Classifications

• • F—MECHANICAL ENGINEERING; LIGHTING; HEATING; WEAPONS; BLASTING
  • F16—ENGINEERING ELEMENTS AND UNITS; GENERAL MEASURES FOR PRODUCING AND MAINTAINING EFFECTIVE FUNCTIONING OF MACHINES OR INSTALLATIONS; THERMAL INSULATION IN GENERAL
  • F16B—DEVICES FOR FASTENING OR SECURING CONSTRUCTIONAL ELEMENTS OR MACHINE PARTS TOGETHER, e.g. NAILS, BOLTS, CIRCLIPS, CLAMPS, CLIPS OR WEDGES; JOINTS OR JOINTING
  • F16B39/00—Locking of screws, bolts or nuts
  • F16B39/22—Locking of screws, bolts or nuts in which the locking takes place during screwing down or tightening
  • F16B39/28—Locking of screws, bolts or nuts in which the locking takes place during screwing down or tightening by special members on, or shape of, the nut or bolt
  • F16B39/32—Locking by means of a pawl or pawl-like tongue

Definitions

• the present invention relates to self-locking threads and threaded connections
• fasteners function in this regard by increasing friction between the otherwise mated threads of the male and female components or between the fastener and the parts joined by the fastener.
• Examples include: lock washers, tooth washers, blind thread bores filled with resilient inserts such as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,078,562 issued to DeHaitre on January 7, 1992, and screw thread profiles that jam or deform when tightened such as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,242,252 issued to Harle on September 7, 1993.
• Other such fasteners and connections function by increasing the friction between the engaging surfaces of the head of the male component and work piece, or between the female component and work piece such as disclosed in U.S.
• fasteners using these approaches generally require high or
• threads, threaded fasteners, and threaded devices (i) that will not come loose under loads equal or less than the fastener supports, (ii) that can be easily installed using conventional tools, (iii) that employ torque values appreciably closer to those torque values only necessary to clamp together the workpieces (as opposed to requiring higher torque values to provide increased resistance against loosening), and (iv)
• the present invention addresses these drawbacks in known prior threaded fasteners and threaded devices and meets these needs
• Figure 1A is a side view of the invention in an assembled state.
• Figure IB is a bottom view of the invention in an assembled state showing the flexible thread projections of the female component interacting with the thread recesses of
• Figure 2 A is a side view of adjacent thread rotations of the invention in an
• Figure 2B is a side view of adjacent rotations of the invention in an assembled state increased in size to show details of one flexible thread projection of the female component meshed with a recess of the male component.
• Figure 3 A is a top view of the female fastening component's flexible thread according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.
• Figure 3B is a side view of the female fastening component's flexible thread according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.
• Figure 3C is a bottom view of the female fastening component with its flexible thread according to a preferred embodiment of the present invention.
• Figure 3D is a half cut away side view of the female fastening component with its
• Figure 4 A is a side view of adjacent rotations of an alternative embodiment of the
• Figure 4B is a side view of adjacent rotations of an alternative embodiment of the present invention in an assembled and unlocked state as applied to male and female fastening components where the projections of the flexible thread segment press axially against the recesses of the male thread..
• Figure 1A shows a side view of a self-locking threaded connection, in an assembled
• the projection locking thread is either attached to the female
• projections are formed in a manner that enables them to flex axially or radially.
• the female component is typically a threaded nut, bore, or hole.
• the male component is typically a threaded bolt, cylinder, stud, shank or screw.
• the projection locking thread and the recess locking thread are designed to work together so that, as the male component is being screwed into or out of the female component, the two threads engage each other in a novel manner (hereafter referred to as "meshing") and thereby lock.
• meshing novel manner
• Figure IB shows an end view of the self-locking threaded connection of Figure 1A
• Figures 2A is a side view of one projection of the flexible thread segment in an unlocked state.
• Figure 2B the projection appearing in Figure 2A is shown in greater
• the axial tensile stress must also lift or force the flexible thread segment's projections out of the male thread's recesses and to overcome any remaining friction.
• the loosening torque resulting from tensile stress must be great enough to overcome the natural spring return action pushing the flexible thread segment's projections into the male thread's projections. To ensure that the loosening torque is less than these
• the faces of the recesses and projections can be formed so that the projections dig into the recesses when torque is applied in either the tightening or loosening directions.
• the fasteners cannot be either further tightened or loosened once meshing occurs without damaging the projection or the recess.
• the female component is used with a traditional bolt or other male component without recesses, the flexible thread segment presses up against the males thread creating additional resistance to loosening.
• the additional resistance prevents inadvertent loosening in the same manner as prevailing torque nuts such as those with nylon inserts.
• Figure 3A is a bottom view and Figure 3B is a side view of the female component's
• the female's flexible thread segment is not solid from its root to its crest for its full length.
• the flexible thread segment can be attached to the female component (12) in any
• Figure 4 A is a side view of adjacent rotations of an alternative embodiment of the
• the recesses (32) are located at the root and
• Figure 4B is a side view of adjacent rotations of an alternative embodiment of the present invention in an assembled and unlocked state where the projections of the internal flexible thread segment press axially against the recesses of the male thread.
• the recesses (32) and the projections are on the following flanks.
• projections on the external thread can be used to mesh with the projections of the flexible thread segment.
• the flexible thread segment can be more or less than one full rotation.

Landscapes

• Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• General Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
• Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
• Bolts, Nuts, And Washers (AREA)
• Dowels (AREA)
• Handcart (AREA)
• Earth Drilling (AREA)
• Clamps And Clips (AREA)

Applications Claiming Priority (5)

Publications (2)

Family

ID=26953758

Family Applications (1)

Country Status (7)

Families Citing this family (6)

Citations (3)

Family Cites Families (4)

• 1995
  • 1995-05-05 BR BR9508203A patent/BR9508203A/pt not_active Application Discontinuation
  • 1995-05-05 AU AU25462/95A patent/AU689897B2/en not_active Ceased
  • 1995-05-05 EP EP95919779A patent/EP0769108A4/de not_active Ceased
  • 1995-05-05 WO PCT/US1995/005820 patent/WO1996001379A1/en not_active Application Discontinuation
  • 1995-05-05 CA CA 2194164 patent/CA2194164A1/en not_active Abandoned
  • 1995-05-05 JP JP8503863A patent/JPH10502435A/ja active Pending
  • 1995-05-09 TW TW84104583A patent/TW268081B/zh active

Patent Citations (3)

Non-Patent Citations (1)

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