GB2465371A

GB2465371A - Fastener

Info

Publication number: GB2465371A
Application number: GB0820845A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Brian Giddings
Original assignee: Bighead Bonding Fasteners Ltd
Current assignee: Bighead Bonding Fasteners Ltd
Priority date: 2008-11-13
Filing date: 2008-11-13
Publication date: 2010-05-19
Also published as: GB0820845D0

Abstract

A fastener is used to releasably join a first structure to a second structure and comprises a male fastener component (1) and a female fastener component (2). The male fastener component (1) comprises a shank (12) having a screw thread for fixing into the first structure, drive surfaces (14) for being driven by a tool (4) to produce rotation of the male fastener component and a ball (10). The female fastener component (2) comprises a base plate (21) for fixing to the second structure and a socket (26) facing in a forward direction for releasably receiving and gripping the ball (10) of the male fastener component (1).

Description

Fastener

Background of the Invention

The invention relates generally to a fastener and to associated aspects.

The fastener of the present invention is a development of the fastener previously described in our GB-A-2,447,625 (Bighead Bonding Fasteners Limited) and our WO-2008/1 17070 (Bighead Bonding Fasteners Limited), the disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference for the benefit of the reader of the present

specification.

As with the fastener previously described in the above-mentioned GB and WO documents, the fastener of the present invention may be used to releasably fit a decorative panel to an interior wall or ceiling of a building, aircraft, ship, boat or vehicle. Alternatively, the fastener of the present invention may be used to releasably fit one or more access panels to the housing of a piece of equipment such as a cabinet frame or a control centre.

When fitting a panel to a wall surface, there is a need for a fitting system which can be used by relatively-unskilled labourers wherein the labourer does not have to install a component on the panel and separately install a component on the wall and then try to ensure that the two components line up when the panel is fitted to the wall.

This alignment can be difficult to do for a panel when it is being fitted to the wall at multiple locations on the panel and it is necessary to ensure that the fitting systems installed at all of the locations on the panel have their components in alignment.

After a panel has been installed, it is sometimes necessary to remove the panel, e.g. if it is necessary to gain access to the wall behind the panel or if it is desired to apply a different decorative finish to the panel. There is a need to be able to reinstall the panel quickly whilst retaining complete accuracy of alignment of the panel with its neighbouring panels. For example, an entire interior wall of a room may be covered with an array of panels wherein the panels are side by side and touching one another.

When one panel is removed and reinstalled, it must be reinstalled accurately in order to maintain a pleasing visual alignment with the adjacent panels. -4 4

The fastener described in our earlier GB-A-2,447,625 and WO-2008/1 17070 is a two-part fastener having a male fastener component and a female fastener component. The two components are joined together by a ball and socket joint. In order, for example, to prepare a panel for attachment to a wall, a plurality of the fasteners are glued into position on the rear surface of the panel. For each fastener, the base plate of the male fastener component is glued onto the rear panel surface. Then the female fastener component is snap fitted to the male fastener component via the ball and socket joint. After all of the fasteners have been fitted to rear surface of the panel, glue is applied to the rear surfaces of the base plates of the female fastener components of the fasteners, and the resulting cladding unit (panel plus fasteners) is offered up to the wall surface and glued into position. At a later point in time, if the panel needs to be removed from the wall for some reason, the snap fit connections between the male and female fastener components may be "unpopped", and the panel may be lifted off the wall, whilst leaving the female fastener components in situ on the wall. When it is time to reinstall the panel, the male fastener components on the back of the panel may simply be snap fitted back into the female fastener components on the wall. In this way, the panel is returned to exactly its previous position, and the alignment of the panel relative to any neighbouring panels is also maintained.

The processes of installing and using the fastener of GB-2,447,625 and WO- 2008/117070 are simple and easy to perform for a relatively-unskilled labourer.

An aim of the present invention is to make the installation process even easier and quicker for the labourer.

Summary of the Invention

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a fastener for releasably joining a first structure to a second structure, the fastener comprising:-a male fastener component comprising a shank having a screw thread for fixing into the first structure, drive surfaces for being driven by a tool to produce rotation of the male fastener component, and a ball-like portion; and a female fastener component comprising a base plate for fixing to the second structure and a socket facing in a forward direction for releasably receiving and gripping the ball-like portion of the male fastener component The male fastener component makes the fastener easier and quicker to use, because the male fastener component may be simply screwed into position, rather than being glued into position.

