Patent Publication Number: US-2015071732-A1

Title: Eyebolt

Description:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     1. Technical Field 
     The present invention relates to a connector, and more particularly to an eyebolt. 
     2. Description of Related Art 
     In order to replace a mold of a plastic injection molding machine, an eyebolt is screwed into the mold, and then the ring of the eyebolt engages the machine for positioning of the mold. While the eyebolt is tightened, the ring of the eyebolt is fixed in a predetermined angle. Sometime, this angle can&#39;t fit the mold to the machine. If loosen the eyebolt to align the mold at the machine, it will disengage the eyebolt with the mold. 
     U.S. Pat. No. 5,690,457 discloses an eyebolt which provides a bolt to engage the mold, and then a ring is connected to the bolt. The ring is free to rotate relative to the bolt so that the angle of the ring is adjustable without having to loosen the bolt. 
     However, the ring is pressed by the bolt when the bolt is over-tightened that would make the ring unable to rotate or hard to rotate. 
     BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     In view of the above, the primary objective of the present invention is to provide an eyebolt, in which the bolt still is free to rotate even if the bolt is over-tightened. 
     In order to achieve the objective of the present invention, an eyebolt, which is adapted to connect to an object with a threaded hole, includes a ring, a pad, and a bolt. The ring has a base member and a ring member connected to a top of the base member. The base member has a first bore, and the first bore is communicated with a hollow portion in the ring member. The pad has a second bore, wherein the pad is received in the first bore of the base member; and a thickness of at least a portion of the pad is greater than a depth of the first bore. The bolt has a head and a rod connected to a bottom of the head, wherein a diameter of the head is greater than that of the rod; the rod has a thread; and the rod passes through the first bore and the second bore. 
     Therefore, the object touches a bottom of the pad, and the head of the bolt touches a top of the pad to screw the rod of the bolt into the thread hole of the object, whereby the ring is free to rotate relative to the pad and the bolt. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS 
       The present invention will be best understood by referring to the following detailed description of some illustrative embodiments in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which 
         FIG. 1  is an exploded view of a first preferred embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 2  is a sectional view of the first preferred embodiment of the present invention; 
         FIG. 3  is an enlarged view of  FIG. 2 ; and 
         FIG. 4  is a sectional view of a second preferred embodiment of the present invention. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
     As shown in  FIG. 1  and  FIG. 2 , an eyebolt of the first preferred embodiment of the present invention includes a ring  10 , a pad  20 , and a bolt  30 . 
     The ring  10  has a base member  12  and a ring member  14  connected to a top of the base member  12 . The base member  12  has a first bore  122 , which is communicated with a hollow portion in the ring member  14 . A receiving space  141  is formed between the first bore  122  and the hollow portion of the ring member  14 . An annular protrusion  123  is formed on a sidewall of the first bore  122 , and the protrusion  123  has an inclined face  123   a . The inclined face  123   a  faces the receiving space  141  and slopes downwards from an end connected to the sidewall of the first bore  122  to a distal end. 
     The pad  20  has a resting member  22  and a pad member  24 . The resting member has a second bore  221 . A diameter of the resting member is slightly smaller than a hollow portion within the protrusion  123 . The pad member  24  surrounds the resting member  22 . A diameter of the pad member  24  is slightly smaller than the first bore  122 . As shown in  FIG. 3 , a thickness H 1  of the resting member  22  is greater than a depth H 2  of the first bore  122 . 
     The bolt  30  has a head  32  and a rod  34  connected to a center of a bottom of the head  32 . The head  32  has a hexagonal recess  321  on a top thereof and an inclined face  322  on the bottom surrounding the rod  34 . The inclined face  322  slopes downwards from an edge of the bottom of the head  32  to the rod  34 . The inclined face  322  of the bolt  30  matches the inclined face  123   a  of the protrusion  123 . A diameter of the head  32  is greater than the rod  34 , and is slightly smaller than the hollow portion of the ring member  14 . The rod  34  has a thread. 
     In assembling, the pad  20  is put in the first bore  122  of the ring  10  via a bottom of the base member  12 , and then the rod  34  of the bolt  30  is inserted into the first bore  122  via the top of the base member  12  to rest the inclined face  322  on the inclined face  123   a  of the protrusion  123 . The rod  34  passes through the second bore  221  of the pad  20  and a distal end of the rod  34  extends out of the ring  10  and the pad  20 . The resting member  22  of the pad  20  is between the protrusion  123  and the rod  34 , and the head  32  is received in the receiving space  141 . The protrusion  123  is between the head  32  and the pad member  24 . A diameter of the hollow portion of the ring member  14  is greater than that of the head  32  so that the blot  30  is able to be inserted into the first bore  122  without interference. The inclined face  123   a  of the protrusion  123  has a guiding function to slide rod  34  into the second bore  221  of the pad  20 . 
     One may engage a wrench (not shown) with the hexagonal recess  321  of the bolt  30  to screw the rod  34  into a threaded hole  110  of a mold  100 . When the bolt  30  is tightened, the bottom of the head  32  is pressed on the resting member  22  of the pad  20 , and a bottom of the pad member  24  is attached to the mold  100 . Next, the ring member  14  of the ring  10  engages a machine (not shown) to position the mold  100  to the machine. With the thickness H 1  of the resting member  22  greater than the depth H 2  of the first bore  122  and the inclined faces  123   a  and  322 , it may keep the head  32  and the pad member  24  away from the protrusion  123  respectively to make the ring  10  and the bolt  30  rotate independently. By the eyebolt  10  of the present invention, the ring  10  is free to adjust its angle for positioning the mold  100  to the machine. 
       FIG. 4  shows an eyebolt of the second preferred embodiment of the present invention, which is similar to first preferred embodiment, except that a ring  40  has a protrusion  46 , and the protrusion  46  has a horizontal face  461  rather than the inclined face. A bolt  60  has a head  62 , and the head has a horizontal face  622  accordingly. The stress of the bolt  60  is evenly distributed to a resting portion  54  of a pad  50  to enhance the durability of the eyebolt. 
     In practice, the eyebolt of the present invention may be connected to anything except the mold and the machine. It must be pointed out that the embodiments described above are only some preferred embodiments of the present invention. All equivalent structures which employ the concepts disclosed in this specification and the appended claims should fall within the scope of the present invention.