Abstract:
An automobile passenger compartment partition employs a pair of sideplates fittable against door and window contours, secured to the body by brackets, and supporting a backplate extending between them. A vertically slidable window is received in rails on the sideplates and held up by key-operated plunger-type locks.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Field of the Invention 
     This invention relates generally to dividers between front and rear seating compartments of automobiles, and more particularly to a bullet-resistant partition for police vehicles, for example. 
     2. Description of the Prior Art 
     Various arrangements have been used in the past for separating prisoners from policemen in vehicles. Some have been devised simply for privacy, and some have been devised specifically for taxicabs. U.S. patents disclosing such devices, some of which include roll-bars, are as follows: 
     
         ______________________________________Pat. No.    Inventor     Issue Date______________________________________3,214,211   Setina       Oct.  26, 19653,441,309   Halstead     April 29, 19693,469,090   Redus        Sept. 23, 19693,547,217   Garza        Oct.  16, 19693,666,313   Halstead     May  30, 1972Re.27,942   Setina       March 19, 197412/23/75 641599 2 101      65.00CK12/23/75 641599 2 102      18.00CK______________________________________ 
    
     The usual privacy-type partitions are found in limousines where the arrangements are built in by the factory. For the bullet-resistant type of partitioning, many have been devised for after-market installation in conventional vehicles. Some such arrangements are shown in the above-described patents. 
     There has remained a need for greater security, ease of installation, and ease of operation. The present invention is directed toward answering this need. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     Described briefly, in a typical embodiment of the present invention, horizontally-spaced, generally upright templates are contoured to fit the compartment facing surfaces of the doors of the vehicle in which the unit is to be installed. These templates have window channels on the inner edges thereof, facing each other, and receive a vertically movable window therein. Means are provided to lock the window in the &#34;up&#34; position, such means preferably being plunger-type, key-operated locks. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 is a front elevational view of the shield assembly. 
     FIG. 2 is a rear elevational view thereof. 
     FIG. 3 is a side elevational thereof installed in a passenger car body, the latter being shown fragmentarily. 
     FIG. 4 is a rear perspective view of the interior of the car as seen from the back seat looking forward. 
     FIG. 5 is a section through a portion of the side template and channel, the section being taken at line 5--5 in FIG. 1 and viewed in the direction of the arrows. 
     FIG. 6 is an enlarged fragmentary elevation of a portion of the unit from the same aspect as viewed in FIG. 3. 
     FIG. 7 is an enlarged fragmentary perspective view of the front of the lock assembly at one side of the window. 
     FIG. 8 is an enlarged fragmentary section showing a lock assembly holding the window up. 
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     Referring now to the drawings in detail, the assembly includes a window made of a transparent plastic material which is bullet resistant. The material made by General Electric Company and marketed under the brand name &#34;Lexan&#34; in a thickness of 3/8 inch has been found suitable for the window 11. This window is received in a pair of channels 12 mounted to the front faces of a pair of side templates 13. The side templates and the channels are preferably made of high grade aluminum, the templates being 1/4 inch thick. The channels are welded to the templates. As is shown in FIG. 2, a backplate 14 is fastened directly to the back of the side templates and it may also be made of aluminum, typically 3/16 inch thick. It is fastened to the side templates by eight screws, each being received through a horizontally extending slot in the backplate and a vertical slot in the side template, to thereby accommodate different heights and widths of vehicle interiors, and each having a locknut on the front side of the template to prevent removal of the screw from the back side. 
     As shown in FIG. 3, the side template 13 is mounted in the vehicle body at a slight incline practically paralleling the back surface of the front seat 16. It is secured in this position by brackets bolted to the center pillar or &#34;B&#34; post 17 of the automobile body, the &#34;A&#34; post being shown at 18. With the window 11 fully raised, it contacts the headlining material 19 in the passenger compartment entirely across as is better shown in FIG. 4 at 21. The car roof 22 is immediately above the headlining in conventional construction, although occasionally some insulating padding is provided between the headlining and roof in conventional passenger car construction. 
     To describe the attachment of the assembly in more detail, reference is again made to FIGS. 3, 4, and 6. The templates 13 are secured to the &#34;B&#34; post by two angle brackets 23 and 24 at about mid-window level amd mid-seatback level. These brackets may be identical. Straight brackets 26 and 27 are secured to the angle brackets by means such as screws 28 received in slots in the angle bracket, permitting appropriate establishment of the angle of the channels parallel to the back of the front seat. The lower ends of the channels are secured to the floor of the passenger compartment by slotted angle brackets 31 affixed to the lower end of the channels and affixed to the floor by bolts received up through the floor pan of the car and through the floor mat 32 in the passenger compartment immediately behind the front seat. An additional slotted angle bracket 33 is provided at the center of the backplate 14 and fastened to the floor at the tunnel 34. The provision of the slots in the sideplates, the backplate, and the brackets, facilitates installation of the assembly in various sizes of vehicle interiors. 
     It is a feature of the invention that the side templates are provided with outer edges contoured to precisely fit the surface features of the passenger compartment defining faces of the rear doors. This is best shown in FIG. 4 where the side template 13 has an upper side edge 36 contoured to precisely fit the contour of the curved window 37 in the door, 
     an intermediate side edge 38 contoured to fit the inner face of the door upholstery itself, including the armrest notch 39 for the armrest 41, and a top portion 42 contoured to fit the headlining material and above-door molding, if any, of the car body. This, together with the contour of the upper edge of the window 11, fitting the contour of the headlining material, precludes passage of any objects from the rear compartment to the front compartment, providing complete security. 
     When there are no rear seat occupants in the car, the window can be lowered. Suitable stops are provided on the backplate to provide the lower limit of travel of the window, which is typically such that the handle 43 affixed to the front of the window will be immediately above the top 44 of the back of the front seat. In this way, it can be raised by grasping it from the location of the front seat and pulling upward on it. The additional handle 46 affixed to the front of the window facilitates holding it up in place as the window locks are actuated. 
     To understand the operation of the window locks, it will be helpful to refer to FIGS. 1, 7, and 8. In these figures, lock mounting brackets 47 are affixed to the front faces of channels 12. The plunger lock is mounted in the bracket. Such locks are made by the Eagle Lock Company of Chicago, Ill. FIG. 8 shows the plunger 49 in position under the lower edge of the window 11. The key 52 may thereupon be removed to lock the plunger in the window holding and locking position shown in the various figures, where its upper edge at 21 is in contact with the headlining material 19. 
     From the foregoing description, it can be recognized that the nature of the structure and arrangement of parts according to the present invention facilitates variations as needed for adaption to vehicles having different interior contours. The basic arrangement can be employed with the only change being in the outside edge contours of the side templates, and, in a few instances, possible slight change in the top contour of the window. In this way, maximum security can be provided at a comparatively nominal initial purchase cost and installation cost for the conventional passenger automobile adapted to police use. The assembly is rustproof, rattle free and virtually maintenance free. The window locks are key operable, and from the front seat only. 
     While there have been described above the principles of this invention in connection with specific apparatus, it is to be clearly understood that this description is made only by way of example and not as a limitation in the scope of the invention.