Improved Nut-lock.
Year: 1890

page_text: Date of Application, 7th May, 1890
Complete Specification Left, 7th Feb., 1891-Accepted, 14th Mar.. 1891
Improved Nut-lock.
1, Joux PITT BAYLY, of 18, Fulham Place, Paddington, in the County of
London, Patent Agent (a communication to me from abroad by Richard Conway,
of Argentville, Missouri, U.S.A., Inventor), do hereby declare the nature of this
invention to be as follows :—
This invention will be found more especially applicable for use in connection with
fish-plates and railway rails. The said invention consists in forming the screwed
portion of an ordinary bolt with longitudinal grooves; leaving a section of threaded
portion between each groove. This bolt is passed through the fish-plates and rail
in the usual manner and is screwed into a preferably square mut, sufficiently large
for its edges to come into contact with the heads or wide portions of the rail, which
prevent its turning. The face of this nut is cut away in such a manner that a
projecting angular piece is left in one corner thereof. This projection is formed
with a dovetail groove projected from the corner of the nut towards the centre
thereof. When the nut is in place upon the bolt a suitable locking piece adapted
to engage in the dovetail groove is fitted therein, and a bevel-toed foot upon this
locking key enters one of the grooves upon the projecting end of the bolt and
serves to prevent it from unscrewing.
Datei, 74h day 1000
J. P. BAYLY,
Applicant.
Improved Nut-lock.
I, JOHN PITT BAYLY, of 18, Fulham Place, Paddington, in the County of
London, Patent Agent, do hereby declare the nature of this invention (a communi-
cation to me from abroad by Richard Conway, Argentville, Missouri, U.S.A.,
Inventor) to be as follows:-
This invention relates to a device for locking the coupling of screw-nuts to the
bolts on which they are seated, in which the bolts are the active members and the
nuts the stationary members, in which nuts radial locking-keys slide in dovetail
recesses in the nuts and engage in recessed seats in the bolt to lock said bolt; and
the invention consists in features of novelty hereinafter fully described, and pointed
out in the claims.
Figure 1 is a vertical section taken on line 11, Fig. 2, and shows the respective
positions of the bolt on its passage through the fish-plates and through the stem of
the rail and in engagement with the locking-nut, which nut, being the fixed member,
provides through its sliding drop-key the means for locking the active member of
the coupling of the bolt. Fig. 2 is a side detail of a railway-rail and a fish-plate,
and shows the means, through the sliding drop-key in the nut, for locking the active
bolt. It also shows the spring-key that holds the key in its seat. Fig. 3 is a side
view of the bolt, and shows the recesses in said bolt in which the drop-key from the
nut engages when locking the bolt, with the head of said bolt octagonal instead of
square, as in Fig. 1. Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the nut, and shows the dove-
tail recess in which the dovetail locking drop-key works and the spring attached
thereto for the retention of said key in its operative position when the bolt is used
in rotary machinery. Fig. 5 is a perspective view of the dovetail locking drop-
key. Fig. 6 is a vertical section alike in all its parts to Fig. 1, minus the retention-

page_text: Being, and with the addition of a rubber washer between the fish-plate and nut
that maintains a spring tension ou said nut and prevents rattling. Fig. 7 is a
perspective view of a modification in which the face of the nut is made straight
without any projectile portion and the dovetail recessed key-seat for the dovetail
locking-key is made straight from the centre bolt-hole to the side or sides of said
mut, instead of angling to the corners, Fig. 8 is a front view of the same modified
form of nut as shown in Fig. 7, aml shows the forward end of the bolt and the dove-
til key that locks the same. It also shows in broken lines the hidden form of the
dovetail recess in which said locking drop-key is seated, with like recessed key-wat-
that extend from said bolt-hole to, respectively, the other three sides of the nnt.
and shows af o in broken lines the hidden outlines of the octagonal head of the bolt.
It also shows in broken lines across the corners the shape pre-ented by the nut
when it is made of octagonal form.
