Buckles – buttons – clasps – etc. – Trim molding fastener – Plastic type
Reexamination Certificate
2000-05-03
2001-09-18
Brittain, James R. (Department: 3626)
Buckles, buttons, clasps, etc.
Trim molding fastener
Plastic type
Reexamination Certificate
active
06289560
ABSTRACT:
The present invention relates to an integrated fastener or fastening clip intended particularly but not exclusively for fixing parts made of thermoplastic material and provided with such fasteners onto metal parts, in particular in motor manufacture.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Traditionally, such fastenings are made by means of discrete fitted elements such as rivets, plastics material fasteners, or screws where the thread engages in a hole or opening in the support while the head holds captive the plastics part that is to be fixed thereto. Although that kind of assembly is easy to disassemble, it is expensive because it leads to making additional tooling. Furthermore, such fastening by means of discrete fitted elements costs a great deal of labor time.
OBJECTS AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
An object of the present invention is to mitigate that drawback and to enable fixing to be performed instantly and blind, and also to provide fixing that is capable of being taken apart without destroying or spoiling the surfaces that come into contact with the metal support. The invention can also be used for clipping parts onto supports that are not made of metal but that do have sharp edges.
Independent clips have already been proposed.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,701,984 describes a clip made of plastics material for fixing a printed circuit inside a metal box. Its body comprises a fixing portion for inserting into a polygonal opening and a holding portion which keeps the printed circuit at a distance from the wall of the box. The printed circuit is thus clamped between the head and the holding portion.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,542,148, the two parts to be united are assembled together by means of a metal spring snapped into a flexible housing and pressing laterally against said housing.
A second object of the invention is to enable a thermoplastic part to be fixed in leakproof manner on a support.
The integrated clip for fixing a thermoplastic part onto a support, in particular a metal support, is integrated in said part by being molded therewith. As a result, the integrated clip is entirely suitable for recycling without taking precautions to remove a fitted element for subsequent sorting. Thermoplastic parts, in particular for cars, are made by injection, and the clips can thus be obtained directly merely at the cost of making the mold slightly more complicated. The invention thus avoids providing housings for receiving fitted clips which would give rise to assembly costs.
According to the invention, an integrated plastics material clip for fixing a part on a support, in particular a support made of metal, comprises a hollow body terminated at one of its ends by a nose of dimensions that are smaller than those of the body, and at least one substantially triangular snap-fastening rim projecting from the nose to define a snap-fastening zone that is to receive the edge of the support by elasticity and to hold the integrated clip in the support.
The flexibility of the plastics material enables the nose of the integrated clip to be inserted into the orifice and enables the projecting rims to be retracted until the clip occupies a predefined position in which the metal sheet, or more generally the support, is clamped between the body of the integrated clip and the snap-fastening rims.
According to another characteristic of the invention, a spacer interconnects the two sides of the nose and the side walls of the body, thereby forming a cross plate.
According to another characteristic of the invention, two side bearing ribs serve as abutments for the integrated clip on the support.
The sides constituting the nose of the clip are of increasing thickness and consequently flexible, and they can be assembled and disassembled in openings having respective surrounding flanges formed directly in the sheet metal, and they make this possible without the quality and the state of the snap-fastening rims being degraded. It is commonplace, that in general the edges of cutouts are sharp and that consequently direct insertion of the integrated clip would damage specifically the snap-fastening rims, so that the leakproofing and the quality of fixing deteriorates after a few assembly and disassembly operations.
In accordance with the invention, the support having surrounding flanges enables the positions of the sharp zones to be changed. The sides of the V-shaped nose can thus slide over the edges of the support without being damaged, and they enable the nose to take up its final position.
Such parts are disassembled only occasionally, when specific problems arise. The thermoplastic material constituting the integrated clip is therefore selected in such a manner as to be suitable for surviving a score of assembly and disassembly operations.
REFERENCES:
patent: 3577603 (1971-05-01), Heath et al.
patent: 3704486 (1972-12-01), Blacklock
patent: 3852849 (1974-12-01), Pestka
patent: 3860999 (1975-01-01), Meyer
patent: 4430776 (1984-02-01), Shimizu et al.
patent: 4575060 (1986-03-01), Kitagawa
patent: 4701984 (1987-10-01), Wyckoff
patent: 4715095 (1987-12-01), Takahashi
patent: 5172999 (1992-12-01), Ijima et al.
patent: 5542158 (1996-08-01), Gronau et al.
patent: 5669731 (1997-09-01), Hironaka et al.
patent: 5988678 (1999-11-01), Nakamura et al.
patent: 39 05 688 A1 (1990-08-01), None
patent: 10-44882 (1998-02-01), None
Brittain James R.
Duane Morris & Heckscher LLP
Eurostyle (S.A.S)
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