Improvements in Nut Locks.
Year: 1898

page_text: Date of Application, 8th June, 1898-Accepted, 10th Sept., 1898
COMPLETE SPECIFICATION
Improvements in Nut Locks.
I, FRANK OSCAR JOHNSON, Track Foreman, of the Borough of North Clarendon,
in the County of Warren, and State of Pennsylvania, one of the United States of
America, 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
My invention relates to improvements in nut locks, my object being to provide
a construction of washer by which a nut will be firmly held upon its bolt, the nut
and bolt plate being of usual construction The invention consists in the various
matters hereinafter described and claimed
In the accompanying drawings which illustrate my invention,
Figure 1 is a plan of the present washer,
Figure 2 18 a side view thereof, and
Figure 3 18 a section on the line a Fig 1
Referring now more particularly to these drawings, the present washer com-
prises a spiral ring 1 of steel or other suitable material, said ring having upon
its faces ratchet teeth 2 which point in opposite directions upon the two sides of
the ring. Manifestly, when the present washer 18 applied over the end of a bolt,
and the nut screwed home, the teeth will bear into the member in which the bolt
is seated and also into the inner face of the nut; the teeth pointing as they do
in opposite directions, serve to lock the nut against movement
In order to facilitate the entrance of the washer into the nut and the member
in which the bolt is seated, the top and bottom faces of the washer lie at an angle
to the side walls of the washer, thus presenting a single bitang edge 4 on one face
and two biting edges 5, 6, upon the other face. For convenience and economy
of construction, these faces are preferably parallel so that the ridge like biting
edge is formed by the outer edges of one face and between the edges of the
opposite face Furthermore, by reason of this formation of the faces of the washer,
when the nut is screwed home, the washer is slightly turned upon the raised
edges Thus when the initial roughness of the base plate of the nut wears, the
washer tends to take position with its inside and outside edges at right angles
to the base and nut, whereby the washer will still lie tightly between the members
The same action follows incident to the lengthening of the long bolt in hot
weather
It will be noticed that the ratchet teeth 2 are of angular shape (see sectional
view Fig 3) The object of this is to more firmly hold the nut when in position
and also to prevent any liability of the washer expanding at its split portion 3
during the operation of screwing the nut home Were the teeth perfectly
straight, the washer could slide in the direction of the teeth upon the nut and
thus open the space between the ends of the washer, but in the present structure
the teeth being of angular form, one portion of the tooth serves to hold the other
from sliding outwardly upon the nut

page_text: The present device is ample in construction, cheap to manufacture, but ex-
tremely efficient in operation
Having now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said
invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, I declare that what
I claim 18:-
As an improved article of manufacture, a nut lock of the type comprising a split
spiral ring or washer formed upon its opposite faces with ratchet teeth of angular
shape extending in opposite directions with the ridge formed by the meeting
points of said teeth upon one face of the nut elevated and that upon the opposite
side depressed, all substantially as and for the purpose specified
Dated vs on day of June 190
H D. FITZPATRICK,
100, Wellington Street, Glasgow, Agent.