number: 11/640,191
International Classification: B65D 55/14 (20060101);