Improvements in Locking Appliances, Capable of Adjustment and Relocking, for Securing Nuts upon Screws and other Locking Purposes.
Year: 1895

page_text: Date of Application, 26th Jan., 1895
Complete Specification Left, 28th Oct., 1895-Accepted, 25th Jan., 1896
PROVISIONAL
SPECIFICATION.
Improvements in Locking Appliances, Capable of Adjustment and
Relocking, for Securing Nuts upon Screws and other Locking
Purposes.
A communication from abroad by EDMUND FREDERICK WAILES, of Philadelphia,
United States of America, Naval Architect.
I, THOMAS JAMES DANSON, of No. 2 St. Nicholas Buildings, in the City
and County of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Chartered Patent Agent, and Consulting
Engineer, do hereby declare the nature of this invention to be as follows:-
This invention relates to a locking device consisting of a key recessed longitudinally
in the bolt, bar, rod, shaft, wedge or other part of an engine, machine, railway,
tramway, or of other structures where nuts, wedges, collars, couplings, or similar
fittings require to be secured against shifting endwise in such manner that
readjusting and refixing can be effected simply and efficiently.
The locking key is made of some ductile and tough metal, as wrought iron, mild
steel, or other suitable metal or alloy of metals such as gun metal or the various
other bronzes, which may be bent and straightened alternately without injury, and
is recessed into the bed on which the fixing is to be effected, being so shaped that
it cannot move end wise, the recess being correspondingly shaped, and, in the case
of nuts upon screws, the key may be threaded to correspond with the threads of
the screw, or it may be sunk "flush" with, or slightly below, the bottom of the
threads and the outer end of the key may project beyond the recess, or the recess
may project beyond the outer end of the key as may suit the circumstances.
"
As applied to securing nuts upon screw threads one or more recesses are formed
either in the bolt before being screwed or after screwing to receive the locking key,
or keys, and the key, or keys, being inserted therein the bolt is passed through the
holes in the flanges, or other fittings to be joined, and the nut is screwed "home
and the outer end of the key is then turned up by a hammer against the outer face
of the nut, and the nut secured and locked against any accidental retrograde
movement, whatever position the tightened nut may then occupy along the periphery
of the screw thread on the bolt, and if any looseness of the joint by wear takes
place the nut can be further tightened by the wrench and the end of the key
further turned up against its outer face so as to refix it, and when the joint is
required to be broken the key is turned down by the hammer into the recess
when the nut can be unscrewed.
When applied to other locking purposes, where screws and nuts are not
applicable or not required, the recess, or recesses, is, or are, formed in the bed
upon which the fitting is to be locked or secured in position and the locking
key or keys inserted flush with the surface of the bed and then turned up
against the end of the fitting to be locked.
In this application of the invention it is immaterial what the section of the
bed, on which the fixing is to be effected, may be, whether round, oval, square or
rectangular, polygonal or triangular. The number and size of the locking keys
will in all cases be in proportion to the requirements of the strain to be
provided for.
The recesses and locking keys may be of various shapes such that the key
cannot move endwise and the sections of the recesses may be semi-circular,

page_text: triangular or of any shape which will least weaken the bolt, shaft, or other
piece, upon which the fitting is to be secured the keys being of corresponding
section.
In screwed bolts it is proposed to form the recesses of the proper sizes and
shapes by means of stamping or pressing in "moulds " by suitable "dies" in the
"blanks" of the bolts before being screwed or they may be formed in the bolt
making machine by suitable "dies" being provided therein, or by "drop-forging"
with special tools of the various sections required. The locking keys will be
formed by special tools forming "moulds" and "dies" by stamping or pressing
and it is proposed preferably, when the locking keys for nuts are to be threaded,
to insert the key in the recess and screw the bolt and key at one operation.
Where the key is separately threaded, or when unthreaded and sunk in the
recess flush with the bottom of the screw thread, a knife will be fitted to the
travelling block of the screwing machine to clean out the recess and remove
the ragged edge of the threads so that the key will be a perfect fit therein.
In the case of very large screws as for shafts, piston rods or other heavy
pieces of machinery the recesses will preferably be slotted or planed out and
the keys forged and machined to fit accurately the recesses.
:
Dated this 26th day of January 1895.
W. LLOYD WISE,
46 Lincoln's Inn Fields, London, W.C., Chartered Patent Agent.
Improvements in Looking Appliances, Capable of Adjustment and
Relocking, for Securing Nuts upon Screws and other Locking
Purposes.
A communication from abroad by EDMUND FREDERICK WAILES, of Philadelphia,
United States of America, Naval Architect.
1, THOMAS JAMES DANSON, of No. 2 St. Nicholas Buildings, in the City
and County of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Chartered Patent Agent, and Consulting
Engineer, 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 relates to a locking device consisting of a key recessed longi-
tudinally in the bolt, bar, rod, shaft, wedge, or other part of an engine, machine,
railway, tramway, or of other structures where nuts, wedges, collars, couplings, or
similar fittings require to be secured against shifting end wise, in such manner that
readjusting and refixing can be effected simply and efficiently.
The locking key is made of some ductile and tough metal, as wrought iron, mild
steel, or other suitable metal or alloy of metals, such as gun metal or the various
other bronzes, which may be bent and straightened alternately without injury, and
is recessed into the bed on which the fixing is to be effected, being so shaped that
it cannot move endwise, the recess being correspondingly shaped, and in the case
of nuts upon screws, the key may be threaded to correspond with the threads of the
screw, or it may be sunk "flush" with, or slightly below, the bottom of the threads
and the outer end of the key may project beyond the recess, or the recess may
project beyond the outer end of the key, as may suit the circumstances.
As applied to securing nuts upon screw threads one or more recesses are formed,
either in the bolt before being screwed or after screwing, to receive the locking
key, or keys, and the key, or keys, being inserted therein the bolt is passed

