Receptacles – Closures – Externally adjustable plug or gasket
Reexamination Certificate
1999-07-08
2001-10-02
Newhouse, Nathan J. (Department: 3727)
Receptacles
Closures
Externally adjustable plug or gasket
C016S002100, C217S104000, C217S108000, C217S110000, C217S113000, C215S355000, C215S358000, C215S361000, C220S787000, C220S789000, C220SDIG001, C138S089000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06296136
ABSTRACT:
TECHNICAL FIELD
The present invention relates to an obturator for an aperture produced in a metal sheet, and in particular in a motor vehicle bodyshell.
BACKGROUND ART
Obturators are used to tightly close apertures generally produced in steel structures, such as those frequently encountered in motor vehicle construction.
Such obturators are made from moulded plastics material and have a peripheral rim adapted to come into tight abutment against the periphery of the aperture to be obturated. Obturators are fixed due to locking lugs which deform in the aperture upon the introduction of the obturator and which again assume, by elastic return movement, a spaced position in which these locking lugs extend beyond the contour of the aperture. Thus, the obturator is kept fixed in the aperture due to the peripheral rim and to the locking lugs situated on either side of the metal sheet in which the aperture is produced.
An object of the present invention is to provide an obturator having a simplified and reliable assembly in apertures produced in metal sheets.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
A obturator according to the invention comprises a central dome, a peripheral lip, and an annular part extending between the dome and the lip. The annular part comprises a shoulder, and, the dome is adapted to deform between a starting position and a position of locking of the obturator, in which the dome is in relation to the the starting position. The annular part
15
adapted to expand between the starting position and locking position and is kept expanded by the dome inverted in the locking position. The lip is adapted to abut against a face of the aperture and the shoulder is adapted to abut against an opposite face of the aperture in the locking position.
The inversion of the dome enables the annular part to be placed under tension against the contour of the aperture and the shoulder to be kept beneath the periphery of the aperture. In contrast to known obturators in which the attachment is achieved by deformation followed by elastic return movement of the locking lugs, the locking of the obturator in accordance with the invention is reliably achieved by the expansion of the annular part which bears the shoulder.
Moreover, the inversion of the dome in the aperture of the metal structure enables a sound resonance to be caused, which informs the operator in a simple manner of the achievement of the correct locking of the obturator in the aperture.
According to a preferred characteristic of the present invention, the annular part and the dome form a groove in the starting position.
The presence of the groove enables the obturator to be introduced into the aperture without any effort. The groove easily absorbs the relative tilting of the annular part and the dome upon insertion of the obturator.
The tilting of the annular part also enables the stability of the locking position to be reinforced. In fact, the tension exerted by the dome turned inside out on the annular part counteracts the tilting in the opposite direction of the annular part towards its inclined starting position, which would allow the obturator to come out of the aperture again.
To prevent deformation of the shoulder, it is preferably delimited externally by a contour which is substantially identical, in the starting position, to the contour of the aperture.
According to an advantageous characteristic of the invention, which facilitates the positioning of the obturator and its placement in the aperture, the contour of the shoulder and the end of the lip are coplanar when the obturator is in its starting position.
According to another preferred characteristic of the invention, the annular part is substantially transverse to the peripheral lip so that the latter remains in abutment against the periphery of the aperture upon the tilting of the annular part and tilts more or less as a function of the thickness of the structure in which the aperture is made. Such an obturator may thus be mounted tightly on metal sheets of different thicknesses and also absorb the local differences in thickness around the aperture in the presence of burrs, especially when the apertures are made by punching on the reverse of the metal sheet.
According to another preferred aspect of the invention, the shoulder is formed by a series of teeth delimited by slots. Several distinct bearing points are thus provided for locking the obturator in the aperture. The slots preferably extend over the annular part as far as the dome so that the annular part is sufficiently elastic to expand during inversion of the dome.
According to an advantageous characteristic of the invention which enables the bearing points to be better distributed, the teeth are regularly distributed over the annular part.
According to another preferred characteristic of the invention, the central portion of the dome has a thicker part made of plastics material and a face domed towards the outside of the dome in the starting position and towards the inside of the dome when inverted in the locking position. This arrangement facilitates the deformation of the dome and tensions the dome walls of the in the locking position to reinforce the tensile force exerted on the annular part.
This obturator is particularly well adapted for obturating apertures which are circular in shape, as it is itself preferably circular in shape.
According to another preferred characteristic of the invention, the obturator also has a plug fixed to the central dome which is adapted, in the locking position of the obturator, to close off a cavity formed by the dome inverted and the annular part. In this manner, simultaneously with the attachment of the obturator by inverting dome, the closing of the cavity formed by the obturator in the locked position inside the aperture of the metal sheet is achieved.
The plug allows for the propagation of vibration and noise alternation at the level of the aperture in the metal sheet to provide a sound-dampening function.
Preferably, to reinforce this sound-dampening function, the plug comprises a portion forming a cap and a peripheral rim which is deformable and adapted to come up against the peripheral lip in the locking position of the obturator.
In an advantageous manner, the portion forming a cap and the peripheral lip are substantially coplanar in the locking position of the obturator, so that the plug does not form any excess thickness on the obturator.
Other details and advantages of the invention will become more apparent in the following description.
REFERENCES:
patent: Re. 25906 (1965-11-01), Livingstone
patent: 849243 (1907-04-01), Hull
patent: 1085262 (1914-01-01), Janney
patent: 2228435 (1941-01-01), Binon
patent: 2396035 (1946-03-01), Billing et al.
patent: 2487635 (1949-11-01), Carpenter
patent: 2649090 (1953-08-01), Parsons et al.
patent: 3380610 (1968-04-01), Krieps
patent: 3430777 (1969-03-01), Esposito, Jr.
patent: 3438536 (1969-04-01), Tarchalski
patent: 3586197 (1971-06-01), Vivas
patent: 3742898 (1973-07-01), Souze
patent: 3982649 (1976-09-01), Wanderer
patent: 4027776 (1977-06-01), Douglas
patent: 4053084 (1977-10-01), Anderson
patent: 4227625 (1980-10-01), Underwood
patent: 4287996 (1981-09-01), Wanderer
patent: 4334632 (1982-06-01), Watanabe
patent: 4413748 (1983-11-01), Kessler et al.
patent: 4463870 (1984-08-01), Coburn, Jr. et al.
patent: 4504009 (1985-03-01), Boik et al.
patent: 4620641 (1986-11-01), Beer
patent: 4646932 (1987-03-01), Masler
patent: 4691836 (1987-09-01), Wassilieff
patent: 4938378 (1990-07-01), Kraus
patent: 5709309 (1998-01-01), Galagher et al.
patent: 6211464 (2001-04-01), Mochizuki et al.
patent: 218842 (1961-05-01), None
patent: 31 39 968 (1983-04-01), None
patent: 39 02 500 (1990-08-01), None
patent: 1418151 (1965-10-01), None
patent: 1 354 973 (1974-05-01), None
patent: 153832 (1956-03-01), None
Hylton Robin A.
I.T.W. de France
Lowe Hauptman & Gilman & Berner LLP
Newhouse Nathan J.
LandOfFree
Obturator with improved retention in a metal sheet aperture does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Obturator with improved retention in a metal sheet aperture, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Obturator with improved retention in a metal sheet aperture will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-2599830