CN113202972B

CN113202972B - Nut-sleeve assembly

Info

Publication number: CN113202972B
Application number: CN202010078706.5A
Authority: CN
Inventors: A.汉森; S.伯格伦
Original assignee: Aser SARL
Current assignee: Aser SARL
Priority date: 2020-02-03
Filing date: 2020-02-03
Publication date: 2024-03-22
Anticipated expiration: 2040-02-03
Also published as: CN113202972A

Abstract

A nut-sleeve assembly (10, 30) for engagement with a screw (40) having a helical thread (42) and attached to a mixer tap (60). The assembly is capable of sliding along the screw (40) prior to clamping the mixer tap (60) to the support structure (50) by threaded engagement with the screw (40). The nut (10) is integrally formed with a radially compressible resilient axial projection (18) and the assembly is shaped to compress the projection into engagement with the helical thread (42) when the projection is axially pressed into the sleeve (32) to increase engagement when the nut (10) is rotated in a mixer tap gripping direction and to release engagement when the nut (10) is rotated in a mixer tap releasing direction.

Description

Nut-sleeve assembly

Technical Field

The present invention relates to a nut-sleeve assembly for engagement with a screw having a helical thread and attached to a mixer tap, the assembly being slidable along the screw prior to clamping the mixer tap to a support structure by engagement with the screw thread.

Background

Mixer faucet fittings are typically provided with screws of sufficient length to pass through all mounting holes in a support structure of various thicknesses (from sheet steel to thick plate). In difficult to reach areas (e.g., under a hand basin), rotating the nut until engaged with the support structure is a very cumbersome and time consuming process. In order not to have to rotate the nut all the time, slidable nut assemblies have been designed. Such a prior art assembly is for example shown in US 20110052344 A1. In this and related prior art, the moveable threaded portion of the nut is adapted to engage the threads when the assembly is in contact with the support structure, whereupon the nut assembly can be rotated to clamp the mixer tap to the support structure. The prior art assemblies have many parts that must be manufactured and assembled separately.

Disclosure of Invention

It is an object of the present invention to provide a low cost assembly of the above-mentioned type which can be produced easily and with a minimum of parts.

In one aspect of the invention, the nut is integrally formed with a radially compressible resilient axial projection, and the assembly is shaped to compress the projection into engagement with the helical thread when the projection is axially pressed into the sleeve to increase engagement when the nut is rotated in a mixer tap gripping direction and to release engagement when the nut is rotated in a mixer tap releasing direction.

Thus, the assembly may be formed of synthetic resin material from only two parts.

The assembly may be shaped such that the sleeve has an internal taper to compress the projection.

Although the axial projection may be preformed with screw mating threads, in embodiments of the invention such threads are formed in the projection by threads in the screw upon increased engagement.

The nut and sleeve may have stop surfaces opposite one another to limit axial movement between the nut and sleeve. Contact between the stop surfaces may indicate that the resulting threaded joint has been properly tightened.

The assembly may also have an axial projection on the sleeve for engagement with the mixer faucet mounting bracket to limit rotation of the sleeve upon increasing or releasing the engagement. This may be particularly advantageous for the disassembly of the nut-sleeve assembly.

Other advantages and features of the present invention will be apparent from the detailed description and the appended claims.

Drawings

Fig. 1 is an exploded side cross-sectional view of a nut-sleeve assembly according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a side view, partially in section, showing an initial state of attaching the mixer tap to a support structure using a nut-sleeve assembly according to the invention.

Fig. 3A-3D are schematic cut-away side cross-sectional views illustrating the steps of attaching a mixer tap to a support structure using a nut-sleeve assembly according to the invention.

Fig. 4 is an enlarged view of the circled area 4 in fig. 3C, which shows the protruding portion of the nut.

FIG. 5 is a side view, partially in section, of a mixer tap attached to a support structure by a nut-sleeve assembly according to the invention; and is also provided with

Fig. 6 is a view from below, showing the sleeve with the rotation stop.

Detailed Description

The nut 10 of the assembly shown in the figures has a tool engagement portion 12 for a wrench tool, such as a wrench or an extended hollow socket wrench 70, as shown in phantom in fig. 2. The nut 10 is also integrally formed with a threaded engagement portion 16 including a plurality of resilient axial projections 18. In addition, an outer radially outwardly projecting flange 14 is located between the tool engagement portion 12 and the threaded engagement portion 16.

