Patent ID: 7681587

Claim:
A protective sleeve for use in connection with valve stems for gas bottles, said protective sleeve comprised of an elongated four-sided unitary molded tubular body having opposing open ends, said body being of such length as to extend along at least a portion of the length of said valve stem, said sides of said unitary body configured to conform to adjacent faces of said valve stem in protective relationship thereto when said protective sleeve is placed over said valve stem, an outwardly extending projection extending from an interior surface of said protective sleeve and adapted to physically engage with an orifice in an opposing surface of said valve stem in locking engagement whereby said protective sleeve is prevented from being easily removed from said valve stem upon being placed over an end of said valve stem and moved into sliding locking engagement with said orifice of said valve stem due to engagement of said projection with said orifice; and at least one tear strip provided within at least a portion of at least one side surface of said protective sleeve, whereby at least a portion of said side surface of said protective sleeve may be removed by tearing said tear strip so as to permit disengagement and removal of said protective sleeve from said valve stem, said sleeve further including at least one flange extending laterally outwardly from the bottom of said sleeve along a plane transverse to a longitudinal axis of said unitary molded tubular body, and a grip member which extends laterally outwardly from said sleeve along a plane transverse to said longitudinal axis of said unitary molded tubular body and attached to a portion of said tear strip to facilitate tearing of said tear strip.