Wire brush fastening device
AssigneeThe United States of America as represented by the United States Department of Energy
InventorRichard A. Meigs
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A fastening device is provided which is a variation on the conventional nut and bolt. The bolt has a longitudinal axis and threading helically affixed thereon along the longitudinal axis. A nut having a bore extending therethrough is provided. The bore of the nut has a greater diameter than the diameter of the bolt so the bolt can extend through the bore. An array of wire bristles are affixed within the bore so as to form a brush. The wire bristles extend inwardly from the bore and are constructed and arranged of the correct size, length and stiffness to guide the bolt within the bore and to restrain the bolt within the bore as required. A variety of applications of the wire brush nut are disclosed, including a bolt capture device and a test rig apparatus.
Claims13
A fastening device for attaching a remote member to a fixed member, said device comprising:
- a threaded bolt;
- a longitudinal bore through said remote member, said longitudinal bore is of greater diameter than said threaded bolt and is axially aligned with said threaded bore;
- a plurality of wire bristle members affixed to and extending radially inward from said longitudinal bore, said bristle members being constructed and adapted to engage the threads of said bolt and to thereby retain said bolt within said remote member and to guide said bolt into alignment with said fixed member and, a threaded bore within said fixed member threadly receiving said bolt while said bolt is also within said longitudinal bore.
A load test apparatus with means for retaining bolt members, said apparatus comprising:
- a lifter beam having a longitudinal slot extending therethrough;
- said lifter beam connected to means for elevating and lowering said lifter beam;
- a body member comprising a plurality of test rig plates disposed in parallel, each plate having a longitudinal bore enclosing a nut with a longitudinal bore and plurality of wire bristle members being affixed to and extending inwardly from said nut bore, said bristle members being constructed and arranged to guide one of said bolt members within said bore and to selectively retain said bolt member;
- and with at least one of said bolt members extensible from each of said test rig plates, said lifter beam being positioned through said test rig plates so that when said bolt member is threaded into and through said longitudinal bore, said bolt member extends to engage said slot in said lifter beam whereby a selected number of said test rig plates are attached to said lifter beam thereby raising said test rig plates, as said lifter beam is raised.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.