IMPROVEMENTS IN SCREW NUTS AND IN ARRANGEMENTS FOR LOCKING OR FASTENING THE SAME
Year: 1883

page_text: LETTERS PATENT to Joshua Heap of Ashton under Lyne in the County of
Lancaster Tool Maker for an Invention of "IMPROVEMENTS IN SCREW NUTS
AND IN ARRANGEMENTS FOR LOCKING OR FASTENING THE SAME
PROVISIONAL SPECIFICATION left by the said Joshua Heap at the Offico
of the Commissioners of Patents on the 3rd August 1883.
:
JOSHUA HEAP of Ashton-under-Lyno in the County of Lancaster, Tool Maker,
"IMPROVEMENTS IN SCREW NUTS AND IN ARRANGEMENTS FOR LOCKING оп
FASTENING THE SAME
"
My Invention relates to the nuts and fastening of screw bolts and of screwed
rods, shafts or parts and has for its object to render them more secure and loss
liable to become loose. I cone one end of the nut and cut a slit or slits extending
from the said end some distance towards the other end. I use the nut so made
in connection with a washer or with another nut formed with a conical recess into
which the conical end of the nut entera. When the nut is tightened the coned
end becomes contracted so as to tightly grip the bolt or screwed part. To obtain
the best results I prefer to make the nut or both nut and washer of steel. I do
not confine myself to the use of a true cone so long as the washer has the effect of
compressing the slit part of the nut upon the bolt. In some cases the washer may
be dispensed with and a conical or suitably formed recess in one of the parts to be
secured may have the same effect in compressing or contracting the nut. For
some purposes I use a double ended nut which is slit from each end some distance
towards the centre and I compress the upper or outer end of the nut by means of
a lock nut which is recessed or formed with a hollow cone. My Invention is
suitable for use in connection with railway fish plates and with holding bolts for
marine and other engines and for other purposes wherein a secure fastening is
desirable.

page_text: SPECIFICATION in pursuance of the conditions of the Letters Patent filed
by the said Joshua Heap in the Patent Office on the 2nd February 1884.
Joshua HEAP of Ashton-under-Lyno in the County of Lancaster, Tool Maker
"IMPROVEMENTS IN SCREW NUTS AND IN ARRANGEMENTS FOR LOCKING OR
FASTENING THE SAME
My Invention relates to the nuts and fastening of screw bolts and of screwed
rods, shafts or parts and has for its object to render them more secure and less
liable to become loose. I cone one end of the nut and cut a slit or slits extending
from the said end some distance toward the other end. I use the nut so made in
connection with a washer or with another nut formed with a conical recess into
which the conical end of the nut enters. When the nut is tightened the coned
end becomes contracted so as to tightly grip the bolt or screwed part. To obtain
the best results I prefer to make the nut or both nut and washer of steel. In
some cases the washer may be dispensed with and a conical or suitably formed
recess in one of the parts to be secured may have the same effect in compressing or
contracting the nut. For some purposes I use a double ended nut which is slit
from each end some distance towards the centre and I compress the upper or outer
_ end of the nut by means of a lock nut which is recessed or formed with a hollow
cone. My invention is suitable for use in connection with railway-fish plates-and-
with holding bolts for marine and other engines and for other purposes wherein a
secure fastening is desirable.
In order that my invention.may be fully understood I have attached hereunto
a sheet of drawings to which I will refer in this place. In the said drawings
Fig 1 represents a side view and Fig 2 an end view of a bolt end provided with
my improved locking nut and washer the latter being represented in section in
Fig 1. In the said Figs a is the end of an ordinary bolt, 6 is my improved nut
and c is a washer. One end of the nut is coned and the washer which is thicker
than is usual is formed with a coned cavity or recess corresponding to the cone
on the nut. A slit d is sawn across the coned end of the nut or the nut is slit in
a suitable manner the slit extending the length of the cone or to a suitable
distance from the coned end of the nut. When the nut is being screwed up it acts
as an ordinary nut until the final tightening of the fastening commences when the
conical end becomes compressed by the washer the slits permitting a contraction of
the interior diameter of the nut so that the screw threads in the coned end of the
nut are caused to bite into the screw threads on the bolt or to grip the bolt very
tightly. A very secure fastening is thus obtained. A great advantage of this
method of securing or locking the nut is that the nut may bo tightened up
with great force without putting an undue strain upon the bolt. In Fig: 3
a more securo fastening is represented. In this example the nut is coned
and slit at both ends. When the nut has been screwed up tight a recessed
lock nut e is screwed up tight upon the outer coned end of the nut b so as to
compress the coned and slit end of the nut upon the bolt. This fastening is
suitable for holding down bolts for engines and for the cap bolts of pedestals and
connecting rod ends of marine and other engines and of locomotives and for other
purposes, and for some purposes the nut may be coned only at the end which
enters the nut e. Figs 4 and 5 illustrate the application of my invention to the
bolts which are used in securing the fish joints of rails. In this example the
square nut 6 is formed with a conical projection 6' which is slit as in the other
examples. The hole through which the bolt passes in the fish plate fis coned and
the projection 6¹ enters this hole, so that the washer is dispensed with. This

page_text: method of dispensing with the washer may be adopted in other cases. I do not
confine myself to the regular conical formation of the nut so long as it is tapered
to fit in a recess in the washer or part to be secured so as to be compressed upon
the bolt in the manner set forth nor do I confine myself to the number of the
slits in each nut nor to the cutting of the slits in a straight line right across the
centre of the nut so long as the nut is slitted for the purposes of my invention.
Having now fully set forth and indicated the nature of my said invention and
the manner in which I carry the same into practical effect I would have it to be
understood that I claim:-
1
First. A nut formed with a conical end in which one or more slits is or are sawn
or formed and the conically recessed washer substantially as and for the purposes
set forth and indicated.
Secondly. Coning or tapering one end or each end of a screw nut and slitting
or sawing such end or ends in order that when forced by the screwing up into a
conical or suitably shaped recess in a washer or in the part to be secured the nut
end may be contracted or compressed upon the screw bolt.
Thirdly. Locking a nut by screwing a lock nut formed with a conical or suitably
shaped recess or cavity upon the conical or taper and slit end of the nut to be
locked substantially as set forth and indicated in Fig 3 of the drawings.
And lastly. The screw bolt fastenings substantially as described and as indicated
in the drawings.
In witness whereof I the said Joshua Heap have hereunto set my hand
and seal this first day of February in the year of our Lord one thousand eight
hundred and eighty-four
Signed, sealed, and, delivered
in the presence of
ered}
EDWARD K. DUTTON
41 John Dalton St,
Manchester,
JOSHUA HEAP (L.S.)