VEHICLE THEFT PREVENTION DEVICE
A vehicle theft prevention device includes a shaft, a tilt drive unit, and an expansion and contraction drive unit. A steering wheel that changes and operates a direction of a wheel in a vehicle is mounted on the shaft. The tilt drive unit adjusts an up-down angle of the shaft. The expansion and contraction drive unit adjusts a front-back position of the shaft. A lock mechanism is provided in which an engaging portion and an engaged portion that engage with each other and block rotation of the shaft when the shaft is at a preset tilt position and expansion-and-contraction position are arranged so as to be allocated to the shaft and the vehicle.
1 . A vehicle theft prevention device comprising:
a shaft on which a steering wheel that changes and operates a direction of a wheel in a vehicle is mounted;
a tilt drive unit that adjusts an up-down angle of the shaft; and
an expansion and contraction drive unit that adjusts a front-back position of the shaft, wherein
a lock mechanism is provided in which an engaging portion and an engaged portion that engage with each other and block rotation of the shaft when the shaft is at a preset tilt position and expansion-and-contraction position are arranged so as to be allocated to the shaft and the vehicle.
2 . The vehicle theft prevention device according to claim 1 , wherein
a cutout portion with which the engaging portion engages is formed in the engaged portion arranged in the vehicle, and
the cutout portion is configured to be open in both a direction toward the steering wheel along a longitudinal direction of the shaft and a diametrical direction of the shaft in a state where the engaging portion and the engaged portion engage with each other.
3 . The vehicle theft prevention device according to claim 1 , further comprising a synchronization mechanism that engages the engaging portion and the engaged portion regardless of a rotation phase of the engaging portion being determined based on a rotation phase of the shaft.
4 . The vehicle theft prevention device according to claim 3 , wherein the engaging portion is a gear externally inserted onto the shaft, the engaged portion is a rack, and a resilient member that maintains a neutral position of the gear or the rack is provided as the synchronization mechanism in at least one of a mounting portion of the gear to the shaft or a mounting portion of the rack to the vehicle.