ANTI-THEFT SYSTEM FOR MOTORCYCLES

The present invention refers to an anti-theft system for motorcycles and scooters of the portable and antonomous type.

As known, the prior art proposes anti-theft systems, specific for every brand and model of motorcycles or scooters, permanently installed on the vehicle and connected to the vehicle electric system by means of a suitable cable. Therefore, in case of replacement of the motorcycle or the scooter, it is necessary to purchase a new anti-theft system and to contact a competent motor vehicle electrician that well knows the motorcycle electronics and completes its installation without creating damages to the electric system: in fact, possible interferences with the electronic apparatus can be a problem and it is therefore important that neither the electronic unit nor the other electronic parts of the motorcycle are subjected to variations during their operation, due to influences by the installed anti-theft system.

Moreover, contrary to what is proposed by the market, it would obviously be necessary that an anti-theft system for motorcycles or scooters be of reduced sizes, in order to be

able to be easily transported by its owner, or placed in the object-holding space placed under the saddle. The anti-theft system should further have minimum overal sizes also because, during operation, it must be able to be placed inside the motorcycle underbody, exploiting extremely limited spaces.

For example, CN-A-1566601, WO-A-2007010580, JP-A- 2006138199, US-A-2003188938, US-A-5916279, US-A-5819889, EP- A-0716007, US-A-5499518, US-A-5492206, US-A-5515947, US-A- 5388436, US-A-5467618, US-A-5365758 and US-A-2006096342 disclose mechanical blocking anti-theft systems, free from electronic components adapted to signal the theft of the motorcycle or scooter.

EP-A-1764292, JP-A-8156857, US-A-5530427 and IT-A- 1255784 instead disclose anti-theft systems operating by blocking the disk brake, equipped with electronic parts that alarm a horn under theft situations.

US-A-2006112739 instead discloses a system for blocking the disk brake that allows reminding the motorcycle rider to remove the block before starting to move the vehicle. This signaling is not performed electronically, but mechanically, since the disk-blocking device is a major vehicle component for moving the vehicle. The above mentioned patent in fact refers to a pedal, shaped as a "U", used both for abutting the foot during vehicle running, and as disk-blocking device when parking.

None of the previously mentioned documents however provides for the combined and synergic use of a peripheral anti-theft device, such as for example a mechanical anti- theft device such a disk-blocking device, and of an anti- theft unit that are mutually cooperating.

Therefore, object of the present invention is solving the above prior art problems, by providing a completely independent operation from the vehicle electronic apparatus on which it is installed and easily transportable, but that performs a disturbance action and simultaneously warns the motorcycle rider in case of attempted theft.

Another object of the present invention is providing an anti-theft system for motorcycles and scooters equipped with movement sensors adapted to detect possible motorcycle attitude variations and consequently activate the sound of sound signalling means or a horn and the transmission of an alarm sound signal to at least one portable receiver that the motorcycle rider could bring with himseld.

A further object of the present invention is providing an anti-theft system for motorcycles and scooters communicating and cooperating with at least one peripheral anti-theft device.

Another object of the present invention is providing an anti-theft system for motorcycles and scooters in which the peripheral anti-theft device is of the mechanical type and is

adapted to block the motorcycle disk brake, making its theft more difficult and providing a wider action range to avoid thefts, allowing the motorcycle rider to reach his parked vehicle .

Another object of the present invention is providing an anti-theft system for motorcycles and scooters equipped with at least one mechanical anti-theft device, such as a disk- blocking device, synergically cooperating with at least one anti-theft unit equipped with movement sensors, able to signal, in addition to current theft situations, the need of having to remove the disk-blocking device before the vehicle is moved, thereby avoiding to create damages to the vehicle wheel and braing system.

Moreover, an object of the present invention is providing an anti-theft system for motorcycles and scooters suitable for every two-wheeled vehicle model and that can be used only when necessary, allowing to thereby solve problems and costs linked to wiring the anti-theft device to the vehicle electric system, realising a simple and compact safety system.

The above and other objects and advantages of the invention, as will appear from the following description, are obtained with an anti-theft system for motorcycles and scooters as claimed in claim 1. Preferred embodiments and non-trival variations of the present invention are the

subject matter of the dependent claims.

It will be immediately obvious that several variations and modifications (for example related to shape, sizes, arrangements and parts with equivalent functionality) can be made to what is described, without departing from the scope of the invention as appears from the enclosed claims.

The present invention will be better described by some preferred embodiments thereof, provided as a non-limiting example, with reference to the enclosed drawings, in which:

Figure 1 shows a block diagram describing the functional components of a preferred embodiment of the anti-theft system for motorcycles according to the present invention;

Figure 2 shows a block diagram describing an alternative operating mode of the anti-theft system for motorcycles according to the present invention;

Figure 3 shows a block diagram describing the functional components of an element of the anti-theft system for motorcycles according to the present invention;

Figure 4 shows a schematic side view of a component of the anti-theft system for motorcycles according to the present invention;

Figure 5 shows a block diagram describing the functional components of another element of the anti-theft system for motorcycles according to the present invention;

Figure 6 shows a block diagram describing the functional

components of a further element of the anti-theft system for motorcycles according to the present invention; and

Figure 7 shows a block diagram describing the functional components of another element of the anti-theft system for motorcycles according to the present invention.

In general, the anti-theft system according to the present invention is a portable system for detecting the theft of motorcycles and scooters, that does not interfere with the unit or any other electronic system being present on the vehicle: as can be seen afterwards in more detail, in fact, due to its portable nature, it can be used on all motorcycle and scooter models, equipped both with central stand and with side stand.

With reference therefore to Figure 1, it is possible to note that the anti-theft system 1, in particular per motorcycles and scooters, comprises:

- at least one autonomous control unit 10 adapted to be applied to the vehicle and equipped with movement-detecting sensors adapted to detect the vehicle attitude change when parking and, preferably, with signalling means, preferably made as at least one piezoelectric horn having a suitable acoustic power, adapted to signal an alarm situation; in particular, the autonomous control unit 10 can be fastened, through fastening means such as at least one layer of Velcro(R) material, inside the vehicle underbody (in case of

motorcycles) or the space under the saddle (in case of scooters) . It is wholly evident that, alternatively, any other fastening means suitable for such purpose can be used. Moreover, the autonomous control unit 10 can be equipped with autonomous electric supply means, such as for example electric batteries of the rechargeable type; alternatively, the autonomous control unit 10 could be supplied by the vehicle battery on which it is fastened, through a suitable connector branching from the vehicle electric system only when parking;

- preferably, at least one peripheral mechanical anti-theft device, for example a mechanical anti-theft device such as a disk-blocking device, communicating and cooperating with the autonomous control unit 10, preferably through a communication technology of the wireless type and equipped with at least one proximity sensor: in particular, the peripheral anti-theft device, cooperating with the autonomous control unit 10, increases the vehicle safety level, providing the detection of a current theft and warning the motorcycle rider about the illegal removal attempt; preferably, the mechanical anti-theft device 20 is also equipped with signalling means, preferably made as at least one piezoelectric horn, adapted to signal an alarm situation, and with autonomous electric supply means, such as for example electric batteries of the rechargeable type;

