Abstract:
A locking mechanism for engaging with a threaded rod, the locking mechanism comprises a locking member defining a locking hole axially and a plurality of mounting grooves arranged along a periphery of the locking member, the mounting grooves communicating with the locking hole, and at least three connection lines of each of the mounting grooves defining a rectangular triangle or an acute triangle; a plurality of threaded assemblies, wherein each of the threaded assemblies is rotatably received in each of the mounting grooves, each of the threaded assemblies is substantially perpendicular to a radial direction of the locking hole, and the threaded assemblies are adapted to engage or release a threaded rod; and a sleeve member slidably sleeved on the locking member, the sleeve member moves along the locking member to drive the threaded assemblies to rotate inwardly, or to rotate outwardly to engages or disengage with the threaded rod.

Description:
BACKGROUND 
       [0001]    1. Technical Field 
         [0002]    The present disclosure relates to locking mechanisms, and more particularly, to a locking mechanism for clamping materials. 
         [0003]    2. Description of Related Art 
         [0004]    In industrial fields, materials are generally clamped and positioned for machining. A gripper is employed to clamp the materials and then the gripper is sleeved on a positioning rod. A locking mechanism is employed to engage with the positioning rod to clamp the gripper, thus the materials are positioned to be machined. When the materials run out, the locking mechanism is detached from the positioning rod, and the gripper is released to load materials. Generally, the positioning rod is a bolt, and the locking mechanism is a nut. It may take a long time for the locking mechanism to reach a predetermined position for positioning the gripper. The locking mechanism may need to be rotated many circles to detach from the bolt, and to release the gripper. Thus, assembling and/or disassembling the locking mechanism in assembling may be difficult. 
         [0005]    Therefore, an improved locking mechanism may be desired. 
     
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         [0006]    The components in the drawings are not necessarily drawn to scale, the emphasis instead placed upon clearly illustrating the principles of the present disclosure. Moreover, in the drawings, like reference numerals designate corresponding parts throughout the several views. 
           [0007]      FIG. 1  is an assembled, isometric view of an embodiment of a locking mechanism, the locking mechanism comprising a threaded member. 
           [0008]      FIG. 2  is an exploded, isometric view of the locking mechanism of  FIG. 1 . 
           [0009]      FIG. 3  is similar to  FIG. 2 , but viewed from another aspect. 
           [0010]      FIG. 4  is a cross-section of the locking mechanism of  FIG. 1 , taken along line IV-IV. 
           [0011]      FIG. 5  is a schematic view of the threaded member of  FIG. 1  in a state of releasing a threaded rod. 
       
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
       [0012]    Referring to  FIG. 1 , an embodiment of a locking mechanism  100  for engaging with a threaded rod to clamp materials, comprises a locking member  10 , three threaded assemblies  20 , a sleeve member  30 , and a resilient member  40 . The three threaded assemblies  20  are arranged along a periphery of the locking member  10 . The sleeve member  30  is sleeved on the locking member  10 , and the resilient member  40  is sleeved on the locking member  10  to enable the sleeve member  30  to slide along the locking member  10  automatically when in need. 
         [0013]    Also referring to  FIGS. 2 through 4 , the locking member  10  is a substantially cylindrical housing, and comprises a main body  11 , a resisting portion  13  coaxially connected to a first end of the main body  11  and a guiding portion  15  coaxially connected to a second end of the main body  11  opposite to a first end. The locking member  10  defines a locking hole  16  extending through the resisting portion  13 , the main body  11  and a guiding portion  15 . The locking member  10  forms three plane surfaces  111  on a circumferential wall of the main body  11  and each of the three plane surfaces  111  defines a mounting groove  17 . 
         [0014]    The three plane surfaces  111  are spaced from each other and are parallel to an axis of the main body  11 . An external diameter of the resisting portion  13  is greater than that of the main body  11 . The resisting portion  13  defines an annular resisting groove  131  on an end surface facing the main body  11 . The guiding portion  15  has a cone shape, and outer diameters of the guiding portion increase along an axis of the guiding portion  15  toward the resisting portion  13 . The locking hole  16  is a circular hole. Each of the mounting grooves  17  is uniformly spaced from each other. Each of the mounting grooves  17  is arranged along the axis of the main body  11 , and communicates with the locking hole  16 . A first end of the mounting groove  17  extends to the guiding portion  15 , a second end of the mounting groove  17 , opposite to the first end, extends to a middle position of the main body  11 . Each of the mounting grooves  17  comprises a wedge surface  171 . A distance between the wedge surface  171  and each of the three plane surfaces  111  decreases toward the resisting portion  13 . Opposite side surfaces of the mounting groove  17  respectively defines two mounting holes  172  adjacent to the resisting portion  13 . The two mounting holes  172  are symmetrically and extend though outer surfaces of a circumferential wall of the main body  11 . In the embodiment, the first guiding portion  15  is chamfered from an end of the main body  11 ; the mounting groove  17  is in a substantially rectangular shape. 
