IMPROVEMENTS IN LOCK NUTS
Year: 1880

page_text: PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said John Fletcher Wiles at the
Office of the Commissioners of Patents on the 8th March 1880.
JOHN FLETCHER WILES, of Finch Lane, Cornhill, in the City of London.
"IMPROVEMENTS IN LOCK NUTS."
The Invention has for its object improvements in lock nuts, and relates to means
whereby the lock nut is rendered capable of easy entry on its screw, and an efficient
lock is secured, whilst the strength of the nut is not impaired by cutting or splitting
the same, as is the same with some descriptions of lock nuts hitherto in use.
According to my Invention I first form and tap the nut in the ordinary manner,
so as properly to fit the screw to which it is to be applied. Instead however of
cutting or splitting the nut, and giving each leaf or part thereof a set towards the
other, I dispense with cutting or splitting, and I compress by percussive or by
gradual pressure the two sides of the upper portion of the nut towards each other,
thereby forming the bore of the nut at the upper part thereof somewhat oval,
taking care to leave the lower part of the bore of the nut cylindrical, or as nearly
so as possible.
By these ineans the nut can be entered upon its screw with as much ease as a
nut of the ordinary description, but as the nut is screwed on its screw the upper
oval portion of the bore is by the screw forced back into its former cylindrical
form, but an elastic pressure of the upper portion is exerted upon the screw, thereby..
obtaining an efficient lock. When the nut is removed from the screw the upper
portion of the bore thereof immediately regains its oval form, and it may be again
and again used without impairing its efficiency as a lock nut.

page_text: Figure 1 is a side view; Figures 2 and 3 are vertical sections at right angles to each
other; Figure 4 is a top view or plan; and Figure 5 is an underside view of one of
my improved lock nuts formed in the first instance as an ordinary nut; Figure 6 is
a side view, and Figure 7 is a plan of one of my improved nuts, in which the upper
portion thereof is made thinner than the lower in order to obtain greater elasticity
at such part. In constructing such description of nuts I proceed in the usual
manner to form and tap the same, so as properly to fit the screws to which they
are to be applied, except that in the case of the nut shown in Figures 6 and 7 I
make the upper part thereof thinner than the lower. After such manufacture I
proceed to compress by percussive or by gradual pressure the two sides of the upper
portion of the nut towards each other, thereby forming the bore of the nut at the
upper part thereof somewhat oval, as shown more clearly at Figures 4 and 7, thus
causing the upper part of the bore of the nut to be slightly expanded or opened out
in one direction, that is to say, across the longer axis of the oval, as shown more
clearly at Figure 2, and to be slightly contracted across the shorter axis of the oval,
as shown more clearly at Figure 3.
The bore of the lower part of the nut is left circular, or as nearly so as
possible.
By these means the nut can be entered upon its screw with as much ease as a
nut of the ordinary description, but as the nut is screwed on its screw the upper
oval portion of the bore is by the screw forced back into its former cylindrical
form, but an elastic pressure of the upper portion is exerted upon the screw, thereby
obtaining an efficient lock without injuring the thread of the screw. When the nut
is removed from the screw the upper portion of the bore thereof immediately regains
its oval form, and it may be again and again used without impairing its efficiency
as a lock nut.
Nuts formed according to my Invention will lock on any portion of the bolt, and
do not require any back pressure to form the lock.
In applying my improved nuts to screw bolts it will be found necessary to use a

page_text: spanner to screw the nut on the bolt, as after the bolt has once entered the oval
portion of the bore of the nut a considerable force is required to screw the nut
fully on.
Having thus described the nature of my said Invention, and the mode in which
I carry the same into effect, I would have it understood that what I claim is, forming
lock nuts in the manner herein shown and described.
In witness whereof, I, the said John Fletcher Wiles, have hereunto set my
hand and seal, this Thirty first day of August, in the year of our Lord One
thousand eight hundred and eighty.
JOHN F. WILES. (L.S.)