Bicycle lock

The invention relates to a lock for bicycles.

[State of the art]

Bicycles are secured against theft by means of special locks, although absolute safety can not be achieved. Even the most stable and complicated locks can be opened by unauthorized persons at the appropriate expense. Against spontaneous theft, on the other hand, most locks offer a good protection.

German Offenlegungsschrift DE 42 32 540 A1 describes a lock for single-track vehicles of the generic type, which consists of a tubular container in which a centrally mounted drum is arranged, on which a cable is wound, one end of the cable being insoluble on the drum And the other end of the cable carries a safety lock half which can be inserted into a second safety lock half, which is non-detachably secured to the head of the container, for locking purposes.

The disadvantage of this bicycle lock and all other known bicycle locks is that it is attached to the bicycle with a special mount at all and that the seat post and the saddle connected thereto are not included in the protection.

"[OBJECT OF THE INVENTION]"

The object of the invention is to provide a bicycle lock which can be attached to the bicycle without a special mounting and which is used to secure both the bicycle and the seat post and the saddle connected thereto.

The object is achieved by an invention with the features of the main claim. Advantageous refinements are given in the subclaims.

[Examples]

The invention is explained below with reference to an exemplary embodiment.

Show it

<dl id="dl0001"><dt>FIG</dt><dd>A longitudinal section through the bicycle lock according to the invention,</dd><dt>FIG</dt><dd>A variant of the bicycle lock according to FIG. 1,</dd><dt>FIG</dt><dd>A bicycle lock according to the invention, combined with a tail light,</dd><dt>FIG</dt><dd>A bicycle lock according to the invention, combined with an acoustic signal transmitter and a transmitter.</dd></dl>

1 shows a bicycle lock 1 according to the invention, consisting of a housing 2 and a drum 3 rotatably mounted in the housing 2, on which a cable 4 is completely wound. The housing 2 has an opening 6, through which the cable 4 is guided to the outside. The cable 4 is fastened with one end to the drum 3 and carries on its outwardly guided other end a lock half 5a which can be connected to the lock half 5b arranged in the housing 2 and can be fixed there by means of a safety lock (not shown).

The safety lock 5 is preferably constructed as a numerical lock which is opened via a combination to be set. Locking and unlocking of the lock 5 can, however, also take place, for example, via a radio signal.

A spiral spring 7 is arranged between the housing 2 and the drum 3 and is tensioned by the twisting of the drum 3 when the cable 4 is pulled out and which, when the load is omitted, rotates the drum 3 until the cable 4 is wound or tensioned.

The housing 2 has a centrally arranged cylindrical opening 8 in which a sleeve 9 is arranged. The outer diameter of the sleeve 9 corresponds to the diameter of the opening 8 and the inner diameter of the sleeve 9 corresponds to the diameter of the seat post 10.

The sleeve 9 is non-rotatably connected to the housing 2. This can be done in such a way that the sleeve has, at one end, at least one circumferentially arranged lug 11 which engages in a recess 12 of the housing 2 corresponding to the shape of the lug.

The sleeve 9 is fixed on the seat support 10 in order to ensure a defined position of the bicycle lock 1. In this exemplary embodiment, the sleeve 9 is fixed by means of a nut 13 which presses the end (not shown) of the sleeve 9 slotted over the length of the thread against the seat post 10, thus producing a non-positive connection between the seat post 10 and the sleeve 9. At the same time, the nut 13 presses the housing 2 against the lugs 11 of the sleeve 9.

As shown in FIG. 2, the sleeve 9 can be omitted and embodied as part of the housing 2, whereby only a fastening element corresponding to the thread and the nut 13 is provided, which ensures the fixed connection between the housing 2 and the seat post 10. The connection between housing 2 or sleeve 9 and seat post 10 is not limited to the illustrated form, but can be effected by means of further known connecting elements. However, the use of sleeves 9 has the advantage that by using sleeves 9 with different internal diameters or internal cross sections, the bicycle lock 1 according to the invention can be adapted to seat braces 10 with different diameters or cross-sectional shapes.

According to a further embodiment, the bicycle lock 1 according to the invention is combined with a retro-reflector 14. The position of the bicycle lock 1 on the seat post 10 and its defined position offer optimal prerequisites for the arrangement of a return radiator on the bicycle lock 1. FIG. 3 shows the connection of the bicycle lock 1 according to FIG. 1 with a rear reflector 14. The reflector 14 consists of a transparent hood 15 , Which is connected to the housing 2. Under the hood 15, light-emitting diodes 16 are arranged which are fed by a battery 17. The electrical connection is established or interrupted by a switch 18.

According to a further embodiment (FIG. 4), the bicycle lock 1 according to the invention is combined with an acoustic signal transmitter 19, which is activated when the cable 4 is severed. The signal generator is powered by the battery 17 and is set so that the acoustic signal sounds for approximately 30 seconds at such a loudness that the signal can be heard up to a distance of 300 m. The acoustic signal generator can additionally be connected to a movement sensor (not shown) which already triggers an alarm when the bicycle is subjected to a certain number of movements within a certain time.

A further embodiment of the bicycle lock according to the invention provides that the acoustic signal transmitter 19 is connected to a transmitter 20 which, as soon as the signal transmitter is triggered, transmits a corresponding message to the mobile telephone of the owner and / or emits a radio signal which is a location Of the bicycle lock (and thus of the bicycle) via locating systems such as GPS.

The retro-reflector 14 is connected to the safety lock 5 electronically in such a way that it can only be activated if the safety lock is not closed. This prevents the battery 17 from being discharged with the aim of preventing an alarm from being triggered.

The bicycle lock according to the invention can be designed in such a way that its operation (locking and unlocking the lock 5, turning on the radar, the ending of the alarm, etc.) is performed by a radio remote control, the remote control itself being secured by a PIN. This has the advantage that only the owner of the remote control is able to operate the bicycle lock 1.

[Reference list]

<dl id="dl0002" compact="compact"><dt>1</dt><dd>Bicycle lock</dd><dt>2</dt><dd>casing</dd><dt>3</dt><dd>drum</dd><dt>4</dt><dd>rope</dd><dt>5</dt><dd>Lock</dd><dt>6</dt><dd>breakthrough</dd><dt>7</dt><dd>Spiral spring</dd><dt>8th</dt><dd>opening</dd><dt>9</dt><dd>Sleeve</dd><dt>10</dt><dd>Seat post</dd><dt>11</dt><dd>nose</dd><dt>12</dt><dd>Recess</dd><dt>13</dt><dd>mother</dd><dt>14</dt><dd>Reflectors</dd><dt>15</dt><dd>Hood</dd><dt>16</dt><dd>Light emitting diodes</dd><dt>17</dt><dd>battery</dd><dt>18</dt><dd>switch</dd><dt>19</dt><dd>Signal transmitter</dd><dt>20</dt><dd>Transmitter</dd></dl>