The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Oct. 12, 2010
Filed:
Sep. 20, 2005
Vincent J. Vendetti, King George, VA (US);
Vincent J. Vendetti, King George, VA (US);
The United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Navy, Washington, DC (US);
Abstract
An alignment and locking system includes a dovetailed male portion having partial female threads formed in a surface thereof, a housing having a dovetailed notch for slidingly receiving the male portion, and a screw assembly coupled to the housing. The screw assembly includes a rotatable rod having a threaded region that partially extends into the housing's notch. The threaded region includes a partially threaded portion and a fully threaded portion. The partially threaded portion is defined by (i) a first region that cannot engage the partial female threads of the male portion as it slides in the notch, and (ii) a second region that can engage the partial female threads of the male portion as it slides in the notch. The system is further configured to impart a biased rotational movement to the rod to align the first region of the partially threaded portion with the notch when the male portion is not engaged in the notch.