- at least one portable alarm receiver 30 communicating and cooperating with the autonomous control unit 10 adapted to warn the vehicle owner, if he is at a distance of a few hundreds of metres, about the attitude change or an effraction attempt of the peripheral anti-theft device occurred during the vehicle parking and detected at least by the sensors of the autonomous control unit 10 and/or detected at least by the sensors of the mechanical anti-theft device 20. Also the portable alarm receiver 30 is equipped with autonomous electric supply means, such as for example electric batteries of the rechargeable type, and preferably with signalling means, preferably made as at least one piezoelectric horn, adapted to signal an alarm situation;

- means for activating/deactivating the anti-theft system 1: in particular, such means are preferably made as at least one ciphered key 60 adapted to trigger and untrigger the autonomous control unit 10 to activate or deactivate the operation of the anti-theft system 1; preferably, the ciphered key 60 used by the autonomous control unit 10 is of a passive nature; without the help of batteries and with the simple use of passive electronic components, during the triggering and untriggering step of the autonomous control unit 10, the ciphered key 60, as can be seen afterwards in more detail, produces frequency and voltage references that will be measured by the autonomous control unit 10 within an

evaluation period. In order to produce these electric references, it is necessary to generate a direct connection, for example through a pair of RJ45 connectors between the ciphered key 60 and the autonomous control unit 10.

Preferably, the autonomous control unit 10 is a device that is electronically turned off only when it is placed under the untriggering condition and the turning-off key 50 is inserted in a suitable connector. Thereby, no turning-off results are obtained if the suitable key 50 is inserted during the whole triggering period of the autonomous control unit 10.

In addition, the anti-theft system 1 according to the present invention could comprise, jointly or disjointly:

- at least two turning-off keys 40, 50, respectively one, designated in the Figures with numeric reference 50, for the autonomous control unit 10, the other, designated in the Figures with numeric reference 40, for the portable receiver 30. Such keys 40, 50 are necessary to avoid useless wastes of electric energy from the rechargeable batteries present inside the two devices, guaranteeing a longer autonomy of the anti-theft system 1 according to the present invention;

- at least one recording key adapted to start a procedure for associating the autonomous control unit 10 and its respective peripheral anti-theft device;

- at least one battery charger for charging the batteries

being present inside the autonomous control unit 10, of the portable alarm receiver 30 and of the peripheral anti-theft device.

The system 1 according to the present invention is therefore mainly composed of the autonomous control unit 10 and of the peripheral anti-theft device, preferably_made as a mechanical anti-theft device 20 in the form of a disk- blocking device, mutually communicating preferably in a wireless mode: in particular, the above two components can be simultaneously used in a composite operating mode (like in the preferred case shown in Figure 1) or independently one from the other in a single operating mode (like in the case shwon in Figure 2) . In the single operating mode, the only autonomous control unit 10, using movement-detecting sensors described below, detects any attitude change of the parked vehicle, and warns its owner about the current effraction through the portable alarm receiver 30: this mode is advisable for short stays. In order to increase the safety level, it is suitable to favour the composite operating mode, that provides for installing on the vehicle, in addition to the autonomous control unit 10, also the peripheral anti- theft device, for example and preferably made as a disk- blocking device; in fact, by placing a mechanical stopper on one of the vehicle wheels, the vehicle movement during a theft will be more difficult. The disk-blocking device must

in fact be necessarily removed before displacing the motorcycle; the removal of this mechanical block implies a loss of time by the thief and at the same time a better margin that allows an intervention by the vehicle owner, with the hope of also warning the passers-by. This mode is advisable for long stays. The disk-blocking device can also be used independently with respect to the unit 10; in this case, however, there is no communication form with the portable alarm receiver 30, but a sound signal will exclusively be emitted by the disk-blocking device itself as soon as an anomaly occurs. Since the primary objective of the anti-theft system 1 according to the present invention is warning the owner about an attempted theft through the use of the portable alarm receiver 30, this latter mode is scarcely safe and useless for the end purpose of the present invention.

Therefore, once having parked the vehicle and fastened the autonomous control unit 10, the use of the suitable ciphered key 60 will allow triggering the anti-theft system 1 for the whole length of the stay, and it will start signalling possible attitude variations with a time offset of about ten seconds from its activation. Any attitude irregularity detected by sensors being present inside the autonomous control unit 10 will generate the activation of an alarm cycle, for example approximately thirty seconds long,

that can be heard due to the piezoelectric horn placed inside the autonomous control unit 10 itself; simultaneously, a radio-frequency signal will be transmitted by the autonomous control unit 10 and received by the portable alarm receiver 30 that the vehicle owner will bring with him during the period when he is far from his own motorcycle or scooter. These vehicles are better in finding a place where they can be parked, and for the majority of times their stay place is not far away from the place where the vehicle owner goes. This justifies the presence of the portable alarm receiver 30; the transmitted signal demodulation will produce as result the emission of a sound that signals, within a few hundreds of metres, the current irregularity, warning the vehicle owner where the simple horn of the autonomous control unit 10 is scarcely efficient for different reasons (urban noises, owner excessively far away from the parked vehicle, etc.), allowing him to quickly reach his own vehicle to ascertain the reasons that triggered the alarm.

In particular, for using the anti-theft system 1 according to the present invention, it is necessary therefore to place the autonomous control unit 10 in the chosen vehicle area placing it along its own detection configuration, defined by the placement of the movement-detecting sensors, and to fasten it in such a way that the piezoelectric horn is not facing towards the bearing base between the autonomous

control unit 10 itself and the vehicle. Which operating modes the autonomous control unit 10 will have to perform is then decided: the single operating mode or the composite operating mode. In the first case, that does not provide for the use of the peripheral anti-theft device (such as, for example, in the case shown in Figure 2), the anti-theft system 1 according to the present invention is active when the autonomous control unit 10 is triggered with the suitable ciphered key 60; therefore, it will signal any attitude change occurred during the stay, provided that such displacement has angular components along the rolling and pitching directions of the vehicle itself. The detected anomalies will be measured, for example after a period of approximately ten seconds from the triggering step, through the movement-detecting sensors being present inside the autonomous control unit 10: preferably, the movement- detecting sensors are three mercury switches mutually placed in quadrature to make a Cartesian tern in space Si ³ integral with the vehicle and locate, according to the bearing surface of the autonomous control unit 10, the place generated by the direction of the above axes: these axes in fact are privileged to locate a theft attempt of the vehicle, this latter one being equipped both with central stand and with side stand. Moreover, the three mercury switches are preferably placed with an angle anomaly with respect to the

horizontal to reduce sensitivity and avoid alarms due to minimum attitude variations. The detected modifications, in addition to the tolerance recognised as rest position of the autonomous control unit 10, will generate the switching of at least one of the two mercury switches, and the position variation to which the vehicle was subjected will be signalled, through the suitable piezoelectric horn and through the radio-frequency signal received by the portable alarm receiver 30.