Rebring to the drawings. 1 represents the botellange, 2 the head or tread, und 3
the cuneting tea or web of a railroad-rail to which my fucking-unt and holt-lack
device uitsched.
are the ti-plates that splice the rril-joints. 5 represents tla lock-bolt, which,
contrary to the usual construction, is the rotary active member of the connection:
6. the perforations in the stemt of the rail, and 7 like perforation- in the fish-plate-
through whirl said bolt passes and in which it is seated, and si- the head of the
holt, which may he square, as shown in Fig. 1, octagonal, as shown in Fig. 3 and ti,
or any other suitable shape that will present a clutch-hold for the wrench that turns
t, as will seen that with my mit the lock-bolt trontrary to general usage) it is
the în It instead of the mut that is turned to tighten the coupling.
represents the locking-mut, which, contrary to the n-unl construction, is the
- tiom.ry member of the connection, and which may he constructed with extension
projections 10, woljacent to one corner on its far, having abutments or wall 10%, and
In twen which projections the dovetail redial recess or chamber 11 is located to
form a slideway for the radial locking-key or dropsholt 12, as shown in Figs. 1,2
3 and 6 or aid mut may be made as shown in Fig. 7 and 8, in which said
projection extemuls flush across the whole free of the nut, tsimply increasing the
thickne thereof.) and the radial doveta'l recesses or chambers are then preferably
run from the Ides of said not to the abutments or wall- 10° of a circle chamber 13,
that is centrally located in the fines of said it, in which the bevel-tood foot 11 of
the dovetail locking-key or drop-bolts work as they set themselves or tread on the
bolt within the lucking-recesses 15 in the ew-tapped cd 18 of the bolt, and thus
lock said bolt from turning in its screw-sent 17 in suid nut, the nut itself being held
from turning when used in a rail-plice by the foot-flange 1 of the rail.
When used in machinery or in any other attachment in which there is no
equivalent of the foot-flauge of the rail to prevent the turning of the nut, then any
suitable stay-lug projecting from the easting- alongside said "nut may be provided|
to prevent its turning.
The foot of the locking drop-key is provided with a projecting heel 18, which,
coming against an abutment or wall 10 at the entrance to the dovetail recess 11.
prevents the withdrawal of said locking-key, and a projection 19 on the face side
of said key provides a entel-hold that enables the operator to elevate it sufficiently
from its locking-sent in one of the recesses 15 to unlock the bolt, so that it can be
freely turned when it is desired to withdraw the same.
20 represents a retention spring, one end of which is secured to the locking-nut
by the rivet 21, and the other end exerts an elastic pressure on the locking-key
which spring is especially intended for use when the combined locking-nut and
holt-lock is used on rotary machinery, so as to retain the lock-key in its recessed
seat in the bolt when in the course of its revolution the key becomes inverted, sa
that in the meantime it ceases to be a gravity-lock. When, on the other hand, it is
used in coupling rails, or in any other stationary position, the spring may be
dispensed with. as a nut that carries the locking-key in this device (and not the

page_text: bolt) is the stationary member, and, the rail being stationary, the key never
assumes an adverse inverted position.
In Fig. 8 is shown a view of the locking-nut in which in broken lines 22 across
the corners, in conjunction with full lines around the rest of the nut, is defined the
form of said nut when it is made of octagon shape, as is preferred in confined
lations, especially in some classes of machinery. A rubber washer 23 exerts a
continuous elastic pressure against the fish-plate and the locking-nut, and serves
as an anti-rattler spring-buffer to still the vibration engendered by the passage
of trains over the rails when used in fish-joint couplings on railways, or from the
vibrating movements of any machinery in connection with which the device is
used.
The operation and application of the device are as follows: When used for
coupling railway-rail- or other like stationary associate parts, the locking-nut
is placed in position on the foot-flange of the rail-for instance, one of the square
sides of the nut ranging parallel with said foot-flange and its perforate screw-scat
registering with the perforations in which the bolt is to be seated in the fish-
plates and in the stem of the rail. Care should be taken in placing the mut, if
said nut has its dovetail locking-key chamber radiating from the bolt-hole to one
of the corners, as shown in Figs. 1, 2, 4, and 6, or at one side only, to so place it
that the locking drop-key may tend downward by its own gravity and work into
the locking-recesses in the bolt, and thus lock the same.
