THE FULLERTON NUT™ NEWS RELEASES
News Releases: NASA 1:
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ZipNut® Incorporated into NASA Strategic Plan as a "Recommended Technique
for Effective Maintainability" Applicable to All Space Missions.
ZipNut® Incorporated into NASA Strategic Plan as a "Recommended
Technique for Effective Maintainability" Applicable to All Space Missions
NASA's Reliability and Maintainability Steering Committee operating under the
Office of Safety and Mission Assurance has included in NASA's Strategic Plan
for future space program designs a compilation of Design Factors and Engineering
recommendations.
The first of these, DFE-1 Selection of Robotically
Compatible Fasteners and Handling Mechanisms, is intended to create "less
system downtime and higher availability for both ground and on-orbit systems."
Nasa Recomendation
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ZipNut® Double Zip® Tooling Selected for DeepSea Oil Pipeline Construction.
ZipNut® Double Zip® Tooling Selected for DeepSea Oil Pipeline Construction
Sonsub International Limited of Aberdeen, Scotland has launched BRUTUS, its latest remote operated
vehicle ("ROV") for robotic assembly
and connection of oil pipelines in deep sea oil fields, such as the North Sea.
The flange bolt tightening system features Zip Technology adopted for the application
by Fastorq Bolting Systems of Houston Texas.
Double Zip® bolt tensioners can be robotically "pushed-on" the
bolts to hold them during tightening and then robotically released when the job is finished.
The ZipNut® Technology reduces the time and cost of deep sea pipeline construction.
ZipNut® plays a significant role in these guidelines.
It is specifically cited for avoiding "jamming and binding", eliminating
the "need for rotation" and comprising "an excellent softdock attachment."
News Releases: NASA 2:
The ZipNut® was selected to hold Space Station repair patches.
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NASA engineers are hard at work developing a kit to patch holes on the International Space
Station (ISS) caused by orbital debris and meteoroid impacts.
Designated KERMIt (Kit for External Repair of Module
Impacts), the system was developed by the Mission Operations Laboratory
at the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama to permit crew members
on EVA to seal penetrations in pressurized, habitable compartments of ISS.
The KERMIt patches would be installed after the damaged compartment had become fully
depressurized.
Installing the patch starts with placing a clear plastic plate with a foam gasket ring
over the hole.
A toggle bolt through the center of the plate and a large knobbed nut holds
it in place against the hull.
In initial tests in June 1999 astronauts approved the design except they suggested
replacing "the standard nut with a ZipNut® that can be pushed down
the length of the toggle bolt, and then twisted into place.
http://www.nasa.gov/missions/science/zipnuts_prt.htm
ZipNut® engineers, working with the KERMIt Team during July and August 1999,
developed a ⅜-16 stainless steel threaded insert
("ZipSert") to be embedded in the
knob that holds the patch onto the repair stud.
Astronauts would thus be able to install the patch more quickly and with less difficulty.
The ZipSert design has been accepted and approved by NASA officials.
Initial flight hardware deliveries will begin in the first quarter of 2000.
News Releases: NASA 3:
The ZipNuts® were used to Repair Hubble Space Telescope.
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During the Christmas season, 1999, NASA astronauts in Space Shuttle Discovery captured the
Hubble Space Telescope, repaired it and sent it back into orbit to search deep space.
Two the major projects, replacing a Fine Guidance Sensor
(FGS) and replacing the S-Band Single Access Transmitter
(SSAT) were conducted with ZipNut's® products.
The FGS, which keeps the telescope accurately pointed, was replaced with 8 Double Zip®
Hand Tools developed with Swales Aerospace.
The Double Zip® tools were used by the space walking astronauts to remove the old FGS,
to install the new FGS and to secure the old FGS into the shuttle for re-entry.
Slide: FGS Handhold 1
Slide: FGS Handhold 2
The SSAT, which communicates the Hubble data back to earth, requires 8 10-32 bolts which were secured in 8
specially designed ZipNuts®.
Slide: Fastener Retention Block - SSAT
However, NOTE: Robert Fullerton (Fullerton Design) Created, Designed, introduced, and developed this device for this project;
his ex-lawyer simply saw this device and utilized the courts to conviscate "and claim" the invention to fill his retirement quest.
News Releases: Nuclear 1:
The ZipNuts® are used to speed up nuclear reactor repair.
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On December 19, 1999, 45 stainless steel 1-⅛" Heavy Hex ZipNuts® were used by the
Department of Energy Savannah River Project to speed up maintenance in a high radiation area during a nuclear outage.
The ZipNuts® were successful and reduced worker radiation.
The patented ZipNut® design is covered by the ASME Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code, Case N-579.
News Releases: Undersea 1
The ZipNut® Double Zip® Tooling Selected for DeepSea Oil Pipeline Construction
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Sonsub International Limited of Aberdeen, Scotland has launched BRUTUS, its latest remote
operated vehicle ("ROV") for robotic
assembly and connection of oil pipelines in deep sea oil fields, such as the North Sea.
The flange bolt tightening system features ZipNuts® adopted for the application
by Fastorq Bolting Systems of Houston Texas.
Double Zip® bolt tensioners can be robotically "pushed-on" the bolts to hold them during
tightening and then robotically released when the job is finished.
The ZipNut® reduces the time and cost of deep sea pipeline construction.
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