         [0015]    Each of the three threaded assemblies  20  is received in each of the mounting groove  17 . Each of the three threaded assemblies  20  comprises a threaded member  21 , a first pivotal member  23  and a second pivotal member  25 . Each threaded member  21  is in a strip shape and is placed in one of the mounting groove  17  along the axis of the main body  11 . The first pivotal member  23  and the second pivotal member  25  are mounted on the threaded member  23  and parallel to each other. The second pivotal member  25  is capable of driving the threaded member  21  to rotate around the first pivotal member  23 . 
         [0016]    The threaded member  21  comprises a threaded portion  211  and a pushing portion  213  connected to the threaded portion  211 . The threaded portion  211  and the pushing portion  213  cooperatively define an obtuse angle. The threaded member  21  defines a pivotal hole  215  on the pushing portion  213 , adjacent to the threaded portion  211 . The pivotal hole  215  corresponds to the first pivotal member  23 . The threaded portion  211  comprises a plurality of engaging teeth  2111 , a latching end  2113 , and a locking end  2115 . The locking end  2115  and the latching end  2113  are at opposite ends of the plurality of engaging teeth  2111 . The plurality of engaging teeth  2111  are arranged along a length of the threaded portion  211 , and are parallel to each other. The latching end  2113  is adjacent to the pivotal hole  215 . The locking end  2115  forms a guiding surface  2117  deviates from the engaging teeth  2111 . The pushing portion  213  defines a pushing hole  2131 . The pushing hole  2131  extends two ends of the pushing portion  213  and communicates with outside at the two sides. The first pivotal member  23  is mounted in the pivotal hole  215 , and each end of the first pivotal member  23  extends into each of the two mounting holes  172  to enable the threaded member  21  to be rotatably mounted in the mounting groove  17 . The second pivotal member  25  is movably mounted in the pushing hole  2131  and opposite ends of the second pivotal member  25  extend into the sleeve member  30 . In the embodiment, the guiding surface  2117  is chamfered from an end of a spine shaped threaded portion  211 . 
         [0017]    The sleeve member  30  is a substantially cylindrical housing sleeved on the main body  11  and shields the mounting grooves  17 . The sleeve member  30  comprises an annular abutting portion  31  at an end corresponding to the resisting portion  13  of the locking member  10 . The sleeve member  30  axially defines a receiving hole  33 , and three receiving grooves  35  arranged along an inner surface of the receiving hole  33 . Each of the three receiving grooves  35  communicates with the receiving hole  33 , and extends through opposite end surfaces of the sleeve member  30 . The sleeve member  30  further defines two connecting holes  351  on two side surfaces of each of the three receiving grooves  35 . The two connecting holes  351  communicate with outside of the sleeve member  30 . 
         [0018]    The resilient member  40  is sleeved on the main body  11  of the locking member  10 , and positioned between the resisting portion  13  and the annular abutting portion  31 . An end of the resilient member  40  is received in the annular resisting groove  131 . In the embodiment, the resilient member  40  is a helical compression spring. 
         [0019]    In assembling of the locking mechanism  100 , the resilient member  40  is sleeved on the main body  11  with one end received in the resisting groove  131 . An external force is applied to compress the resilient member  40 . The threaded member  21  is received in the mounting groove  17 . The pivotal hole  215  of the threaded member  21  is aligned to each of the two mounting holes  172 . The first pivotal member  23  extends into the pivotal hole  215  and each of the two mounting holes  172  such that the threaded member  21  is rotatably received in the mounting groove  17 . The sleeve member  30  is then sleeved on the main body  11  with each of the three receiving grooves  35  communicating with each of the mounting grooves  17 , and the resilient member  40  is released. Another external force is applied to enable the sleeve member  30  to slide along the locking member  10  and resist the resilient member  40  with the annular abutting portion  31 , until each of the two connecting holes  351  communicates with the pushing hole  2131 . The second pivotal member  25  extends into each of the two connecting holes  351  and the pushing hole  2131  to rotatably connect the threaded member  21  to the sleeve member  30 , releasing the sleeve member  30 , thus the locking mechanism  100  is assembled. 
