A device for securing sliding windows and doors, the device comprising:
- a telescoping bar having a first end and a second end with an adjustable length therebetween, the telescoping bar being formed by a plurality of bars that each have a square tubular shape and that slidably fit one inside another;
- wherein a length of the telescoping bar is adjustable by sliding the plurality of bars relative one another along an axis running lengthwise along a center of the telescoping bar from the first end to the second end, and the square tubular shape of each of the plurality of bars is configured such that a rotation of one of the plurality of bars around the axis rotates each of the plurality of bars in the telescoping bar around the axis;
- a neck formed by a protrusion extending outwardly from the first end of the telescoping bar along the axis of the telescoping bar;
- wherein, when viewed in a first cross section taken across a first plane perpendicular to the axis, the neck has a two-dimensional shape with a height dimension longer than a width dimension;
- a socket plate for coupling to the first end of the telescoping bar, the socket plate having a rectangular base with a back surface for attachment to an external surface and a front surface for facing toward the first end of the telescoping bar;
- a socket extending from the front surface of the socket plate for receiving the neck of the telescoping bar;
- wherein, when viewed in a second cross section taken across a second plane perpendicular to the axis, the socket has a C-shaped perimeter with a circular inner diameter of the C-shaped perimeter being greater than or equal to the height dimension of the neck thereby allowing the neck to be rotated around the axis once the neck is fully inserted into an inner area within the C-shaped perimeter of the socket, the socket has a jaw opening of the C-shaped perimeter leading to the inner area of the socket and the jaw opening has a width that is greater than or equal to the width dimension of the neck thereby allowing the neck to pass through the jaw opening when a relative angle between the telescoping bar and the socket plate around the axis is adjusted by a user such that the width dimension of the neck aligns with the width of the jaw opening, and the width of the jaw opening is less than the height dimension of the neck thereby preventing the neck from passing through the jaw opening when the relative angle between the telescoping bar and the socket plate is adjusted by the user such that the width dimension of the neck does not align with the width of the jaw opening;
- and
- a lock formed by a U-shaped plate mounted to the telescoping bar at a pivot point and pivotable between a locked position and an unlocked position;
- wherein, when the lock is pivoted by the user into the unlocked position, the U-shaped plate is pivoted away from the socket plate such that the U-shaped plate does not abut against the socket plate and thereby does not interfere with rotation of the telescoping bar around the axis relative to the socket plate thereby allowing the relative angle between the telescoping bar and the socket plate to be changed;
- and, when the lock is pivoted by the user into the locked position, the U-shaped plate abuts against and wraps around a plurality of sides of the rectangular base of the socket plate such that the U-shaped plate engages with the rectangular base of the socket plate and thereby physically prevents the relative angle between the telescoping bar and the socket plate from being changed.