Note: Descriptions are shown in the official language in which they were submitted.
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NO TOOL LOCKING KEY-HOLE PLUG
BACKGROUND OF INVENTION
Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a home or
office furnishing unit, and more particularly to an
attachment structure for pieces of home or office furnishing
unit.
Description of the Related Art
In the home and office furnishing industry, it is
necessary to provide an attachment structure for the piece
of furnishing unit being manufactured. For instance, a desk
includes a horizontal top panel and vertical side panel
which needs to be mated together, and a bed includes a frame
on which the mattress and box spring are placed. A bed frame
is typically made up of four posts being connected by side
rails. Cross members along the length of the bed are then
used to span the 'gap between the side rails, and the
mattress and box spring are placed on top of the cross
members. A decorative headboard and footboard may also be
provided for ornamental purposes. The headboard and
footboard may be formed either separately from or integral
with the bed frame itself. As another example, in some
desk, the panel members, which are analogous to bed posts,
are connected by side members, which can be analogized to
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bed side rails. When properly assembled, the joints between
the members will be secure and neatly finished.
Over time and with use, however, the connection between
the panel members beings to loosen and otherwise. degrade.
Though still structurally sound and capable of supporting a
load, the slack developing in the joints will cause the
piece of furniture to wobble slightly, which may make the
occupant physically uncomfortable. This movement may
further cause an undesirable aesthetic effect on the home or
office furnishing unit, as a piece of the unit with a small
gap between its components is unattractive and unsightly by
comparison to a well finished, newly assembled product.
The movement may also cause the finish of the piece of
home or office furnishing unit to become marred as various
parts rub against one another. In addition, squeaking or
creaking noises may be caused as the components move with
respect to one another.
To avoid or remedy these problems, the owner must
periodically inspect the joints on the piece of home or
office furnishing unit and make adjustments as necessary.
Where an appropriate adjustment is impossible, for example,
where a screw has become stripped, the owner will be
required to replace parts entirely. This becomes both time
consuming and expensive. Furthermore, a simple repair may
even be impossible, as there may be no user-serviceable
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connection between the members. In most cases, with current
industry standard attachments, no repair can be made by the
consumer to alleviate movement. In these cases, the owner
will be forced to purchase an entirely new piece of home or
office furnishing unit or perform a difficult and lengthy
reconstruction of the damaged piece.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is an objective of the present invention to provide
a home or office furnishing structure or system that has
improved durability and stability over existing home or
office furnishing structures or systems.
It is another objective of the present invention to
provide a home or office furnishing structure or system that
is simple to manufacture and assemble.
It is yet another objective of the present invention to
provide a home or office furnishing, structure or system that
will substantially eliminate slack in its joints over time.
Still yet another objective of the present invention is
to provide a single home or office furnishing system
adaptable to multiple different pieces of home or office
furnishing units.
To achieve these objectives, there is provided a home
or office furnishing structure generally including a novel
device of a headed shank acceptable with a plug receiver
member which can be economically produced and inserted with
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a minimum of labor in two work pieces which are to be held
in juxtaposed position.
A securing plug receiver member used in conjunction
with a headed screw to lock two furniture parts, panels, or
the like. The securing plug receiver member is formed from
molding ply-vinyl-chloride or Nylon. The securing plug
receiver member is round in shape with hollow center. A
hole is routed into the complementary wood panel
approximately llmm to 14mm in diameter (depending on first
preferred or second preferred embodiments of the plug
receiver member) which are slightly smaller than the actual
diameters of the plug receiver members. The plug receiver
members are secured into the wood panels by placing the plug
receiver members into the routed hole and applying pressure.
Now describing the first preferred embodiment, a
securing plug receiver member has a key hole aperture with
a horizontal slot along the key hole aperture to allow the
headed screw to slide across the said plug receiver member
and lock firmly in position. The panels are joined by
inserting the headed screw into the wide part of the key
hole aperture. To lock the headed screw, the assembler
slides the headed screw towards the narrow side of the key-
hole center.
