A cotter pin is a device used to secure pins, nuts, bolts, or mechanisms. It can be a metal pin or a machined wedge and is available in various designs. The most common type is the half-round pin with legs that prevent it from popping out of a hole. Circular cotter pins made from spring steel are also commonly used. In the UK, the term cotter refers to a cylindrical bar with a wedge-shaped face used to lock bicycle pedals and gears onto their shafts.
A cotter pin is a term used to describe a selection of devices intended to lock or secure pins, nuts, bolts, or complete mechanisms. Depending on the location, the cotter pin is also known as a cotter pin or cotter pin and can take the form of a simple metal pin or a machined wedge. Pin-type cotter pins are typically threaded through a hole in a shaft or machined groove to keep the locking mechanisms from coming loose. In the United States, the term refers to the various types of pins which include R pins, bridge pins, and spring pins. In the UK, the term describes a cylindrical bar machined into a wedge at one end and commonly used to lock bicycle pedals and cranks.
Most fasteners subjected to vibration or repetitive movement have an annoying tendency to loosen after a while. One way to avoid this is to use one of the many types of cotter pins designed to keep fasteners from unintentionally coming loose. These handy devices are available in a variety of designs to lock or secure an equally large selection of fasteners. Most are simply spring pins with a specific shape for the application. Some, however, may be solid steel bars with a wedge-shaped face used for friction-locking rotary mechanisms.
The simplest example of these devices is the well-known cotter pin type which consists of a half-round pin bent in half with a loop at the closed end. The two teeth or legs of the stud are inserted through a hole in a nut and bolt once the nut has been tensioned. The ends of the legs are then folded up to prevent the pin from popping out of the hole. The pin passing through the nut and the threads it rotates on, in turn, prevents the nut from coming loose. The same type of arrangement can be used on shafts where the pin prevents the shaft from retracting through a bushing.
One particular type of shaft locking pin is known as a circular cotter pin and has a small belly or half ring formed into one leg. One leg of the pin is passed through the hole in the shaft and the other passes over the outer surface until the belly or ring snaps around the shaft. These pins are usually made from spring steel and are reusable. Another common example of spring steel is the circular cotter pin. These look similar to a key ring and fit into a groove machined into a shaft to keep assemblies from working off the shaft. In the UK, the term cotter is usually applied to a round steel shaft which has a wedge-shaped face machined into one end used to lock bicycle pedals and gears onto their shafts.
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