AU701956B2 - Fastening system - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to fastening systems and is particularly concerned with a fastening system suitable for connecting two elements.

The present invention will be now more particularly described with reference to providing a fastening system suitable for fastening together the siderail and bedhead of a bed frame, however, it is to be understood that the fastening system of the present invention may also be used in other contexts, for example, in joining components in such structures as shelving, pergolas, carports, sheds and the like.

The majority of bed brackets currently available require precision fitting of the bracket components so that there is no gap between the end of the siderail and the bedhead. An example of one form of conventional connecting means is a right angled bracket where both sides of the bracket include a number of holes allowing the bracket to be screwed into the bedhead and siderail. This bracket requires precision alignment of the bracket at the site of construction of the bed frame and entails the use of screws which need to be unscrewed completely before the bed frame can be disassembled.

Another form of connecting system involves two bracket components, one component having a plurality of hooked portions and the 20 other component having of plurality of apertures for receiving respective hooked portions of the other bracket component when the siderail is fitted to the bedhead. Although this system allows for disassembly of the components without first having to unscrew the bracket components, it too requires precision fitting of the components during construction of the bed frame. Moreover, any movement of the bed frame tends to distort the *."components and/or the hooked component tends to cut into the receiving apertures over time, leading to a looseness of fit.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a fastening system which provides an alternative to prior art systems and/or avoids or mitigates one or more of the problems attending prior art fastening systems.

Accordingly, in a first aspect, the present invention provides a fastening system comprising a first component and a second component, the first component including a plate having a plurality of apertures therein, the second component including a web having a plurality of apertures therein and a flange having at least one aperture therein, the second component flange including means capable of preventing lateral movement between the first component and the second component when the fastening system is in use.

The plate may have one or more flanges. The means capable of preventing lateral movement may be a slot, for example, a keyhole slot.

Alternatively, the means capable of preventing lateral movement may be one or more flanges or lugs located on the second component.

In a further aspect, the present invention provides a fastening system comprising a first component and a second component, the first component including a web having a plurality of apertures therein and first and second substantially parallel flanges extending therefrom, the second component including a web having a plurality of apertures therein, a first flange having a least one aperture therein extending from an edge thereof and a second flange outwardly extending from an edge of the first flange remote from the web, and at least one lug extending outwardly from at least one edge of the second component first flange.

The first and second component may be made from any suitable material, for example, metal or plastic. Preferably the components are formed from rolled mild steel optionally coated with a corrosion-resistant material. Each component may be formed in one piece or formed from 20 elements which are joined by welding or the like.

Preferably, the web of the first component is recessed at at least one end thereof to receive the at least one lug of the second component when the components are secured to one another.

The apertures of the web of the first component may be shaped and sized to receive engagement members such as screws, bolts or the like.

*"Preferably, the web portion of the first component includes at least one, preferably two, spaced threaded aperture(s) that are in alignment with corresponding apertures in the first flange of the second component to allow the two components to be secured to one another by means of threaded bolt(s) or the like passing through the aperture(s) in the first flange.

Alternatively the components can be secured by means of a bolt and nut with the shank of the bolt passing through an aligned aperture of the two components in which case the first component apertures need not be threaded.

The web of the first component may optionally include a centrally located alignment aperture to facilitate temporary attachment of the component to the bed post whilst the bed frame is being assembled.

The at least one lug of the second component may extend outwardly to the same distance as the second flange or it may extend outwardly less than the distance of the second flange or vice versa. The at least one lug assists in preventing lateral movement of the second component relative to the first component when fitted.

In a further aspect, the present invention provides a bed frame assembly comprising a headboard, a footboard and a pair of siderails each of the siderails comprising a longitudinally extending rail secured at one end to the headboard means and secured at the other end to the footboard by a plurality of securing means, wherein one or more of the securing means is a fastening assembly according the present invention.

In order that the invention may be more readily understood, the following non-limiting embodiments are provided. It is to be understood by the reader that these embodiments are not intended to limit the present invention in any way.

20 Brief Description of the Drawings Figure 1 shows a front view of an embodiment of the first component of the fastening system of the present invention.

