Improvements in Lock Nuts.
Year: 1898

page_text: Date of Application, 12th Sept., 1898-Accepted, 19th Nov., 1898
[Communicated from abroad by JOSEPH JAMES HARRELL, of Chicago, in the County
of Cook, and State of Illinois, United States of America, Mechanical and
Electrical Engineer.]
Improvements in Lock Nuts.
I, WILLIAM ROBERT LAKE, of the Firm of Haseltine, Lake & Co., Patent Agents,
45, Southampton Buildings, in the County of Middlesex, do hereby declare the
nature of this invention and in what manner the same is to be performed to be
particularly described and ascertained in and by the following statement:-
This invention comprises a threaded nut, adapted to engage the threaded end
of a screw bolt, with oppositely directed lateral projections, one at least, of which
shall be flexible and elastic and shall extend across the plane of the inner face
of the nut. Preferable two nuts are connected by means of such flexible members,
which, unitedly, form a bow spring.
When the oppositely directed extension, or toe piece, is solid it must be com-
paratively short. When it is flexible it must also be elastic and be of less tension
than its companion. extension piece. In applying a pair of nuts, connected as
above described, the crown of their uniting members is brought into contact with
the plate to which the nuts are to be drawn up, and as the bolts are screwed into
the nuts the latter are tilted by the straightening of the bow spring, thereby
bringing lateral strain upon the bolts and causing the nut to bite into them.
The toe pieces correct this by bringing the apertures of the nuts again into
alignment with the axes of the bolts, and in so doing cause a reverse curve in the
ends of the spring.
The lateral strain upon the bolts due to this curvature of the spring ends is
the reverse of and counteracts that due to the straightening of its bow. Its tend-
ency is to tilt the nut by raising its heel portion or inner side; or, in other words,
the nut becomes a lever of the second class, the fulcrum being at its toe, the
bolt being the load and the tension of the spring end being the power. This
lateral strain upon the bolt is constant and is of course greatest when the nut is
drawn down firmly against the bearing plate, thereby insuring the secure holding
of the nut against rotation. The slightest easing of the pressure of the heel or
inner side of the nut upon the bearing plate, due to wear from chafing or to the
elongation of the bolt by expansion, increases the bite of the nut upon the bolt,
by allowing a corresponding tilting of the former upon its toe, thereby locking
the parts together still more securely. The invention is adapted as well to single
as to twin nuts.
In the accompanying drawings,
Fig. 1 is a face view of a pair of nuts united by a bow spring;
Fig. 2 is a detail plan section of the ends of a pair of railroad rails, taken
through the web of the rails, and showing the fish plates as being attached by a
pair of bolts secured by my improved form of nut.
Fig. 3 is a similar plan section showing, however, only the threaded ends of
the bolts, a modified form of the nut being shown;

