Screw-and-washer pre-assembly

Claim 1

A BOLT-AND-WASHER PRE-ASSEMBLY INCLUDING TWO MEMBERS, NAMELY, A PRE-THREADED SEPARATELY HEAT-HARDENED STEEL BOLT HAVING A HEAD WHOSE BEARING-FACE IS GENERALLY NORMAL TO ITS SCREW-AXIS AND HAVING A PORTION OF ITS STEM ADJACENT ITS HEAD UNTHREADED AND OF A DIAMETER SUBSTANTIALLY LESS THAN THE OUTER THREAD-DIAMETER THEREOF AND FORMING AN ANNULAR GROOVE-LIKE PORTION BETWEEN THE HEAD AND THE THREADED PORTION OF THE STEM, AND A PRE-DISHED STAMPED SHEET-STEEL WASHER CONCAVE ON ONE SIDE AND CONVEX ON ITS OTHER SIDE, DISPOSED ON THE AFOREMENTIONED UNTHREADED PORTION OF THE STEM ADJACENT THE HEAD, WITH ITS CONVEX SIDE FACING THE BEARING-FACE OF THE HEAD OF THE BOLT AND WITH ITS CONCAVE SIDE FACING THE THREADED PORTION OF THE STEM OF THE BOLT, AT LEAST ONE OF SAID MEMBERS HAVING A SURFACE-ALTERING PRE-ASSEMBLY-FINISH ABSENT FROM THE OTHER MEMBER, THE BODY OF SAID WASHER INCLUDING AN ANNULAR PORTION OF UNBROKEN CONTINUITY AND HAVING A GENERALLY UNIFORM WALL-THICKNESS THROUGHOUT THE MAJOR PORTION OF ITS AREA AND ITS OVERALL AXIAL DIMENSION BEING SUBSTANTIALLY GREATER THAN IN ITS AFOREMENTIONED WALL-THICKNESS, SAID WASHER HAVING AN UNINTERRUPTED AND SUBSTANTIALLY CIRCULAR SCREW-RECEIVING HOLE OF A DIAMETER GENERALLY THE SAME AS THE OUTER THREAD-DIAMETER OF THE BOLT PLUS ONLY SUCH WORKING CLEARANCE AS WOULD BE SUFFICIENT TO PERMIT THE THREADED PORTION OF THE STEM OF THE BOLT TO BE PASSED THROUGH THE HOLE EXCEPT FOR THE RETAINING NIBS REFERRED TO HEREINBELOW, SAID WASHER HAVING A PLURALITY OF CIRCUMFERENTIALLY DISTRIBUTED CO-PLANAR SWAGED WASHERRETAINING ASSEMBLY-NIBS AROUND AND PROJECTING INWARDLY OF SAID HOLE ON THE CONVEX SIDE THEREOF, SWAGED BY PRESSING AGAINST THE BEARING-FACE OF THE HEAD OF THE BOLT, ORIGINALLY AXIALLY UPSTANDING PROJECTIONS EXTENDING FROM THE CONVEX SIDE OF THE WASHER IMMEDIATELY ADJACENT SAID HOLE, SAID SWAGED NIBS EXTENDING RADIALLY INWARDLY FROM THE HOLE INTO THE GROOVE-LIKE UNTHREADED PORTION OF THE STEM OF THE BOLT ADJACENT THE HEAD THEREOF TO POINTS WHICH ARE AT RADIAL DISTANCES FROM THE SCREW-AXIS THEREOF SUBSTANTIALLY LESS THAN THE RADIAL DISTANCE OF THE OUTERMOST RIDGE OF THE SCREW-THREAD FROM THE SCREW-AXIS, THE RADIAL DIMENSION OF SAID NIBS BEING NOT GREATER THAN THE RADIAL DEPTH OF THE SCREW-THREAD AND THE AXIAL DIMENSION OF SAID NIBS BEING SUBSTANTIALLY LESS THAN THE WALL-THICKNESS OF THE WASHER AND THE COMMON PLANE OF SAID NIBS BEING GENERALLY NORMAL TO SAID SCREW AXIS, AND THE RADIALLY INNERMOST PORTIONS OF SAID NIBS BEING DIRECTLY ADJACENT THE BEARING-FACE OF THE HEAD WHEN IT BEARS AGAINST THE WASHER, THE END OF THE HOLE IN THE WASHER AT THE CONCAVE SIDE THEREOF BEING DEVOID OF SAID NIBS AND THE AXIAL LENGTH OF THE AFOREMENTIONED UNTREADED PORTION OF THE STEM BEING SUBSTANTIALLY LESS THAN THE OVER-ALL AXIAL DISTANCE BETWEEN THE TOP AND BOTTOM OF THE DISHED WASHER.