GB2099097A

GB2099097A - Mounting assembly

Info

Publication number: GB2099097A
Application number: GB8114717A
Authority: GB
Original assignee: GPG International Ltd
Current assignee: GPG International Ltd
Priority date: 1981-03-30
Filing date: 1981-05-14
Publication date: 1982-12-01

Abstract

A plastics mounting assembly for a vehicle accessory has screw threaded rods 10 (Figure 4) or pivotally mounted hooks 21, 22 (Figure 8) which pierce a carpet and anchor the base unit thereto. The screwed rods 10 or hooks 23, when projecting from the base unit, provide a splayed configuration to restrain lateral displacement and lifting of the unit relative to the carpet. Spigots 17 moulded with the base unit are complementary to sockets 18 provided in the side of the unit so that two adjacent units may be coupled together by co-operation between the respective spigots and sockets, and sockets 15 are provided to engage projections on the accessory to be secured (Figures 1-3, not shown). <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION A mounting assembly Description This invention concerns a mounting assembly which is primarily intended to provide a secure and conveniently located base on which articles or accessories may be carried for ready availability. In motor and other vehicles there is often a requirement for a base on which one or more accessories such as a fire extinguisher, a cassette tape holder, an ash tray, a literature rack or the like can be secured firmly and at a convenient location. It is an object of the present invention to satisfy such a requirement in a manner whereby the base may be firmly secured by a simple and reliable technique without recourse to bolting, riveting, drilling, stitching, adhesive or other such inconvenient techniques which are likely to be severely detrimental to the appearance or structure on which the base is supported.

According to the present invention there is provided a mounting assembly for attachment to pierceable material (as herein defined) comprising a base unit intended to be seated on said material and at least two spaced attachment means carried by said base unit, said attachment means being manually displaceable relative to the base unit to conditions in which they project therefrom for piercing the material, said attachment means having piercing part lengths which, in the projecting conditions of such means, are intended to engage with the pierceable material in respectively predetermEned orientations relative to each other to restrain withdrawal of the attachment means from the material while said attachment means are in their projecting conditions.

By the term "pierceable material" is meant a cover, preferably of a flexible nature, to a rigid or semi-rigid structure and which cover is readily pierceable and has sufficient thickness, firmness and tenacity to provide a firm anchorage for the attachment means. The pierceable material may generally be in the form of a fabric cover or a board or panel of wood or other pierceable material but is preferably in the form of a textile cover comprising a rubberised, woven or plastics backing medium carrying a pile (for example as in a carpet or mat-type floor or wall cover) on which pile the base unit is intended to be seated.

The mounting assembly was primarily developed for the purpose of providing an accessory component for a vehicle and which component is capable of being fitted to the vehicle quickly and simply by unskilled labour and without preparation to provide a firm foundation for convenience of location of items which may be required to be carried on that foundation.

Accordingly there is further provided a vehicle accessory mounting assembly comprising a base unit on which a vehicle accessory is intended to be mounted and for seating on a carpet or mat covering of the vehicle, said base unit carrying displaceable attachment means and drive means for manually displacing the attachment means relative to the base unit to project therefrom for piercing and anchoring the base unit to the carpet or mat covering.

The attachment means may be intended to pierce wholly or part way through the thickness of the material to which it is anchored depending upon the thickness of such material. Generally vehicle carpeting has a thickness which will require the attachment means to pass through the full thickness thereof in order to provide the required firmness. The attachment means may be in the form of hooks which are displaceable from the base unit to engage with the pierceable material, for example the hooks may be displaced arcuately to pierce the material under control of manually operated cams, levers or screws on the base unit. Alternatively or additionally the attachment means may comprise rod means (usually two or more rods) which are longitudinally displaceable from the base unit to pierce the material.Desirably the rods and hooks are orientated with respect to each other in a nonparallel arrangement so that they diverge or converge as they are extended to project from the base unit to pierce the material and provide a firm anchorage for that unit whereby it is secured against lateral displacement and is restrained against being lifted from the material. The extendibie rods are preferably in screw threaded engagement with the base unit to be driven along predetermined tracks into the pierceable material.