Now describing the second preferred embodiment, a
securing plug receiver member has a circular center with a
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tapering of the center to its narrowest diameter of 6.4mm at
a depth of 2mm. The panels are joined by inserting the
headed screw into the center of plug receiver member. The
assembler applies pressure direction on the top of the
headed screw until it pops into a locked position inside of
the plug receiver member.
These and other features of the present invention will
become apparent from the following Detailed Description and
an Exemplary Embodiments when taken in conjunction with the
claims and drawing figures herein described.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIGURES
FIG. 1 is a sectional view illustrating the cavity
within the plug receiver member in the first preferred
embodiment.
FIG. 2 is a perspective view illustrating the key hole
aperture in the top portion and the annular rib rings on the
exterior side of the plug receiver member in the first
preferred embodiment.
FIG. 3 is a sectional view illustrating the cavity
within the plug receiver member in the first preferred
embodiment.
FIG. 4 is a top plan view illustrating the key hole
aperture and the shallow longitudinal depression in the top
portion of the plug receiver member in the first preferred
embodiment.
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FIG. 5 is a sectional view illustrating the cavities in
the top and bottom portions of the plug receiver member in
the first preferred embodiment.
FIG. 6 is a sectional view illustrating the cavities in
the top and bottom portions of the plug receiver member in
the second preferred embodiment.
FIG. 7 is a perspective view illustrating the circular
aperture and depression in the top portion of the plug
receiver member in the second preferred embodiment.
FIG. 8 is a sectional perspective view illustrating the
cavities in the top and bottom portions of the plug receiver
member in the second preferred embodiment.
FIG. 9 is a top plan view illustrating the circular
aperture in the top portion of the plug receiver member in
the second preferred embodiment.
FIG. 10 is a bottom plan view of the plug receiver
member in the second preferred embodiment.
FIG. 11 is an elevation view of the shank with concave
head. and flange in the first and second preferred
embodiments.
FIG. 12 is a perspective view of the shank with concave
head and flange in the first and second preferred
embodiments.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
Referring now to FIGS. 1-12, a home or office
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attachment structure generally include a plug receiver 10,
11 (shown in FIGS. 2 and 7, respectfully), and a shank with
concave head 12 (shown in FIG. 12). Referring now to FIG.
12, Shank 12 has a head portion 13 and a body portion 14,
with body portion 14 with a helical thread 15 thereon.
Preferably, the diameter of the head portion 16 is greater
than the diameter of the body portion 17 as shown in FIG.
11.
The plug receiver 10 (shown in FIG. 2) includes at
least a bore 18. Bore 18 has a diameter sized to accept
insertion of the head portion 13 (shown in FIG. 12), but
preferably not body portion 17.
The plug receiver 10, 19 (shown in FIGS. 2 and 7)
includes an annular body 20 (shown in FIGS. 2 and 7) having
a plurality of axially spaced ribs 21 (shown in FIGS. 2 and
7) which each present a chamfered underside and a bore for
accepting a shank 12 (shown in FIG. 12) extending
therethrough to both ends of the extremities. Thus, in the
first preferred embodiment, the plug receiver 10 (shown in
FIG. 2) is substantially a nut like member having a key-
shaped bore 21 (shown in FIGS. 2 and 4) extending
therethrough with annular ribs 21 (shown in FIG. 2) of
predetermined diameter incorporated around the circumference
of the plug receiver 10 (shown in FIG. 2). In the second
preferred embodiment, the plug 19 (shown in FIG. 7) is
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substantially a nut like member having a circular bore 22
(shown in FIGS. 7 and 9) extending therethrough with annular
ribs 21 (shown in FIG. 7) of predetermined diameter
incorporated around the circumference of the plug receiver
19 (shown in FIG. 7). The annular rib 21 (shown in FIGS. 2
and 7) is disposed generally along the length or top to
bottom of the plug receiver 10, 19 (shown in FIGS. 2 and 7).
Intermediate the extremities of shank 12 (shown in FIG.
12)is a radially extending flange 22 (shown in FIGS. 11 and
12) which serves to limit the degree of axial insertion into .
a workpiece. While a thin flange is shown, it will be
recognized by those skilled in the art that a different head
of a much greater axial extent can be utilized.
