GB1567000A

GB1567000A - Fastening

Info

Publication number: GB1567000A
Application number: GB4925375A
Authority: GB
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1976-12-01
Filing date: 1976-12-01
Publication date: 1980-05-08

Description

(54) IMPROVEMENTS IN OR RELATING TO A FASTENING (71) I, WALTER BLOODWORTH, a British Subject, of 43 Laburnum Grove, Cleadon Village, Nr. Sunderland, County Durham do hereby declare the invention, for which I pray that a patent may be granted to me, and the method by which it is to be performed, to be particularly described in and by the following statement: This invention relates to a clip fastening for connecting together two separate members for example a panel and frame, two panels or two frames. The clip is particularly applicable for use in the carcass or "knockdown" furniture business, that is furniture which is sold in kit form, for assembly by the purchaser.

According to the present invention there is provided a fastening for connecting together first and second members at an angle to each other, said fastening comprising a rigid, unitary male member fbr attachment to the first member and a rigid female member for attachment to the second member, the female member either having therein, or being arranged when attached to said second member to define therewith, a slot arranged to receive a tongue extending from the male member and the female member being provided with releasable locking means operable to engage that portion of the tongue which extends within the slot so as to retain the tongue therein.

Preferably, the male member has a base for attachment to the first member, the tongue extending from said base at right angles thereto. Conveniently the male member is generally L-shaped, although it may be Z-shaped if desired.

In a preferred embodiment, when said female member is attached to the second member, the groove and the face of the second member to which the female member is attached define the slot to receive the tongue of the male member. However, the slot may be formed in the female member intermediate opposed faces thereof.

Conveniently, the releasable locking means is a screw operable to project into the slot to engage with the tongue on the male member when located therein. In a preferred embodiment, the tongue is provided with means such as a hole or recess to receive and locate the free end of said screw to prevent removal of the tongue from the slot when the clip is assembled.

In an alternative embodiment, the tongue is provided with a hole or projection which co-operates with a spring loaded releasable locking member which snaps into position in or behind the hole or projection. When the tongue is inserted into the slot, said spring loaded locking member includes means whereby it can be withdrawn from engagement with the tongue so that the tongue can be removed from the slot.

The female member is preferably made of a plastics material such as ABS, Nylon, PVC, Polyethylene whereas the male member is usually metal.

Features and advantages of the invention will appear from the following description of an embodiment, described by way of example only with reference to the accompanying diagrammatic drawings in which: Figure 1 is a perspective view of a clip comprising a male and female member each attached to a respective member in the form of a panel. It should be noted that for ease of explanation, the female member on the left-hand panel in the drawing has been rotated through 1800 in the plane of the panel in order to show features thereof which would not have been visible had it been illustrated in its correct position.

Figure 2 is a side elevation of the female member of Figure 1 when viewed from the rear; Figure 3 is a side elevation of the female member shown in Figure 1 viewed from the front; Figure 4 is an elevation of the right-hand side of the female member shown in Figure 1; Figure 5 is an elevation of the left-hand side of the female member shown in Figure 1; Figure 6 is a plan view of the male member shown in Figure 1; Figure 7 is a side elevation of the male member shown in Figure 1, and Figure 8 is a perspective view of the clip connecting two panels together at right angles to each other.

Referring to the drawings, there is shown a clip comprising a male member 1 and a female member 2. The male member comprises a generally L-shaped bracket having a base 3 from which a tongue 4 extends. The tongue in the illustrated embodiment is at right angles to the base 3 although it could extend from the base at some other angle if the panels to be connected together by the clip are not to be at right angles to each other when assembled. In the centre of the tongue means are provided such as a recess or aperture 5 positioned to received and locate the free end of releasable locking means such as a grubscrew 6 provided on the female member 2 although this recess may be omitted if desired. The male member also includes two holes 7 which receive screws 8 by means of which the male member is attached to the panel 9.Conveniently these screw holes are countersunk so that the head of each screw does not extend above the upper surface of the base 3 of the male member. This however is not essential.

The base 3 of the male member is screwed to panel 9 so that its edge 11 is spaced from edge 12 of the panel 9 by the thickness of the metal of the tongue 4. Thus face 14 of the tongue 4 will be coplanar with the end edge face 13 of the panel 9.

The male member 1 can be made from any suitable rigid material such as for example aluminium or mild steel. It can however be made from a rigid plastics material.

The tongue 4 extending from the base 3 of the male member 1 has an initial part whose edges are generally parallel to each other but these edges are tapered in towards each other at 16 to provide a lead-in for the tongue.

The female member is attached to the panel 10 by means of two screws 17 received in countersunk holes 18 in the female member. The female member 2 has a rear face 19 which abuts against the panel 10, a front face 20, a left side face 21 and a right side face 22. Two parallel spaced grooves 23 are formed in the left side face of the female member 2 as illustrated in Figure 1, the purpose of which is to accomodate the screw heads 8 when the clip is assembled if they should accidentally not seat in their countersunk holes. Thus the side face of the female member can always be made to abut properly against the base 3 of the male member regardless of whether the screws 8 are fully screwed up or not.This is an important feature of the clip because it means that the clip will still provided a strong and tightly fitting joint even if an assembler of a piece of furniture using the clip does not screw in the retaining screws properly. An open sided groove 24 is formed in the rear face of the female member 2, the depth of said groove being generally the same as the thickness of the tongue 4 thereby assuring good lateral location of the male member in the groove 24 when the clip is assembled.

