Related Applications

At least for purposes in the U.S., the benefit of provisional application 14/539,958 filed November 12, 2014 is claimed, and the content of that application is hereby incorporated herein in its entirety.

Field

This concerns fasteners, including those for retaining pins in hinges.

Background

Many applications of two-part type fastener assemblies involve the joining of two or more work pieces. In certain applications it is desirable for the faster system to provide for a predetermined tension to the joined work pieces. Lock bolts, for example, are a specialized type of fastener specifically designed to provide a predetermined amount of stress to the work pieces. In contrast other fastener applications require fasteners that allow some relative movement between joined work pieces and therefore do not exert significant, or any, tension on the work pieces. In some cases it may be desirable for a fastener system to intentionally provide a predetermined amount of play.

A significant characteristic of some fastener systems is the degree of difficulty required to manually fasten and un-fasten. In some application, including that of a hinge pin, the combination of quick and accurate fastening with tamper resistant unfastening is desirable.

Summary

These teachings involve fastener assemblies, components, and methods that address the need for fasteners that provide for a rapid assembly and tamper resistant disassembly by the crimping of a ferrule into an annular notch on a pin. This is done in such a way that the ferrule's post-crimp configuration results in the pin not being readily removable from its installation. Brief Description of the Drawings

Embodiments of the invention are illustrated by way of example, and not by way of limitation, in the accompanying drawings and descriptions.

FIG. 1 A is an exploded perspective view of a hinge, a hinge pin with an annular notch, and a ferrule with a flange;

FIG. 1 B is an assembled view of the components of FIG. 1 with the ferrule crimped into the annular notch; FIG. 2A shows a schematic cut-away view of the apparatus of FIG. 1 A, assembled but not crimped; and also includes a representation of a crimp die set;

FIG. 2B shows the apparatus and view of FIG. 2A with the ferrule crimped; FIG. 2C is a simplified top view of the crimping die set of FIG. 2A;

FIG. 2D is a side view of 2C showing the thickness of the crimping die;

FIG. 3A is a side view of the pin of FIG. 1 A;

FIG 3B is a perspective view of the ferrule of FIG. 1 A;

FIG. 3C is a bottom view of the ferrule of FIG. 1 A; FIGs. 3D and 3E show a perspective view of a configuration being assembled where the pin is recessed into the sleeve for increased tamper resistance;

IG. 4A illustrates a ferrule having a flange being placed into a crimp tool;

FIG. 4B illustrates a crimp tool with inserted ferrule being raised up to be installed;

FIG. 4C illustrates an assembled hinge with ferrule crimped on pin; FIG. 5A is a schematic, cut-away drawing of two work pieces joined by a pin and ferrule with the ferrule not yet crimped;

FIG. 5B is a schematic drawing of the view and apparatus of FIG. 4A with the ferrule in a crimped state;

FIG. 6A is a schematic cut-away drawing of two work pieces joined by a pin and an alternate style ferrule not having a flange;

FIG. 6B is a schematic drawing of the view and apparatus of FIG. 5A with the ferrule in a crimped state; FIG. 7A shows a side view of an alternate pin configuration where the pin shaft is not of a single constant diameter;

FIG. 7B shows a side view of an alternate pin configuration where the pin has multiple positions for ferule retention;

FIG. 8 shows a perspective view of an application in a clevis; FIG. 9A shows a perspective view of a toy axle with wheels retained by crimped ferrules;

FIG. 9B shows a top view of the toy axle with wheels of FIG. 9A;

FIG. 9C shows an exploded view of the toy axle with wheels of FIG. 9B;

FIG. 10A is a partial perspective view of an eyeglass frame showing a hinge area;

FIG 10B is an expanded cross section of the hinge and hinge pin of FIG.

10A.

Technical Problem to be Solved 75 The problem solved is that of quickly attaching a fastener with manually operated tools, the faster providing a predetermined amount of free play or providing an intentionally small, not-to-exceed, degree of tension.

Detailed Description and Teaching

The fasteners described here span a wide range of sizes and applications 80 but are initially described in their capacity to act as a hinge pin. In many hinge designs two independently provided bodies, each constituting one side, or leaf, of a hinge, are brought together to be joined by a hinge pin. The two leafs' knuckles are appropriately inter-aligned and then a pin with a head is dropped into the pivot point intersection of the hinge leafs. In some applications, it is 85 desirable that the pin be positively retained. The application may be subject to vibration, the action of gravity, etc. Some applications requiring positive retention also require a retention secured against extreme and long lasting vibrations while others require a tamper resistant retention.