And it is further relieved by a transverse key-shaped
bore 21 (shown in FIGS. 2 and 4) adapted to accept and
accomodate the head 13 (shown in FIGS. 11 and 12) of the
shank. The first portion of the shank 12 (shown in FIGS. 11
and 12), therefore, is defined by a concave head 13 (shown
in FIGS. 11 and 12) with_predrilled slots 23 (shown in
FIGS. 11 and 12) on the top portion of the head for
receiving gripping tools such as screwdriver.
In the first preferred embodiment, the surface of the
receiving bore 21 (FIGS. 2 and 4) is a key shaped hole
adapted to accept and accomodate the headed shank 12 (FIGS.
11 and 12) while the lower cavity 24 (FIGS. 3 and 5) of the
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slot is football shaped adapted so that the head of the
shank 13 (shown in FIGS. 11 and 12) may be axially eased
into a locking position whereby inadvertent withdrawal of
the headed shank 12 (FIGS. 11 and 12) is prevented.
Additionally, the annular ribs 21 (shown in FIGS. 2 and
7) is deflectable in substantially around the circumference
of the plug receiver member 10, 19 (shown in FIGS. 2 and 7)
as in precession along its axis and insuring that the plug
receiver member 10, 19 (shown in FIGS. 2 and 7) to be in
oriented relationship relative to the axis of the shank 12
(shown in FIGS. 11 and 12).
The head 13 (shown in FIGS. 11 and 12) of the shank 12
(shown in FIGS. 11 and 12) has a hemisphere shape with an
abrupt planar end and a diameter that is substantially equal
to the diameter of bore 25 (shown in FIGS. 5 and 8) but
less than the predetermined diameter of the annular ring or
shoulder 26 (shown in FIGS. 5 and 6).
In the operation of the second preferred embodiment,
the headed portion 13 (shown in FIGS. 11 and 12) of the
shank 12 (shown in FIGS. 11 and 12) is inserted in a
circular collar 27 (shown in FIG. 6) positioned between the
outer and the inner bores that is slightly smaller in
diameter than the diametrical extend of the head. The
insertion of the rigid headed shank 12 (shown in FIGS. 11
and 12) into the bore of a prefabricated panel results in a
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deflection of the circular collar 27 (shown in FIG. 6)
thereby allowing entry into the inner bore 28 (shown in FIG.
6) of greater diameter than the outer bore 29 (shown in FIG.
6) yet providing a secure frictionally fastening in the
prefabricated panel. The plug receiver 10, 11 (shown in
FIGS. 2 and 7, respectfully) is introduced into a
complementary pre-drilled hole in the prefabricated panels
with the shouldered annular ribs 21 (shown in FIGS. 2 and 7)
digging into the fiberous material from which the panel is
fabricated. Since the holes are in general alignment, the
head 13 (shown in FIGS. 11 and 12) will be readily accepted
within the cavity for plug receiver with the head to engage
the inner or backside thereof. The plug receiver member 10',
11 (shown in FIGS. 2 and 7, respectfully) is capable of
being deflected laterally to accept minor tolerance
variations in the alignment of the prefabricated panel
holes.
The plug receiver member 10, 11 (shown in FIGS. 2 and
7, respectfully) can be prefabricated by injection molding
of thermoplastic materials such as nylon, acetal or any
other known thermoplastic material providing the necessary
quality qualities of lubricity and structural strength.
Thus, the present invention has shown a novel device of a
headed shank acceptable with a plug receiver member which
can be economically produced and inserted with a minimum of
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labor in two work pieces which are to be held in juxtaposed
position.
Other embodiments of the invention will appear to those
skilled in the art from consideration of the specification
and practice of the invention disclosed herein. Possible
applications of the plug receiver member and screw assembly
include, but are not limited to, home furnishing, commercial
furnishing, store display fixtures, installation of
blinds/drapery, shelving, and portable accessories. It is
intended that the specification and examples to be
considered as exemplary only, with a true scope and spirit
of the invention being indicated by the following claims.
11.
