LOCKING AXLE NUT

• US 20110097174A1
• Filed: 10/26/2009
• Published: 04/28/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 10/26/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Arnold Varden
• Original Assignee: Arnold Varden
• Inventors: Varden, Arnold
• Granted Patent: US 7,927,052 B1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 411/221
• CPC Class Codes: F16B 39/108 with a locking washer under the nut or bolt head having at least one tongue or lug folded against the nut or bolt head, or against the object itself F16B39/103 takes precedence

Abstract

A castellated nut has 8 castellation slots in the outer wall. A circular locking insert has 25 long locking tabs radiating outwardly from the perimeter, an axle-engaging tongue protruding inwardly, and 9 smaller holding tabs which fit into an interior circular nut groove. All 25 locking tabs are bent at 90 degrees up from the circular locking insert and the axle slot-engaging tongue is bent down at 90 degrees. The locking insert is pressed into the nut and the small holding tabs are bent into the interior circular groove in the nut. The axle-engaging tongue is aligned with the axle shaft groove. The locking axle nut is threaded onto the axle shaft and tightened with the axle slot-engaging tongue sliding in the axle groove. One of the 25 locking tabs is bent into one of the 8 castellation slots.

Claims

1. 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.

2. The device of claim 1 wherein the castellated nut comprises eight evenly spaced castellation slots, each positioned at an intersection between two adjacent outer faces of the peripheral octagonal wall, each of the castellation slots having a width sized to receive a locking tab precisely fit into the castellation slot to prevent movement of the locking tab within the castellation slot.

3. The device of claim 2 wherein the annular ring of the locking insert comprises twenty five locking tabs.