GB2164085A

GB2164085A - A resilient plastics clip

Info

Publication number: GB2164085A
Application number: GB08521091A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Wolf Renner; Peter Potzas
Original assignee: Tucker Fasteners Ltd
Current assignee: Tucker Fasteners Ltd
Priority date: 1984-08-27
Filing date: 1985-08-22
Publication date: 1986-03-12
Also published as: GB2164085B; GB8521091D0; ES296058Y; FR2569449A1; DE3431469A1; ES296058U; JPS6162609A; FR2569449B1; IT8521973A0; IT1200717B

Abstract

A resilient plastics clip for pushing over the head H of a T-Stud S to hold sheet material in place has a head 12 at one end to engage the exposed face of the sheet, a longitudinally split tubular shank 14, 16 for insertion through a hole in the sheet from the exposed face of the sheet, the split allowing the shank to collapse for this purpose, and outwardly projecting flanges 20 at the split end of the shank to overlap the blind side of the sheet. The clip is also provided with a through aperture having an internal shoulder 18 which engages the head of the stud after insertion of the stud from the exposed face of the sheet. An installing device has guides which provide a progressively narrowing track for the clip as they approach a delivery end so as to constrain and collapse the shank to all the flanges to pass through the hole in the sheet. The device includes a pusher and affords a magazine for the clips. <IMAGE>

Description

SPECIFICATION Plastics clip and device and method for installing it This invention is concerned with a clip of resilient plastics material for assembly in a hole in sheet material and pushing axially over the head of a headed stud projecting from a support, comprising a head at one end to engage the side of a sheet material from which the clip is inserted, flange means for engaging the other side of said sheet material to retain the clip in said hole, an axially disposed aperture with a conical mouth to guide the clip on to the head of a stud, and internal shoulder means for retaining the clip on the stud, and a device and method for installing it.

It is a common practice in the manufacture of automobiles to line metal panels of the doors of the vehicle with pads consisting of a fibreboard panel covered with a decorative material, for example vinyl resin. One of the well known ways of securing such a trim pad in place is to insert into holes in the fibreboard panel of the trim pad plastics clips with projecting shanks which are then inserted into holes in the metal panel of the door. An alternative is to have two-part fasteners, one part of which is secured in a hole in the metal door panel of the car and the other in a hole in the fibreboard panel of the trim pad, and assemble the clips on the trim pad on to the clips on the door. In all these cases, it is necessary to provide holes in the panel of the door, which is usually done by punching them when the door panel is being made.It is very desirable that clips assembled on the trim pad are able to move sufficiently in the plane of the fibre board panel to accommodate manufacturing tolerances in the spacings of the holes in the car door panel.

These known ways of assembling trim pads on car door panels not only necessitate the provision of holes with consequent risks of initiating corrosion, but in varying degrees involve complex manual operations to mount the clips on the trim pads and assemble them with the car door panels.

it has also become a common practice in the manufacture of automobiles with metal bodies to weld headed studs, for example Tstuds, on the car body without making a hole in the body and use the stud as a means for retaining a plastics clip in position. The risk of initiating corrosion by having holes in the car body panels is thus avoided. Such a practice may be used, for example, for securing carpets on the floor of the automobile by means of socketed and headed clips which pass through holes in the carpets. A headed clip with means for retaining it in a carpet and with a socket to receive the head of the stud is described, for example, in British Patent Specification No. 1236407.This clip must be installed in the carpet from the side which will be exposed when the carpet is secured to the floor of the automobiles; it cannot be used where the sheet material (namely the fibreboard panel) with the hole to receive it is already covered on one side by a continuous decorative sheet, which is a customary practice for trim pads on the inside of car doors.

It is one of the objects of the present invention to provide an improved plastics clip which can co-operate with a T-stud to hold a sheet material in place, for example a trim pad on a car door, especially where access is available at one side only of the sheet material for installation of the clip.

It is another object of the invention to provide an improved device and method for installing a preferred embodiment of the new clip.

