Patent ID: 7647683
Filing Date: 2010-01-19
Classification: F16L,Y10T

Abstract:
1. A method of aligning and connecting a threaded male fastener to a correspondingly threaded female fastener comprising: providing one of the threaded male fastener or correspondingly threaded female fastener with a nut having a plurality of upturned sides and a central axis aligned with a central axis of the one of the male or female fastener; providing a guide sleeve having a cylindrical internal surface and a central axis and an end sized to fit within the upturned sides of the nut; providing the other of the threaded male fastener or correspondingly threaded female fastener with a guide member having a cylindrical external surface and a central axis aligned with a central axis of the other of the male or female fastener, the guide member cylindrical external surface being slidingly and rotatably movable with respect to the guide sleeve cylindrical internal surface; aligning the guide sleeve central axis with a central axis of the one of the male or female fastener nut and inserting the end of the guide sleeve into the nut so that the guide sleeve end fits within the upturned sides of the nut; sliding the guide member into the guide sleeve, such that the threaded male and female fasteners are coaxially aligned; and rotating the guide member with respect to the guide sleeve so that the threads of the male fastener engage threads of the female fastener.