Security Fastener With Tapered Lock Pattern For Wheel Theft Prevention
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Solution Overview
Problem
Standard vehicle wheel fasteners lack security features to prevent unauthorized removal and theft, as they can be easily accessed with standard tools, despite the development of security locks for metal alloy wheels with recess holes.
Innovation Solution
A security fastener design featuring a threaded end portion, an intermediate skirt portion, and a drive portion with a tapered outer surface and key-receiving grooves, where the lock pattern is exposed inside or outside the recess hole, making it difficult to grip with unauthorized tools, and incorporating a break-away post for enhanced security.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If standard bolts and nuts are used for vehicle wheel fasteners, then ease of operation is improved, but security against unauthorized removal deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The fastener is divided into distinct functional segments: a threaded end portion for mating with the wheel, an intermediate skirt portion with a side wall region that extends into the recess hole, and a drive portion with key-receiving grooves. This segmentation allows each part to serve its specific function while collectively providing security against unauthorized removal.
Solution Approach 2:
The drive portion features an asymmetric lock pattern with key-receiving grooves that must be engaged by a matching key tool. This asymmetric geometry prevents unauthorized removal, as standard symmetric tools cannot properly engage the grooves to apply rotational force.
2Reliability
If security locks are installed in recess holes, then security against unauthorized removal is improved, but ease of operation deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The intermediate skirt portion acts as an intermediary element that bridges the recess hole and the drive portion. Its side wall region extends into the recess hole while its outer surface provides a accessible interface for tool engagement, facilitating operation without compromising security.
Solution Approach 2:
The security feature is positioned in a different spatial dimension - the lock pattern is arranged on the outer surface of the intermediate skirt portion, which can be accessed from outside the recess hole. This dimensional arrangement allows tool engagement without requiring direct access to the interior of the recess hole.
3Ease of operation
If the lock pattern is exposed outside the recess hole, then ease of operation is improved, but security against unauthorized access deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
Different regions of the fastener have different qualities: the intermediate skirt portion has an outer surface that is accessible for tool engagement, while the side wall region extends into the recess hole to provide security. This local differentiation allows the lock pattern to be accessible yet protected.
4Ease of manufacture
If the side wall region diameter is close to the recess entrance diameter, then ease of manufacture is improved, but security against unauthorized removal deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The critical parameter is not the absolute diameter of the side wall region, but its relative position and engagement with the recess hole. By controlling the diameter to be within about 6 millimeters of the recess entrance diameter, the fastener achieves proper fit and security without requiring extremely tight manufacturing tolerances.
Data Source
AI summary
A security fastener for installation on a wheel having a recess hole extending from a recess entrance of a first diameter comprising an end portion concentric with a longitudinal axis of the fastener, the end portion configured to mate with a corresponding element of the recess hole, an intermediate skirt portion having a side wall region with a diameter within about 6 millimeters of the diameter of the recess entrance, a drive portion having a tapered outer surface and a plurality of circumferentially spaced longitudinally extending key-receiving grooves in the tapered outer surface arranged in a lock pattern to which a driving torque may be applied, the tapered outer surface sloping downward and outward away from the longitudinal axis of the fastener from a top surface to the skirt portion at a taper angle of at least 11 degrees.