Figures 2a and 2b are views of the embodiment of Figure 1 along sections AA and BB respectively; Figure 3 is a side view of the embodiment of Figure 1; Figure 4 is a front view of an embodiment of the second component of the fastening system of the present invention; Figure 5 is a top view of the second component shown in Figure 4; Figure 6 is a side view of the embodiment illustrated in Figure 4.

Figure 7 is a schematic view of embodiments of the first and second components located on bed frame elements.

Figures 8a and 8b are views of further embodiments of the first and second components of the invention.

Figures 9a and 9b are views of further embodiments of the invention.

Embodiments of the Invention The fastening system of this particular embodiment includes first (3) and a second brackets (see Figure For the purposes of this embodiment, the fastening system is configured for fastening a bedhead or footboard to a siderail of a bed frame, however, it will be clear that the fastening system of the invention is not limited to this particular use. For convenience, the first component of the fastening system will now be described as a bedhead bracket and the second component will be described as a siderail bracket.

The bedhead bracket is best shown in Figures 1-3. The bedhead bracket has a substantially U-shaped configuration with web portion and parallel flanges The bedhead bracket may be formed from 1-6 gauge mild steel and may be of any suitable size. In this particular embodiment the bracket is dimensioned to fit conventional be frames, that is, 116x16.8x8.5 mm.

As best shown in Figure 1, 7 holes are formed in the web of the bedhead bracket. Two threaded holes provide a means by which the bedhead bracket may be secured to the siderail bracket using a threaded bolt or the like. Four chamfered screw holes provide a means for securing the bracket to the bedhead. Alignment or guide hole (11) may be provided so that the bedhead bracket can aligned with the siderail bracket prior to securing the two together.

Bedhead bracket may be secured to the bedhead by means of screws, bolts or other fastening means passing through chamfered holes Threaded holes provide a means for fastening the siderail bracket to the bedhead bracket as will be described in more detail below. Preferably, the bedhead bracket has cut out portions (15) at the top and bottom of web (3) which permit the connector to be used in either a left or right hand.

An embodiment of the second component of the fastening system of the invention, siderail bracket will now be described in reference to Figures 4-6. Siderail bracket may be formed from 1-6 gauge mild steel and has a substantially right hand crank cross-section and comprises web (12), first flange (14) and second flange Lugs (20) which extend outwardly at the top and bottom of the flange facilitate alignment with the bedhead bracket and assist in eliminating lateral movement.

Four holes (22) are provided in web portion (12) as a means by which the siderail bracket may be secured to the siderail using screws, threaded 6 bolts or the like. Three holes are formed in flange of which two holes (24) correspond to threaded holes of the bedhead bracket providing a means by which the siderail bracket may be secured to the bedhead bracket.

An alignment hole (26) is provided to facilitate alignment or location of the siderail bracket with the bedhead bracket when securing the two together.

Figure 7 shows bed head bracket secured to bed post (30) by means of screws or threaded bolts (40) and siderail bracket secured to siderail (33) by means of screws or threaded bolts passing through holes in web The siderail bracket is located at the end (37) of siderail (33).

The location of the screw holes in this particular embodiment are chosen to match those of conventional bracket arrangements so that the siderail bracket can be used to replace a conventional bracket using the existing holes in the siderail. In this particular embodiment, the width of the web (10) is the same as the width of the siderail, that is, approximately 120mm. The siderail bracket is located such that the outer edges of the lugs (16) and flange (14) terminate at the same plane as the end of siderail (37) to be connected to the bed post The internal volume defined by flanges (14) and (15) and lugs (16) are dimensioned to accommodate the bedhead bracket and permit the inner surface of flange (15) to lie closely adjacent to web (3a) with threaded holes (40) of the bedhead bracket being in alignment with holes (24) of the siderail bracket Fixing means such as threaded bolts (42) may pass through holes (24) and be screwed into threaded holes (40) to secure flange (14) to web (3) of the bedhead bracket. As indicated above, lugs (16) assist in the prevention of movement of the siderail bracket relative to the bedhead bracket, for example, when the bed frame is moved. As shown in this embodiment, the width of siderail bracket flange (14) and lug (16) is the same as the width of flanges of the bedhead bracket so that the outer edges of the flange (14) and lug (16) are closely adjacent to the surface of the bedhead to which the 30 bedhead bracket is connected, although this is not essential.

