Drive nut

Claim 1

A drive nut for screw fastening in cooperation with a mating member having a male screw thread, said drive nut having an axial centerline and comprising, an integrally constructed combination: a crown coaxial with the centerline; a bottom portion disposed coaxially with an contiguously below the crown, the crown and the bottom portion having a coaxial hole formed therethrough and defined by an inner wall surface; and a plurality of clamping members disposed with constant spacing around a common circle about the centerline and together forming an intermittent, substantially cylindrical structure spaced radially inward from said inner wall surfce with an annular gap therebetween and having a hollow interior through which the mating member is forcibly thrust in axial direction for said screw fastening, said hollow interior being defined by unthreaded internal faces of the clamping members, said unthreaded internal faces comprising the radially inwardmost components of said drive nut so that a mating member driven through the drive nut will engage only the unthreaded internal faces of the clamping members, each clamping member being rigidly connected at the root part thereof to said inner wall surface and constituting a form of a cantilever which is capable of being elastically deflected radially outwardly from the centerline by the mating member, said drive nut being formed of a material which enables the unthreaded internal faces of the clamping members to be bitten into by the screw threads of a mating member forcibly thrust into said hollow interior.