Patent ID: 8186919

Claim:
A lock washer for use with a nut and bolt, wherein the bolt has a threaded shank with a pitch thread, said lock washer comprising: a planar washer body formed of a sheet of resilient metal having a selected thickness between top and bottom surfaces, said body having a central aperture and adapted to receive the shank of the bolt to which the nut is to be attached and locked; first and second lock tabs integral with said body radially outward of said central aperture, wherein each of said tabs have a radially inward facing, straight, free edge transverse to a radius of said body, a spring bend biasing said tab to a displaced position in which the tab is bent to one side of the plane of said body, said washer body having a thickness in the area of the spring bend less than said selected thickness to provide a selected spring force adapted to allow the tab to be pushed down to a coplanar position, and a wing on an end of the tab spaced from the spring bend, said wing projecting radially outwardly away from the washer body central aperture and having said selected thickness whereby when in the coplanar position said wing has top and bottom surfaces substantially coplanar with the top and bottom surfaces of the washer body.