page_text: through the holes in the flanges, or other fittings to be joined, and the nut is
screwed "home" and the outer end of the key is then turned up by a haminer
against the outer face of the nut, and the nut secured and locked against any
accidental retrograde movement, whatever position, the tightened nut may then
occupy along the periphery of the screw thread on the bolt, and if any looseness
of the joint by wear takes place the nut can be further tightened by the
wrench and the end of the key further turned up against its outer face, so as to
refix it, and when the joint is required to be broken the key is turned down by
the hammer into the recess when the nut can be unscrewed.
When applied to other locking purposes, where screws and nuts are not
applicable or not required, the recess, or recesses is, or are, formed in the bed
upon which the fitting is to be locked or secured in position and the locking
key or keys inserted flush with the surface of the bed and then turned against
the end of the fitting to be locked.
In this application of the invention it is immaterial what the section of the bed,
on which the fixing is to be effected, may be, whether round, oval, square, or
rectangular, polygonal or triangular. The number and size of the locking keys
will in all cases be in proportion to the requirements of the strain to be
provided for.
The recesses and locking keys may be of various shapes such that the key
cannot move endwise, and the sections of the recesses may be semi-circular,
triangular, or of any shape which will least weaken the bolt, shaft, or other
piece, upon which the fitting is to be secured the keys being of corresponding
section.
The recesses for screw bolts may be formed of the proper sizes and shapes by
stamping, pressing, or any other suitable operation; for example, they may be
made in the bolt-blanks by means of dies in an ordinary bolt-making machine. The
locking keys may be stamped, pressed, or otherwise formed and when a bolt key is
to be threaded the bolt and key will preferably be screwed at one operation. When
a bolt key is to be threaded it will preferably be inserted in the recess of its bolt
and the bolt and key will then be screwed at one operation. Where the bolt is
separately threaded, a knife may be fitted to the travelling block of an ordinary
screwing machine to clean out the recess and remove the ragged edge of the
threads so that the key will be a perfect fit therein.
In the case of very large screws as for shafts, piston rods, or other heavy pieces
of machinery, the recesses will preferably be slotted or planed out and the key
forged and machined to fit accurately the recesses.
DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS.
On the drawings herewith I illustrate my invention in some of the various forms
in which it may be practically applied.
-
Figs. 1, 14, and 1B shew a screwed bolt and nut in which the recess A. for the
key B is concave in section and tapers from the inner to the outer end, the key
being of corresponding section and taper and threaded so as to fill the recess to the
top of the threads of the bolt except at its cuter end which is plain and projects
beyond the end of the bolt.
Figs. 2 and 24 shew two views of the key B in longitudinal section and in plan.
The key being first inserted in the recess which it fits accurately the nut is screwed
"home" by a wrench, and the outer end of the key is then turned up against the
outer face of the nut, as shewn by dotted lines on Fig. 1 and Fig. 1B and the nut
secured and locked against any accidental retrograde movement, whatever position
the tightened nut may then occupy along the periphery of the screw thread on the
bolt, and if any looseness of the joint by wear takes place the nut can be further
tightened by the wrench and the end of the key further turned up against its outer
face so as to refix it, and when the joint is required to be broken the key is turned
down by the hammer into the recess when the nut can be unscrewed.

