GB2091801A

GB2091801A - Trim fasteners

Info

Publication number: GB2091801A
Application number: GB8138904A
Authority: GB
Original assignee: ITW Ltd
Current assignee: ITW Ltd
Priority date: 1980-12-29
Filing date: 1981-12-24
Publication date: 1982-08-04
Also published as: GB2091801B

Abstract

A trim fastener comprises a one- piece plastics moulding having a body 14 at one end to be secured to a support 38 and a head at its other end to be secured to a decorative vehicle trim 42. The head includes a first opposed pair of relatively stiff arms 32 spaced axially from and aligned with a second opposed pair of relatively flexible arms 34. The head conforms itself to various internal profiles of trim, including non- symmetrical trims for use on opposite sides of vehicles, by resilient pivoting of the arms 32 and/or resilient flexing of the arms 34. Moreover, rather than needing to slide the trim fastener along the length of the trim 42, it is inserted at the desired location with the arms 32, 34 in alignment with the longitudinal direction of the trim 42, and then turned through 90 DEG . <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Trim fasteners The present invention relates to trim fasteners, by which is meant a fastener for use in securing to a support a trim comprising an elongate member having, considered in transverse cross-section, a relatively narrow throat that opens into a relatively wide channel with the throat being defined between opposed flanges forming the longitudinal edges of a wall defining the channel, an example of such a trim being a decorative strip to be attached to the side of a vehicle.

Conventionally, a vehicle side trim is secured by a series of identical longitudinally-spaced trim fasteners, each having a head which is retained within the trim. One problem is that locate the trim fasteners they must be slid along the length of the trim. A further problem is that if the trim does not have a consistent internal profile, possibly due to accidental deformation during handling orstorage of anon- rigid trim formed e.g. of aluminium or plastics, the head of the trim fastener may either not fit at all or be too loose a fit.

According to the present invention, a trim fastener comprises a one-piece plastics moulding including an axially extending neck having a body at one end to be secured to a support and having a head at its other end to be secured to a trim, the head including a first opposed pair of outwardly extending arms spaced axially from and aligned with a second opposed pair of outwardly extending arms to form respective pairs of aligned arms on opposite sides of the head, with at least one of said aligned arms on each of said opposite sides of the head being resiliently movable towards the other.

In use, the head of the trim fastener of the present invention is received within the channel of a trim, with the aligned arms on each of the opposite sides of the head being deflected to a greater or lesser extent, depending upon the particular internal profile of the channel at that particular location along the length of the trim.

Preferably, said first opposed pair of the arms: are relatively stiff in comparison with a resiliently deformable capability for said second opposed pair of the arms; are spaced axially further from the body than said second opposed pair of the arms; and are resiliently pivotable about a central stem with respecs to said second opposed pair of the arms; the head thus being enabled to conform itself to various internal profiles of trim channel buy a resilient pivoting of said first opposed pair of the arms and/or a resilientflexing of said second opposed pair of the arms.

The neck of the trim fastener may be quite short, its minimum length corresponding to the thickness of the flanges of the trim, and the body of the trim fastener may be of any form allowing secure connection to the support, such as a block carrying a heat-responsive adhesive, or a shaft carrying a pair of resiliently flexible wings to permit a snap connection.

An advantage of the present invention is that the same trim fastener can be used with a range of differently shaped non-symmetrical trims, lengths of a chosen trim being positioned as mirror images of one another for use on the nearside and the offside of vehicles.

Afurther advantage of the present invention is that a trim fastener located along a central portion of a trim can be readily applied or removed without disturbing any trim fasteners located along end portions of the trim, i.e. the trim fastener need not necessarily be positioned by sliding along the length of the trim, but can be positioned by inserting the head of the trim fastener through the throat with the arms in alignment with the longitudinal direction of the trim, and then turning the trim fastener through 90".

Naturally, the particular dimensions of the trim fastener need to be chosen in accordance with the particular dimensions of the trim to be secured thereby.

A trim fastener in accordance with the present invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which: Figure lisa front view of the trim fastener; Figures 2 and 3 are, respectively, side and underneath views of the trim fastener; and Figure 4 is a transverse cross-section through the trim fastener also showing a trim and a support therefor.