page_text: Fig. 4 is a similar view to Fig. 3, but with the spring uniting the nuts shown
with exaggerated curves in order to more clearly illustrate its action; and
Fig. 5 shows a pair of the nuts as applied to bolt ends, but being separated
each from the other, each nut being provided with its own spring stem.
At A, A, I show the web portion of a pair of abutting railroad rails, and
at B, B, a pair of fish plates attached thereto; the bolts for securing the fish plates
being shown at C, C, and being secured by means of the nuts D, E. These nuts
are shown in Figs. 1, 2, 3 and 4 as being united by a bow spring, F, the middle
portion of which normally extends beyond the plane of the inner faces of the
nuts. In the form of construction shown in Fig. 2, each nut is provided with a
toe piece, d, e, projecting in the opposite, direction, from the spring F, and being
formed as a rigid part of the body of the nut.
It will be seen that in turning up the bolt the spring F will be straightened,
and as the nut is drawn down towards the fish plate its inner face will become
inclined with reference thereto, and the axis of the nut aperture thrown out of
alignment with the axis of the bolt. The bite of the nut upon the bolt, occasioned
by this change of their relation, renders it more difficult to turn up the bolt, and
causes some danger of rupturing the thread. To overcome this difficulty the
toe d, e, is provided, which, coming in contact with the fish plate, straightens up
the nut, bringing the axis of its aperture again into line with the axis of the bolt.
The second change of position of the nut involves a straightening of the spring F
near its end, at the point marked f, the spring being bent at this point in the
opposite direction from the flexure at its middle portion. The effort of the spring
end to assume its normal form tends to tilt the nut on its toc, and consequently
to throw its aperture out of alignment with the bolt, causing a sharp bite at
the inner side of the outer end and at the outer side of the inner end of the aperture,
sufficient to prevent the turning of the bolt except by the application of very
considerable torsional strain. Should the parts become loosened by the chafing
of the fish plate, or the head of the bolt, or by the lengthening of the bolt due
to expansion, the tendency of the spring to assume its original curved form, at f,
will correspondingly tilt the nut by raising its inner side or heel, thus throwing
the axis of the nut aperture out of line with the axis of the bolt, and increasing
the bite of the one part upon the other. This reverse curvature and flexure of the
spring F will be better understood by reference to Fig. 4, where the form of the
spring at the points f, f, is distorted for the purpose of clearness of illustration.
For the rigid toe d, e, there may be substituted a spring toc d', e¹, as shown in
Fig. 3, the toe piece extending from the body of the nut. and being inclined
towards and extending beyond the plane of its inner face. This spring toe piece
is of less tension than the spring F, and while serving the same purpose as the
rigid toe 7, 4, it provides for a greater range of movement of the nut upon the
bolt and still keeps these two parts in proper relation, or so nearly in alignment
that there is no danger of the rupturing of the threads by reason of the bite of
one part upon the other. The spring F being, however, of the greater tension,
the action of the nut is the same as when the rigid toe is used.
As in some situations, the uniform spacing of the bolt holes in the rails and fish
plates is departed from. I provide for the application of my improved bolt and nut
to these odd situations by separating some of the pairs of nuts, as shown in Fig. 5.
The action of the individual nut is substantially the same whether separated from
or joined to its companion. I show also in Fig. 5 both forms of toe pieces, as
either is serviceable in connection with the divided nuts.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention, and in what manner the same is to be performed, as communicated to
me by my foreign correspondent, I declare that what I claim is :-
-
1. As an article of manufacture, a threaded nut having a laterally projecting
spring stem inclined towards and extending beyond the plane of the inner face

page_text: of the body portion, and a toe piece projecting laterally in the opposite direction
from the spring stem.
2. As an article of manufacture, a threaded nut having a laterally projecting
spring stem inclined towards and extending beyond the plane of the inner face of
the body portion, and a spring toe piece projecting laterally from the opposite side
of the nut body and being inclined towards the plane of its inner face, and being
of less tension than the spring stem.
3. As an article of manufacture, a threaded nut having a laterally projecting
spring stem inclined towards and extending beyond the plane of the inner face
of the body portion, and a spring toe piece projecting laterally from the opposite
side of the nut body and being inclined towards and extending beyond the plane
of its inner face, and being of less tension than the spring stem.
4. As an article of manufacture, a pair of threaded nuts united by a bow spring
curved towards and extending beyond the plane of the inner faces of the nuts,
each nut having a toe piece projecting laterally and in the opposite direction
from the spring.
5. As an article of manufacture, a pair of threaded nuts united by a bow spring
curved towards and extending beyond the plane of the inner faces of the nuts,
each nut having a spring toe piece projecting laterally and in the opposite direction
from the uniting spring, and being inclined towards the plane of the inner face
of the nut.
6. As an article of manufacture, a pair of threaded nuts united by a bow
spring curved towards and extending beyond the plane of the inner faces of the
nuts, each nut having a spring toe piece projecting laterally and in the opposite
direction from the uniting spring, and being inclined towards and extending
beyond the plane of the inner face of the nut.
7. As an article of manufacture, a pair of threaded nuts united by a bow spring,
the crown of the bow extending across the plane of one of the apertured faces of
the nuts.
Dated this 12th day of September 1898.
HASELTINE, LAKE & Co.,
45, Southampton Buildings, London, W.C.,
Agents for the Applicant.