CONTAMINANT-REJECTING SCREW THREADS

摘要

A threaded connection (10) has an improved ability to engage and tighten screw threads (16) when they are contaminated with gritty materials. Adding axial grooves (18) to the male (14) and/or female (12) halves of a screw thread (16) enables the tightening action to expel gritty contaminants from the mesh of the threads by providing an“escape path”for the contaminants.