Patent Application
20190113069
The present disclosure relates generally to tamper proof locks and fittings and more particularly to tamper proof service bolts for protecting valuable items.
Often it is necessary to attach valuable items to outdoor equipment. When left unattended, thieves may attempt to remove the valuable items from the outdoor equipment. When the best and only way to attach the valuable equipment to the outdoor equipment is with a bolt or nut, it is relatively easy for the bolt or nut to be removed and the valuable item removed from the outdoor equipment. For example, a valuable compressed air connector is often attached to a train car by attaching with a bolt the compressed air connector to a plate extending from the train car.
What is needed is a way to attach the valuable item to the plate so that it cannot be easily removed from the plate.
Disclosed is a fastener comprises a cover, a head, a threaded shaft, and a snap ring, the fastener being adapted to secure a valuable item to a support. The snap ring is received within a cover groove and a head groove, so that a portion of the snap ring is received in both of the cover groove and the head groove, and the cover is locked in place over the head, the cover being free to rotate relative to the head.
Before one embodiment of the disclosure is explained in detail, it is to be understood that the disclosure is not limited in its application to the details of the construction and the arrangements of components set forth in the following description or illustrated in the drawings. The disclosure is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced or being carried out in various ways. Also, it is to be understood that the phraseology and terminology used herein is for the purpose of description and should not be regarded as limiting. Use of “including” and “comprising” and variations thereof as used herein is meant to encompass the items listed thereafter and equivalents thereof as well as additional items. Use of “consisting of” and variations thereof as used herein is meant to encompass only the items listed thereafter and equivalents thereof. Further, it is to be understood that such terms as “forward”, “rearward”, “left”, “right”, “upward”, “downward”, “side”, “top” and “bottom”, etc., are words of convenience and are not to be construed as limiting terms.
As illustrated in
The cover 14 has an elongated axis 40, with an open cover end 44, and a closed cover end 46. In other embodiments (not shown), both ends may be open. The cover 14 also has an inside surface 48. The majority of the cover outside and surfaces are round. The inside surface 48 of the cover 14 also has an annular groove 52 extending at least partially around the cover inside surface 48, generally perpendicular to the cover elongated axis 40.
The head 18 is either a bolt head or a threaded nut, with an elongated central axis 56. The outside surface 60 of the head 18 has radially outward extending points 62 or extensions that are adapted to aid in the turning of the head 18 by being capable of being engaged by hand or with the use of a tool (not shown). In some other embodiments (not shown), the head outer surface may alternatively be knurled to aid in the turning of the head 18.
In the illustrated embodiment, the head 18 has at least eight flats therein so that the head 18 can be engaged by an appropriately sized socket wrench (not shown) adapted to turn the head 18. The head 18 also has a first head end 68 and second head end 72, with the first head end 68 having a first diameter outer surface 76, increasing in diameter to a second diameter 80 as the outer surface 60 extends away from the first head end 68, thereby forming a ramp 84 adapted to expand the snap ring 26 as the snap ring 26 slides over the head 18, as explained below.
Further, the head 18 may or may not assist with turning the threaded shaft 22, as explained below.
The threaded shaft 22 is adapted to cooperate with the head 18, the head second end 72 being adapted to be secured to the threaded shaft 22. In the illustrated embodiment, the head 18 is in the form of a nut that has a threaded opening 86 there through along the central axis 56 of the head 18. In other embodiments (not shown), the head can be the head of a bolt, attached to the threaded shaft. In the illustrated embodiment, the majority of the shaft is threaded. In other embodiments (not shown), only a portion of the shaft may be threaded for being received in a like threaded opening (not shown) in the support or valuable item. In still other embodiments (not shown), only the portion of the shaft receiving a like threaded nut may be threaded. For example, the threaded shaft may be welded to a support, and the valuable item secured between the head 18 and the support 34 by threading the nut on the threaded end of the shaft.
The threaded shaft 22 may be adapted to be turned to either be secured (not shown) in a like threaded opening, or held by another like threaded nut, or may be secured to the support or valuable item by welding, for example, or by the shaft having a bolt head on the end opposite the end of the shaft that receives the fastener head, or some other similar feature.
The hole in the support 34 may be a blind hole, or a through hole 36. The threaded shaft 22 has a first shaft end 94 and a second shaft end 96, and the shaft 22 can be secured in the hole at one or both ends (not shown), or by virtue of the threaded shaft being held (not shown) in a like threaded opening in either the support or the valuable item.
The head 18 also has a head groove 64 extending at least partially around the outside surface 60 of the head 18. The head groove 64 is generally perpendicular to the longitudinal central axis 56 of the head 18.
The snap ring 26 is annular, with the a first ring end 88 and a second ring end 92, with a space between the ends, as shown in
The snap ring 26 is received within the cover groove 52. Before the cover 14 is placed over the head 18, the snap ring 26 is retained in the cover groove 52 but the snap ring diameter is such that the snap ring diameter can be increased further, when the cover 14 is slid over the head 18, as explained below.
The cover groove 52 is spaced apart from the cover open end 44. With the snap ring 26 received within the cover groove 52, and when the cover 14 is slid over the head 18, the reduced diameter snap ring 26 first engages the head outside surface ramp 84 at the first head end 68. As the cover 14 continues up the ramp 84, the snap ring 26 expands to where it can be received within the head groove 64. After being received in the head groove 64, the snap ring 26 returns to its smaller diameter shape, but a portion of the snap ring 26 is still received within the cover groove 52. With the snap ring 26 thus received in both of the cover groove 52 and the head groove 64, as illustrated in
Expressed another way, since the cover 40 is round, the cover 40 turns freely on the head 18, and the cover 40 is over the head 18, a wrench or socket (not shown) cannot be placed on the head 18 to cause the head 18 to turn. This results in the prevention of the easy disassembly of the fastener 10 from its valuable item 30 attached to the support 34, thereby deterring the valuable item's theft. The cover 14 and head 18 may be torched or cut off, but this process is much more difficult than the mere turning and removal of the head 18. Thus, this fastener deters the theft of the valuable item 30.
Various other features of this disclosure are set forth in the following claims.
