Vehicle partition

• US 5,536,057 A
• Filed: 11/22/1994
• Issued: 07/16/1996
• Est. Priority Date: 11/22/1994
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Troy Sheet Metal Works, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Troy Sheet Metal Works, Inc.
• Inventors: Stewart, John M.
• Primary Examiner(s): PAPE, JOSEPH
• Application Number:
  US08/343,257
• Time in Patent Office: 602 Days
• Field of Search: 296/24.1, 296/37.8, 296/37.16, 296/DIG. 1, 280/749, 280/748
• US Class Current: 296/24.46
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 21/12 which protect the occupants against personal attack from the inside or the outside of the vehicle
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 7/04 in driver or passenger space , e.g. using racks B60R7/005, B60R7/08 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: B60R 7/14 for supporting weapons

Abstract

A vehicle partition that forms a barrier between a rear occupant area and a front occupant area and provides storage space for passengers in the front occupant area using free space in the rear occupant area. The partition includes a storage compartment that extends over unused floor space between passengers in the rear seats of the vehicle. The storage compartment prevents access to the storage space from the rear occupant area and includes mounting brackets for securely storing equipment within the storage space.

Claims

1. A security partition for use in combination with a passenger vehicle having front and rear passenger spaces with front and rear seats therein, a floor, a roof, and an inverted U-shaped roll bar mounted between said front and rear spaces and having legs secured to said floor, said partition comprising:

a dividing wall disposed behind the front seats and inclined upwardly and to the rear to form a security barrier between said spaces, said wall comprising a lower portion formed by at least two plates that are spaced apart to leave a central access opening between them, and an upper portion formed by a window assembly substantially filling the space between said plates and said roll bar;

means for securing said dividing wall to said roll bar in the upwardly and rearwardly inclined position;

and a storage compartment disposed behind said dividing wall and overlying said access opening, said storage compartment comprising a generally rectangular rear wall having an upper edge joined to said dividing wall adjacent said window assembly and a lower edge shaped rearwardly from said dividing wall to be substantially vertical when said dividing wall is in its rearwardly inclined position, and opposite generally triangular side walls that are secured to said rear wall and to said plates to enclose said storage compartment and prevent access thereto from said rear passenger space.

2. A security partition as defined in claim 1 wherein said rear wall and said triangular side walls are formed from a uniform metal sheet.

3. A security partition as defined in claim 1 wherein said partition further includes cushions disposed along outside edges formed by said rear wall joined to respective triangular side walls.

4. A security partition as defined in claim 1 wherein said side walls include a pair of parallel lips laterally extending away from said storage compartment defining opposing channels therein and said plates include a re-enforced hem line along confronting sides of said plates whereby said hem lines are slidingly engaged within said opposing channels.

5. A security partition as defined in claim 4 wherein said partition includes bolts to secure each of said hem lines within said respective lips.

6. A security partition as defined in claim 1 wherein said partition includes equipment brackets disposed on the rear wall such that said brackets securely hold equipment within easy reach of occupants seated in the front of the vehicle.

7. A security partition as defined in claim 6 wherein at least one of said equipment brackets is a gun rack.

8. A security partition as defined in claim 7 wherein said gun rack includes a barrel locking bracket and a base tray having an inclined opening securely fastened to said storage compartment in vertically alignment whereby a gun is secured in said gun rack in a generally vertical direction.

9. A security partition as defined in claim 1 wherein said partition includes means for anchoring the bottom of said storage compartment.

10. A security partition as defined in claim 9 wherein said anchoring means is a skirt formed from a uniform metal sheet and folded in segments to extend from the dividing wall and storage compartment to the floor of the vehicle.

11. A security partition for use in combination with a passenger vehicle having front and rear passenger spaces, said partition comprising:

a dividing wall sized and shaped to be mounted within the vehicle between said front and rear passenger spaces to form a security barrier between those spaces, said wall having front and rear sides facing, respectively, into said front and rear passenger spaces,

a storage compartment positioned against said rear side of said dividing wall to be disposed in said rear passenger space when said partition is in the vehicle, said storage compartment extending rearwardly from said wall and having an open front side facing toward the wall;

said wall having an access opening aligned with said open front side whereby articles in the compartment are accessible from the front passenger space;

a means for securing said compartment to said wall and preventing access to the interior of the compartment from said rear passenger space.

12. A security partition as defined in claim 11 wherein said storage compartment and rear access opening are centrally located in said wall to overlie the central portion of the vehicle floor in said rear passenger space.

13. A security partition as defined in claim 12 wherein said storage compartment is box-like in shape and tapers upwardly from a relatively wide, rectangular lower end to an apex which is connected to said wall.

14. A security partition for use in combination with a passenger vehicle having front and rear passenger spaces, said partition comprising:

a dividing wall disposed behind the front seats and inclined upwardly and to the rear to form a security barrier between said spaces, said wall comprising a lower portion formed by at least two plates that are spaced apart to leave a central access opening between them, and an upper portion formed by a window assembly substantially filling the space above said plates;

said plates each include an edge along said access opening folded over said plate to define a re-enforcing hem line; and

an enclosure overlying said access opening and including laterally extended parallel lips along the sides thereby defining opposing channels for housing said respective hem lines therein.