Portable electric heating device for thawing motor vehicle door locks

A car battery-operated electrically heated thawing device for thawing frozen car locks including an elongated electrical cable, a connecting plug on one end of said cable insertable into a socket on the car adjacent to the frozen lock and connected to the car battery and a hollow protective case having an opening at the top receiving a ring which is adapted to hold a key for the car door and/or ignition of said car;

• a thawing stick in the form of a thin, hollow, flattened, elongated, metal body having a height and width which is less than the thickness of the key fitting into the keyhole of the lock;
• an electric resistance heating wire within the hollow inner wall portion of said metal body and extending from the center of said body toward one end thereof, said one end of said body defining the tip of said stick, the end of said wire being spaced from said one end of said body a distance between about 10-15% of the length of the stick and being electrically connected to said one end of said body by an electrically conductive member;
• a conductor in said metal body connected to the other end of said wire and extending from the other end of said body for connecting said cable to said resistance wire, said resistance wire and conductor being electrically insulated from said metal body;
• plastic fastening means at the top of said protective case pivotally connecting the other end of said metal body to said case, means within said plastic fastening means electrically connecting the other end of said cable to said conductor;
• said protective case having a narrow side and a wide side, said narrow side being open for receiving said cable in the hollow interior of said protective casing for storage, said stick being pivotable into the open side of said housing to close said open side during non-use;
• and
• said stick being movable by manipulating said protective casing to make electrical contact between said metal body and the metal surface of said lock to complete the electrical circuit to the car battery through said conductive means, resistance wire, conductor and cable and to permit the resistance wire within the stick to become hot.