The first of the foregoing objects is achieved in accordance with the invention in that a clip of resilient plastics material as hereinbefore referred to is characterised in that said aperture extends right through the clip, said conical mouth opening through said head so that after assembling the clip on the stud the side of the sheet material from which the clip on the stud the side of the sheet material from which the clip has been inserted will lie adjacent the support from which the stud projects.

Preferably, in a clip as just referred to in the last preceding paragraph, at the other end from said head said flange means is constituted by outwardly projecting flanges of two spaced apart legs, insertion of the legs into said sheet material being effected upon pressing together of the legs to enable the flanges to pass through said hole. Preferably also skid portions each leg has at its flange end on its outer side a skid portion by engagement with which the two legs can be pressed towards each other for insertion through a hole in a panel, the transverse distance across the head of the clip in alignment with skid portions of the legs being not greater than the distance between the skid portions when the legs are pressed together.

The provision of skid portions as just referred to on the legs of a fastener in accordance with the invention enables the clip to be advanced along opposed guides which gradually approach one another in the direction in which the clip is being pushed, so causing the legs to be progressively closed until, after passing through the hole in the panel into which the ends of the guides have been introduced, they are released and spring apart to entrap the panel between the flanges of the legs and the end of the clip.

Preferably, the flanges of the legs of a preferred clip as aforementioned have side edges at each end of the skid portions to align the clip on guides along which it may be advancing. The head of the clip may be elongated with its long sides in alignment with the skid portions of the legs. The aperture in the head may be elongated lengthwise of the head, the resilience of the clip allowing it to splay open to pass over the head of the T-stud; the chamfer bordering the aperture in the head may extend along the legs part way towards their shoulders. The head of the clip may be slightly bowed, convex side towards the legs, the flanges of which may be slightly conical on their undersides.

The second object referred to is thus achieved in that the invention also provides a method for inserting clips into panels by means of a device comprising a holder with two opposed guides between which a clip with legs and skid portions in accordance with the invention is advanced towards one end, the clip engaging-surfaces of the guides progressively approaching one another towards that end, so that, by engagement of the guides with said skid portions, the legs of the clip advancing along the guides are progressively closed together.

Preferably, in a device in accordance with the invention, the holder has an end face to abut the panel, and the guides have operative portions which project beyond these end faces by the thickness of the panel and which can be accommodated in the hole into which a clip is to be inserted. The distance by which the guides project beyond said end face may be adjustable. The device may have a plunger for pushing a clip along the guides, which may be long enough to accommodate a plurality of clips so that the holder may serve as a magazine.

The invention thus provides a clip and a device and a method of using them which enables plastics fasteners of the kind for mounting on to welded T-studs to be economically provided and assembled on the fibreboard panels of trim pads. The dimensions of the fasteners may be such that they have a desirable degree of freedom of movement in the plane of the panels to accommodate manufacturing tolerances in the positioning of the T-studs on the car door panel.

There now follows a detailed description, to be read with reference to the accompanying drawings, of a clip in accordance with the invention and illustrative thereof, and of a method by which it can be inserted and a device for use in carrying out such method. It will be realised that the clip, the device and the method of inserting the clip have all been selected for description by way of example and not of limitation of the invention.

In the accompanying drawings: Figure 1 is a plan view of the illustrative clip; Figure 2 and 3 are views in section of the illustrative clip on the lines ll-ll and Ill-Ill of Fig.

1; Figures 4 and 5 show, mainly in central longitudinal section, an operative end portion of an inserting device with a column of clips in it, Fig. 4 showing the end-most clip before it has been pushed from between guides of the device, and Fig. 5 after legs of the clip have been released from the guides.

Figure 6 is a view in section through the device on the line VI-VI of Fig. 4 and Figure 7 is a view of the illustrative clip inserted into a fibreboard panel of a trim pad and assembled on a T-stud welded to a metal door panel.

The illustrative clip shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 3 is made of a resilient plastics material, for example polyacetal resin, and comprises a elongated head 12 with an elongated aperture 14 through it, extending lengthwise of the head. A central portion of the aperture 14 is of a diameter to embrace the shank S of a Tstud below its head H (Fig. 7), the end portions of the aperture, though narrow, permitting the aperture to open against the resilience of the clip material and the head of the T-stud to pass through, as will become apparent hereinafter.