The entrance to the groove 24 may be chamfered at 15 (see Figure 5) to act as a lead-in for the tongue 4. For the best location of the tongue 4 in the groove 24, its depth should be slightly less than the thickness of the metal of the tongue 4, the female member being made of a resilient material which will give slightly to enable the tongue to be forced into the groove 24 and rigidly located therein. This ensures that when the tongue 4 is slid into the opening defined between the panel 10 and the bottom of the groove 24, the tongue is tightly gripped therebetween. However, it will be appreciated that the depth of the groove 24 may be slightly thicker than the metal of the tongue 4.

A threaded bore 26 normal to the groove 24 is provided through the centre of the female member in which the grubscrew is fitted. However, the bore 26 can be angled to improve access to the screw 6. This bore has a countersunk portion 27 for the head of the grubscrew 6 the end of which, when screwed up, protrudes through hole 27 into the open-sided slot 24.

In order to connect two panels 9, 10 together, the male and female members 1 and 2 are screwed to their respective panels as illustrated in Figure 1 except that the female member 2 would be rotated through 180C so that the grooves 23 face the tongue 4 of the male member 1. The reason it has been illustrated in the manner shown is so that the grooves 23 can be seen. Once the male and female members are in position on their respective panels, the panel 9 is offered up to the panel 10 and the tongue 4 is pushed into the groove or slot 24 defined between the female member and the panel 10 until its base 3 abuts the female member 2 and can be pushed in no further. The grubscrew 6 is then screwed up until it tightly engages in the recess 5 to lock the tongue firmly in position and prevent separation of the male and female members. It will be appreciated, however, that it is not essential to provide means to positionally locate the end of the grubscrew as it could, for instance, have a snub nose to engage with the tongue 4.

The illustrated embodiment provides a strong and rigid clip for connecting two panels together which is of simple construction and easy to use and manufacture.

Whilst it is preferred to make the male member from metal and the female member from a plastics material, both members could be made from one or both materials.

Instead of forming the male member 1 into an Shape as illustrated, it could for instance be generally Z-shaped, a slot being appropriately positioned in the female member between faces 19 and 20 to receive it. Furthermore, the male member 1 could be formed by cutting a tongue out of its base and bending it upwardly so that it protrudes therefrom at an angle. It will be appreciated that numerous alternative constructions to that illustrated are possible, which are within the scope of the claims appended hereto.

WHAT I CLAIM IS: 1. A fastening for connecting together first and second members at an angle to each other, said fastening comprising a rigid, unitary male member for attachment to the first member and a rigid female member for attachment to the second member, the female member either having therein, or being arranged when attached to said second member to define therewith, a slot arranged to receive a tongue extending from the male member and the female member being provided with releasable locking means operable to engage that portion of the tongue which extends within the slot so as to retain the tongue therein.

2. A fastening as claimed in claim 1 wherein the male member has a base for attachment to the first member, the tongue extending from said base at right angles thereto.

3. A fastening as claimed in claim 2 wherein the male member is substantially L-shaped.

4. A fastening as claimed in any of claims 1 - 3 wherein when said female member is attached to the second member, the groove and the face of the second member to which the female member is attached define the slot to receive the tongue of the male member.

5. A fastening as claimed in claim 4 wherein the depth of said groove is substantially equal to the thickness of the tongue.

6. A fastening as claimed in claim 4 or claim 5 wherein the width of at least part of the length of the tongue is equal to the width of the groove.

7. A fastening as claimed in any of claims 4 to 6 wherein the female member has an abutment face at right angles to the groove against which the base of the male member seats when the clip is assembled.

8. A fastening as claimed in claim 7 wherein a pair of spaced recesses are provided in said abutment face on either side of the groove.

9. A fastening as claimed in claim 8 wherein each recess is an open sided groove extending across the whole width of the female member.

10. A fastening as claimed in any one of the preceding claims wherein the releasable locking means is a screw operable to project into the slot to engage with the tongue on the male member when located therein.

11. A fastening as claimed in claim 10 wherein the tongue is provided with means to receive and locate the free end of said screw to prevent removal of the tongue from the slot when the fastening is assembled.

12. A fastening as claimed in claim 11 wherein said means to receive and locate the free end of the screw is a recess.

13. A fastening as claimed in any of the preceding claims wherein the male member is made from metal.

14. A fastening as claimed in any of the preceding claims wherein the female member is made of a plastics material.

15. A fastening substantially as herein described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

**WARNING** end of DESC field may overlap start of CLMS **.

Claims

**WARNING** start of CLMS field may overlap end of DESC **. locate the end of the grubscrew as it could, for instance, have a snub nose to engage with the tongue 4. The illustrated embodiment provides a strong and rigid clip for connecting two panels together which is of simple construction and easy to use and manufacture. Whilst it is preferred to make the male member from metal and the female member from a plastics material, both members could be made from one or both materials. Instead of forming the male member 1 into an Shape as illustrated, it could for instance be generally Z-shaped, a slot being appropriately positioned in the female member between faces 19 and 20 to receive it. Furthermore, the male member 1 could be formed by cutting a tongue out of its base and bending it upwardly so that it protrudes therefrom at an angle. It will be appreciated that numerous alternative constructions to that illustrated are possible, which are within the scope of the claims appended hereto. WHAT I CLAIM IS:

1. A fastening for connecting together first and second members at an angle to each other, said fastening comprising a rigid, unitary male member for attachment to the first member and a rigid female member for attachment to the second member, the female member either having therein, or being arranged when attached to said second member to define therewith, a slot arranged to receive a tongue extending from the male member and the female member being provided with releasable locking means operable to engage that portion of the tongue which extends within the slot so as to retain the tongue therein.