Gib, or COTTER

Wedge-shaped piece of metal used to tighten or adjust a contact of two other surfaces; used in three ways or senses. 1. Asa plain taper wedge or key, driven into a rectangular slot in a rod or stud, and bearing against the slot on its one side and against the flange or piece to be secured on its other. 2. In connection with a taper key in stub-ends and cases of that sort, where two elements are to be drawn together by a pull parallel to a given axis. Then the one side of the gib and one side of the key have equal taper toward an axis, the other sides respectively being parallel to that axis. When the key is driven past the gib, the space between their parallel sides is altered, and the connected parts move accordingly. 3. Those adjustable elements by which the wear or lost motion of sliding organs is taken up. These are either wedges of the shape of an inclined plane, which are drawn in against a complementary inclined surface by an adjusting screw, or else they are without taper and are adjusted parallel to themselves by set-screws as wear occurs.