Textron Corporation

Acument Intellectual Properties, LLC

James Patrick Clinch

Paul Purdy

Gary Puzzella

Karl R Schmitt

William Robert Turnmire

James Ray Berkshire

Usman Yusuf Shami

Paul Douglas Purdy

A cage nut assembly includes a nut and a cage wrapped therearound. The nut and/or the cage are provided with a number of stand-offs. The stand-offs reduce the amount of bearing surface interface between the cage and the nut thus reducing the possibility that the two parts will stick to each other after a bath is applied to the mating surface, and thus to the cage nut assembly, as the cage is welded to the mating surface. The stand-offs can be configured such that the cage nut assembly can move through the bath in a horizontal position, an upside down position, or a sideways position, substantially without the cage and nut sticking to one another.

Cage nut assembly having stand-offs

A cage nut assembly has a nut and a cage. The cage has a base having an aperture therethrough and a pair of flexible arm portions which are capable of supporting the nut off of the base. The cage nut assembly is welded to a workpiece. The workpiece is sent through an e-coat or ELPO bath. As the flexible arm portions of the cage support the nut off of the base, the possibility of the nut being stuck to the cage is reduced. A fastener is inserted through an aperture of the workpiece, through the aperture of the base and is threadedly engaged with the nut. As the fastener is torqued down, a force is applied to the nut such that the arm portions of the cage flex and allow the nut to come into contact and be secured against the base.

Cage nut assembly having a flexible cage

The invention provides a cage nut assembly having a nut member and a cage member. The nut has a threaded aperture therethrough. The cage is capable of encaging the nut such that the nut has a limited range of movement within the cage in at least one dimension. The cage has an aperture therein sized and located to allow access to the threaded aperture of the nut within the range of movement of the nut. The cage has a plurality of protrusions, such as dimples or tabs, extending therefrom. At least one of the protrusions is formed in halves which abut against one another to define a seam therebetween. The protrusions are capable of being welded to a mating surface to secure the cage to a mating surface, and, substantially contemporaneously, the halves of the at least one protrusion are capable of being welded together along the seam.

Split weld cage nut assembly

A cage nut assembly includes a nut having a cylindrical portion extending from a plate portion. The nut is encaged in a cage such that the cylindrical portion extends through an aperture in the cage. The cylindrical portion of the nut is collapsible such that the nut collapses and provides a plurality of flanges upon an application of force. The flanges are folded or curved/mushroomed such that the plate portion of the nut is suspended within the cage so that the nut will not, or will minimally, stick to the cage or workpiece when coated with e-coat or ELPO. Upon torqueing a fastener into place, the flanges are bent up to allow the plate portion to interface with the cage or a workpiece to provide a solid joint.

Collapsible nut

A cage nut assembly includes a nut and a cage wrapped therearound. The nut has a number of stand-offs or protrusions provided on a lower surface thereof such that the stand-offs are the only part of the nut which are in contact with the cage. The stand-offs reduce the amount of bearing surface interface between the cage and the nut thus reducing the possibility that the two parts will stick to each other after a coating is applied to the mating surface which the cage is welded to. The nut is engaged by a male threaded fastener which is torqued into place and the stand-offs push into the material of the cage causing the cage material to flow out of the way such that the stand-offs embed into the material of the cage without deforming the stand-offs to a flattened condition.

Cage nut assembly having a stand-off nut

A headlamp adjuster configured for engagement with a reflector of a headlamp assembly. The headlamp adjuster includes a U-shaped structure which is engaged with a screw and which is engageable with the reflector. The screw is prevented from translating substantially upon rotation, but the headlamp adjuster is configured such that rotation of the screw causes the U-shaped structure to translate thereby moving the reflector. The screw includes an externally threaded shaft portion which is threadably engaged with an internally threaded bore of the U-shaped structure. The U-shaped structure may be a single piece which is engaged with the screw and is engageable with the reflector, or may include a U-shaped member which is engaged with the screw and a slide member, where the slide member is engageable with the reflector.

Growing community of inventors

Sterling Heights, MI, United States of America

James Patrick Clinch