Desirably the portions of the attachment means which pierce the material are arrow-headed or barbed so that such material as is of a resilient nature may close over the head or barb to secure the fitment. Preferably the attachment means is arranged so that as the piercing part lengths are driven into the pierceable material it draws the base unit into abutment with that material and there may be pointed protrusions on the base unit which are intended to be moved into engagement with the pierceable material during such drawing action to increase the firmness of the anchorage.

The base unit is preferably a one piece plastics moulding which is profiled to provide an appropriate fitting to the support surface on which it is to be mounted; for example the base unit may have its underside substantially planar for fitting to a flat floor or side panel part of a vehicle or may have its underside of a saddleshape for mounting on a drive shaft housing which frequently extends through the passenger compartment of a motor vehicle. The base unit may be common to several different accessories in so far as each different accessory may have the same form of coupling part which is capable of mating with a complementary coupling part which may be provided on the base unit. In this way several identical base units may be anchored in a vehicle with different accessories mounted on each unit and the accessories may be transposed between those units.

Each base unit may have (usually integrally moulded therewith) complementary male and female parts by which the male part of one unit may be engaged with the female part of an adjacent unit for convenience of appearance, conservation of space and greater firmness in the anchorage of the engaging base units to the pierceable material.

Embodiments of a vehicle accessory mounting assembly constructed in accordance with the present invention will now be described, by way of example only, with reference to the accompanying illustrative drawings, in which Figure 1 is a plan view of a first embodiment of the assembly; Figure 2 is a side elevation of the assembly in Figure 1; Figure 3 is an end elevation of the assembly in Figure 1; Figure 4 is a detailed section of the assembly in Figure 1 particularly illustrating one of four attachment means incorporated in the assembly; Figure 5 is a plan view of a second embodiment of the assembly; Figure 6 is a side elevation of the assembly in Figure 5; Figure 7 is an end elevation of the assembly in Figure 5; Figure 8 is a section taken on the lines A-A A of Figure 5;; Figure 9 is a side elevation of the attachment means incorporated in the assembly of Figure 5, and Figure 10 is an end elevation of the attachment means in Figure 9.

The mounting assembly illustrated in Figures 1 to 4 has a base unit 1 formed by a one piece plastics moulding with a substantially square central section 2 and opposed side extensions 3 and 4 which extend from the central section to provide a cross shape in plan (see Figure 1). The upper surface 5 of the base unit is substantially flat while the underside surface of the central section 2 provides seating surfaces 6 and 7 which are saddle-shaped (see Figures 2 and.3) in mutually perpendicular directions parallel to the sides of the square section 2. The saddle -shaped surfaces 6 and 7 partly define four feet 8 which are located one at each corner of the central section 2 on the underside thereof.

The base unit 1 is intended to be anchored to the carpeting 9 of a vehicle and accordingly it may stand with its feet 8 on the carpet (as shown in Figure 4) and/or with either of its saddle surfaces 6 and 7 straddling a ridge in the vehicle carpeting such as may be formed over a drive shaft housing. Carried by the central section 2 of the base unit are attachment means in the form of manually displaceable rods 10. Four rods 10 are provided which are located one at each corner of the central section 2 in pre-formed bores 11. The bores 11 extend through the base unit to emerge in the upper surface 5 and in each;,of the feet 8 thereof.As will be realised from Figures 1 and 4 the bores 11 are out of parallel with respect to each other and effectively converge as they recede from the respective feet 8 through the thickness of the base unit. The bores 11 open into the upper surface 5 by way of elongated countersunk regions 12.

