Abstract:
A protector for a padlock of the kind having a body and a shackle, said protector having a pouch for holding the body and a flap for forming a closed pocket with said pouch, with the shackle extending out of the pocket. In this manner the shackle is free to rotate so that it can engage a chain link, a hasp, and so on. The protector is preferably made of flexible material such as rubber.

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     a. Field of Invention 
     This invention pertains to an ease to use, economical protector for locks, and more particularly, for a protector for use with a lock having a body and a generally U-shaped shackle. The protector is particularly effective against the elements. 
     b. Description of the Prior Art 
     Locks are used universally to protect various types of personal property or to control access to certain physical locations. Often these locks are exposed to the elements and may be adversely affected by them. An extreme example is the use of padlocks on trucks. Truck drivers use routinely several padlocks mounted for example on the rear to protect their cargo from vandalism. As a result, the padlocks are exposed to rain, snow sleet, mud and all the materials found on roads. Frequently, because of this exposure, locks freeze up and the only way they can be removed is by breaking them. Of course, once broken, they cannot be reused, and the driver must buy another padlock or carry spares. 
     There were several attempts to solve this problem by providing lock protectors. One such protector is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,003,795. However this protector is disposed about the whole lock and the hasp of a mail box is engaged by the lock. The only way this protector can be used is by mounting it on the hasp before the lock is installed. Thus the protector cannot be used in applications without hasps, or where two or even more elements are connected to by or coupled to a lock. Moreover this protector is difficult and time consuming to use. 
     Another protector is disclosed by U.S. Pat. No. 4,651,543. This is a two part protector molded to conform to a particular lock and hence cannot be used for a different lock. A further disadvantage of this protector is that it has several openings, which permit foreign material to enter the lock and hence does not provide adequate protection. Moreover the molded protector is difficult and expensive to manufacture. 
     Other lock accessories are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 858,264 and 1,581,953. 
     OBJECTIVES AND ADVANTAGES OF THE INVENTION. 
     In view of the above-described disadvantages of the prior art, it is an objective of the present invention to provide a lock protector which is mounted securely and substantially hermetically about a lock for protection. 
     A further objective is to provide a protector which is easy to use even in the most inclement weather. 
     Yet another objective is to provide a lock protector which can be made of a cheap, recycled materials. Other objectives and advantages of the invention shall become apparent form the following description of the invention. 
     Briefly, a lock protector constructed in accordance with this invention comprises a sheet of a flexible material and having two opposed edges, the sheet being folded over itself and the edges joined together to form a pouch and a flap joined to a wall of the pouch along a fold line. Means are provided to secure the fold to an outer wall of the pouch to form a substantially hermetically closed pocket. The sheet is provided with one or more apertures along the fold line. The aperture is arranged to receive the shackle of a lock before and after it has been passed through a hasp or other hoop or link. 
     A lock protector constructed in accordance with this invention provides the following advantages: 
     (a) It protects locks from freezing as well as from rain, salt, sand, and prevents the same from interfering with the lock mechanism. 
     (b) It extends the useful life of the locks. 
     (c) It can be made from recycled products and does not require any processes which pollute the environment. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 shows a plan view of a protector constructed in accordance with this invention; 
     FIG. 2 shows a side view of the protector of FIG. 1; 
     FIG. 3 shows how the shackle of a lock is inserted into the protector of FIGS. 1 and 2; 
     FIG. 4 shows the lock of FIG. 3 being nested in the protector with the shackle open; and 
     FIG. 5 shows the lock of FIG. 4 with the shackle closed. 
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     Referring now to FIGS. 1 and 2, a lock protector  10  constructed in accordance this invention consists of a sheet  12  having a lower portion  16  and an upper portion or flap  14  and two lateral edges  18 ,  20 . A tab A extends away from the flap  14  as shown and is made of the same material as the flap  14 . The tab A is secured to the flap  14  preferably by sewing. The lower portion  16  has been folded over itself to form a pouch  22 . For this purpose the edges  18 ,  20  extending along the lower portion are joined by gluing, sewing, stapling or other adhesive or mechanical means dependent on the material of the sheet  12 . The pouch  22  thus formed has a back wall  24  joined to the flap  14  by an imaginary fold line  26 . 