When the nuts are constructed with the locking-key chambers, as shown in Fig. 7
there are, it will be seen, two opposite positions of the nut, in which one or the
other of the locking-key chambers will be brought round into the right position
for effecting a gravity-lock, in that shown in Fig. 8, in which there are or may be
four such chambers, (three of them shown in broken lines) it follows that when all
four of said chambers are provided and when either of its four sides engage with
the foot-Hange of the rail or other like stay beneath the nut the reverse side will
always present a locking-key chamber in the right position for a gravity-lock. The
nut 9 now being in position, as stated, the head of the locking drop-key 12 is
presented on the outer side of the nut and inserted upward through the locking-key
chamber 11, its dovetail form corresponding with the dovetail construction of said
chamber, it being thus passed upward until its projecting heel 18 comes in contact
with the encasement that encloses said locking-key chamber, which limits its
progress. The key, it will be seen, is now out of the way of the passage of the
lock-bolt 5, the screw point of which lock-bolt is then turned into its screw-seat
within the nut until it is home, and presents one of its recessed locking-seats in
position for the reception of the bevel-toed foot 14 of the locking-key, which, being
released by the operator, falls by its own gravity into said locking-seat, thus
effectually locking the bolt to the nut, which nut itself being stationary, as
described, it follows that the lock is effectual under the automatic and gravitating
operation of the locking drop-key until by the volition of the operator, it being
desired to remove the bolt, he lifts the key from its locking-seat in said bolt until
its projecting-heel again limits its withdrawal, when the bolt can be freely
unscrewed. As, after the projection of the screw-point of the bolt beneath the
locking-key, the said key cannot be withdrawn by the way of its insertion, and in
consequence of its projecting heel neither can it be elevated from the dovetail
chamber in which it slides, it is evident that the key cannot be abstracted or
lost without the bolt has first been withdrawn, and said bolt is subservient to the
automatic gravity-lock of the key as long as the bevel-toed foot of said key rests in
one of the recessed locking-chambers in the bolt.
It is evident that no amount of rattling from the passage of the trains overhead
can unseat the locking-key and at the same time unscrew the bolt, and thus for
stationary connections-such as the coupling for adjoining railway-rails-the
spring that I have shown and described as riveted to the locking-nut may, if desired,
be dispensed with; but when my invention is used in connection with rotary or

page_text: revolving machinery, et, or in coupling any parts that reverse their positions, the
spring becomes an essential feature of the invention, as when the locking-chamber
comes in rotation to be in the reversed position the gravity of the key then tends
to unlock instead of lock the bolt: but it is effectually restrained from its with-
drawal by the pressure of the spring.
For the coupling of the adjacent ends of railway rails is my mut and bolt lock
especially adapted, for where the coupling parts and the nuts are thus stationary
the locking device is not then dependent on any spring or other contrivance that is
liable to get out of place or out of repair or lose its integrity; but the automatio
gravity-lock, (the metal locking drop-key.) subject alone to the law of gravity that
never changes, can always be depended on to effect the safe locking of the bolt and
retain its lock-hold until locked by hand.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed. 1 declare that what |
claim is:
-
1. In a locking-holt and lock-mut, the combination of the nut provided with the
recessed chamber and abutment or wall, the radial loeking-key 12. formed with
the foot 14, having a toy and a heel, and the bolt having a seat 15, un which the
foot of the key rests, substantially as described, and for the purpose set forth.
2. In a locking-nut and lock-bolt, the combination of the stationary nut provided
with the dovetail recessed chamber and circle chamber 13, the dovetail radial
locking-key 12, having bevel-toed foot 14 and the projecting heel 18, and the rotary
lock-bolt, the said bolt provided with recessed seats in which the level-toed foot of
the locking-key rests to lock said bolt, substantially as described, and for the
purpose set forth.
3. In a locking-bolt and lock-nut, the combination of the nut provided with the
recessed chamber. the radial locking-key 12, formed with entel-hold 19 and a
foot 14. having a toe and heel, and the bolt having seats. 15, on which the foot of
the key rests, substantially as described, and for the purpose set forth.
Datel this 31st day of January 1891.
J. P. BAYLY,
Applicant.