Each rod 10 has a screw threaded part length 13, an arrow-headed carpet piercing portion 14 and a slotted head 1 5 which is received in the counter-sunk region 12. For fitting the mounting assembly to the vehicle carpet the rods 13 are initially withdrawn sufficiently for the piercing portions 14 to be received within the respective bores 11. These bores 11 may be plain and to anchor the base unit to the carpeting 9 the rods 10 are screwed through the base unit to provide self tapping between the threaded part length 13 and the plastics material of the base unit. As the rods 10 are driven through the base unit the piercing portions 14 progressively project from the feet 8 to pierce the carpet 9 as shown in Figure 4.When the rods 10 are driven through the base unit to their maximum extent the piercing portions 14 will desirably have passed through the thickness of the carpeting which will usually be of a sufficiently resilient nature (say with a rubberised backing and textile pile) for it to close over the arrow-head of the portion 14. Under guidance of their respective bores 1 , the rods 10 in their projecting conditions are orientated with respect to each other to diverge and provide a splayed effect from the underside of the base unit (thereby firmly anchoring the base unit to the carpet 9 to restrain displacement of that unit laterally over the surface of the carpet and also to restrain the unit from being lifted from the carpet).

The anchored base unit is intended to provide a foundation for a desired accessory such as an ash tray or refreshment package which is, desirably, to be firmly seated on the base unit. With this latter feature in mind the base unit 2 has integrally moulded therewith coupling recesses 1 5 in the upper surface 5. The accessory which is to be carried on the base unit 1 may be provided with coupling spigots or projections which are complementary to the recesses 1 5 so that when these couplings are engaged the accessory may stand firm but be easily removed when necessary. An array of channels 1 6 may also be provided in the upper surface of the base unit for the purpose of improving the stability with which an accessory may stand on the base unit.

Because of the ease and simplicity by which a base unit can be anchored to the vehicle carpeting and the inexpensive nature of such units it is envisaged that two or more base units may be anchored to the carpeting in close proximity to each other for the purpose of holding similar or different accessories. With this in mind two or more adjacent units may interengage for convenience of appearance, conservation of space and greater firmness in the anchorage of those units.For such interengagement the free end of the side extension 3 is provided with an array of three integrally moulded headed spigots 1 7 while the free end of the side extension 4 and also the plane sides of the central section 2 are each provided with an array of three slotted sockets 1 8. The spigots 1 7 and each array of sockets 1 8 are complementary to each other so that the former on one base unit can be optionally engaged with any of the arrays of sockets 1 8 (depending upon the required orientation) of an adjacent base unit.

The embodiment of the mounting assembly in Figures 5 to 10 has the central section 2 of its base unit 1 in the form of a housing 19 within which is mounted attachment means in the form of a hook mechanism 20.

The mechanism 20 comprises two hooked units 21, 22 each of which has a pair of hook shaped piercing points 23, 24. The piercing points 23, 24 of each hooked unit are substantially parallel and spaced relative to eath other. The hooked units 21 and 22 are pivotally connected together at 25, conveniently by cylindrical bosses (not shown) on one of the units being received as a snap fit within complementary recesses or apertures in the other unit. Pivotal movement of the units 21 and 22 relative to each other is effected by a lever 26 which is formed as an extension of the hooked unit 21 to overlie the unit 22.The mechanism 20 is mounted in the housing 19 with the hooked units 21, 22 and lever 26 disposed in positions shown in Figure 9 so that the points 23, 24 are directed downwardly to overlie slits 27 which communicate between the housing 1 9 and the underside surface 1 8 of the central section 2. With the mechanism so mounted, radiused tail portions 29 of the hooked units are received as a close fit in substantially complementary radiused seatings 30 moulded into the body of the central section 2 within the housing 1 9.

During attachment of the mounting assembly, for example to a vehicle carpet 9, the hooked units 21 and 22 will be required to pivot about the points 25 and also in their respective seatings 30; more particularly, in its housing 19, the mechanism 20 has a "centre" position corresponding to a plane passing generally through the seatings 30 and, in Figure 8, the mechanism will be required to pivot from an "overcentre" to an "undercentre" position. In its overcentre condition the mechanism 20 is as shown in Figure 9 where the units 21 and 22 pivotted to an unstressed condition and the adjacent pairs of piercing points 23 and 24 respectively of the two hooked units are relatively close to each other; this corresponds to the piercing points being withdrawn (or substantially so) into the body of the central section 2.

