Patent Publication Number: US-4058995-A

Title: Lock de-icer

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     People living in northern areas often encounter frozen locks. Motor vehicle locks are especially susceptible to this problem. 
     The prior art teaches electic resistance heating devices which thaw the lock such as in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,530,513; 3,192,359; 3,662,149; 2,538,872 and 2,774,855. Other devices heat the key which in turn thaws the lock. Key heaters of the electric as in U.S. Pat. No. 3,450,859 and fossil fuel as in U.S. Pat. No. 3,023,749 varieties have been developed. A protable chemical stream generator in U.S. Pat. No. 2,621,648 thaws the lock with a jet of steam. 
     All of the devices in the prior art require power of some sort, such as electrical or chemical, for their operation. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention relates to devices for thawing locks. 
     Applicant has discovered that, if the human breath is directed on a frozen lock using a channel with a lateral opening in its side, the flow of warm breath will thaw the lock. 
     The applicant&#39;s lock de-icer consists of a graduated set of telescoping frusto-conical rings which can be extended to form a tube through which warm breath can be channeled to the lock. The section of the device nearest the lock is of resilient material such as rubber or plastic adapted to deform to sealing engagement with the vehicle surface surrounding the lock. This seal prevents escape of the warm air. At least one opening in the side of the channel allows the continued flow of warm breath to the lock without allowing excessive entry of cold air. 
     An integral container enables compact carriage of the lock de-icer on the person of the potential user. 
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
     FIG. 1 shows a lock de-icer being used to thaw the frozen lock of an automobile; 
     FIG. 2 shows a side elevation of the lock de-icer in partial cross-section; 
     FIG. 3 shows a fragmentary top view of the lock de-icer; and 
     FIG. 4 shows the lock de-icer telescoped in its integral container. 
    
    
     DETAILED DISCLOSURE OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     Referring to FIG. 1, an automobile 10 having a frozen lock is shown with the lock de-icer 12 pressed against the door surface surrounding the lock. The user 14 blows his breath into the tube formed by the de-icer 12. 
     Referring to FIG. 2, the lock de-icer is made up of a plurality of telescoping annular segments 16a, 16b, 16c, 16d. Each segment has an outward-directed flange 18a, 18b, 18c, 18d, 18e at its upper end and all but the bottom segment 20, has an inward directed flange 22a, 22b, 22c, 22d at its lower end. The outward directed and inward directed flanges interfere to limit the extension of the de-icer. It is to be understood that the limitation of extension can be created in alternate ways, such as telescoping frusto-conical annular sections without departing from the spirit of the invention. 
     The bottom segment 20 has a wide outward-directed flange 24 at its lower end. The outward directed flange 23 is connected to an outer ring 26 which extends parallel to the upper level of the lower section 20. The outer ring 26 forms within it an annular channel 28 into which all of the telescoping segments 16 may collapse and be stored. 
     At least the wide outward-directed flange 24 should preferably be made of resilient material such as rubber or plastic in order that it may deform to sealably fit the contour of the vehicle door surrounding the lock. 
     The interior of the telescoping annular segments 16a, 16b, 16c, 16d and bottom segment 20 form an air-directing channel 30 through which air may be directed to the frozen lock. 
     An air exhaust hole 32 in the side of one of the telescoping annular segments allows a controlled amount of breath to escape in order to maintain a flow of warm air toward the frozen lock. 
     The top view in FIG. 3 shows how the telescoping annular segments decrease in diameter from outside to inside. 
     FIG. 4 shows an alternative configuration in which a cover 34 is attached by a flexible hinge 36 to the outer ring 26. A pin latch 38 at the other side of the cover 34 is adapted to engage a cooperating latch hole 40 to retain the cover in position when it is not in use. 
     It will be understood that the claims are intended to cover all changes and modifications of the preferred embodiments of the invention, herein chosen for the purpose of illustration which do not constitute departures from the spirit and scope of the invention.