Hinge Assembly - First Embodiment

90 Figure 1 A shows an exploded hinge with two leafs 10A 10B, a hinge pin

1 1 , and a ferrule 13. In this embodiment the ferrule is a bushing with a flange 15 on a sleeve 14. In FIG. 1 B the apparatus is seen assembled with the ferrule crimped on to the pin. This crimping has resulted in a non-elastic deformation 19. By having a flange of a sufficiently larger diameter than the diameter of the

95 lowermost part 16 of the hinge leaf 10B (seen in FIG. 1 A), the retention of the ferrule causes the retention of the hinge pin.

Cut-away views of this assembly are shown in FIGs. 2A and 2B. In FIG. 2A the ferrule or bushing is slid over the extending portion of the pin until the flange portion 15 touches the lowermost portion 16 of the hinge leaf 10B. In FIG.00 2B the alignment of the ferrule over the notch is shown predetermined by the height of the hinge and the distance from the head of the pin to the notch. In this figure the ferrule is shown crimped onto the extending portion of the pin in a way that the ferrule is deformed to generally follow the shape of the pin. The crimping is done by radial forces at the pin's annular notch 12 by a crimping die set 26. 105 The die set is seen schematically in a top view in FIG. 2C. The crimp examples shown in these figures are the result of radial forces applied essentially 360- degrees around the ferule. Crimps that apply forces primarily in two or more opposing locations can also be effective.

To achieve a tamper resistant application many factors must be in

110 particular relationships to each other. For example, the material of the ferrule, the depth and width of the notch and the wall thickness of the ferrule would be such as to produce a finished assembly with a desired degree of resistance to attempts to remove the pin. Figure 3A shows a side view of a pin and

complementary ferrule. This ferrule has a sleeve portion 14 and a flange portion

115 15 as is also seen in FIG. 3B and 3C. The relative dimensions of depth of notch, length of notch, length of sleeve, and the material of the sleeve collectively determine whether a given assembly will function and, if so, the degree of retention of the ferrule to the pin. A sleeve material that is hard and brittle in combination with a relatively deep notch might fracture when a crimp is

120 attempted. A notch that was relatively short might not afford enough distance for a thick sleeve to be bent to conform to the contours of the pin. Another feature that can increase tamper resistance, particularly in a hinge pin application, is illustrated in the perspective drawings of FIG. 3D and 3E. The sleeve 14' of this ferrule 13' is longer than the sleeve of FIG. 3B. This results in the end of pin 17

125 being recessed in the sleeve. This recess increases the difficulty of knocking out the hinge pin by hammering its end, since a large hammer will hit the ferrule rather than the recessed pin.

Installation Steps, First Embodiment

The general use of crimping has been in electrical applications and other 130 applications where the ferrule is strung over a wire, rope, or steel rope prior to crimping. In those typical cases, the crimping tool has no requirement to hold and support the ferrule as a stand-alone component before or during the crimping operation. The ferrule is held in place by virtue of being strung onto a wire. In general, applications of the present teaching do not have a continuous 135 rod or wire threaded through the sleeve. This creates the new problems of

holding the ferrule in the tool, aligning the ferrule to a desired location, and holding the ferrule in that location while crimping is accomplished. Figures 4A, 4B and 4C show steps of assembling an installation of a specific version of this first embodiment where those problems are solved.

140 In figure 4A a ferrule with a flange, such as the ferrule seen in FIG. 3B and 3C, is being inserted into a hydraulic crimping tool 25 between the crimping die set 26. By a choice of a complementary sized crimping die, the sleeve portion fits into the space between the dies when the tool is in a closed state. The flange's larger diameter prevents the ferrule from simply falling through. In

145 some applications, as seen in FIG. 4B, this retention can just be by gravity.

Alternatively, the die's inner diameter relative to the OD of the sleeve can be such that the sleeve fits in an interference or friction fit. This figure also shows a two-piece butt hinge 10A' 10B' (only one side of the hinge is completely visible from this view) with a corresponding pin 1 1 ' inserted and shows the annular

150 notch on the extending portion of the pin.

After the ferrule is placed in the tool, the tool is used to bring the ferrule to the end of the pin as shown in FIG. 4B. In this case the distance from the bottom of the hinge and the start of the notch on the pin is slightly larger then the width E of the flange. This assures that the crimp will repeatedly occur at the 155 desired location on the aligned ferrule and the notch. The post-crimp state is seen in FIG. 4C.

Details of the embodiment of FIGs. 4A to 4C

In the interest of presenting a specific example of an implemented and tested embodiment the following table shows the dimensions and specifications

160 of the pin, ferrule, and tool illustrated in FIGs. 4A, 4B and 4C.

