JPS6143567B2 - - Google Patents

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to improvements in locking nuts for T-slots.

Previously, when attaching a locking nut to a T-slot, the locking nut was inserted into the T-slot from the end of the T-slot member and slid to a predetermined position. For this reason, when attaching a locking nut to a long T-groove member, the sliding distance becomes long, and it is very complicated to insert the locking nut from the end of the T-groove member one by one. Furthermore, when fixing the locking nut with a bolt,
For example, it is common to hold the locking nut with the left hand while operating the screwdriver with the right hand, which is a tedious task when the T-slot is located high up or where the footing is poor.

An object of the present invention is to provide a locking nut for a T-slot that can be directly fixed to a T-slot at a predetermined position and can be operated with one hand by the following simple structure.

Embodiments of the invention will be described with reference to the drawings. In FIG. 1, a locking nut 1 of the present invention is shown about to be inserted into a predetermined position in a T-slot member 10. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, this locking nut mainly consists of a grip part 2, a stem part 3, a block main body 4, and a leaf spring part 5, and the grip part is attached to the stem part by a leg part 7. The stem portion 3 is connected to the leaf spring portion 5 by a band member 6. The block body 4 and the band member 6 constitute a block part. The block body is made of metal such as aluminum, and includes a grip part 2, a stem part 3, a leg part 7, a leaf spring part 5, and a band member 6.
is made of synthetic resin such as Plastic 7.
In particular, the leg portion 7 has a stopper member T, as will be explained later.
Since it will break after being inserted into the groove, a non-metallic material such as plastic is preferable. The materials of other members can be changed depending on the application.

The block main body 4 has a screw hole in the center to receive a bolt 8. Correspondingly, there are through holes in the stem part and leaf spring part,
The bolt inserted from the stem section passes through the leaf spring section. This state is shown in FIG.

The T-groove member 10 is formed with a T-groove consisting of a wide part with a width W and a height h and a narrow part with a width s.

The thickness of the block portion is such that when the locking nut is inserted into the T-slot, the block portion and the leaf spring portion are accommodated within the wide portion of the T-slot. That is, in this embodiment, as shown in FIG. 3, the sum of the thickness of the block body 4 and the thickness of the leaf spring part 5 is made to be slightly larger than the height h of the wide part. The vertical width a of the block portion is such a dimension that the block portion fits within the width W of the wide portion of the T-groove in a close fitting relationship with the wide portion. The maximum width b of the block portion must be smaller than the width s of the narrow portion of the T-groove. This is because the locking nut is inserted into the wide part of the T-slot through the narrow part. In this embodiment, since the band member 6 sandwiches the block main body 4, the maximum width is the distance between the sides of the band member.

FIG. 6A corresponds to FIG. 1 and shows the locking nut being inserted into the T-slot. As can be seen from this figure, a pair of opposing corners of the block main body are chamfered. For this reason, after the block part is accommodated in the wide part of the T-groove, it can be rotated to a predetermined angle. That is, in FIG. 6, the state shown in FIG. 6B is obtained by rotating 90 degrees counterclockwise from the state shown in FIG. 6A. The state shown in FIG. 6B can also be rotated 90 degrees clockwise to the state shown in FIG. 6A. However, it cannot be rotated further in the counterclockwise direction from the state shown in FIG. 6B. When the unchamfered corner hits the wall of the wide part of the T-slot,
This is because it hinders rotation.

The stem portion is generally aligned with the block portion and its outer dimension is less than the width s of the narrow portion of the T-slot.
In this embodiment, the stem portion has a cylindrical shape. Although the height of the stem portion is arbitrary, when using the mounting bracket 9 shown in FIG. 5, it is desirable that the stem portion not protrude beyond the narrow portion of the T-groove.

The leaf spring part 5 has a spring force in the axial direction of the threaded hole, which serves to prevent the locking nut from sliding in the T-slot before tightening the bolt. The dimensions of the leaf spring portion are determined by the required spring force, but it goes without saying that it should not interfere with the rotation of the aforementioned block portion.

The strength of the leg 7 connecting the gripping part 2 and the stem part 3 is made smaller than the force experienced by the wall of the wide part of the T-slot when the block part is rotated beyond said predetermined angle within the wide part of the T-slot. That is, when an attempt is made to rotate the locking nut in a direction opposite to the clockwise direction as shown in FIG. 6B, this force causes the leg portion 7 to break. However, it goes without saying that the leg 7 must not break during the rotation from FIG. 6A to FIG. 6B. FIG. 4 shows a state in which the leg portion 7 is broken and the grip portion 2 is removed from the stem portion 3. In this state, it can be seen that the locking nut is tightly seated in the T-slot and does not wobble. Therefore, the bolt can be screwed in with one hand.
In this state, the bolt 8 is tightened to fix the mounting bracket 9 as shown in FIG.

