Flush rotary fastener

Claim 2

A rotary fastener assembly for joining two members having infinite locked positions and which requires a minimum turning torque to reach the desired locked position and a substantially greater turning torque to unlock the assembly and permit the fastener to be easily disassembled thereafter comprising: a stud member adapted to be rotatably mounted on one of said members to be joined; a receptacle adapted to be mounted in fixed position on the other of said members to be joined and having means thereon to facilitate a removable attachment to said stud member; and locking means including a bearing member in communication with a spring biased cam member on the receptacle to cooperate with surfaces on the stud and the bearing member positioned with respect to said stud so that when said stud is being attached to said receptacle and in engagement with said bearing member, said locking means will permit said stud to be rotated substantially free of any retarding friction into the locked position with a minimum turning torque and will retard rotation of the stud in the opposite direction such that a substantially greater turning torque is required to initiate rotation in the opposite direction thereby locking the fastener assembly.

Claim 3

The invention in accordance with claim 1 wherein at least one of said stud and said receptacle is deformable and resilient and positioned with respect to said locking means so that upon engagement of said locking means maximum deformation will occur thereby requiring a predetermined turning torque for rotation and when said locking means is disengaged a substantially lesser turning torque than the predetermined turning torque is required for rotation.

Claim 4

A rotary fastener assembly for joining two members having infinite locked positions and which requires a minimum turning torque to reach the desired locked position and a substantially greater turning torque to unlock the assembly and permit the fastener to be easily disassembled thereafter comprising: a stud member adapted to be rotatably mounted on one of the members to be joined and having surfaces thereon forming a partially threaded annular recess in one end portion thereof; a receptacle adapted to be mounted in fixed position on the other of said members to be joined and having means thereon to facilitate a removable attachment to said stud member; said receptacle including a hollow outer housing with an inner diameter large enough to receive the stud interiorly thereof; a nut housing mounted in said hollow outer housing and having an outer diameter which is less than the inner diameter of the recessed portion of said stud so that said stud may be received between said outer housing and said nut housing; one end portion of said nut housing having a threaded outer surface positioned so as to interengage with said partially threaded portion of said stud; locking means on said receptacle and positioned with respect to said stud so that when said stud is in threaded interengagement with said receptacle said locking means will permit said stud to be rotated into the locked position with a minimum turning torque and will retard rotation of the stud in the opposite direction such that a substantially greater turning torque is required to initiate rotation in the opposite direction thereby locking the fastener assembly; said nut housing containing a chamber therein; at least one side opening in said nut housing permitting communication between said chamber and the exterior of said nut housing; a bearinG member movably mounted in each of said access openings; a cam in said chamber in contact with each of said bearing members; a spring mounted in said chamber and connected to said cam so as to bias said cam against said bearing members and consequently bias said bearing members so that they extend a predetermined amount exteriorly of said nut housing; and said stud being deformable and resilient so that when said stud is rotated with respect to said nut housing initially the resilient stud will deform and will move the bearing member and the cam against the bias of the spring thereby moving each of the bearing members inwardly with respect to the nut housing and permitting rotation of the stud with respect to the nut housing with minimum torque required, and when rotation of the stud in the locking direction is stopped, the spring will tend to return the cam and bearing members to their initial position thereby wedging the bearing members against the inner surface of the stud and locking the stud in position with respect to the receptacle.

Claim 5

A rotary fastener assembly for joining two members having infinite locked positions and which requires a minimum turning torque to reach the desired locked position and a substantially greater turning torque to unlock the assembly and permit the fastener to be easily disassembled thereafter comprising: a stud member adapted to be rotatably mounted on one of the members to be joined and having surfaces thereon forming a partially threaded annular recess in one end portion thereof; a receptacle adapted to be mounted in fixed position on the other of said members to be joined and having means thereon to facilitate a removable attachment to said stud member; said receptacle including a hollow outer housing with an inner diameter large enough to receive the stud interiorly thereof; a nut housing mounted in said hollow outer housing and having an outer diameter which is less than the inner diameter of the recessed portion of said stud so that said stud may be received between said outer housing and said nut housing; one end portion of said nut housing having a threaded outer surface positioned so as to interengage with said partially threaded portion of said stud; locking means on said receptacle and positioned with respect to said stud so that when said stud is in threaded interengagement with said receptacle said locking means will permit said stud to be rotated into the locked position with a minimum turning torque and will retard rotation of the stud in the opposite direction such that a substantially greater turning torque is required to initiate rotation in the opposite direction thereby locking the fastener assembly; said nut housing containing a chamber therein; at least one side opening in said nut housing permitting communication between said chamber and the exterior of said nut housing; a bearinG member movably mounted in each of said access openings; a cam in said chamber in contact with each of said bearing members; a spring mounted in said chamber and connected to said cam so as to bias said cam against said bearing members and consequently bias said bearing members so that they extend a predetermined amount exteriorly of said nut housing; and said stud being deformable and resilient so that when said stud is rotated with respect to said nut housing initially the resilient stud will deform and will move the bearing member and the cam against the bias of the spring thereby moving each of the bearing members inwardly with respect to the nut housing and permitting rotation of the stud with respect to the nut housing with minimum torque required, and when rotation of the stud in the locking direction is stopped, the spring will tend to return the cam and bearing members to their initial position thereby wedging the bearing members against the inner surface of the stud and locking the stud in position with respect to the receptacle.

Claim 6

The invention in accordance with claim 3 wherein a substantially greater turning torque is employed to rotate the stud in the unlocking direction in order to deform the resilient stud member and permit the bearing members to reach their fully exposed position and to be displaced inwardly again by moving the cam in a second direction against the bias of the spring thereafter permitting free rotation of the stud member with respect to the nut housing in the unlocking direction. Once in the unlocked position it will not lock against further unlocking until the stud is turned to the assembly position placing the cam and balls into a position preventing unlocking.

Claim 7

The invention in accordance with claim 3 wherein the nut housing has a removable cap on one end thereof so as to enclose the chamber and locking means contained therein.

Claim 8

The invention in accordance with claim 3 wherein each of said bearing members is a rotatable ball and there are three balls interspaced on the circumference of the nut housing.

Claim 9

The invention in accordance with claim 3 wherein the outer housing includes a base portion with means thereon for fastening the base portion to one of the members to be joined and the base portion having a pair of opposed flanges, the remainder of said outer housing being a cylindrically shaped body portion having a hollow interior with the nut housing mounted therein and having a pair of opposed notches on the outer surface thereof with each notch being positioned so as to receive a respective flange of the base portion so as to provide an interconnected outer housing adapted to be connected to one of the members to be joined and adapted to mount the nut housing interiorly thereof in fixed position.