The sleeve 30 has an entry taper 32 for receiving and radially compressing the projection 18 from the outside when the nut 10 is pushed into the sleeve 30. In the embodiment shown, the projection 18 also has a complementary taper.

The nut 10 and sleeve 30 are formed of a suitable plastics material, for example by injection moulding.

As is apparent from fig. 2, when the mixer tap 60 is mounted to the support structure 50 (in this case a sheet steel plate of a kitchen sink), the screw 40 having the screw/screw thread 42 is attached to the tap 60 via the opening 52 in the structure 50 through a mating threaded hole 62 in the tap 60. The nut-socket assembly is then mounted to the screw 40 and pushed into the engaged position shown in fig. 2, for example, by use of a socket wrench 70.

As is apparent from fig. 3A, the nut-sleeve assembly is free to slide along the screw 40 before reaching the bottom surface of the support structure 50.

When the assembly reaches the bottom surface of the support structure 50 and still applies a pushing force to the assembly, the axial projection 18 of the nut 14 is pushed further into the sleeve 30, as shown in fig. 3B. Thus, the wedging action of the taper 32 forces the protrusion 18 radially inward into engagement with the helical thread 42 of the screw 40.

In this case, or earlier, the nut 10 is also turned in the tightening direction.

The plastic material of the tab 18 is resilient and/or deformable such that when the nut 10 is further turned, the mating thread 20 (fig. 4) is formed in the tab 18 by the helical thread 42, as shown in fig. 3C.

The nut-sleeve assembly now begins to push down on the screw 40 and clamp the mixer tap 60 to the support structure 50.

The assembly may be sized such that when the stop surface 24 of the flange 14 engages the opposing bottom surface 34 of the sleeve 30, the resulting threaded joint is considered to be completed or fully tightened, as shown in fig. 3D.

The threaded joint may be released in the opposite manner. When the nut 10 is sufficiently unscrewed, the inherent resilience of the plastics material can return the tab 18 to the condition shown in fig. 3A so that the assembly can be slid out of the screw 40.

Fig. 5 and 6 show an embodiment of the sleeve 30 having an axial projection 36. As can be appreciated from fig. 6, the inner surface of the axial projection 36 is adapted to engage the edge surface 82 of the mounting bracket 80 when the sleeve 30 is rotated to the left about 45 degrees with respect to the bracket 80 in fig. 6. Thus, when the nut-sleeve assembly is installed or removed, the sleeve 30 will be rotationally locked.

The foregoing detailed description has been given for clarity of understanding only, and no unnecessary limitations are to be understood therefrom. Modifications will be apparent to those skilled in the art and may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention or the scope of the appended claims.

Claims

1. A nut-sleeve assembly for engagement with a screw (40) having a helical thread (42) and attached to a mixer tap (60), the assembly being slidable along the screw (40) and relative to the screw (40) in a circumferential direction of the screw (40) without relative movement prior to clamping the mixer tap (60) to a support structure (50) by threaded engagement with the screw (40); it is characterized in that

The nut (10) is integrally formed with a radially compressible resilient axial projection (18); and is also provided with

The assembly is shaped to compress the tab (18) into engagement with the helical thread (42) when the tab is axially pressed into the sleeve (30) to increase engagement when the nut (10) is rotated in a mixing faucet clamping direction and to release engagement when the nut (10) is rotated in a mixer faucet release direction.

2. Nut-sleeve assembly according to claim 1, characterized in that the sleeve (30) has an internal taper (32) to compress the projection (18).

3. Nut-sleeve assembly according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the projection (18) is adapted to form a thread (20) in the projection by increasing engagement with the helical thread (42).

4. Nut-sleeve assembly according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the nut (10) and the sleeve (30) have stop surfaces (24, 34) opposite each other for limiting axial movement between the nut (10) and the sleeve (30).

5. Nut-sleeve assembly according to claim 1 or 2, characterized by comprising an axial projection (36) on the sleeve (30) for engagement with a mixer tap mounting bracket (80) to limit the rotation of the sleeve when the engagement is increased or released.