This embodiment of the fastening system of the invention allows the bed frame components to be disassembled without the need to remove the bracket components. Moreover the system reduces corner joint movement and is less likely to the component making up the system are less likely to be damaged or distorted when the frame is bed frame is moved yet allows the user to dismantle and reassemble the frame. Furthermore installation of the fastening system of the invention is simpler than many conventional systems in that it does not require the same degree of precision fitting.

When the fastening system provides a means of fastening two components to provide a corner joint in which there is little movement. It will be clear to the skilled person that use of fastening system of the invention is not limited to that of securing bed frame components and that it has application in other structures.

A further embodiment of the invention is shown in Figure 8.

Referring to Figure 8a, the lateral movement is prevented by keyholes through which the head of a bolt (not shown) threaded into threaded holes of a plate (70) (see Figure 8b). Plate (10) may be fastened to the bed head by means of screws or the like passing through holes Component may be flat steel to 2mm thick. Figure 9b shows an alternative arrangement of a keyhole wherein the axis along the longest dimension of the keyhole is vertically disposed as opposed to horizontally disposed as shown in Figure 8a. Figure 9b shows an alternative bed bracket arrangement that may be used with the siderail bracket shown in Figures 8a and 9a.

It will be appreciated by persons skilled in the art that numerous S"variations and/or modifications may be made to the invention as shown in 20 the specific embodiments without departing from the spirit or scope of the invention as broadly described. The present embodiments are, therefore, to be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive.

*oo TIHE CLAIMS DEFINING THE INVENTION ARE AS FOLLOWS: 1. A fastening system including a first component and a second component, the first component including a web having a plurality of apertures therein and first and second substantially parallel flanges extending therefrom, the second component including a web having a plurality of apertures therein, a first flange having a least one aperture therein the first flange extending from one edge of the web and a second flange outwardly extending from the edge of the first flange remote from the web, and at least one lug extending outwardly from at least one edge of the second component first flange.

2. A fastening system according to claim 1 wherein one or more of the apertures of the first component is threaded.

15 3. A fastening system according to claim 1 or claim 2 wherein one of more of the apertures in the web of the first component permits lihe attachment of the first component to an element.

4. A fastening system according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the 20 first flange of the second component has two apertures corresponding to two *apertures in the web of the first component, A fastening system according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the 0 *o web of the first component and/or the first flange of the second component include 25 a guide aperture.

6. A fastening system according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the web of the second component has four apertures formed therein.

7. A fastening system according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the second component has two extending lugs.

8. A fastening system according to any one of the preceding claims wherein the web has a cut out at at least one end thereof.

Claims (2)

1. 9. A bed frame assembly including a headboard, a footboard and a pair of siderails each of the bed rails including a longitudinally extending rail secured at one end thereof to the headboard and at the other end thereof to the footboard by a plurality of securing means, wherein one or more of the securing means is a fastening system according to any one of the preceding claims. A fastening system substantially as herein described with reference to the embodiments.
2. 11. The fastening system for connecting a first element to a second element, the fastening system including: a first component for attachment to the first element and a second component for attachment to the second element, the first component including a plate including •a plurality of apertures therein for receiving a corresponding *000 •plurality of fastening means for securing the first component to the first element and at least one aperture for receiving fastening means for detachably connecting the first component to the second component; ••the second component including •a web including a plurality of apertures for receiving a corresponding plurality of fastening means for securing the web to the second •0 element. @.25 a flange including a least one aperture therein for receiving the fastening means for ;•"detachably connecting the first and second components and means for preventing lateral movement between the first and second components. Dated this fourteenth day of December 1998 STEVEN ITSINES Patent Attorneys for the Applicant: F.B. RICE CO. ABSTRACT The present invention provides a fastening system comprising a first component and a second component, the first component including a plate having a plurality of apertures therein, the second component including a web having a plurality of apertures therein and a flange having at least one aperture therein, the second component flange including means capable of preventing lateral movement between the first component and the second component when the fastening system is in use. S. moooe*