Movement of the mechanism 20 from its overcentre to its undercentre position is effected by displacing the lever 26 downwardly in Figure 9 to the condition shown in Figure 8. During this latter movement the units 21 and 22 initially react against their respective seatings to stress the mechanism 20 as it is pivotted through its centre position; this stress is relieved as the mechanism approaches and attains its undercentre position (as shown in Figure 8). The undercentre condition of the mechanism 20 as shown in Figure 8 corresponds to the hooked units 21,22 being extended from the central section of the base unit 1 through the slits 27 for the piercing points 23, 24 to engage with the carpet 9.It will be apparent that when the mounting assembly 1 is seated on a carpet, the points 23, 24 will be displaced downwardly to pierce the carpet as the mechanism 20 is pivotted by the lever 26 from its overcentre to its undercentre position. During this latter pivotal movement from the centre to the undercentre position, the piercing points of the respective hooked units 21,22 will increasingly diverge outwardly from each other as those units are displaced arcuately about the respective seatings 30; this should ensure effective penetration by the four piercing points into the carpet and a firm anchorage of the assembly to the carpet.

When it is in its undercentre condition the mechanism 20 may be unstressed and conveniently the hooked units 21,22 are restricted as to the extent of their penetration by abutment against the bottom wall of the housing 1 9. The hook mechanism 20 is conveniently releasably retained in its undercentre position (with the points 23, 24 extended) by snap engagement of a clasp portion 26a of the lever 26 over a rib 31 on the base unit 1 and located in a recess 32 of that unit.With the clasp 26a engaged over the rib 31 the lever 26 conveniently provides a closure plate for the top of the housing 1 9. Although the aforementioned clasp engagement alleviates accidental movement of the lever 26 to effect withdrawal of the piercing points it will be seen that such withdrawal is resisted by the necessity to stress the hook mechanism 20 during pivotal movement thereof from its undercentre to and through its centre position.

The underside surface 28 of the central section 2 is provided with downwardly directed pointed protrusions 33. The protrusions 33 can be pushed into engagement with the carpet during initial location of the mounting assembly and will be urged or drawn further into the carpet (possibly penetrating the same) as the piercing points 23, 24 are moved into engagement with the carpet.

This co-operation of the points 23, 24 and 33 with the carpet should ensure a very firm anchorage of the assembly both against its lifting from the carpet and against lateral displacement over the carpet. If required corresponding pointed protrusions 33 can be provided on the underside of the base unit 1 in the embodiment of Figures 1 to 4 so that those protrusions are drawn into the carpet 9 as the screw threaded rods are driven to penetrate the carpet.

Claims

1. A mounting assembly for attachment to pierceable material (as herein defined) comprising a base unit intended to be seated on said material and at least two spaced attachment means carried by said base unit, said attachment means being manually displaceable relative to the base unit to conditions in which they project therefrom for piercing the material, said attachment means having piercing part lengths which, in the projecting conditions of such means, are intended to engage with the pierceable material in respectively predetermined orientations relative to each other to restrain withdrawal of the attachment means from the material while said attachment means are in their projecting conditions.

2. An assembly as claimed in claim 1 in which the attachment means comprises rods which are longitudinally displaceable from the base unit for piercing the material.

3. An assembly as claimed in claim 2 in which the rods are orientated with respect to each other in a non-parallel arrangement so that at least two rods diverge or converge as they are extended to project from the base unit.

4. An assembly as claimed in either claim 2 or claim 3 in which the rods, when projecting from the base unit, provide a splayed effect.

5. An assembly as claimed in any one of claims 2 to 4 in which the rods screw threadedly engage with the base unit to be driven along predetermined tracks into the pierceable material.

6. An assembly as claimed in claim 5 in which the rods are initially located in plain bores on the base unit and said rods have a screw threaded part length which provides self tapping with the said bores.

7. An assembly as claimed in any one of the preceding claims in which the attachment means comprises hooks which are displaceable from the base unit for engagement with the pierceable material.