     Pouch  22  also has an outer surface  28  and the flap  14  has an opposing surface  30 . Surfaces  28 ,  30  have complementary securing means for securing these surfaces to each other. For example, as shown in FIG. 1, these two surfaces may be provided with a plurality of VELCRO® strips  32 ,  34 . Obviously other means of interlocking or engaging the flap to the pocket may be used. These strips  32 ,  34  cooperate so that when the flap  14  is folded along line  26  and the strips  32  and  34  are interlocked or otherwise engaged thereby closing the pouch  22  and forming a substantially hermetically closed pocket As shown in FIG. 1, the edges  18 ,  20  are generally v-shaped so that sheet tapers slightly inwardly toward the fold line  26  to form a natural pocket which holds the lock when it is inserted into the protector as described below. Importantly, the sheet  10  is formed with two round apertures  36 ,  38  disposed on the fold line  26  as shown. 
     Referring to FIG. 3, the protector is used as follows. A typical lock  40  has a body  42  and a shackle  44 . The shackle  44  is generally Ushaped and has two opposing legs  46  and  48 . Leg  46  is rotatably attached to the body  42 . Body  42  has a well  50  for accepting and mechanically locking leg  48 . The lock  40  may be opened by a key inserted into a hole (not shown for the sake of clarity) or it may be combination lock. 
     Before the lock  40  is used, leg  48  is first inserted into one of the holes, such as hole  36 , as seen in FIG. 3 while the flap  14  is held by the Tab A. Next, the protector  10  and the lock  40  are maneuvered so that the body  42  is disposed in pouch  22 . Now the flap  14  is positioned over surface  28  and the strips  32 ,  34  are engaged thereby closing the pouch  22  to form a pocket. The protector  10  and the lock  40 , with its shackle  42  still opened are shown in FIG.  4 . It has been found by the present inventor that these steps can be performed fairly easily and rapidly even in the darkness, or with heavy mittens or work gloves on. 
     Lock  40  is now ready to be used. In FIG. 4, the lock  40  is used for example to join two chain links  52 ,  54 . These chain links may belong to the same chain or two different chains. For this purpose, the links  52 ,  54  are inserted on shackle  44  by passing them over free leg  48 . Next, the shackle  44  is rotated so that the leg  48  is aligned with well  50 . The shackle is now pressed toward body  42  as indicated by arrow A forcing the leg  48  through aperture  38  and into the well  50  until the leg  48  is locked to body  50 . The final configuration of the protector  10 , lock  40  and links  52 ,  54  are shown in FIG.  5 . As can be seen in this Figure the lock  40  is resting with this body firmly secured in the pocket. Shackle  44  is exposed, however this is not important since the delicate mechanism of the lock  40  is disposed in the body  42 , not in the shackle  44 . 
     Preferably holes  36 ,  38  are made slightly smaller than the diameter of the shackle  44  so that they form a close interference therewith. 
     The protector  10  can be easily opened by pulling flap  14  away with Tab A. 
     The protector can be sized and shaped so that it can fit a large variety of locks, as long as the diameter of the shackle  44  and the distance between the legs  46 ,  48  is about the same. 
     The sheet  12  can be made from a variety of materials. Preferably the sheet is made of a flexible material such as natural or synthetic rubber. For example, the sheet may be made of butyl rubber which is advantageous because this material sticks to itself when folded thereby providing an air tight seal. The sheet may be about 0.078″ thick. The inventor found that the protector can be cut and formed of a used inner tube of a truck tire. In fact a single inner tube can be used to make a large number of lock protectors as described above. Since other means of recycling inner tubes is quite expensive, this usage provides an attractive and environmentally friendly alternative. Automobile inner tubes can also be used for this purpose. 
     A preferred method of forming the protector is by sewing the sheet using a #46 polypropylene thread. 
     An important advantage of the inventor is that the pocket may also be used to hold small documents such as notes, messages, shipping labels, etc. 
     Obviously, numerous modifications may be made to this invention without departing from its scope as defined in the appended claims. For example, the protector need not be made of a single sheet, but instead may be made of a two or more sheets joined together. Similarly, instead of two round apertures for the shackle, a single extended aperture may be used.