In particular, in case of parking with the help of a side stand, the vehicle gets its attitude, if observed from its rear side, with the mechanical paking system oriented towards the convex angle that is generated with respect to the normal direction to the abutment plane. During a theft attempt, the vehicle must necessarily be removed from its parking position and, taking into account its mass, this must be clockwise rotated around the pitching axis to decrease the weight force moment produced by its slanting, generating an increase of the above convex angle. Purpose of the mercury switch is signalling the time in which the parked vehicle is being subjected to an undesired attitude variation exceeding a pre-established limit angle imposed for sensitivity and tolerance.

The same remarks are valid for two-wheeled vehicles that use the central stand as parking system; the angular

variations that are observed in this case occur with lower intensity towards the rolling direction and mainly along the pitching direction. Angular variations along this axis, taking into account both vehicle mass and its configuration during the stay, produce small bumps when the vehicle transfers its own weight from stand to wheels, making it easier to detect the current angular detection. The stresses in fact produce acceleration of a small amount that confer movement to mercury droplets being present inside the switches, allowing them to open and close the contacts and thereby generate a sufficient electric signal for activating piezoelectric horn and radio-frequency transmitter. As described, the use of these mercury switches is particularly suitable for recognising those necessary and proper actions during a theft: they allow setting the maximum attitude angle that one is willing to tolerate as harmless and rest situation, over which the action of non-authorised people operating on the unmanned vehicle can be detected. In particular, Figure 4 shows a housing of a mercury switch inside the autonomous control unit 10. Observe the anomaly of angle α, included between 5° and 10°, with respect to a horizontal plane P. Both switches are placed as shown and oriented along their own detection axis. During a stay, the vehicle is subjected to a slanting whose angle is summed, along the counterclockwise direction, with arc α, ensuring

the switch contact opening. This geometry guarantees the triggering of the piezoelectric horn before the vehicle reaches its normal position with respect to the abutment plane, if parked with the side stand, and simultaneously to the weight transfer onto the wheels, if the vehicle parking exploits the central stand. The mercury switches placed inside the autonomous control unit 10 could however be scarcely suitable with respect to road bed inclinations: in this case, the movement-detecting sensors of the autonomous control unit 10 could be or comprise at least one piezoelectric gyroscope or angular accelerometers, to evaluate the amount of physical quantities acting on the vehicle subjected to a theft.

After having ended the stay period, the autonomous control unit 10 will be untriggered through the ciphered key 60, removed from the vehicle and afterwards turned off with the suitable key 50; similarly, the portable alarm receiver 30 will be turned off by means of its respective turning-off key 40.

In the composite operating mode (such as, for example, in the case shown in Figure 1) , the autonomous control unit 10 cooperates with the peripheral anti-theft device for evaluating the attitude changes to which the parked vehicle is subjected, thereby introducing also a stopper of a mechanical nature to vehicle mobility. In particular, the

peripheral anti-theft device is a peripheral device with which the autonomous control unit 10, placed on the vehicle following the previously described precautions, performs a connection, preferably of the wireless type, for the continuous exchange of information necessary for monitoring the anomalies detected by the peripheral anti-theft device itself. In particular, the proximity sensor of the mechanical anti-theft device 20 is a ultrasound proximity sensor that evaluates, by exploiting the echo return physics generated by the presence of an obstacle, the distance existing between the mechanical anti-theft device 20 and the road bottom. Occurred alterations, in addition to the tolerance recognised as rest position of the mechanical anti-theft device 20, will generate a particular sequence of electric signals transmitted in radio-frequency and recognised by the autonomous control unit 10, that will start signalling the position variation performed by the vehicle both through the use of the piezoelectric horn placed inside the autonomous control unit 10 itself, and through the use of the piezoelectric horn placed inside the peripheral anti-theft device, and through the radio-frequency signal received by the portable alarm receiver 30. The continuous exchange of information between autonomous control unit 10 and peripheral anti-theft device is regulated by a communication protocol model shown below, that also allows performing a signalling

related to the removal of the peripheral anti-theft device, and in particular of the disk-blocking device from the disk- brake, activating, once having untriggered the autonomous control unit 10 with the ciphered key 60, the piezoelectric horn of the mechanical anti-theft device 20 intermittently. After having ended the stay period, the autonomous control unit 10 will be untriggered by means of the ciphered key 60, removed from the vehicle and afterwards turned off with the suitable key 50; similarly, the portable alarm receiver 30 will be turned off through its respective turning-off key 40. In this case, it is however very important to also remove the mechanical anti-theft device 20 since it could generate strong damages to the vehicle braking system. In order to solve this problem, the autonomous control unit 10 then authorises the mechanical anti-theft device 20 to emit an intermittent sound when the autonomous control unit 10 has been deactivated to warn and remind the owner that it is necessary to remove the device 20; in particular, the disk- blocking device will call attention to the wheel locking, for example after ten seconds from the untriggering of the autonomous control unit 10.

With particular reference to Figure 3, it is possible to note that the autonomous control unit 10 comprises: - reading means 70 of the code of the ciphered key 60 adapted to detect the correctness of the code of the ciphered

key 60 and, after a positive result of the detection, to provide the necessary electric signal for triggering or untriggering the autonomous control unit 10; and - control and alarm means 80 adapted to monitor the electric signals coming from the movement-detecting sensors and to activate, after a detected anomaly, the signalling means, such as for example the piezoelectric horn, and radio communication means for transmitting at least one alarm signal towards the portable alarm receiver 30 and radio communication means for transmitting and receiving signals related to an asynchronous communication protocol between the unit and at least the peripheral anti-theft device.

In particular, the reading means 70 of the code of the ciphered key 60 comprise frequency recognising means 71, voltage recognising means 72, clock means 73, timing means 74 and means for recognising 75 the ciphered key 60. To understand how the detection operation of the correctness of the code of the ciphered key 60 is performed, it is first necessary to show a prefeerred and example mode of rest operation of the system. Under such condition, the clock means 73 produce a square-wave signal with 50% duty cycle with frequency included between 39.6KHz and 66.9KHz (preferably, every unit has a prefixed oscillation value) . The signal is afterwards sent to the frequency recognising means 71 comprising a pass-band filter with frequency range

