Attachment apparatus and method for attaching
AssigneeMotorola, Inc.
InventorRobert E. Edminster
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An apparatus which attaches a first device within a cavity of an anchor without using inserts, flanges, or adhesives is disclosed. Flexibility in positioning the device relative to the anchor is provided regardless of whether the anchor cavity or the device is threaded. A keeper having two rows of teeth, each row being substantially perpendicular to the threads, is mounted between the device and anchor and rotates under a force exerted by a pin so that only one of the two rows engages the thread channels. The force exerted by the pin also causes the keeper to pivot about a pivot end which is specifically shaped to prevent binding upon removal of the device from the cavity.
Claims18
An attachment apparatus comprising:
- a device having an outward facing surface and a body formed around a common axis;
- an anchor surrounding the body of said device;
- a pin having a pin axis;
- and
- a keeper positioned on the outward side of the body of said device, said keeper having
- a tooth protruding outwardly from the body of said device, and
- means, integral with said keeper, for receiving said pin so that upon engagement of said pin with said receiving means said pin transmits force to said keeper in a direction which causes said keeper tooth to move outwardly from the body of said device.
A method for attaching a device having an outward facing surface and a body formed around a common axis, the attachment being to a surrounding anchor, said method comprising the step of:
- moving a pin relative to the device;
- engaging a keeper with the pin of said moving step, the keeper being located on an outward side of the body of the device and having a tooth projecting outwardly from the body;
- pivoting the tooth of the keeper about a keeper pivot end outward from the outward side of the body of the device upon engagement of the pin with the keeper through deflection of a force applied to the keeper from the pin;
- and
- joining the keeper tooth of said engaging step to the surrounding anchor in response to said pivoting step.
An apparatus for locking a first device to a second device, the second device having a screw thread formed thereon, and the first and second devices juxtaposed so that one of the first and second devices surrounds the other of the first and second devices, the apparatus comprising:
- a first planar platform having first and second opposing sides, a pivot end, and a toothed end, said first platform having a first tooth protruding away from the plane of said first platform and located proximate the toothed end and first side of said first platform, and having a second tooth protruding away from the plane of said first platform and located proximate the toothed end and second side of said first platform, the first tooth and second teeth being shifted relative to each other along the first and second sides;
- means for mounting said first platform between the first and second devices so that
- the first and second teeth of said first platform face the second device,
- said first platform is retained by the first device,
- said first platform is permitted to rotate so that one of the first and second teeth rotates toward the second device about the other of the first and second teeth, and
- said first platform is permitted to pivot so that both the first and second teeth move together toward and away from the second device;
- means for pivoting said first platform about the pivot end of said first platform;
- a second planar platform having first and second opposing sides, a pivot end, and a toothed end, said second platform having a first tooth protruding away from the plane of said first platform and located proximate the toothed end and the first side of said second platform, and having a second tooth protruding away from the plane of said second platform and located proximate the toothed end and the second side of said second platform, the first tooth and the second tooth being shifted relative to each other along the first and second sides;
- means for mounting said second platform between the first and second devices so that;
- the first and second teeth of said second platform face the second device,
- said second platform is retained by the first device,
- said second platform is permitted to rotate so that one of the first and second teeth move toward the second device about the other of the first and second teeth, and
- said second platform is permitted to pivot so that both the first and second teeth move together toward and away from the second device;
- and
- means for pivoting said second platform about the pivot end of said second platform.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.