Threaded – headed fastener – or washer making: process and apparat – Process – Making internally threaded fastener – e.g. – nut
Reexamination Certificate
1997-09-12
2001-04-10
Saether, Flemming (Department: 3627)
Threaded, headed fastener, or washer making: process and apparat
Process
Making internally threaded fastener, e.g., nut
C411S250000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06213885
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
The invention relates to threaded fasteners in general, and more particularly to improvements in female (internally threaded) fasteners commonly known as nuts. Still more particularly, the invention relates to improvements in nuts with enlarged bases which obviate the need for washers; such nuts are known as flange nuts. Still more particularly, the invention relates to improvements in so-called castellated or castle nuts wherein a torque receiving intermediate section is disposed between a so-called clamping section or castle and a flange or base.
It is already known to solidly reshaping or massively form simple nuts by resorting to cold- and/or hot-extrusion; for example, such nuts can be used to separably secure wheel hubs to the axles of motor vehicles. It is also known to massively form castellated nuts and to provide such nuts with bases or flanges which are caused to bear against selected objects, e.g., wheels, in response to rotation of their torque receiving sections by the working end of a wrench or another suitable torque applying tool while the nut mates with an externally threaded fastener which is affixed to an axle and extends through a hole of a wheel hub for use in an automobile or another vehicle. The torque receiving section can be of one piece with or it can be separately produced and thereafter affixed to a flange. As a rule, the castellated clamping section is provided with a conical internal thread which tapers in a direction toward the axis of the nut and away from the flange. On the other hand, the torque receiving section is provided with a cylindrical internal thread which is complementary to the external thread of a screw, bolt or another male threaded fastener. Still further, it was already proposed to provide the castellated clamping section with a set of axially parallel recesses.
The conventional mode of making a combined castellated flange nut involves the making of a cylindrical internal thread in the clamping section, the making of a cylindrical internal thread in the torque receiving section, a material removing step which involves the formation of axially parallel slots in the clamping section, and a following step of bending the zones of the clamping section between neighboring slots radially inwardly at the junctions with the torque receiving section. This last mentioned step results in conversion of the originally cylindrical internal thread of the clamping section into a substantially frustoconical thread whose conicity is not very pronounced. The material removing operation which is being resorted to for the making of axially parallel slots in the partially finished clamping section results in the development of burrs or fins which extend radially inwardly into the central passage of the clamping section. Such burrs or fins must be removed in a separate step which contributes to the cost and to the length of the interval elapsing for the making of a nut. If the burrs or fins are not removed (or are not completely removed) from the interior of a clamping portion, they cause the development of pronounced localized friction which, in turn, causes extensive wear upon the external thread of a male fastener and/or the internal thread of the nut.
OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION
An object of the invention is to provide a nut which does not exhibit the drawbacks of the aforedescribed conventional nuts.
Another object of the invention is to provide a novel and improved flange nut.
A further object of the invention is to provide a novel and improved castle nut.
An additional object of the invention is to provide a novel and improved combined castellated and flange nut.
Still another object of the invention is to provide a novel and improved flange or base for use in a nut of the above outlined character.
A further object of the invention is to provide a novel and improved method of making a composite castellated and flange nut.
Another object of the invention is to provide a novel and improved method of making the castle or clamping section and the torque receiving section of a castellated nut.
An additional object of the invention is to provide a nut which can be utilized with advantage as a component part of threaded fastener means for removably securing wheel hubs in vehicles.
Still another object of the invention is to provide a nut which is less likely to become loose in actual use than conventional flanged and/or castellated nuts.
A further object of the invention is to provide a nut which is highly unlikely to become loose after numerous repeated separations from and reengagements with an object (such as a wheel hub) which is to be secured in a selected position by the improved nut in conjunction with a male (externally threaded) fastener.
Another object of the invention is to provide a simple, compact and inexpensive nut which can be mass produced in available machines.
An additional object of the invention is to provide a castellated nut whose castle or clamping section can generate and maintain a substantially uniform clamping torque with a minimum of straying from an optimal value.
Still another object of the invention is to provide a combined castellated and flange nut which can but need not be made of a single type of material.
A further object of the invention is to eliminate various adverse influences which could affect the uniformity and/or other desirable characteristics of clamping torque exerted by the castle of a castellated nut.
Another object of the invention is to provide a nut which is constructed and configurated in such a way that eventual departures from optimum axial length, optimum diameter and/or optimum angle or angles do not appreciably affect or do not affect at all the desirable characteristics of the flange and/or torque receiving section and/or clamping section.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The invention is embodied in a rotary nut which can be utilized with particular advantage to fasten a wheel in a vehicle. The improved nut comprises a flange, a substantially sleeve-like clamping section which is spaced apart from the flange, and a torque receiving section coaxial with and disposed between the flange and the clamping section. The flange has a side (hereinafter called underside) facing away from the two sections and being engageable with an object (such as a hub) in response to rotation of the nut around an externally threaded bolt, screw or other suitable fastener. The clamping section has an internal surface and an external surface, and at least one of these surfaces is a conical frustum and tapers toward the common longitudinal axis of the two sections in a direction away from the underside of the flange. The clamping section further comprises a plurality of recesses which extend in substantial parallelism with the common longitudinal axis of the two sections, and the torque receiving section has a substantially cylindrical internal thread in contrast to the internal surface of the clamping section which is provided with a conical thread. The conical thread and the recesses are obtained as a result of a material removal operation.
The torque receiving section is preferably provided with a polygonal external face which is engageable by the working end of a wrench or another suitable torque transmitting tool. The clamping section is or can be of one piece with the torque receiving section.
The flange can be of one piece with the torque receiving section or it can constitute a separately produced part which is affixed to the torque receiving section either in such a way that the flange and the second section are non-rotatably secured to one another (e.g., by welding) or in such a way that the torque receiving section and the flange can turn relative to each other about the common longitudinal axis of the two sections.
The cylindrical internal thread of the torque receiving section can be obtained as a result of material removal reshaping. For example, the cylindrical and the conical threads can constitute rolled, cut, chased or otherwise formed threads. At least one of the two threads can be
Darby & Darby
Erich Neumayer GmbH & Co. KG
Saether Flemming
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