included between 500Hz and 3KHz, thereby selecting the useful frequencies for identifying the ciphered key 60, and an integrated circuit, with abbreviation LM567, placed upstream of the filter. Under rest conditions, the amplitude of the signal being present as filter output is lower than 10mV _pp and cannot be used by the integrated circuit LM567. In particular, the integrated circuit LM567 is a tone decoder and identifies the frequency window corresponding to the ciphered key 60. When the signal being present as input of the integrated circuit LM567 has a frequency belonging to its own latching range, equal to 2% of the central band value (preferably, every unit has a prefixed central band frequency) , the integrated circuit produces an output voltage near OV. The insertion of the ciphered key 60 generates the frequency decrease of the clock means 73, taking the oscillations to be included both within the frequency range defined by the pass-band filter, and within the capture range of the integrated circuit LM567. The good frequency stability of this electronic component upon every temperature variation and its configuration of the output stage of the open collector type, that allows interfacing the integrated circuit with the following logic circuits, have suggested its use inside the autonomous control unit 10 as frequency recognising means 71. The autonomous control unit 10 will be ready to perform its own function only after the remaining

part of the code of the ciphered key will be provided within the evaluation time imposed by the timing means 74. These latter ones subordinate their function to the potential being present on the output terminal of the integrated circuit LM567; recognising the ciphered key 60 frequency triggers the actuation of the timing means 74 that, preferably within a time range of 460 ms, wait for the remaining part of the code for triggering or untriggering the autonomous control unit 10. Then, the voltage recognising means 72 provide the correct logic value coming from the voltage detection, thereby completing the task performed by this functional section. A window-type comparator, made with operational amplifiers designated as LM324, compares the voltage produced by the ciphered key 60 inserted in the autonomous control unit 10 with two reference voltages that allow evaluating, on a 6OmV electric potential window, the validity of the provided voltage (preferably, every unit has two prefixed voltage values) . With this operation, reading of the ciphered key 60 ends, providing the following blocks with the necessary voltage to perform the desired operating state.

The access points, used for taking the frequency reference and the voltage reference, are insulated from the outside preferably through two relay reeds, thereby preventing to perform undesired actions that could damage the electronics of the autonomous control unit 10 and protect it

from damaging short-circuits. The autonomous control unit 10 provides, for example on the contact of connector RJ45, a 5V voltage to the ciphered key 60 placed as input; this latter one, by switching the 5V voltage onto another contact of the connector RJ45, replicates the potential for the autonomous control unit 10, energizing the relay reeds and allowing the electronics of the ciphered key 60 to produce the correct electric references, that will be treated as already previously described. In parallel, with reference to Figure 5, it is possible to note that a preferred embodiment of the ciphered key 60 preferably comprises at least frequency reference means 61, voltage reference means 62 and logic activation means 63. La key 60 must then be inserted in the suitable connector RJ45 of the autonomous control unit 10 in order to start operating. The 5V voltage coming from the autonomous control unit 10, through a contact of the connector RJ45, is switched onto another contact of the same connector; this operation allows switching the relay reeds that perform the interconnection between passive components being present in the ciphered key 60 and autonomous control unit 10. The ciphered key then transmits values of electric quantities, frequency and voltage, technically called ciphers, to be correctly read; the ciphers then univocally identify the ciphered key 60 with its associated autonomous control unit 10.

Summarising, in order to trigger and untrigger the anti- theft system 1 according to the present invention, it is necessary to:

- switch the 5V voltage coming from the autonomous control unit 10 onto a suitable contact of the connector RJ45 to stop the insulation from the unit 10 from the outside;

- provide a lowering of the square wave local oscillator frequency within a frequency range coherent with spectral visibility, of about 30Hz, dictated by the integrated circuit LM567;

- if the previous operation provided a positive result, there is a 460-ms period for providing the voltage reference coherent with the voltage window, of about 6OmV, set by the comparator made by the integrated circuit LM324;

- the positive result of these three operations allows the autonomous control unit 10 to perform the function for which it was designed, otherwise the anti-theft system 1 remains in the state in which it is till the exact code of the ciphered key 60 is detected.

The control and alarm means 80 instead comprise control means 81, clock means 82, means for triggering/untriggering 83 the autonomous control unit 10, the movement-detecting sensors 84 adapted to detect the vehicle attitude change, radio communication means 85 with the peripheral anti-theft device, the signalling means such as, for example,

piezoelectric horn 86 and radio communication means 87 with the portable alarm receiver 30.

As stated, in the single operating mode, the autonomous control unit 10 does not use the peripheral anti-theft device to detect the attitude change, thereby not guaranteeing any mechanical obstacle to the vehicle mobility. This operating mode, useful for signalling only a theft attempt, appears suitable during these short-time stays.

In the single operation, the control means 81 perform the following functions:

- verifying whether the autonomous control unit 10 is placed in its own housing and, to evaluate such statement, using at least one magnetic sensor suitably placed inside the fastening means, for example inside the Velcro® material, on which the surface of the autonomous control unit 10 will rest in contact with the vehicle; in case of removal of the autonomous control unit 10 after the triggering step, the control means 81 will detect the decrease of the magnetic field produced by the sensor, and will take care of alarming piezoelectric horn 86 and portable alarm receiver 30;

- the autonomous control unit 10 starts searching its own peripheral anti-theft device by sending, for example for approximately ten seconds, a sequence of the PDU of the SEARCH type (as will be seen below in more detail regarding the communication protocol used by the autonomous control

unit 10 and the peripheral anti-theft device to detect the presence of the device 20) ;

- the absence of the peripheral anti-theft device induces the autonomous control unit 10 to be configured in the single operating mode; the control means 81 store the initial status of the movement-detecting sensors 84 being present inside the autonomous control unit 10 and compares, instant by instant, the current status of the sensors with the one stored at the beginning;

- if there is a vehicle attitude change exceeding the limits set for tolerance and sensitivity, the control means 81 alarm, for example for approximately thirty seconds, piezoelectric horn 86 and portable alarm receiver 30;

- if the attitude violation occurred is of a persisting nature, namely if it is repeated for at least ten consecutive alarm cycles not separated by any silence period, the control means 81 stop the activation of the piezoelectric horn 86 of the autonomous control unit 10 and continue to send alarm signals to the portable alarm receiver 30.

The electric signal coming from the movement-detecting sensors 84, preferably made as mercury switches like those shown in Figure 4, is preferably stored in three D-flip-flop and monitored by a combinatory logic block. If an anomaly is detected, a timing is activated that alarms both the piezoelectric horn 86, preferably having an acoustic power of

105 dB, and the radio communication means 87 with the portable alarm receiver 30, for example for a period of approximately thirty seconds. The radio communication means 87 are preferably made with a Aurel module of the "TX-433SAW" type that produces a digital modulation of the On Off Keying (00K) type with a carrier signal at a frequency of 433.92MHz. The modulating signal used by the radio communication means 87 is provided by an integrated circuit of the HT6010 type; the integrated circuit HT6010 is a coder that serially transmits a digital word associated with a 12-position dip- switch, allowing to obtain a total number of 3 ¹² different combinations, useful to identify as many portable alarm receivers 30. The digital word, set by the dip-switch, is then coded according to rules of the serial transmission protocol of the integrated circuit and shown on the output terminal called D _O uτ- This bit frame is afterwards sent to the above circuit, that will start the radio-frequency transmission towards the portable alarm receiver 30. Preferably, after every alarm cycle, a LED diode turns on, present on the autonomous control unit 10, that signals the attitude change occurred during the stay. Such luminous signal is useful where the portable alarm receiver 30 is not reached by the radio-frequency signal coming from the autonomous control unit 10.

