A cotter is a pin or wedge with a flat bearing surface passing through a hole to fix parts tightly together. In British usage cotter pin has the same meaning, but in the U.S. it means a split pin.
Typical applications are in fixing a crank to its crankshaft, as in a bicycle, and a piston rod to a crosshead, as in a steam engine. The angle of the wedge determines the position of the parts being held; therefore, on a bicycle, the pedal arms will only be at 180 degrees to each other if the angle of the cotter pin's wedge is the same on both pins.
Cotter pin may refer to:
In U.S. usage:
Split pin, a metal fastener with two tines that are bent during installation used to fasten metal together, like with a staple or rivet
Hairpin cotter pin, more commonly known as an "R-clip"
Circle cotter, a ring-shaped cotter pin
In British usage:
Cotter (pin), in mechanical engineering a pin or wedge passing through a hole to fix parts tightly together
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