From each side of the central portion of the aperture 14 of the clip 10 there depends a leg 16 which is generally partly cylindrical and provides an internal part annular shoulder 18 to latch under the head H of the T-stud inserted through the aperture; each leg 16 also has an outwardly extending flange 20. The head 12 is chamferred around the aperture 14 at the side opposite the legs 16, such chamfer being provided by a countersunk surface 22 which extends part way along the legs 16 nearly to the shoulders 18. The countersunk surface 22 facilitates assembly of the clip on to the head of the weld stud.

The flange 20 of each leg 16 projects beyond the adjacent long side of the head 12, and its outer periphery is recessed to provide a skid portion 24. Because of the resilience of the material, the legs 16 can be pressed together for example by pressing on the skid portions 24, and when so pressed together, the skid portions are still more widely spaced apart than the distance across the head 12.

The side edges of the head 12 may be relieved, rather than straight, as shown at 26 in Fig. 1, to ensure such distance is not too great.

The flanges 20 of the illustrative clip 10 are slightly conical at their under surfaces 28.

Side edges 30 of the flanges 20 at each end of the skid portions 24 serve to retain the clip on guides 42 of an inserting device 40 now to be described.

The illustrative inserting device 40 (Figs. 4, 5 and 6) comprises a cylindrical housing 44 to which two generally parallel, straight guides 42 are secured lengthwise, diametrical opposite one another, by screws 46 (two only visible in the drawings) which pass through longitudinally disposed slots 48 in the housing and are threaded into the guides, thus to provide for adjustment of the distance by which lower end portions 50 of the guides project beyond a working engaging end face 52 of the housing 44.

The width of the guides 42 is such that they can be received between the side edges 30 of the flanges 20 of the clip thus to maintain the orientation of the clip in the housing, and the inner most edge 54 of the guides, while parallel for most of the length of the guides, are disposed at an angle of a few degrees to their length and thus approach one another progressively towards their lowermost ends, as shown at 56 in Fig. 6. Over their parallel portions, the guides are spaced far enough apart to accommodate the skid portions 24 in a relaxed condition of the clip, but at the lower ends are wide enough apart to accommodate the clip only when the legs 16 are pressed together in a closed condition.

At their lower most ends 50 the guides 42 are reduced in thickness so that they can be received in a hole in a panel into which a clip 10 is to be inserted.

The illustrative inserting device 40 is provided with a plunger 60 by which clips on the guides 42 may be pushed towards their lowermost ends. The plunger 60 may be pushed by hand or by any suitable mechanical or fluid operated power source, preferably step-bystep according to the length of a clip.

The use of the inserting device 40 to install a clip 10 in a fibreboard panel P which has a covering C of decorative material will now be described to illustrate the invention in its method aspect. Conveniently, a column of clips 10 is provided in the device 40, stacked on the guides 42, flanges 20 leading towards their lowermost ends (as seen in Figs. 4 and 5). Upper ones of the clips are relaxed; they rest on one another and in response to movement of the plunger 60 move down step by step to insert the clips one at a time. Each time a clip is advanced along the portions of the guide way at 56 where the gap between them becomes narrower, the legs of the clip are pressed closer and closer together until in the end-most portion before ejection the legs 16 are touching, or nearly so.Because the skid portions 24 on which the guides 42 bear are, even with the legs 16 thus closed, further apart than the width of the head 12, the head of the clips does not impede its progress.

The lower end portions of the guides 42 of the device 40, with a clip 10 in its lowermost position, are now inserted into a hole Q in the panel P (Fig. 4) the screw and slot arrangement 46, 48 having been adjusted so that the guides 42 project from the end face 52 of the housing by the thickness of the panel. One further step of movement of the plunger now ejects the clip, the legs 16 springing into their open relaxed condition in which the flanges 20 take up positions behind the panel P and the head 12 engages the exposed side of the panel (Fig. 5). Because the guides have been adjusted to ensure that they project by the thickness of the panel, there is little or no risk that either the covering material C or the edge of the panel (especially the blind side) would be damaged by the flanges 16 of the clips as they spring apart. The installed clip 10 is shown on a larger scale in Fig. 7. With the panel P confined between the head 12 and the flanges 20 of the clip, the clip has plenty of freedom of movement in the plane of the panel to facilitate it being pushed on to the head H of the stud welded to the metal panel of a car door D, aided by the countersunk surface 22.

