Wheel clamping nut with freely rotating insert

Abstract

A wing nut with a threaded axial passage is adapted to engage the threads on the horizontal balancing shaft of a wheel balancer having an abutment thereon. A wheel to be balanced is placed on the shaft and is arranged to be held in tight engagement with the abutment when the wing nut is threaded on the shaft. The surface of the wing nut which forces the wheel against the abutment is recessed with a cylindrical recess. A plastic insert is adapted to be retained within the cylindrical recess and has a central bore which is aligned with the threaded passage in the nut to permit the balancing shaft to pass therethrough. The insert projects axially from the nut body so that the insert, rather than the nut body, will engage the member which is holding the wheel against the abutment. A plurality of ball bearings are retained along the radially extended opposed faces of the insert and the nut within the cylindrical recess in the nut body allowing the insert to rotate freely with respect to both the nut body and the shaft upon which the nut is threaded.