FIG. 8 shows another embodiment of the locking nut of the invention. Here, the stem portion 3, the block portion main body 4, and the leaf spring portion 5 are integrally formed. Therefore, since there is no band member, the block main body has a maximum width b. In this embodiment, the above-mentioned integral structure is made of metal, and the grip part 2 and leg part 7 made of synthetic resin are mechanically connected to it. That is, as shown in FIG. 10, a spherical root portion may be formed on the leg portion 7 and the root portion may be inserted into a hole provided in the stem portion.

Furthermore, if the tightening force of the bolt is not required to be strong, the entire locking nut can be made of a non-metallic material such as plastic.

In the embodiments described above, the block body is generally rectangular. However, other irregular shapes are also within the scope of the present invention as long as the aforementioned predetermined angle of rotation and removal of the grip portion by a force that attempts to rotate beyond the angle is provided. Further, although the grip portion is shown as ring-shaped, it goes without saying that other shapes may be used.

As is clear from the above explanation of the structure, according to the locking nut of the present invention, as shown in FIG.
, and fit the block part and leaf spring part into the wide part of the T-slot as shown in Fig. 3, and then rotate the locking nut from the direction shown in Fig. 6A to the direction shown in Fig. 6B.
By continuing to apply force in the same direction, the leg 7 is broken, and the mounting bracket 9 is fixed in place by screwing the bolt 8 into the threaded hole in the block.
This operation does not require the step of sliding the locking nut from the end of the T-groove one by one, and has the advantage that it can be done simply and with one hand.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a locking nut of the present invention together with a T-slot, FIGS.
The figure is a partially cutaway perspective view showing the state in which the grip part has been removed, FIG. 5 is a perspective view showing the state in which the mounting bracket is attached with a bolt, and FIG. The plan view, Figure 7, is F in Figure 5.
8 and 9 are lateral and vertical side views showing another embodiment of the locking nut of the present invention, respectively, and FIG. 10 is an example of mechanical connection of the grip part. FIG. DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1... Locking nut, 2... Grip part, 3... Stem part, 4... Block part main body, 5... Leaf spring part, 6... Band member, 7... Leg part, 8... Bolt,
9...Mounting bracket, 10...T groove member.

Claims (1)

[Scope of Claims] 1. In a locking nut used in a groove having a T-shaped cross section consisting of a wide part and a narrow part, a block part having a threaded hole, a stem part adjacent to the block part, and a part opposite to the stem part It consists of a leaf spring part adjacent to the block part on the side and a grip part connected to the stem part, and the total thickness of the block part and the leaf spring part is slightly larger than the height of the wide part of the groove, The vertical width of the block portion is such that the block portion fits into the wide portion of the groove in a close fitting relationship, and the maximum width of the block portion is smaller than the width of the narrow portion of the groove. A pair of opposing corners of the block portion are chamfered to allow the portion to rotate within the wide portion of the groove to a predetermined angle, and the stem portion is generally aligned with the block portion and its outer dimensions are within the narrow portion of the groove. The stem part and the leaf spring part have a through hole that is approximately coaxial with the screw hole in the block part and has a diameter larger than the diameter of the screw hole, and the leaf spring part applies a spring force in the axial direction of the screw hole. There is,
The strength of the connection between the grip part and the stem part is smaller than the force received from the wall of the wide part of the groove when the block part is rotated beyond the predetermined angle within the wide part of the groove. Use locking nut. 2. The T-slot retaining nut according to claim 1, wherein the stem portion is generally cylindrical. 3. According to claim 1 or 2, the block portion comprises a generally rectangular parallelepiped main body and a band member adjacent to the longitudinal side surface of the main body, and the band member connects the stem member and the leaf spring member. T-slot locking nut. 4. The T-slot according to claim 3, wherein the main body of the block part is made of metal, and the grip part, stem part, band member of the block part, and leaf spring part are made of integral synthetic resin. Stop nut. 5. According to claim 1 or 2, the block part is generally a rectangular parallelepiped, the block part, the leaf spring part, and the stem part are integrally formed of metal, and the grip part is made of synthetic resin. T-groove locking nut as described. 6. A locking nut for a T-slot according to any one of claims 1 to 3 or 5, wherein the grip portion is opportunistically coupled to the stem portion. 7. The T-slot retaining nut according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the predetermined angle is ±90 degrees.