Patent ID: 7189044

Claim:
A locking nut and bolt system comprising: a bolt having a bolt stem along and a bolt thread with thread crests and thread troughs formed on said bolt stem, said bolt having an axial centerline; a plurality of notches defined on said bolt thread generally longitudinally in a predetermined pattern with proximal notches being generally longitudinally adjacent each other on said bolt thread, each notch having a lock face and an opposing slope; a nut having a nut thread defined in an internal passageway and an end face, said nut thread being complementary to said bolt thread; a recess defined on said end face of said nut below said nut end face; an elongated locking unit with a plurality of at least three tines protruding tangentially and generally radially inward toward said axial centerline, said locking unit mounted in said nut recess, said elongated locking unit a having longitudinal split thereat; said plurality of tines being radially asymmetrically disposed about said axial centerline, each tine having a distal tine end adapted to latch on said lock face of said notch, said asymmetric disposition of said plurality of tines resulting in asynchronous locking of said plurality of tines in said plurality of notches when a respective distal tine end of a corresponding tine moves radially inward into one of said plurality of notches and said lock face of said notch prevents counter-rotational movement of said bolt with respect to said nut when said respective distal tine end abuts said lock face; and wherein said longitudinal split of said locking unit is formed by interleaved surfaces forming opposing edges of said longitudinal split.