Patent ID: 8376472

Claim:
A permanent air locking mechanism comprising: a housing having upper and lower faces, front and rear faces and side faces; a vertical bore extending through the housing between the upper and lower faces and a horizontal bore extending into the housing from the front face and extending to the vertical bore; a ball valve positioned within the vertical bore laterally spaced from the horizontal bore, the ball valve being rotatable between open and closed orientations, a lock cylinder located within the vertical bore with an exposed keyway and an unexposed end with a connector clip coupling the lock cylinder and the ball valve; and a mounting bracket having an L-shaped configuration with a front face and a side face, the front face of the bracket being in contact with the front face of the housing, the front face of the bracket formed with a recess with an annular collar surrounding and exposing the horizontal bore, the side face of the mounting bracket having apertures for mounting the mechanism to a recipient surface of a tractor, the front face of the mounting bracket having apertures and screws for securing the mounting bracket to the outer housing, an elastomeric waterproof covering coupled to the front face of the mounting bracket and movable between an operative orientation covering the annular collar and an inoperative orientation remote from the annular collar.