Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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Background of the Invention
The present invention relates to industrial fasteners
and more particularly to quarter-turn industrial panel fasteners
which are used to removably secure two panels.
At the present time there are a number of commercially
available industrial fasteners to secure two panels, and many
such fasteners have been proposed in prior patents. The panels
may be, for example, machine service or enclosure panels or
container panels.
Generally, industrial fasteners of this type consist
of two separated members one of which is attached to the first
panel and the second of which is attached to the second panel.
Such fasteners may be used to obtain a tight seal while allowing
for quick access. Frequently, such fasteners are "quarter
turn" fasteners which are locked by a 90 turn and unlocked
by a 90 turn in the opposite direction. Some of these fasteners
are "blind" fasteners which may be secured on the panels from
one face of the panel without seeing its opposite face.
Two-member fasteners may be generally classified
to be of one of two types. The first is a spring socket type
in which the receptacle secured to one panel or formed as a
spring in the panel grips and exerts a tension on the stud
member, as is disclosed in U.S. Patent 2,200,272 to Oddie;
U.S. Patent 2,413,510 to Luce; U.S. Patent 2,334,676 to Jones;
and U.S. Patent 3,900,931 to Lavoillote.
An alternative general type of fastener, illustrated
by U.S. Patent 2,486,411 to Huelster; U.S. Patent 3,136,017
to Preziosi; U.S. Patent 2,975,667 to Bross; U.S. Patent 3,675,28 0
to Winslade and U.S. Patent 4,137,610 to Hoen, discloses spring-
loaded stud members. However, some of the above-mentioned
spring-loaded stud fastener patents also include spring retaininc
housings and most require the lateral stud projections to
transverse a ramped recptacle for fastener tightening.
ll i29(~558
It has also been suggested that the turn member of
an industrial fastener may be stamped from flat sheet metal,
as in U.S. Patent Nos. 3,900,931 to Lavoillotte.
Presently commercially available fasteners are
satisfactory for many purposes. However, there is need for
a quarter-turn blind fastener which is rugged, easily operable,
simple, inexpensive and readily installed and which may be
made from relatively low-cost materials without relatively
~p~iv~ m ~bi~ng
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Summary of the Invention
The present invention provides an industrial fastener
which is a single assembly connected to a first panel. The
second panel has a hole, but does not have a receptacle. The
assembly includes a turn member which is rotated by the user
a quarter-turn (90) to fasten and unfasten the two panels.
The fastener assembly comprises two stamped she~t
metal members, which are the turn member and a cap, and a helica
coil spring. The turn member is a unitary member and includes
a turning head means portion and a shank portion. The upper
portion of the shank includes two opposed indentations, which
acts as the seat for the top turn of the coil spring. The turn
member is resiliently disposed with respect to the first panel
by the coil spring which is positioned between the cap and the
top surface of the first panel.
The turn member has a central shank portion and
terminates in a rounded nose portion, allowing easier alignment
between the turn member and the hole in the second panel. The
upper side of the nose portion has two opposed outwardly extendir g
shoulder portions which have cammed surfaces to provide a
mechanical advantage to pull together the two panels.
The turning head means (head portion) of the turn
member is such that it accepts rotational force and is preferabl~
a flat plate. Other designs are possible, including a slotted
screw head to be turned by a screwdriver or coin, a wing head
to be turned by hand, or a hex head to be turned by a socket
wrench or other tool.
To withdraw the turn member from the second panel,
the user rotates the turn member backwards, enabling the turn
member to attain realignment with the elongated opening in the
second panel so that the turn member may be withdrawn from the
second panel to disengage the two panels.
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Objectives and Features of the Invention
It is an objective of the present invention to provide
an industrial quarter-turn fastener to removably secure a first
panel to a second panel, wherein the fastener is readily connectec i
to the first panel and the second panel has only a hole and does
not have a receptacle and which may be used on a range of panel
thic~nesses.
It is a further objective of the present invention
to provide an industrial quarter-turn fastener in which, in one
embodiment, the fastener is a blind fastener which may be
connected to the first panel by insertion of its turn member
through the hole in the first panel and rotation of the turn
member, and without any means to secure the fastener to the first
panel. In that embodiment the fastener components are held
together by the spring so that they may be supplied to the user
as an assembly
It is a further objective of the present invention
to provide an industrial quarter-turn fastener in which the parts
are few and stamped from sheet metal, except for the spring, so
that the fastener is relatively inexpensive and yet will be
relatively rugged.
It is a feature of the present invention to provide
a fastener system comprising a fastener, a first panel and a
second panel, each panel having a hole and a top surface and a
bottom surface. The fastener removably secures the first panel
to the second panel. The hole in the second panel is in the
shape of an elongated slot with its length longer than a width W.
The second panel hole has opposite steps to prevent unlocking
when subjected to shocks or vibration.