8. An assembly as claimed in claim 7 in which the hooks are displaced under control of manually operated lever or screw means on the base unit.

9. An assembly as claimed in either claim 7 or claim 8 in which the hooks are mounted to be displaceable arcuately relative to the base unit.

10. An assembly as claimed in any one of claims 7 to 9 in which the hooks are comprised in a hook mechanism mounted in a housing provided by the base unit.

11. An assembly as claimed in claim 10 in which the hook mechanism comprises two hooked units which are pivotally coupled together and mounted for pivotal movement in the base unit, each hooked unit having at least one piercing part length and said hooked units being controlled tor pivotal displacement for piercing the pierceable material by a lever extending from one of those units.

12. An assembly as claimed in claim 11 in which each of the hooked units has a pair of spaced, substantially parallel and similarly orientated hook shaped piercing part lengths.

13. An assembly as claimed in either claim 11 or claim 12 in which the respective piercing part lengths of the two hooked units increasingly diverge from each other as those two units are pivoted for displacement of the piercing part lengths into the pierceable material.

14. An assembly as claimed in any one of claims 11 to 1 3 in which the hook mechanism is pivotable from an overcentre position in which the piercing part lengths are retracted from their projecting conditions to an undercentre position in which the piercing part lengths are in their projecting conditions, and wherein during said pivotal movement from the overcentre to the undercentre position the hool mechanism passes through a centre position in which it is stressed relative to the housing to an extent greater than such stress as may be applied thereto in either the overcentre or undercentre positions.

1 5. An assembly as claimed in any one of claims 11 to 14 in which hooked units are mounted for pivotal movement on seatings provided in the housing of the base unit.

16. An assembly as claimed in any one of claims 11 to 1 5 in which the lever is releasably connectable with the base unit when adjusted to a position corresponding to the piercing part lengths being in their projecting conditions to alleviate unintentional adjustment of the lever to retract the piercing part lengths.

17.An assembly as claimed in any one of claims 11 to 1 6 in which the lever when adjusted to a position corresponding to the piercing part lengths being in their projecting conditions provides a closure for the housing.

1 8. An assembly as claimed in any one of the 7 preceding claims in which the attachment means is arranged so that as the piercing part lengths are driven into the pierceable material it draws the base unit into abutment with that material and wherein the base unit is provided with pointed protrusions which are intended to be moved into engagement with the pierceable material during said drawing action.

19. An assembly as claimed in any one of the preceding claims in which the piercing part lengths of the attachment means are barbed or arrow-headed.

20. An assembly as claimed in any one of the preceding claims in which the base unit has an underside surface which is substantially saddleshaped for mounting to straddle a ridge in the pierceable material to which it is to be fitted.

21. An assembly as claimed in any one of the preceding claims in which the base unit includes a coupling part intended for mating with a complementary coupling part on an accessory which is to be mounted on the base unit.

22. An assembly as claimed in any one of the preceding claims in which the base unit has substantially complementary male and female parts by which the male part of one base unit may be engaged with the female part of an adjacent identical base unit.

23. An assembly as claimed in any one of the preceding claims in which the base unit is a plastics moulding.

24. A vehicle accessory mounting assembly comprising a base unit on which a vehicle accessory is intended to be mounted and for seating on a carpet or mat covering of the vehicle, said base unit carrying displaceable attachment means and drive means for manually displacing the attachment means relative to the base unit to project therefrom for piercing and anchoring the base unit to the carpet or mat covering.

25. A mounting assembly substantially as herein described with reference to Figures 1 to 4 of the accompanying illustrative drawings.

26. A mounting assembly substantially as herein described with reference to Figures 5 to 10 of the accompanying illustrative drawings.

27. The combination of an assembly as claimed in any one of the preceding claims and an accessory carried by the base unit of the said assembly and in which the base unit has the or a coupling part which co-operates with a substantially complementary coupling part on the accessory to provide stable co-operation between the accessory and base unit.

28. The assembly or combination as claimed in any one of the preceding claims when the base unit thereof is anchored by the attachment means to carpet or mat covering in a vehicle.