Abstract:
A fuel door locking system for a fuel door and hinge arm combination in which the fuel door is slidably interfaced on the hinge arm. The fuel door has a pin aperture. An abutment of the hinge arm is disposed adjacent said pin aperture. A locking pin is adapted for being inserted into the pin aperture with an interfering relationship with respect thereto which impedes the locking pin from being removed from the pin aperture. When the fuel door is slidably interfaced on the hinge arm and the locking pin is inserted into the pin aperture, then the abutment interferingly abuts the locking pin to prevent the fuel door from being slid off from the hinge arm.

Description:
TECHNICAL FIELD 
     The present invention relates to fuel doors utilized for motor vehicle applications, and more particularly to a slidably interfaced fuel door and goose neck hinge combination. Still more particularly, the present invention relates to a locking system which prevents unauthorized sliding removal of a fuel door from its goose neck hinge. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Access to the fuel fill cap of a motor vehicle is cosmetically and environmentally hidden by a hinged fuel door. The fuel door when closed is generally in parallel relation to a surrounding fender or other body panel, and when open is hinged at generally ninety degrees to the body panel and disposed off-set at one side of the filler cap opening in the body panel so as to provide easy and ample access to the filler cap. In order for the fuel door to be hinged with the proper movement from the closed state to the open state and then back again, a hinge is provided which is attached to a body component behind the body panel, and a hinge arm is provided to which the fuel door is attached. The hinge arm has a curvaceous shape to provide the desired generally ninety degree pivoting and off-set displacement of the fuel door, being customarily referred to as a “goose neck” hinge arm. 
     An innovation for fuel doors and their goose neck hinge arms that has been recently implemented in motor vehicle applications is a slidable interface between the goose neck hinge arm base and the fuel door which allows for ready replacement of the fuel door for purposes, for example, of damage repair or cosmetic customization. 
       FIGS. 1A and 1B  depict an example of a prior art slidably interfaced fuel door and goose neck hinge arm combination  10 . The goose neck hinge arm  12  is shown in the open state, wherein the fuel cap  14  is fully accessible in that the fuel door  16  is oriented at generally ninety degrees with respect to a surrounding body panel  18  and also displaced off-set to one side of the filler opening  20  by virtue of the curvaceous shape of the goose neck hinge arm  12 . In this regard, the goose neck hinge arm  12  includes a goose neck hinge arm base  22 . The inside surface  16   a  of the fuel door  16  has an opposing pair of ribs  24  which carry a plurality of alignment tabs  26  for slidingly interfacing with opposed edges  22   a  of the goose neck hinge arm base  22 . The goose neck hinge arm base  22  has a resilient locking tab  28  which resiliently receives a locking boss  30  of the fuel door  16 , wherein an interfering fit therebetween is provided when the fuel door is fully slid (along arrow Ar) into its operational position on the goose neck hinge arm base such that the fuel door is retained on the goose neck hinge arm base. As shown at  FIG. 1B , a screw driver  32  (or other suitable tool) is used to lift the locking tab  28  out of interference with the locking boss  30 , whereby the fuel door  16  may be slid off from the goose neck hinge arm base  22 . 
     While the goose neck hinge arm base and fuel door combination of the prior art is an excellent innovation which has advanced the art, there remains the problem that the fuel door may be unauthorizedly slid off from its goose neck hinge arm base, which situation is most likely to happen in those applications in which the owner has installed a relatively expensive, cosmetically appealing fuel door, such as a chrome fuel door. 
     Accordingly, what remains needed in the art is some way to prevent unauthorized removal of a fuel door from its goose neck hinge arm base. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention is a goose neck hinge arm and fuel door combination which includes a fuel door locking system in which the fuel door is prevented from being unauthorizedly slid off from its respective goose neck hinge arm base. 
     Considerations for providing a fuel door locking system include minimal cost and tamper resistance. While one-way drive heads and specialty tool drive heads of threaded fasteners are well known, these are expensive components and can be tampered with even in absence of the specialty drive tool, in that the very presence of the drive head lends itself to tampering, as for example by being gripped by pliers. 
     With these considerations in mind, the fuel door locking system according to the present invention utilizes, in its preferred exemplar embodiment, a locking pin, a pin aperture in a rib of the fuel door and a pin abutment of the goose neck arm base adjacent the pin aperture, wherein when the fuel door is slid into its operative position on the goose neck hinge arm base and the locking pin is inserted into the pin aperture, the locking pin has an interference relationship with the pin abutment such that the interference prevents the fuel door from being slid off from the goose neck hinge arm base. In this regard, the locking pin is structured to have an interfering relationship with respect thereto which impedes the locking pin from being removed from the pin aperture, preferably via a high frictional, interference fit with respect to the rib wall of the pin aperture and has an absence of a drive head onto which a tool could otherwise extract the locking pin, such that since tampering therewith is extremely difficult, and would-be thieves of the fuel door are thwarted. 
     Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a fuel door locking system which prohibits would be thieves from unauthorizedly sliding a fuel door off from its respective goose neck hinge arm base. 
     This and additional objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become clearer from the following specification of a preferred embodiment. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1A  is a perspective view of a motor vehicle body panel, showing the filler cap opening thereof, filler cap, and a prior art goose neck hinge arm and fuel door combination in which the fuel door has been slidingly mounted to the goose neck hinge arm base. 
         FIG. 1B  is a perspective view similar to  FIG. 1A , wherein now the prior art goose neck hinge arm and fuel cap combination is being modified by the fuel cap being slid off/onto the goose neck hinge arm base. 
         FIG. 2A  is a detail perspective view of a goose neck hinge arm base and the inside surface of a fuel door, showing the pin aperture of the fuel door with the lock pin inserted therein according to the present invention. 
         FIG. 2B  is a partly sectional, detail perspective view of a goose neck base and the inside surface of a fuel door, as depicted at  FIG. 2A , showing the locking pin fully seated into the pin aperture. 
         FIG. 2C  is a partly sectional detail, top view of the lock pin, pin aperture, and primary and secondary pin abutments of  FIG. 2B . 
         FIG. 3A  is a detail perspective view of a goose neck hinge arm base and the inside surface of a fuel door according to the present invention, wherein the locking pin is positioned for being inserted into the pin aperture of the fuel door. 
         FIGS. 3B through 3D  are each a partly sectional detail, top view of the lock pin and pin aperture according to the present invention, the views showing progressive stages of the insertion of the lock pin into the pin aperture. 
     
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     Referring now to the Drawing,  FIGS. 2A through 3D  depict an example of a fuel door locking system  100  according to the present invention which is applicable to goose neck hinge arm and fuel door combinations in which the fuel door is slidably interfaced with a base of the goose neck hinge arm. 
     The primary intention of the present invention is theft deterrence of expensive, customized fuel doors. As mentioned hereinabove, considerations for providing a fuel door locking system include minimal cost and tamper resistance, and while one-way drive heads and specialty tool drive heads of threaded fasteners are well known, these are expensive components and can be tampered with in that their drive heads lend them to being prone to manipulation by a thief, even one not having the appropriate drive tool, but rather having an inappropriate tool, such as a pliers, to extract the threaded fastener by gripping upon the drive head. Accordingly, it is with these considerations in mind, that the fuel door locking system  100  according to the present invention has been devised, wherein a tamper-proof interference fit is provided as between the fuel door and the goose neck hinge base, and which is free of a drive head, such that a would-be thief is thwarted in his/her nefarious machinations, no matter the tools of choice. 
     Turning attention now to  FIGS. 2A through 3D , an example of the structure and function of a preferred fuel door locking system  100  is depicted, it being understood that upon a review of this disclosure, an artisan could devise other structures to do essentially the same function, all of which being considered within the scope of the appended claims. 
     By way of exemplification, a goose neck hinge arm  102  has a goose neck hinge arm base  104  which, by way of example, is generally similar to that shown and depicted with respect to  FIGS. 1A and 1B , wherein the fuel door  106  is slidably interfaced with the goose neck hinge arm base, and wherein the goose neck hinge arm is in the open state (as generally per  FIG. 1B ) during which the fuel door is installed upon the goose neck hinge arm base. 
     In this regard at  FIGS. 2A ,  2 B and  3 A, the fuel door  106  has been conventionally slid onto the goose neck hinge arm base  104 , whereby the plurality of alignment tabs  108  at the pair of opposed ribs  110  (one rib being visible in  FIGS. 2A and 3A ) of the inside surface  106   a  of the fuel door  106  have slidingly interfaced with the opposed edges  104   a  of the goose neck hinge arm base  104 . Further, the resilient locking tab  112  of the goose neck hinge arm base  104  has, as is conventional per  FIGS. 1A and 1B , springingly (resiliently) seated with respect to the locking boss (not visible in  FIGS. 2A and 3A ), but visible as locking boss  30  in  FIG. 1B ) of the fuel door  106  with an interfering fit therebetween, whereby the fuel door has been fully slid into its operational position on the goose neck hinge arm base. 
