Patent ID: 7927052

Claim:
A locking axle nut device comprising: a castellated nut comprising an outer peripheral octagonal wall for gripping by a tool to tighten and loosen the castellated nut and an interior opening therethrough defined by a cylindrical interior wall having interior threads on a portion of the interior wall to mate with axle shaft threads on a vehicle, the castellated nut having an interior annular groove in the interior wall of the castellated nut adjacent to the interior threads; a series of spaced castellation slots intruding into the castellated nut from a flat annular face encircling a non-threaded end of the cylindrical opening extending into the interior annular groove; a locking insert attached to the castellated nut to form a locking axle nut device, the locking insert comprising a flat annular ring having a bendable axle-engaging tongue protruding inwardly from the annular ring toward a center of the annular ring, the axle-engaging tongue bent in over the interior threads so that the axle-engaging tongue rides in a recessed axle groove along the length of a threaded outer portion of the axle shaft while the locking axle nut is threaded onto the axle shaft; a series of holding tabs evenly spaced around an outer perimeter of the annular ring and radiating outwardly therefrom, the holding tabs fitting into the interior annular groove of the castellated nut so that the castellated nut rotates on the holding tabs while the castellated nut is threaded onto the axle shaft with the axle-engaging tongue in the axle groove preventing rotation of the locking insert; and a series of bendable spaced locking tabs longer than the holding tabs radiating outwardly from the outer perimeter of the annular ring straddling the holding tabs, the locking tabs bent orthogonally to the annular ring while threading the locking axle nut onto the axle shaft and one of the locking tabs bent into one of the castellation slots to lock the locking axle nut device in place after tightening the axle nut onto the axle shaft, the locking tabs sufficient in number and spacing so that one of the locking tabs will automatically align with one of the castellation slots when the locking nut is tightly threaded onto the axle shaft.