Ref. Descriptions Size (millimeters) A Length of pin to annular notch 124.5

B Length of annular notch 8.3

C Length of pin portion beyond annular notch 3.2

D Length of sleeve portion of ferrule 1 1 .2

E Width of flange portion of Ferrule 4.5

F Diameter of pin portion beyond notch 12.7

G Outer Diameter of flange 19.1

H ID of ferrule 12.7

1 OD of sleeve portion of ferrule 16.0

J Diameter of pin above notch 12.7

K Depth of notch 1 .1

L Diameter of the notch 10.7

M Thickness of crimp die 4.8

The die is Burndy part number PATJAWSMD6 and the crimp tool shown is model number PATMD6-14V and 6 tons of radial force is used.

Other configurations A group of formulas can help in determining sets of values for these parameters effective in creating a working fastener system. The input values are the diameter of the pin proximate to the groove (PBD) and the thickness of the crimp tool die (TDT)

170 (F) Pin Basic Diameter = input value

(L) Pin Groove Diameter (PGD) = Pin Basic Diameter (PBD) X .842 (B) Pin Groove Width (PGW) = Crimp Tool Die Thickness (TDT) X 1 .75 (G) Bushing Overall Length, BOL = PBD X 1 .25 (I) Bushing Body Outside Diameter (BOD) = PBD X 1 .25

175 (H) Bushing Inside Diameter (BID) = PBD Min to PBD +PBD X .001 Max

(G) Bushing Flange Diameter (BFD) = PBD X 1 .50 (E) Bushing Flange Thickness (BFT) = PGW X .20

Variations

180 The pin and ferrule scheme of these teachings have application outside of use as a hinge pin. A general application of joining two work pieces without tension is seen in FIGs. 5A and 5B. The pin is shown going through an aperture in an initial work piece 20 and emerging from an aperture in a final work piece 21 . This is a generalization of the application as a hinge pin. Figure 5A shows a

185 pre-crimp state and FIG. 5B shows a post-crimp state.

The ferrule 13' shown in FIGs. 6A and 6B is simply a cylindrical tube. This simple sleeve style ferrule could be less expensive to manufacture than the ferrule with flange in the preceding figures. However, for the pin to be retained the effective diameter N of the ferrule after crimping needs to be large enough 190 that the crimped ferrule interferes with the lowermost opening of the final work piece 33. The term "effective diameter" is used because portions of the ferrule extending away from the pin need not be circular to interfere with pin removal from a particular aperture, which may also not be circular. An intermediate component such as a washer might be used to bridge the difference between 195 the diameter N and the diameter of the exit aperture of the final work piece - effectively making the washer the final work piece.

The FIGs. of 6A and 6B also demonstrate the case of joining two or more work pieces with desired predetermined amount of play. The distance P represents the amount of play in the assembly of 6A and 6B as shown. Spacers 200 could be used to reduce the amount of play. Also, the relative lengths could be increased or reduced to change the amount of play. A desired level of frictional contact could be introduced with appropriate spacing and materials.

Additional Variations

A second set of variations demonstrate that the pin need not have the 205 shape and configuration of pin 1 1 . In FIG. 7A a side view of a pin 1 1 ' is seen as having a larger diameter closer to the head than at the free end. This may be appropriate for certain applications. Figure 7B demonstrates another variation. The pin 1 1 " has two annular notches. This provides the option to crimp a ferrule at either location. The variations of FIG. 7A and 7B can be combined producing 210 a pin with multiple crimp locations at different diameters.

Second Embodiment - Clevis

In some applications a pin may not be holding two or more work pieces together. In the case of a clevis, as seen in FIG. 8, the central region of a pin is used to support one end of a rope. There are no work pieces being held together 215 in this use.

Third Embodiment -Toy Axle

Not all applications of these teachings involve a pin with a head. A third embodiment is seen in FIG. 9A, FIG. 9B and FIG. 9C where both ends of an axle 30 have annular notches and a pair of wheels 31 are retained on a simple axle buy crimped ferrules 13. This may be a quicker method of terminating the ends of the axel 30, and may reduce the chance of wheels falling off in extended use.

Fourth Embodiment - Eyeglass Hinges

Eyeglass hinges are an example of these teachings being used on a very different scale. The screws that form eyeglass hinge pins often become unscrewed and fall out. A portion of an eyeglass frame, hinge, and earpiece is shown in FIG. 10A. Figure 10B shows a very expanded cross-section view with the ferrule in an un-crimped state. The recess 39 at the pin's end hides the pin and ferrule in this example.

The use of the terms "a" and "an" and "the" and similar referents in the context of describing the invention are to be construed to cover both the singular and the plural, unless otherwise indicated herein or clearly contradicted by context. The use of any and all examples, or exemplary language ("e.g." or "such as") provided herein, is intended merely to better illuminate the invention and does not pose a limitation on the scope of the invention unless otherwise claimed. No language in the specification should be construed as indicating any non- claimed element as essential to the practice of the invention.