     The fuel door locking system  100  according to the present invention utilizes, in a preferred exemplar embodiment depicted at  FIGS. 2A through 3D , a locking pin  120 , a pin aperture  122  in a rib  110  of the fuel door  106  and a primary pin abutment  124  of the goose neck hinge arm base  104  adjacent the pin aperture and disposed in generally parallel relation to the locking pin. Preferably, a secondary abutment  126  of the goose neck hinge arm base  104  is generally oriented perpendicular to the primary abutment  124  and is located superposed the pin aperture  122 , so as to serve as a location feature for the locking pin  120 , providing a positive travel limit during insertion of the locking pin into the pin aperture such that when the locking pin is fully inserted into the pin aperture and one (first) end of the locking pin abuts the secondary abutment, the opposite (second) end of the locking pin is disposed in the pin aperture in generally flush relation with respect to the rib  110  of the fuel door, as generally shown at  FIGS. 2A through 2C . 
     Referring now particularly to  FIGS. 3A through 3D , the structural features and operation of the fuel door locking system  100  will be further detailed. 
     The locking pin  102  is preferably in the form of a hollow cylinder wall  120   a  having first and second ends  120   b ,  120   c  and a longitudinal slot  120   d . The material of the cylinder wall  120   a  may be composed of any hard, durable and resilient material, as for example metal or plastic. In this regard, the locking pin  120  has an outside diameter D 1  which is wider than the diameter D 2  of the pin aperture  122 , as shown at  FIG. 3B . Accordingly, in order for the locking pin  102  to be insertable into the pin aperture  122 , it is first necessary for the locking pin cylinder wall  120   a  to be squeezed such that its outside diameter D 1 ′ is not more than the diameter D 2  of the pin aperture such that the locking pin is insertable into the pin aperture, as shown at  FIGS. 3C and 3D . As can be understood by comparison between  FIGS. 3B and 3C , squeezing (along arrows As) of the cylinder wall  120   a  involves the slot  120   d  being reduced in width, whereby the outside diameter goes from D 1  to D 1 ′, wherein the outside diameter D 1 ′ is approximately equal to the diameter D 2  of the pin aperture  122 . 
     The locking pin  120  is then inserted (along arrow Ai) into the pin aperture  122  until the first end  120   b  thereof abuts the secondary abutment  126 , whereupon the second end  120   c  of the locking pin is flush with the rib  110 , as generally depicted at  FIG. 2C . The locking pin  120  abuts the primary abutment  124 , and the resiliency of the cylinder wall  120   a  causes a tight frictional interaction with the aperture wall  122   a  of the pin aperture  122  (wherein now the cylinder wall  120   a  resiliently presses upon the rib wall) such that the locking pin is tightly wedged in the pin aperture. In this disposition of the locking pin  120  and its abutment with respect to the primary abutment  124 , the fuel door cannot be slid (see  FIG. 2C  and arrow Ar′) off from the goose neck hinge arm base  104 . 
     Now, in the event a would-be thief should covetingly eye the fuel door to the point of intent to commit theft, this would-be thief will first be required to overcome the fuel door locking system  100 , whereby even if the locking tab  112  has been conventionally released from the locking boss, not visible in  FIGS. 2A and 3A , but visible as locking boss  30  in  FIG. 1B , the fuel door  106  will still not be slidable off the goose neck hinge arm base  104  because of the interfering abutment of the locking pin  120  with respect to the primary abutment  124 . 
     On one hand, for example, if the would-be thief attempts to use a thin rod (i.e., a nail, etc.) pounded by a hammer (or other “tool” that can deliver blows to the rod) in order to punch the locking pin  120  into the pin aperture  122  in an attempt to destroy the interfering abutment relationship of the locking pin with respect to the primary abutment  124 , this attempt will be doomed to failure because of the abutment of the first end  120   b  of the locking pin with respect to the secondary abutment  126  which will resist any attempt to move the locking pin inwardly out of the pin aperture. 
     On the other hand, for further example, if the would-be thief tries to extract the locking pin  120  outwardly from the pin aperture  122 , the absence of a head, flushness of the second end  120   c , and the tight frictional interaction as between the locking pin cylinder wall  120   a  and the rib wall  122   a  of the pin aperture will all serve to preclude the would-be thief from successfully gripping the locking pin in a vain attempt to pull it out of the pin aperture. 
     Indeed, unless the would-be thief is carrying a portable drill to drill-out the locking pin, the fuel door is safe from being stolen. 
     To those skilled in the art to which this invention appertains, the above described preferred embodiment may be subject to change or modification. Such change or modification can be carried out without departing from the scope of the invention, which is intended to be limited only by the scope of the appended claims.