Screws, bolts and other threaded fasteners are routinely tightened or loosened with a screwdriver, pliers, wrench or similar hand tool. There are, however, threaded fasteners, such as wing nuts, having integral components which allow the user to grasp the fastener with his fingers to tighten or loosen it without tools. These fasteners have their place in many applications, but they also have distinct disadvantages. For instance, the extent of tightening and the ability to loosen a snugly secured wing nut or like connecting devices is limited, since such fasteners do not have a means to provide the extra leverage and torque which may be needed to secure or loosen the fastener. In addition, the finger grasping components of these type fasteners extend up from their threaded sections, thus providing cumbersome and often dangerous projections from the fastener itself. Certain hand operated fasteners do include clips or rings secured to the fasteners' heads, which rotate about the heads and, when not in use, rest on top of the head. However, these also have limited tightening/loosening capabilities. Also, such fasteners cannot be used in certain of applications, e.g. for clamp connections.
The threaded sections of screws, bolts and like fasteners are all integral and or securely attached to their respective head sections. This most commonly used fastener configuration also reduces the tightening/loosening capabilities of threaded fasteners, again, since the leverage forces are limited by such rigid construction.
USPTO Backgrounds
USPTO Backgrounds