In the composite operating mode, the autonomous control

unit 10 uses the mechanical anti-theft device 20 to detect attitude variations that can occur during the stay, thereby also providing that necessary mechanical obstacle which prevents the vehicle from moving, extending the time for the theft action. This operating mode confers better warranties to the vehicle custody and is suitable during stays in which the vehicle remains parked for longer times with respect to the previously-treated case.

In the anti-theft system 1 according to the present invention, the autonomous control unit 10 and the peripheral anti-theft device perform a continuous exchange of information to monitor both the quietness status of the parked vehicle, and the efficiency status of the anti-theft system 1. The communication protocol adopted between autonomous control unit 10 and peripheral anti-theft device is preferably of the asynchronous type, for which the autonomous control unit 10 sends a control sequence (PDU) to the peripheral anti-theft device and waits, within a maximum reception period, for a response sequence (ACK) coming from the device 20, which ascertains the quietness status or the attitude violation. Only after having received the ACK, the autonomous control unit 10 sends the following PDU depending on the information content being present in the evaluated response. The maximum reception time, set for example equal to approximately two seconds, is the necessary time to

evaluate the following operations to be performed. Due to possible errors or ACK sequences not arrived to their destination, the autonomous control unit 10 puts itself waiting for the corresponding ACK for a period for example equal to approximately one second, after which it again sends the same PDU sequence encountered before. If everything is correct, the two arrived ACK have the same pieces of information, going on with such linearity for the whole operation length. If the two ACK were not mutually the same, the autonomous control unit 10 grants priority to information from the ACK that describes the higher warning status. The fact of transmitting the same PDU two consecutive times allows a simple recovery of the communication error; moreover, if, after the copy of the sent PDU, no associated ACK sequences are ascertained, the autonomous control unit 10 frees the peripheral anti-theft device from going on with its monitoring action, moving to the single operating mode.

The transfers that the communication protocol must perform are: allowing to associate the peripheral anti-theft device to the autonomous control unit 10; this operation is necessary and must be performed within the first time that one wishes to couple the peripheral anti-theft device to the autonomous control unit 10. This transfer is started by a PDU of the BEGIN type, that allows storing, both in the

autonomous control unit 10 and in the peripheral anti-theft device, the mutual serial references (note that the serial reference of the autonomous control unit 10 is given by the 12-bit digital word that points out the respective associated portable alarm receiver 30; the serial reference of the peripheral anti-theft device, always formed of a 12-bit digitale word, is present inside its own control means mentioned below and is inserted when making the device 20); locating, during a triggering step of the autonomous control unit 10, the presence of the associated peripheral anti-theft device. This operation allows setting which operating mode must be actuated by the anti-theft device. In fact, the transmission of a PDU of the SEARCH type, performed by the autonomous control unit 10 for a period for example equal to approximately ten seconds, ascertains the presence of the peripheral anti-theft device, for example the disk- blocking device already placed on the vehicle disk brake, before the triggering step of the anti-theft system 1. The composite operating mode starts when the peripheral anti- theft device sends a ACK sequence of the PRESENT type; monitoring, for the whole length of the stay, the quietness or attitude change status asserted by the proximity sensor assembled on the mechanical anti-theft device 20. The above-mentioned conditions are associated with three ACK sequences of the STATE type (for example, the ACK sequences

of the STATE type are three: STATE OKAY, STATE WARN and STATE LOW BATTERY that will be evaluated, every time, by the control means of the autonomous control unit 10 described below. During this step, the autonomous control unit 10 constantly queries, at regular time intervals, its own mechanical anti-theft device 20 with PDU of the SENTRY type from which it waits, within a maximum period, for example of approximately two seconds, for the STATE sequencies that describe which operation has to be performed in the following PDU. The quietness condition, namely the absence of actions that produce the attitude change of the parked vehicle, is associated with the ACK sequence of the STATE OKAY type; recognising, for the whole length of the stay, the battery discharged condition for the peripheral anti-theft device. This condition is evaluated through an ACK sequence of the STATE LOW BATTERY type; when emitted, the autonomous control unit 10 sends, as following PDU, a BREAK OFF sequence that prevents the peripheral anti-theft device from going on sending responses of the ACK type. The autonomous control unit 10, after having received the ACK of the END BATTERY type, activates the evaluation of the attitude change through its own movement-detecting sensors. During this step, only the portable alarm receiver 30 is preferably alarmed, for example intermittently for a period of approximately fifteen seconds, in order to signal the operating mode variation;

alarming its own piezoelectric horn and the portable alarm receiver 30 if the theft condition is evaluated. During this step, performed because the peripheral anti-theft device has sent an ACK response of the STATE WARN type, the autonomous control unit 10 sends a PDU of the ALARM ON type, which authorises the piezoelectric horn of the peripheral anti-theft device to ring. The peripheral anti-theft device confirms for the autonomous control unit 10 the activation of its own piezoelectric horn by sending the ACK of the STATE WARN type followed by the ACK of the PRESENT type. The alarm step is completely managed by the control means of the autonomous control unit 10 that, for example for a period equal to approximately thirty seconds, authorise the sound emission for all piezoelectric devices; stopping the alarm cycle, for example after a pre- established period of approximately thirty seconds. For the whole length of the alarm phase, the peripheral anti-theft device goes on sending its own ACK sequences due to the detection performed by its own proximity sensor. If, when the alarm time expires, the autonomous control unit 10 still detects the presence of ACK of the STATE WARN type, the control means of the autonomous control unit 10 again send a PDU of the ALARM ON type, repeating the procedure described in the previous step. Otherwise, namely if the peripheral anti-theft device has sent a ACK sequence of the STATE OKAY

type, the control means of the autonomous control unit 10 send a PDU of the ALARM OFF type for stopping the sound emission of the piezoelectric horn of the mechanical anti- theft device 20. In such case, the mechanical anti-theft device 20 preferably confirms the turning-off of its own piezoelectric horn by sending the ACK of the OKAY type followed by the ACK of the PRESENT type. The control means of the autonomous control unit 10 further verify how many following alarm cycles are emitted; informing the peripheral anti-theft device of the performed untriggering of the autonomous control unit 10 by the ciphered key 60. This step starts when the autonomous control unit 10 sends a PDU of the SHUT DOWN type, which authorises the mechanical anti-theft device 20 to stop its own detection activity. The mechanical anti-theft device 20 then activates its own horn in an intermittent mode, for example after a period of approximately ten seconds from the actual untriggering of the autonomous control unit 10, so that attention is given to the removal of the mechanical anti-theft device 20, for example the removal of the disk- blocking device from the vehicle disk brake. The autonomous control unit 10 is untriggered when the peripheral anti-theft device sends the ACK sequence of the END type.