The accompanying drawings show a trim fastener 10 according to the present invention formed as a one-piece plastics moulding of for example Nylon 6.6.

The trim fastener 10 includes an axially extending neck 12 having a body 14 at one end and having a head 16 at its other end. The neck 12 includes a spacer 18, a centre 20 and a resiliently deformable skirt 22. The body 14 includes a shaft 24, a pair of resiliently flexible wings 26 which extend from a central portion of the skirt 22 to that end of the shaft 24 further from the skirt 22, and a pair of shoulders 28 formed along the lenths of the wings 26. The head 16 includes a stem 30, a first opposed pair of relatively stiff arms 32 extending outwardly from the stem 30, and a second opposed pair of relatively flexible arms 34 extending outwardly from the stem 30. Each opposite side of the head 16 thus includes one of the arms 32 which is axially spaced from and aligned with one of the arms 34.

It will be clear from Figure 4 that the body 14 is intended to be pressed into a hole 36, formed in a metal body panel 38 of a vehicle, until the shoulders 28 snap into engagement with the inner (lower as shown) face of the panel 38, and the skirt 22 resiliently deforms into sealing engagement with the outer (upper as shown) face of the panel 38.

It will also beclearfrom Figure4thatthe head 16 is intended to be located in a channel, formed by a wall 40 of a decorative vehicle trim 42, in such a manner that the arms 32 abut upper parts (as shown) of the wall 40 while the arms 34 are resiliently held in abutment with a pair of opposed flanges 44, which form longitudinal edges of the wall 40.

As stated hereinbefore, any irregularities in the internal profile of the channel formed by the wall 40 are readily overcome by a resilient pivoting of the arms 32 about the stem 30 and/or a resilient flexing of the arms 34.

Preferably, the transverse cross-sectional dimension of the spacer 18 is substantially equal to the distance between the flanges 44, which define a relatively narrow throat opening into the channel, so that the spacer 18 can eliminate side play of the trim on the trim fastener.

Also preferably, the front and back edges of the spacer 18, the arms 32 and the arms 34 are chamfered or otherwise rounded to facilitate fastening of the trim fastener on the trim, the widths of the arms 32 and 34 being less than the distance between the flanges 44 to permit insertion therethrough before being turned through 900 to the position shown in Figure 4.

Claims

1. Atrim fastener comprising a one-piece plastics moulding including an axially extending neck having a body at one end to be secured to a support and having a head at its other end to be secured to a trim, the head including a first opposed pair of outwardly extending arms spaced axially from and aligned with a second opposed pair of outwardly extending arms to form respective pairs of aligned arms on opposite sides of the head, with at last one of said aligned arms on each of said opposite sides of the head being resiliently movable towards the other.

2. A trim fastener according to claim 1, in which said first opposed pair of the arms are relatively stiff in comparison with a resiliently deformable capabilityfor said second opposed pair of the arms.

3. A trim fastener according to claim 2, in which said first opposed pair of the arms are spaced axially further from the body than said second opposed pair of the arms.

4. A trim fastener according to claim 2 or claim 3, in which said first opposed pair of the arms are resiliently pivotable about a central stem with respect to said second opposed pair of the arms.

5. A trim fastener according to any preceding claim, in which the neck includes a spacer for reducing side play of the trim, as well as a resiliently deformable skirt for sealing against the support.

6. A trim fastener according to any preceding claim, in which the body includes a pair of resiliently flexible wings to permit a snap connection to the suppoert.

7. A trim fastener according to claim 1 and substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

8. A trim fastener according to any preceding claim when fastening a trim to a support, the trim comprising an elongate member having, considered in transverse cross-section, a relatively narrow throat that opens into a relatively wide channel with the throat being defined between opposed flanges forming the longitudinal edges of a wall defining the channel, with the head of the trim fastener being received within the channel, and the aligned arms on each of the opposite sides of the head being deflected to a greater or lesser extent, depending upon the particular internal profile of the channel at that particular location along the length of the trim.