         [0020]    To clamp a gripper on a threaded rod, a force is applied to enable the sleeve member  30  to slide along the locking member  10  toward the resisting portion  13 . The abutting portion  31  resists the resilient member  40  and the sleeve member  30  drives the second pivotal member  25  to slide in the pushing hole  2131 . The second pivotal member  25  drives the threaded member  21  to rotate around the first pivotal member  23  when the second pivotal member  25  slides to a predetermined position in the pushing hole  2131 . The threaded potion  211  is outwardly moved away from a periphery of the locking hole  16 . The locking mechanism  100  is directly sleeved on a threaded rod at a predetermined position with the guiding portion  15  facing a gripper. The sleeve member  30  is released to slide along the locking member  10 , which is resisted by the resilient member  40 . The sleeve member  30  drives the threaded member  21  to rotate until the threaded portion  211  is parallel to the axis of the locking hole  16 . The threaded portion  211  engages with the threaded rod via the plurality of engaging teeth  2111 , thus a pre-positioning of the gripper is achieved, and the outer surface of the guiding portion  15  is parallel to the guiding surface  2117  of the threaded member  21 . The locking mechanism  100  is rotated around the threaded rod with the threaded portion  211  engaged with the threaded rod. The locking mechanism  100  is moved toward the gripper along the threaded rod and then positions the gripper on the threaded rod, thus a positioning process of the locking mechanism  100  is achieved. When releasing the gripper, the threaded portion  211  of the threaded member  21  detaches from the threaded rod and the locking mechanism  100  is pulled up directly from the threaded rod. 
         [0021]    The threaded members  21  are capable of being rotated and outwardly moved away from the locking hole  16 , thus the locking mechanism  100  is directly sleeved on a threaded rod at a predetermined position to enable the locking mechanism  100  to clamp a gripper or materials quickly. When released, the threaded members  21  are rotated and outwardly moved away from the locking hole  16 , and the locking mechanism  100  can be pulled out directly. Thus, the locking mechanism  100  saves time. As the outer surface of the guiding portion  15  is parallel to the guiding surface  2117  of the threaded member  21 , if the threaded rod comprises an annular portion, the annular portion of the threaded rod may be sleeved on the locking member  10  directly via the guiding portion  15  and the guiding surface  2117 . The annular portion of the threaded rod may prevent the threaded member  21  from rotating outwardly when the sleeve member  30  accidentally slides toward the resisting portion  13 , thus the locking mechanism  100  cannot be detached from the threaded rod by accident. 
         [0022]    In one embodiment, the locking mechanism  100  may comprise a plurality of threaded assemblies  20  and an equal number of mounting grooves  17 . The plurality of threaded assemblies  20  may be arranged around the periphery of the locking member  10 . At least three connection lines of the mounting grooves  17  define a rectangular triangle or an acute triangle. 
         [0023]    In another embodiment, the locking mechanism  100  may comprise only two threaded assemblies  20  and two mounting grooves  17 . The two mounting grooves  17  are arranged symmetrically along the radial direction of the locking hole  16 . 
         [0024]    In yet another embodiment, the resilient member  40  may be omitted if the sleeve member  30  comprises a first threaded portion on an inner sidewall, and the locking member  10  comprises a second threaded portion at an outer sidewall. The sleeve member  30  is moved along the locking member  10  by the first threaded portion engaging with second threaded portion. 
         [0025]    In another embodiments, the threaded member  21  may be rotatably connected to the locking member  10  by other structures, for examples, the threaded member  21  may comprise two posts outwardly extending from opposite sides, and the locking member  10  may define two pivotal grooves on opposite surfaces of the mounting grooves, and each of the two posts may be rotatably received in each of the two pivotal grooves. 
         [0026]    Finally, while various embodiments have been described and illustrated, the disclosure is not to be construed as being restricted thereto. Various modifications can be made to the embodiments by those skilled in the art without departing from the true spirit and scope of the disclosure as defined by the appended claims.