Fastener assembly
OwnerSydney L. Terryinventor
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A locking fastener in which coacting ramp surfaces are provided on a nut and washer assembly to generate wedging forces in response to backing off movement of the nut which urge the nut into tighter engagement with the associated bolt and the workpiece and in which a spring member disposed radially from the ramp surfaces is biased by the final relative tightening movement of the nut and washer so as to bias the ramp surfaces for movement in the direction to augment the locking action of the fastener. A torque control fastener is disclosed in which the gap between the adjacent ramp shoulders on the nut and washer is indicative of the torque and the damping force exerted by the fastener.
Claims22
A locking device for use with a threaded fastener, said fastener comprising first and second fastener elements having female and male threads, respectively, for mating engagement with each other, said locking device comprising:
- first and second wedge members having confronting coacting generally parallel first and second ramp surfaces, respectively, with axially extending oppositely disposed ramp shoulders having a gap therebetween, the first wedge member being rotatably movable relative to the second wedge member, said first and second ramp surfaces being respectively inclined relative to the axis of said wedge members and movable into sliding wedging contact with each other in response to relative movement between said wedge members in a tightening direction to cause said first ramp surface to move slidably down said second ramp surface to decrease the overall axial height of the first and second wedge members and operative in response to relative movement between said wedge members in the loosening direction to cause said first ramp surface to move slidably up said second ramp surface to increase said overall height,
- and a spring member which urges the wedge members in opposite rotative directions and is disposed away from said gap and ramp surfaces so that the space between the shoulders is free of obstruction by the spring member, said spring member elastically resisting relative movement of said wedge members in said first tightening direction, and operative in response to such tightening movement to store energy for biasing the wedge members for movement in said loosening direction to urge said first ramp surfaces to move slidably up said second ramp surfaces to increase said overall height,
- one of said fastener elements being related to the first wedge member in such a manner that it imparts rotational movement to the first wedge member when said one fastener element is rotated in a tightening direction,
- the first and second ramp surfaces having a pitch different from the pitch of said threads whereby rotation of the first wedge member in the loosening direction causes the threads to jam.
A locking fastener for use with a threaded bolt, said fastener comprising first and second wedge members, having confronting coacting generally parallel first and second ramp surfaces, respectively, with axially extending oppositely disposed ramp shoulders having a gap therebetween, the first wedge member having threads for threaded engagement with a threaded bolt and being rotatably movable relative to the second wedge member, said first and second ramp surfaces being respectively inclined relative to the axis of the wedge members and movable into slidable wedging contact with each other in response to relative movement between said wedge members in a tightening direction to cause said first ramp surface to move slidably down said second ramp surface to decrease the overall axial height of the fastener and operative in response to relative movement between said wedge members in the loosening direction to cause said first ramp surface to move slidably up said second ramp surface to increase the overall height, said threads having a pitch different from the pitch of the first and second ramp surfaces whereby rotation of the first wedge member in the loosening direction causes the threads to jam, and a spring member urging the wedge members in opposite rotative directions and disposed away from said gap so that the space between the shoulders is free of obstruction by the spring member, said spring member elastically resisting relative movement of said wedge members in said tightening direction and operative in response to such tightening movement to store energy in said spring member for biasing said wedge members for movement in said loosening direction to urge said first ramp surface to move slidably up said second ramp surface to increase the overall height of the fastener.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.