Appeal No. 1999-2627
Application 08/516,516
through an opening in the bumper” (specification, page 1).
Claim 1 is illustrative and reads as follows:
1. A device adapted for securing a spare tire mounted on
an existing hoist of a vehicle for which use of said device is
contemplated and having a bumper with an offset cross-section
and an existing hoist shaft terminating in a socket-like
formation at a distal end spaced behind an access opening in
the vehicle bumper, the device comprising:
a removable locking shaft positionable for extending
unattached between the distal end of the hoist shaft and the
bumper of the vehicle with which said device is to be utilized
through the access opening in the bumper, wherein the locking
shaft comprises an elongated cylindrical bar with a plain
distal end and of a diameter throughout the length of the bar
that is uniformly smaller than the diameter of the opening in
the bumper, so that the locking shaft can pass completely
through the opening and when removed renders the hoist shaft
of the vehicle capable of being operated;
the opposite end of the locking shaft being insertable
into a rotational interlocking engagement with the distal end
of the hoist shaft;
a transverse aperture defined in the locking shaft
between the distal end of the hoist shaft and an interior
surface of the bumper in close proximity to the offset cross-
section of the bumper; and
a lock for attachment through the aperture of the locking
shaft for said lock and locking shaft to afford a limited
arcuate displacement from a standing relation until said lock
incurs a rotational interference relation with respect to the
offset cross-section of the bumper whereby to prevent removal
of the locking shaft from the hoist shaft and to prevent
further rotation of the locking shaft.
2
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