Herein below, format and size are described for data exchanged between autonomous control unit 10 and peripheral

anti-theft device. As can be observed by the following table 1 that shows the organisation of bits composing the sequences of PDU and ACK, exchanged data have a fixed length, equal to 32 bits, and are organised into four fields: SN_SDR, SN_ADR, KEY and CHK.

Table 1

The fields have the logic meaning described below: SN_SDR (Serial Number Sender) : identifies the referencenumber of the unit that sent data;

SN_ADR (Serial Number Addressee) : identifies the reference number of the unit to which data are aimed;

KEY: gives the type of eexchanged logic operation;

CHK (Check) : is a control field composed of four bits. Bit S, which alternates its value from zero to one at every PDU sent by the autonomous control unit 10, allows associating the sent PDU with the received ACK. Bits PS, PA and PK are three bits for the parity check (the parity check is preferably of the even type) : the first one is the parity bit for the reference number of the sending unit, the second is the parity bit for the reference number of the addressee unit, while the last one is the parity bit of the exchanged logic operation.

As can be observed from the following Table 2 which represents the coding of PDU and ACK exchanged between autonomous control unit 10 and peripheral anti-theft device, all operations are coded on a 4-bit field, and the difference existing between PDU and ACK is related only to the most meaningful bit of the KEY field.

Table 2

The only logic operation that does not comply with the data format composition is the PDU of the BEGIN type that, sent by the autonomous control unit 10 in the step of association to the peripheral anti-theft device, waits for an ACK sequence of the BEGIN type coherent with what has been described previously.

On the first time the autonomous control unit 10 uses the peripheral anti-theft device, this latter one must be subjected to an operation of association with the unit 10 with which it will perform the previously-described transfer of data. This operation, made necessary for univocally

locating the mutual devices that will perform the vehicle surveillance, starts when the autonomous control unit 10, turned-on in the untriggering condition, verifies the position of the peripheral anti-theft device, for example the position of the wireless disk-blocking device on the vehicle disk brake. After having inserted the suitable recording key 50 into the connector responsible for turning-off the autonomous control unit 10, this latter one forces the transmission of the PDU of the BEGIN type like the one shown in the following Table 3 (line (a) ) :

Table 3

0101 000000000000 000000000000 0 0

(α)

1010 1111111111 Ll 111111111111

Cb)

As can be observed, this PDU has fields SN_SDR and SN_ADR all set to zero (fields SN_SDR and SN_ADR, when completely set to zero or completely set to one, do not locate any reference number associated with the peripheral anti-theft device: these two values respectively identify the PDU of the BEGIN type and the ACK of the BEGIN type) and takes the autonomous control unit 10 to wait, from the peripheral anti-theft device, for the sequence of ACK of the BEGIN type, like the one for example shown in the previous Table 3 (line (b) ) .

After this preliminary step, the second step starts, that provides for the transmission of the respective reference numbers; it is the autonomous control unit 10 to start the procedure by sending the PDU of the SERIAL_RIF type that, differently from the previously-sent PDU, has the SN_SDR field loaded with the transmitting autonomous control unit 10 identifying value. Once having received this PDU, the wireless disk-blocking device stores the value contained in the SN_SDR field inside a memory and sends the ACK sequence of the SERIAL_RIF type. This ACK sequence, differently from the ACK of the BEGIN type, has the SN_ADR field loaded with the identifying value of the peripheral anti-theft device. The reception of this ACK takes the autonomous control unit 10 to store the value contained in the SN_ADR field inside a memory. The association procedure comes to an end when the autonomous control unit 10 sends the closing sequence with the PDU of the SEE YOU SOON type; this is the first sequence sent from the autonomous control unit 10 that complies with the data format shown in Table 1, and on which the autonomous control unit 10 waits, for example for a period of approximately five seconds, for the reception of a closing sequence ACK of the SEE YOU SOON type. If the association procedure has given a positive result (for example, a LED light arranged on the autonomous control unit 10 could point out the result of the association phase) , the recording key

50 and the peripheral anti-theft device can be removed; otherwise, the sequence of described operations will start again when the recording key 50 will again be inserted.

In the composite operation, the control means 81 then perform the following functions: verifying whether the autonomous control unit 10 is placed in its own housing, performing the same procedure shown in the previous operating mode; the autonomous control unit 10 starts searching for its own peripheral anti-theft device by sending, for example for approximately ten seconds, the sequence of the PDU of the SEARCH type, useful to detect the presence of the peripheral anti-theft device; the presence of the mechanical anti-theft device 20 induces the control means 81 to be configured in the composite operating mode; this can occur only when the mechanical anti-theft device 20 is correctly placed (for example, the wireless disk-blocking device is placed on the vehicle disk-brake) and replies, at the sequence mentioned in the previous section, with a sequence of ACK of the PRESENT type. Afterwards, the control means 81 store the initial status of the movement-detecting sensors 84 present inside the autonomous control unit 10 and prevent these latter ones from evaluating possible attitude variations to which the vehicle could be subjected, going on detecting the attitude

change by using the ultrasound proximity sensor placed on the mechanical anti-theft device 20. This operation becomes necessary in order to deal with the case in which the mechanical anti-theft device 20 is tampered with or this latter one is lacking due to the low energy level of rechargeable batteries, thereby losing the monitoring of the quiet condition of the parked vehicle. In such case, the control means 81 stop their communication with the disk- blocking device and re-activate their own internal sensors, which will re-start monitoring the following attitude variations; at regular intervals of approximately two seconds, the autonomous control unit 10 sends a sequence of PDU of the SENRTY type to the peripheral anti-theft device which will have to reply with a sequence of ACK of the STATE type; the lack of receipt of the ACK, within a maximum period established by the above protocol, will generate both an alarm cycle, for example approximately thirty seconds long, and the new attitude change evaluation through the use of the movement-detecting sensors 84; the autonomous control unit 10 evaluates, every time, the STATE sequence received from the mechanical anti-theft device 20 to assert whether there is a vehicle attitude change or there is a current theft attempt. If there is a current violation, the autonomous control unit 10 alarms, for

example for approximately thirty seconds, its own piezoelectric horn 86, the piezoelectric horn being present inside the peripheral anti-theft device and the portable alarm receiver 30; if the attitude violation occurred is of a persistent nature, namely if it is for example made of at least ten consecutive alarm cycles that follow and are not spaced by any silence period, the control means 81 stop the activation of the piezoelectric horn of the autonomous control unit 10 and the peripheral anti-theft device, going on sending alarm signals to the portable alarm receiver 30; after the untriggering procedure of the anti-theft system 1 with the suitable ciphered key 60, the control means 81 send a sequence of PDU of the SHUT DOWN type to their own peripheral anti-theft device, that will start intermittenly sounding to call the attention about the removal of the device (for example the removal of the mechanical block placed on the disk-brake) ; such signal will start, for example, after a period of approximately ten seconds from the deactivation of the autonomous control unit 10.

