US PATENT SUBCLASS 411 / 157
.~.~.~ Split ring having opposed ends offset axially

Current as of: June, 1999
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411 /   HD   EXPANDED, THREADED, DRIVEN, HEADED, TOOL-DEFORMED, OR LOCKED-THREADED FASTENER

81  DF  THREADED FASTENER LOCKED TO A DISCREET STRUCTURE (E.G., PLATE, RAIL, WHEEL) {13}
132  DF  .~ Lock washer-type member located between substructure and bolt head or nut {8}
147  DF  .~.~ Member comprises washer formed as closed loop or apertured plate or as split ring {8}
157.~.~.~ Split ring having opposed ends offset axially {2}
158  DF  .~.~.~.~> Contact surface contains a plurality of generally radially extending ridges or grooves removed from the ends
159  DF  .~.~.~.~> Cross section other than rectangular

DEFINITION

Classification: 411/157

Split ring having opposed ends offset axially:

(under subclass 147) Device wherein the open-center figure does not form a closed (i.e., a noninterrupted) path, but, instead, has two, distinct ends, which ends, although facing more or less toward one another, are misaligned from one another in a direction paralleling the principal axis of the figure at such time as the figure is not subjected to the axially directed loading imposed by the tightening of the bolt or nut.

(1) Note. The misalignment results most frequently from the fact that the ends are not directed exactly toward each other; another example, however, is that of ends which are so formed as to have a surface area which exceeds the area of a section of the material and wherein, when forced into abutting contact, the end surfaces engage as to only a portion of their respective areas.

(2) Note. The open-center figure of this subclass most commonly takes the form of a helix of slightly less than one full turn.

(3) Note. The provision of means (e.g., the spacing of the ends, the configuration of the ends, etc.) for preventing the tendency, when handled in bulk, of two or more of the open-center figures to interlink with one another appears frequently in the art of this subclass.

(4) Note. The open-center figure of this subclass is occasionally provided with a guard for confining the residue in the event of breakage of the figure.

(5) Note. The open-center figure of this subclass is sometimes fabricated from twisted, rectangular or square, bar stock, thus providing the surface of the figure with upstanding ribs which wind about it throughout its circumference.