page_text: Figs. 3 and 34 shew a bolt in which the keys B B are without threads and are
sunk into the recesses A. A in the bolt flush with, or slightly below, the bottom of
the thread, and in this case the recesses are longer than the keys to such an extent
as to allow the outer end of the key to be "picked "up and bent against the face of
the nut as shewn on left hand Fig. 3. This form of fitting will be convenient in
certain cases where the nut is at some distance from the bolt end.
Fig. 4 shews the application of my invention to the bolt of rail joint fish plates;
and Figs. 5 and 54 to a driven wooden wedge W such as for rail chairs. In this
application the object is to prevent the wedge slackening back between the rail
and the chair by the jar and vibration of trains. The key B is tapered and headed
and fits flush into a tapered and headed recess cut in the wedge, and when the
plate layer has driven "home" the wedge with his fore hammer, he turns the nose
of the key up at right angles against the jaw of the chair, as shewn by dotted lines,
when the wedge is locked.
Figs. 6 and 6 shew the nut on the end of a propeller shaft, piston rod, or like
article, in which two threaded locking keys B B are shewn, but three or more may
be used in large shafts or rods.
When parts of engines, machines, or other structures require to have couplings,
collars, clasps, sheaves, or other fittings secured upon them without nuts, the
locking may be effected by sinking the key flush with the surface in a recess
formed in the shaft, and its outer end turned up against the face of the part to
be secured, such part being mounted when so required on the usual driving key
or keys. Illustrations of this are given in Figs. 7, 7, 8, 8 and 9 as applied
to various fittings upon shafts or bars of different sections as illustrations where
either the fitting or the shaft may be liable to shift endwise, K showing a driving
key on Figs. 8 and 84.
In this application of my invention it is immaterial what the section of the bed,
on which the fixing is to be effected, may be, whether round, oval, square or
rectangular, polygonal or triangular, the number and size of the locking keys
being in proportion to the requirements of the strain to be provided for.
This locking device forms (unlike many others depending upon split pins,
tongues, springs, or other temporary devices driven in after the nut is screwed
"home" and destroyed in unlocking it) a permanent fitting, and the key being
once accurately fitted into the recess, and being made of proper material, will
retain its locking grip after being repeatedly turned up against the face of the
nut to lock it, adjusted to relock it, or turned down to release the nut. The
adjustment and locking of the nut upon the bolt is so accurate that the key will
fix the nut securely, no matter how small the amount of the travel upon the
thread of the bolt required to tighten it. There will therefore generally be no
need for grooves in the faces of the nut to receive the turned up nose of the
locking key, although in some cases, as of large uuts, I propose to use these as
an extra lock.
Although I prefer to use a tapered key fitting accurately into a tapered recess as
applicable to most engineering fittings of iron, steel, or other metals, I may,
especially with soft materials, use keys of other shapes having heads formed ou
them as shewn on Fig. 5 for a wooden wedge.
The recesses A in ordinary bolts may be formed in the process of forging, or
they may be formed in the "blank" by means of dies in ordinary bolt making
machines. After a bolt has been screwed the recess may be cleaned and ragged
edges removed, in order to make the key B a close fit, by a knife fitted in some
convenient manner on a screwing machine; but large recesses in heavy bolts,
shafts, piston rods, or like picces, will preferably be planed or slotted out to a
tapered form.
The keys B may be stamped by suitable moulds and dies to the exact size
and shape required, or they may be forged for special cases of very heavy work;
when a bolt key is to be threaded, it may be inserted in its recess and the bolt
and key screwed in one operation.

page_text: Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of the said inven--
tion and in what manner the same is to be performed I declare that what I
claim is :-
1. The improvements in locking appliances, capable of adjustment and relocking,.
for securing nuts upon screwed bolts, consisting of a tapered key of ductile
and tough metal, capable of being repeatedly bent and straightened without
injury and threaded or plain, accurately fitting into a correspondingly tapered
sunk recess in the bolt, so that it cannot move endwise and, the nut being
screwed home over the key and the outer end of the key turned upward against its.
face, the nut is locked against turning back upon the thread, and readjustment
and relocking can be effected, and by turning down the outer end of the key into.
the recess the nut can be unscrewed from the bolt, substantially as described and.
shewn with reference to Figs. 1, 14, 1³; 2, 24; 3, 34; 4; 6, and 6ª.
2. The improvements in locking appliances, other than for securing nuts upon
screwed bolts, consisting of a tapered key of ductile and tough metal, capable
of being repeatedly bent and straightened with or without an enlarged head,
fitting accurately into a correspondingly tapered or shaped sunk recess in the
shaft, rod, or other part, so that it cannot move endwise, and its outer end being
turned up it will lock the wedge, collar, coupling, or other fitting in position upon.
its bed, substantially as described and shewn with reference to Figs. 5, 5^; 7, 7^;-
8, 94, and 0.
Dated this 26th day of October 1895.
For the Applicant,
W. LLOYD WISE,
46 Lincoln's Inn Fields, London, W.C., Chartered Patent Agent..
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