Obviously, for activating the composite operating mode, it is necessary that the peripheral anti-theft device is installed on the vehicle (for example, the disk-blocking device anchored onto the vehicle disk-brake) . As will be described in more detail below, the mechanical anti-theft

device 20 is a device that is automatically activated, once being placed on the disk-brake, when the metal blocking cylinder is housed into its own fastening hole. To verify the attitude change to which the parked vehicle was subjected, the mechanical anti-theft device 20 activates the above ultrasound proximity sensor that, by emitting ultrasound pulses towards the surface facing the sensor, detects the echo return produced by the body presence. With this technique, it is possible to evaluate the distance existing between the mechanical anti-theft device 20 and the road surface during the vehicle parking phase and, tolerating a suitable uncertainty about the echo delay, the same consideration previously performed regarding to allowed vehicle attitude variations, are restored, before the presence of an actual theft action can be asserted.

Taking into account the vehicle parking mode with the use of the side stand, the mechanical parking system makes the vehicle, if observed from the rear, appear leftwards slanted. The proximity sensor, composed of a projector and a receiver placed in the lower part of the disk-blocking device, has its ultrasound cone pointed towards the road bottom with an angle near the perpendicular direction. A possible positional change, to be taken into account along the direction that sees the vehicle oriented along the normal position of the road bottom, would generate an increase of

the distance detected by the sensor; to this, one has to add the probable lack of detection, by the receiver sensor, of the echo produced by the plane below due to the increase of the incidence angle of the ultrasound beam on the road bottom, taking the attitude detecting system to assert, in both cases, the sure vehicle position variation along the rolling direction.

In case of vehicle parking with the use of the central stand, it is advisable to insert the disk-blocking device, if possible, on the wheel subjected to a lifting of the road plane during the stay, due to considerations about measuring the distance that is generated between disk-blocking device and ground, allowing a simple evaluation of the attitude change along the pitching direction. Should the wheel, free from its abutment with the road bed, be lacking the disk- brake, the peripheral blocking device can be placed on the other wheel; in such case, the scarce pitching that is produced induces the anti-theft system not to quickly detect the current action. It must anyway be remembered that, in order to begin a theft action, it is necessary to remove the blocking system from the disk-brake; this can occur through two modes: the mechanical breaking of the disk-blocking device, or the tampering with the same one by forcing the opening of the metallic pin from the fastening hole. In any case, the lock-picking action provides for a physical

approaching of the thief to the mechanical anti-theft device 20; since the person is forced to handle the mechanical anti- theft device 20 during its theft action, the proximity sensor detects the presence of the subject due to the interruption of the ultrasound cone generated by the projector, thereby triggering the alarm cycle. Moreover, the removal of the mechanical anti-theft device 20 during the stay period is detected by the autonomous control unit 10 since freeing of the metallic pin from the tightening hole makes the disk- blocking device turn-off. This operation prevents the peripheral device from sending the necessary ACK sequences to the autonomous control unit 10 to produce its own PDU sequence by triggering, also in this case, the alarm cycle of the anti-theft system 1 as described previously.

The remaining remarks, dealing with activation modes of the piezoelectric horn 86 of the autonomous control unit 10 and the portable alarm receiver 30, are similar to those described previously.

With reference then in particular to Figure 7, it is possible to note that a preferred embodiment of the mechanical anti-theft device 20 as disk-blocking device comprises at least one metallic closing cylinder 51, control means 52, at least one proximity sensor 53 and a related threshold comparator 54, at least one inductive sensor 55 and a related threshold comparator 56, radio communication means

57 with the autonomous control unit 10 and at least one piezoelectric horn 58. The mechanical anti-theft device 20 made as wireless disk-blocking device constrains its turning- on to the metallic closing cylinder 51 when this one is placed in the respective tightening hole. In fact, after having ended this mechanical action, it is still necessary to evaluate the electric signal coming from the inductive sensor 55, that detects the presence of ferromagnetic material inside the magnetic field produced by the sensor itself, such as the presence of a disk-brake of scooters or motorcycles. The reluctance variation that is generated is compared, inside the related threshold comparator 56, with a threshold value that, when exceeded, switches the signal supplied to the control means 52. This is the only sequence that allows turning-on the wireless disk-blocking device, otherwise the device is off and waits for the following closure of the mechanical stopper in order to proceed with the actual turning-on. The detachment of the metallic cylinder 51 from the tightening hole, that allows the disk-blocking device to be placed onto and removed from the disk-brake, occurs by using a suitable metallic key.

The control means 52 are interfaced with the threshold comparators 54, 56 of the sensors 53, 55 and with the radio communication means 57 adapted to radio-frequency transmit and receive ACK sequencies and PDU sequencies coming from the

associated autonomous control unit 10. The used proximity sensor 53 is composed of a projector and an ultrasound receiver placed on the lower side of the disk-blocking device, so that it is possible to lighten the road bed with the ultrasound cone generated by the projector. Ultrasound pulses, when they bump onto a surface placed within the rated range, produce a return echo that is detected by the receiver; this latter one, with an analogue output signal, that linearly changes with the amount of the received echo signal, provides its own signal to the respective Threshold comparator 54, which discerns the logic value to be signalled to the control means 52 according to the uncertainity linked to sensitivity and tolerance factors already described before.

The presence of the piezoelectric horn 58 makes the disk-blocking device an alarmed device; when it is used in the composite operating mode, and an attitude change occurs, the decision related to the alarm of the piezoelectric horn 58 of the disk-blocking device does not come from the control means 52 of this latter one, but from the control means 81 of the autonomous control unit 10. In fact, it is this device that sends the PDU sequences of the ALARM ON type or of the ALARM OFF type that actuate or stop the sound emission of the piezoelectric horn 58. This occurs because a centralised control of the anti-theft device has to be performed;

moreover, such characteristic allows having a mechanical anti-theft device 20 that operates, in addition to the mechanical stopper of the vehicle wheel, also as monitoring system about the quiet or violation status of the device itself; it further performs the task of signalling the removal of the disk-blocking device before the vehicle is moved.

Inserting the wireless disk-blocking device on the vehicle disk-brake, this one starts emitting the ACK sequences of the PRESENT type, only when the PDU sequencies of the SENTRY type have been detected, coming from the associated autonomous control unit 10; if such sequences have been ascertained, for example within the maximum time of approximately ten seconds, the disk-blocking device performs the previously-described tasks. On the contrary, the mechanical anti-theft device 20 operates as normal alarmed disk-blocking device, and the control means 53 of the device 20 are limited to verify the vehicle attitude variations and warn, only through the piezoelectric horn 58 of the mechanical anti-theft device 20, the current violations. This use mode makes one lose all advantages that come from a combined use with the autonomous control unit 10, since the anti-theft system 1 does not use the portable alarm receiver 30 and does not allow the mechanical anti-theft device 20 to activate its own piezoelectric horn 58 intermittently to call

the attention to the removal of the disk-brake block. Another reason for which it is not advisable to use only the peripheral anti-theft device, are the rechargeable batteries present inside it; when their charge level is lower than a pre-fixed limit, the control means 52 of the mechanical anti- theft device 20, if operating under control of the associated autonomous control unit 10, send an ACK sequence of the LOW BATTERY type that immediately switches, from composite to single, the operating mode of the autonomous control unit 10. Should such condition occur only during the use of the mechanical anti-theft device 20, this would become a simple mechanical anti-theft device placed on a vehicle disk-brake, losing all its potentialities of warning device and attitude change detector.

