Patent ID: 8341989

Claim:
A key fob with a retractable key blank, the key fob comprising: a housing, the housing having a first portion and a second portion, wherein the first and second portions are coupled together; an aperture formed between the first and second portions when the first and second portions are coupled together; an activation mechanism operatively coupled within the housing, the activation mechanism comprising a base, a biased protrusion, a connecting protrusion, a spring recess, a spring, and locking protrusions coupled on opposing sides of the biased protrusion; and a key blank having a base portion and a blade portion extending from the base portion, wherein the base portion is slideable within the housing and retained at all times within the housing and the blade portion slides in and out of the aperture of the housing in response to sliding the base portion within the housing, wherein the blade portion of the key blank is duplicated from an original key while coupled to the housing, wherein: the connecting protrusion is received within an aperture of the base portion of the key blank and the spring is retained within the spring recess of the activation mechanism; the surface of the base portion of the key blank operates to retain the spring within the spring recess and the spring functions to bias the biased protrusion away from the base portion of the key blank; and the locking protrusions engage first or second recesses of the first portion of the housing when the locking protrusions are aligned with the first or second recesses.