An Improved Nut Lock.
Year: 1893

page_text: An Improved Nut Lock.
I, GEROLT GIBSON, of 117 North 8th Street, of the City of St. Louis, in the
County of St. Louis, and State of Missouri, Lawyer, do hereby declare the nature
of my invention for A NUT LOCK, and in what manner the same is to be
performed, to be particularly described and ascertained in and by the following
statement :-
My invention relates to that class of appliances termed nut locks for locking
nuts upon their bolts, especially for use in constructing railroads, bridges and other
structures, in mills, electric or cable cars, agricultural implements, &c., and it has
for its object to prevent the accidental displacement or unscrewing of the nut from
the bolt under a jarring action or from other incidental cause, and to promote
simplicity of construction and reduce to a minimum wear and tear upon the lock,
and to these ends my invention consists of the novel construction and combination
of parts substantially as hereinafter more fully disclosed and pointed out in the
claims.
In the accompanying drawing:
Figure 1 is a side view of my improved nut lock.
Figure
2 is a longitudinal section thereof.
Figures 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8 are various modifications thereof, which will be
described in detail farther on.
In the embodiment of my invention, I produce a washer or plate, A, out of sheet
or cast metal, as preferred, and in it make two or more openings, a a, to provide
for its application to two or more bolts, as, for instance, the securing bolts of fish
plates connecting the rail sections of a railroad track, or to bolts used for any other
purpose or in any other place.
This arrangement is not for the purpose of coupling the bolts, which is done by
the fish plate, but to prevent the independent movement of the washer plate for a
purpose which will be apparent hereinafter.
It also does away with the production of a longitudinal slot in the bolt, thus
economizing expense, and a tongue or projection upon the washer, at the margin of
its opening or openings, engaging said slot; and the providing of the plate or
washer with tapering projections or points which are driven or imbedded in the
surface where the bolts are passed through wood, among other ways heretofore
adopted for preventing the independent turning of the washer or plate.
I also provide the washer.or plate, A, with spring detents or pawls, a*, in this,
instance, produced from, and integral with the plate, leaving slots, b', in the latter,
and having their free ends extending inward to a point within reach of the notches
of the ratchet-faces of the nuts, as shown.
The spring detents or pawls, a*, curve or incline upward toward their free ends
to enable them to engage the inner ratchet or toothed faces of the nuts, B, for
the locking of the latter upon their bolts against accidental displacement, or
unscrewing therefrom under a jarring action or from other causes as experienced in
railroads, and railroad, or other, bridges, in mills, cable cars, agricultural imple-
ments, &c., &c. It will be seen that the point of connection of each detent proper
with its spring that part thereof extending immediately from the washer, and
the spring itself, is on the outside of the base of the nut, the springs thus being
subjected to the least possible resistance.
Instead of having the spring detents or pawls integral, or in one piece with the
washer or plate as above described, they may be separated therefrom, as where
the plate or washer is of cast metal, in which instance they are brazed or riveted
to the plate or washer, or otherwise attached thereto, in whatever manner is
D

page_text: most convenient, in that the plate or washer may be made of any shape, size or
thickness.
It will, therefore, be seen that, in the act or operation of screwing the nuts upon
the bolts, the free ends of the detents or pawls will successively engage the notches
of the ratchet faces of the nuts until the nuts are screwed home, the detents then
springing into the notches of the nuts stopped opposite thereto, thus effecting the
locking of the nuts upon their bolts, the accidental reversal of the nuts accordingly
being prevented.
In order to unlock the nuts, it is only necessary to press sufficiently inward upon
the spring detents to release them from engagement with the ratchet faces of the
nuts, when the latter may be readily unscrewed and removed from their bolts.
In the modification, as disclosed in Figure 3, I have shown the washer as
composed of a plate, A', having four radial arms, a¹ a¹, each with a bolt-opening, a²,
therein, and having a similar actent as Figure 1, to adapt it for use with four
bolts.
'
In the modifications as disclosed in Figures 4, 5, 6 and 7, the washer is shown as
adapted more particularly for railroads being provided with elongated bolt-
opening, a³, to permit the expansion and contraction of the rail sections, Figure 4,
however, having four openings for four bolts, and Figures 5, 6 and 7 each having
two openings for two bolts.
In these instances each washer consists of a plate, A', the plates or washers in
Figures 4 and 5 having right angled spring detents or pawls, a', bodily punched or
struck up out of the plate, with the free ends of their lateral arms terminating at
the margins of the bolt-openings in the plates or washers.
The plates or washers in Figures 6 and 7 each has two spring detents or
pawls, a a', respectively, having the same general contour or outline, being curved
from their points of connection with the plates outward, the free ends of the lateral
arms of the detents or pawls, as, each terminating a short distance from each bolt-
opening and the lateral arms of the detents or pawls, a', terminating just at the
margins of the bolt-openings, as in Figures 3, 4 and 5.
The spring detents, a and a', are bodily punched or struck up from their
respective plates, the detents, a, at the margin of their plate, and the detents, a' a²,
interiorly of their plate, as shown.
In the modification, as disclosed in Figure 8, the washer is shown as adapted for
three bolts, the same consisting of a plate, A3, having that number of bolt-
openings, as, and having the same character of spring detents, c, as shown in
Figures 1 and 2.
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said inven-
tion, and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what I
claim is :
1. In a nut lock, the combination, with a series of nuts whose bases are provided
with notches or ratchets, of a washer having a series or plurality of bolt-openings
and a series of spring detents or pawls, the points of connection of said detents or
pawls with their springs, and the springs themselves, being outside of the bases of
the nuts, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.
2. In a nut lock, the combination, with a series of nuts whose bases are provided
with notches or ratchets, of a washer having a series or plurality of bolt-openings
and a series of detents or pawls, each consisting of a spring arm, the arm proper
being at right angles to the spring, and the points of connection of the arms with
the springs, and the springs themselves, being outside of the bases of the nuts,
substantially as set forth.
3. In a nut lock, the combination, with a plurality of nuts whose bases are
provided with notches or ratchets, of a washer having a plurality of bolt-openings
and a plurality of pawls or detents, each consisting of a spring arm, the arm
proper being at right angles to the spring, and relatively conformed to said bolt-
opening and adapted to engage the notches or ratchets of said nuts, the points of

page_text: connection of said arms with their springs, and the springs themselves, being
outside of the bases of the nuts, substantially as specified.
4. In a nut lock, the combination, with a plurality of nuts whose bases are
provided with notches or ratchets, of a washer having a series of differently rela-
tively arranged bolt-openings and a series of spring pawls or detents relatively
conformed to said bolt-openings and adapted to engage the notches or ratchets of
said nuts, the points of connection of the detents or pawls with their springs, and
the springs themselves, being outside of the bases of the nuts, substantially as
specified.
1000
GEROLT GIBSON.