The fastener comprises a turn member, a spring member
and a cap m~mber. The turn member has a turn head means by
which the turn member may be gripped and rotated, a shank portion
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having an imaginary axis, and a nose portion having oppositely
extending wing portions having a width W. The upper shoulders
of the wing portions have oppositely directed cam surfaces.
In a first embodiment the width W of the nose portion
is slightly larger than the width of the first panel hole so that
the nose portion only fits through a hole slot portion in the
first panel with a tilting action relative to its axis. In that
first embodiment the spring holds the turn member, cap and spring
together as an assembly so that the fastener, except for the
panels, may be supplied to the user as an assembly instead of
as individual components. In a second embodiment the shank
portion is secured to the second panel by a locking ring.
The cap member has a hole through which the turn
member shank portion extends. The spring member is a resilient
lS helical coil spring positioned between the cap member and the
top of the first panel.
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Brief Description of the Drawinqs
Other objectives and features of the present invention
will be apparent from the following detailed description of the
present invention, taken in conjunction with the accompanying
drawings.
In the drawinqs:
Figure 1 is an exploded side view of the portions
of the first embodiment of the fastener system of the present
inventi.on;
Figure lA is a side view of the turn member of
Figure 1;
Figure 2 is a front view of the turn member assembly
after it has been assembled;
Figure 3 is a top plan view of a portion of the first
panel illustrating the hole in the first panel;
Figure 4 is a top plan view of a portion of the second
panel illustrating the hole in the second panel;
Figure 5 is a side exploded view of the second
embodiment of the present invention;
Figure 6 is a top plan view of the first panel in
the second embodiment illustrating the hole in the first panel;
Figure 7 is a top plan view of the locking ring of
the second embodiment; and
Figure 8 is a perspective view of the turn member
assembly as shown in Figure 2.
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Detailed Description of the Invention
As shown in Figure 1, the fastener system of the
first embodiment of the present invention includes a fastener 10,
a first panel 11 and a second panel 12, ~ach panel having a top
surface and a bottom surface. The fastener 10 comprises a turn
member (locking stud) 13, a cap member 14 and a spring member 15.
The turn member 13 is preferably a one-piece unitary
single-thickness member stamped from sheet metal. It is a flat
sheet metal member, as shown in Figure lA, and so may be produced
inexpensively. The turn member comprises a head portion 16
(turn head means) which may be gripped by the fingers. Alterna-
tively, other types of head portions may be used, such as a screw
head having a slot or a Philips type indentation, or a wider head
forming "butterfly wings".
The head portion 16 is connected to the shank
portion 17 which has opposed indentations 18a and 18b, to retain
the top turn 19 of the spring 15, a center shank portion 20 and
a nose portion 21. The nose portion 21 has oppositely directed
wing portions 23a and 23b extending from axis 22 and a rounded
bottom portion 24. The nose portion 21 has a width W shown on
Figure 2. The turn member 13 is symmetrical about its imaginary
central axis 22. The nose portion 21 has two upper shoulder
portions 30a and 30b having oppositely faced cam surfaces. The
cam surfaces provide a mechanical advantage to pull the two panel
together when the fastener is turned and locked.
The cap member 14 is used to retain the spring 15 and
present a finished appearance to the fastener. It has a top
wall 25, an elongated slot hole 26 through which the shaft portio
of the turning member is fitted, and has a descending flange ring
27. Preferably the cap member 14 is stamped from sheet metal
and may be chrome-plated.
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The spring 15 is a helical coil spring of resilient
spring metal. Its top turn 19 is held by the indentations
18a,18b and the underside 28 of the cap 14. Its bottom turn 29
is held by the shoulder portion 30a,30b of the nose portion 21.
the spring permits the fastener to be used with different
thicknesses of panels, i.e., over a range of panel thicknesses,
so that it is not limited to use with panels of a specified
single thickness.
The shape of the hole in the second panel 12 is
the same in the first and second embodiments. As shown in
Figure 4, it consists of an elongated slot of length L' along
the imaginary axis 40 and symmetric to the axis. Steps formed
by the slanted walls 41a,41b and slot (groove) portions 42a,42b.
The opposite slot portions of the hole prevent the turn member
from unlocking when the locked fastener is subjected to shocks
or vibration because the cam shoulders fit into those slot
portions. The spring 15 retains the shoulder portions 30a,30b
of the nose portion 21 in the hole slot portions 42a,42b
and prevents the turn member from rotating to its unlocked
position.
As shown in Figures 5-7, in this alternative
embodiment a locking ring 37 is positioned between the plates
lla and 12. ~he edges 38a,38b of the locking ring 37 grip
and retain the shank portion 20 and the ring turns with the
turn member. The hole 35 of the panel 12 is shown in
Figure 4.