Instead, with reference to Figure 6, it is possible to note that a preferred embodiment of the portable alarm receiver 30 comprises at least radio communication means 31 with autonomous control unit 10 and signalling means, preferably made as at least one piezoelectric horn 32. In particular, the portable alarm receiver 30 is a superheterodyne receiver capable of reconstructing sequences of digital data transmitted in OOK modulation. Its function is strictly connected to the remote signalling of the theft attempts, provided that the radio communication means 85 placed in the autonomous control unit 10 are within the range

of a few hundreds of metres. Regarding the detected anomaly, the piezoelectric horn 32 present inside the portable alarm receiver 30 emits a sound, since the correct digital frame sent during the radio-frequency transmission has been detected. The signal demodulation is preferably given to a Aurel model of the RX-4MM5 type that performs a superheterodyne demodulation of a digital signal of the 0OK type with a carrier signal at the frequency of 433.92 MHz. The thereby obtained demodulated signal is sent to an integrated circuit of the HT6030 type; this electronic component is a decoder that serially receives a digital word and associates it with a 12-position dip-switch (note that the positions assumed by the switches of the dip-switch of the portable alarm receiver 30 must be equal to those assumed by the localised dip-switch inside the autonomous control unit 10) .

During its function, the portable alarm receiver 30 is always active and waits for a possible signal useful for demodulating. In order to save the energy consumption of rechargeable batteries, when the autonomous control unit 10 is not active, it is advisable to turn off the portable alarm receiver 30 by inserting the respective turning-off key 40, preferably made of a jack to insert into a suitable connector, thereby insulating the electronics of the receiver 30 from the batteries.

Obviously, the modifications that could be made to the

previously described anti-theft system 1 according to the present invention, and within the understanding of skilled people in the art, are numerous. For example, it would be possible to:

- make a ciphered key 60 that operates avoiding to create a physical connection between the ciphered key 60 itself and the autonomous control unit 10. Solutions that can be performed are remote controls that operate in the radio- frequency range or in the infrared range, without excluding magnetic solutions. Having to optimise the overall sizes of the autonomous control unit 10, portable alarm receiver 30 and remote control coulds be joined in a single container;

- make a portable alarm receiver 30 that calls the motorcycle rider's attention through a sound mode, or with the help of vibration. The mode, decided every time by the vehicle owner, would also allow signalling in noisy or silent places without being disturbed;

- make a theft detecting method different from the one described so far. The autonomous control unit 10 bases its operating principle on the detection of the vehicle attitude angular variation. This latter one is felt, in the first operating mode, by the mercury switches placed inside the autonomous control unit 10 and, in the second operating mode, by the ultrasound sensor assembled in the mechanical anti- theft device 20. The autonomous control unit 10 could be made

always active in detecting attitude variations, giving the peripheral anti-theft device the task of informing the autonomous control unit 10 about the presence of people immediately near the vehicle disk brake: for example, it is possible to use a capacitive sensor that detects the presence of a surface, that is at least partically conducting, immediately near the sensible side of the sensor. What is described would prevent the autonomous control unit 10 from exonerating the sensors placed inside it during the composite operating mode, thereby joining its own detection to the one asserted by the disk-blocking device;

- make the autonomous control unit 10 always active in detecting the vehicle attitude change parked through the position sensors placed inside it, giving the mechanical anti-theft device 20 the only purpose of informing the autonomous control unit 10 about the removal of the mechanical block from the disk brake during the monitoring period of the alarm device;

- make the autonomous control unit 10 so that it employs the operation of the peripheral anti-theft device, giving the vehicle owner the chance of deciding whether activating or not the detection of the attitude change measured by suitable sensors being present inside the mechanical anti-theft device 20;

- make the peripheral anti-theft device with the chance,

if used without the presence of the autonomous control unit 10, of warning, through the use of the portable alarm receiver 30, the motorcycle rider after a theft attempt;

- make a peripheral anti-theft device that uses photovoltaic generators both for operating the device, and for loading the batteries, thereby increasing autonomy and efficiency of the anti-theft system;

- make the peripheral anti-theft device able to verify the correct exchange of information between peripheral anti-theft device and autonomous control unit 10: this would allow recognising the time in which the autonomous control unit 10 stops its correct operation due to the insufficient electric potential of rechargeable batteries, allowing the chance of timely signalling the vehicle owner, through the use of the portable alarm receiver 30, about the forced untriggering of the alarm system 1;

- make the autonomous control unit 10 with the chance of organising the cooperation of at least two mechanical anti- theft devices 20. This arrangement would allow increasing the tampering time of the anti-theft system, granting the chance of widening the action range of the portable alarm receiver 30 to warn the vehicle owner. The two mechanical anti-theft devices 20, like the one previously described, placed on both wheels, or the joint use of wireless disk-blocking device with another blocking system that impairs the rotation of the

roller chain, preventing the driving wheel from rotating. The second mechanical anti-theft device 20, made with the same communication characteristics of the wireless disk-blocking device, can be subjected to the autonomous control unit 10 or not, as already previously stated;

- make at least one wireless peripheral anti-theft device equipped with a volumetric sensor that, through the previously shown communication protocol, communicates and cooperates with the autonomous control unit 10 for transforming the anti-theft device into a simple safety system for cars, checking the attempted theft of the same by detecting the breakage of the door or the glasses;

- with the objective of making the breaking action more difficult, thereby increasing the time for performing the theft action, make a mechanical anti-theft device 20 that prevents the wheel rotation through a mechanical brake that exploits the presence of fork and disk brake. This block can be made with a bracket, made of a material resisting to the cutting action, that embraces a part of the fork and protrudes towards the brake disk tightening it, on a wide surface, in many points through the holes on the disk;

- replace or add to the use of the portable alarm receiver 30 the remote signalling of a theft by sending text messages (SMS) to a mobile terminale of cellular telephony;

- install inside the autonomous control unit 10 a GPS

receiver that allows monitoring the vehicle position through the use of a suitable software;

- make the autonomous control unit 10 equipped with means that allow accessing wide-band telecommunication networks (UMTS, WiFi, WiMAX, etc. ) : this would allow monitoring anti- theft system and vehicle position; by exploiting the access to telecommunication networks, moreover, it would be possible to place a micro-camera on the parked vehicle, thereby having the chance of viewing the environment surrounding the vehicle. The sent information packages could be aimed to a suitable portable remote device; this device could be a handheld device or a cellular phone, or any other apparatus that has the chance of accessing wide-band telecommunication networks .