The illustrative method lends itself especially to the automatic installation of the clips 10, which are of a simple design and therefore economic to manufacture.

Claims

1. A clip of resilient plastics material for assembly in a hole in sheet material and pushing axially over the head of a headed stud projecting from a support, comprising a head at one end to engage the side of the sheet material from which the clip is inserted, flange means for engaging the other side of said sheet material to retain the clip in said hole, an axially disposed aperture with a conical mouth to guide the clip on to the head of a stud, and internal shoulder means for retaining the clip on the stud, characterised in that said aperture extends right through the clip, said conical mouth opening through said head so that after assembling the clip on the stud the side of the sheet material from which the clip has been inserted will lie adjacent the support from which the stud projects, said flange means being constituted by outwardly projecting flanges of two spaced apart legs, insertion of the legs into said sheet material being effected upon pressing together of the legs to enable the flanges to pass through said hole.

2. A clip according to claim 2 further characterised in that each leg has at its flange end on its outer side a skid portion by engagement with which the two legs can be pressed towards each other for insertion through a hole in a panel, and in that the transverse distance across the head of the clip in alignment with the skid portions of the legs is not greater than the distance between the skid portions when the legs are pressed together.

3. A clip according to claim 2 further characterised in that the flanges of the legs have side edges at each end of the skid portions to align the clip on guides along which it may be advancing.

4. A clip according to claim 2 further characterised that the head of the clip is elongated with its long sides in alignment with the skid portions of the legs.

5. A clip according to claim 5 further characterised in that said aperture is elongated lengthwise of said head, the resilience of the clip allowing it to splay open to pass over the head of the studs.

6. A clip according to claim 1 further characterised in that said internal shoulder means is provided by an internal shoulder on each leg, and the conical mouth extends through the head of the clip and continues along each leg nearly as far as the shoulder.

7. A clip according to claim 1 further characterised in that the head of the clip is slightly bowed, convex side towards the legs.

8. A clip according to claim 1 further characterised in that the flanges of the legs are slightly conical at their undersides.

9. A method of inserting a clip in a hole in a panel characterised in that a clip according to claim 2 is advanced axially towards the hole by sliding it between two opposed guides which by engagement with the skid portions of the legs cause the legs to be progressively closed until, after passing through the hole, they are released at the ends of the guides and spring apart to entrap the panel between their flanges and the head of the clip.

10. A device for inserting clips into panels by a method according to claim 9 characterised in that it comprises a holder with two opposed guides between which a clip is advanced towards one end, the clip-engaging surfaces of the guides progressively approaching one another towards that end, so that by engagement of the guides with said skid portions, the legs of a clip advancing along the guides are progressively closed together.

11. A device according to claim 10 further characterised in that the holder has an end face to abut the panel, and the guides have operative portions which project beyond the end face by the thickness of the panel and can be accommodated in the hole into which a clip is to be inserted.

12. A device according to claim 11 further characterised in that the distance by which the guides project beyond said end face is adjustable.

13. A device according to claim 11 further characterised in that it comprises a plunger for pushing a clip along the guides.

14. A device according to claim 11 further characterised in that the guides are long enough to support a plurality of clips, the holder thus serving as a magazine.

15. A clip of resilient plastics material for assembly in a hole in sheet material and pushing axially over the head of a headed stud projecting from a support, substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to Figs.

1 to 3 of the accompanying drawings.

16. A method of installing a clip according to claim 15 carried out substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to Figs. 4, 5 and 7 of accompanying drawings.

17. A clip-inserting device substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to Figs.

4, 5 and 6 of the accompanying drawings.