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:
Dec. 19, 2017
Filed:
Jul. 20, 2015
Applicant:
Northrop Grumman Systems Corporation, Falls Church, VA (US);
Inventors:
Matthew A. Neal, Lancaster, CA (US);
Stephen R. Berg, Rosamond, CA (US);
Michael J. Ehrlich, Palmdale, CA (US);
Charles R. Smith, Acton, CA (US);
Assignee:
Northrop Grumman Systems Corporation, Falls Church, VA (US);
Attorneys:
Primary Examiner:
Int. Cl.
CPC ...
E05C 1/02 (2006.01); B64C 1/14 (2006.01); E05C 17/58 (2006.01); F16B 21/16 (2006.01); F16B 21/14 (2006.01); F16B 1/00 (2006.01); F16B 19/10 (2006.01);
U.S. Cl.
CPC ...
B64C 1/1446 (2013.01); E05C 17/58 (2013.01); F16B 21/165 (2013.01); F16B 1/005 (2013.01); F16B 1/0057 (2013.01); F16B 19/109 (2013.01); F16B 2001/0035 (2013.01); F16B 2021/14 (2013.01);
Abstract
A ball-lock type fastening device for connecting a work piece to a structure is disclosed. The fastening device includes a number of features designed to improve the reliability, repeatability and strength of the locking mechanism compared to traditional ball-lock fasteners. The features include the shape of the locking balls, the shape of the retention housing which engages the locking balls, and mechanisms for controlling deployment and retraction of the locking balls.