Safety and security device

Claim 1

In a vehicle with a rack by which a spare tire is mounted on the underframe of the vehicle, said rack including an arm upon which said tire is supported, said arm having a keyhole slot in it and said rack including an eye bolt swingably mounted on said frame at one end and depending therefrom, said eye bolt having an eye on its lower end and a shank threaded through at least a part of its length and a a shoulder on said shank above said eye, said keyhole slot being of a size in a larger part to pass said shoulder and eye and in a smaller part to admit said shank but to prevent passage of said shoulder, the improvement comprising in combination with said arm and said eye bolt, an elongated plug, said plug having an upper part of a size too large to pass through said large part of the keyhole slot and a lower part of a size to pass through said large part of the keyhole slot but too large to pass through the said smaller part of the keyhole slot, said lower part having a passage extending transversely entirely therethrough; and lock means mounted on and carried by said plug, said lock means having a shackle with a straight segment of a size to pass through said passage, and a cross segment of a size to pass through said eye, said plug projecting through said large part of the keyhole slot a distance sufficient to permit said shackle to extend through the said passage and said eye.