Conveniently, the male fastener component may be designed to be used with a gun-type installation tool. For example, a plurality of male fastener components may be stored in a magazine of the tool, and the labourer simply moves the tool over the first structure (e.g. wall) and uses the tool to drive the male fastener components into the wall at the desired locations. This makes the installation of the male fastener components quick and easy. It is also then relatively quick and easy for the labourer to snap fit the female fastener components onto the male fastener components.

Preferably, the ball-like portion of the male fastener component is a ball which is curved over its entire surface, except where it is joined to the rest of the male fastener component.

Preferably the ball-like portion is a ball which is substantially spherical. This permits smooth and easy pivoting between the ball and the socket of the female fastener component, which may be provided with a complementary spherically-curved internal socket surface.

An alternative would be for the ball-like portion to be spherically curved over the majority of its surface. For example, the top of the spherical ball (after the ball has been welded into position) might be ground flat to reduce the overall height of the ball, whilst still leaving a spherically-curved band around the "equator" of the ball.

In the preferred embodiment, the male fastener component comprises a head between the shank and the ball-like portion and the drive surfaces are provided on the periphery of the head.

In the preferred embodiment, the drive surfaces are equi-angularly spaced around the head.

The height of the drive surfaces (in the longitudinal or axial direction of the male fastener component) may conveniently be between 20 and 80 percent of the diameter of the head, more preferably between 30 and 70 percent, or 40 to 60 percent.

This helps to ensure that the drive surfaces are sufficiently big to provide satisfactory engagement with the tool.

The drive surfaces may lie on a notional regular polygon (e.g. a triangle, a square, a hexagon or an octagon). They are preferably substantially continuous around the periphery of the head.

In our preferred embodiment, a notional circle to which the drive surfaces are tangents has a diameter which is greater than the diameter of the ball-like portion.

This makes it easy for a (e.g. hexagonal) drive socket of the tool to pass over the "equator" of the ball-like portion and into engagement with the (e.g. hexagonally-arranged) drive surfaces.

In our preferred embodiment, the male fastener component comprises a plate at the head end of the shank. For example, the plate may be a disc positioned between the shank and the head. A round disc works well with a polygonal (e.g. hexagonal) head.

Preferably, the plate provides a flat (e.g. annular) undersurface for abutting the surface of the structure (e.g. wall) into which the male fastener component is driven.

The undersurface defines the end of the installation operation as the male fastener component cannot be driven any further into the structure. The plate helps to spread out or distribute the load carried by the male fastener component into the structure to reduce the risk of the male fastener component being torn out of the structure during use and provides a datum to control uniform stand-off distance and thus final alignment of the installed fastener.

In our preferred embodiment, the plate provides a flange projecting beyond the periphery of the head.

The upper surface of the flange may be used as an abutment to prevent over-insertion of the male fastener component into a drive socket of the tool.

Preferably, the disc has a diameter the same as or greater than the diameter of the head. Thus, the upper surface of the flange is substantially annular and provides flange portions in front of each drive surface of the head.

In our preferred embodiment, the male fastener component is made of metal and the ball-like portion is welded in position.

For example, the ball-like portion maybe welded to the top surface of the (e.g. hexagonal) head. The top surface may have a central recess and a peripheral rim and the ball-like portion may be welded to the centre of the central recess.

In our preferred embodiment, the diameter (of the equator) of the ball-like portion is greater that the diameter of the shank but less than the diameter of the head.

In some embodiments, the tip of the shank may be shaped in the form of a drill bit.

Preferably, the ball-like portion is pivotable when gripped by the socket.

In our preferred embodiment, the female fastener component has a female projection which projects forwards from the front surface of the base plate, is made of plastics material and defines the socket.

The female fastener component may be moulded out of a plastics material such as polycarbonate.

The female projection may comprise arms which project away from the base plate and define the mouth of the socket.

The tips of the arms may curve inwards towards the mouth of the socket and the arms may be resiliently deformable outwards to permit insertion of the ball-like portion into the socket.

Preferably, when the socket is gripping the ball-like portion, there is an annular gap between the tips of the arms and the base of the ball-like portion. This helps to facilitate the pivoting of the ball-like portion in the socket.

In the preferred embodiment, the socket is a blind socket and, when the socket is gripping the ball-like portion, the tip of the ball-like portion rests against the bottom of the socket.

The socket may be located at a central zone of the base plate, and a plurality of through holes may be provided in a peripheral zone of the base plate between the central zone and the perimeter of the base plate.

Usually, the base plate will be a disc.

In some embodiments, the rear surface of the base plate is provided with a plurality of standoff projections, such as domes.

The female fastener component may include a rim which projects forwards from the front surface of the base plate around the periphery of the base plate.

According to a second aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of fixing fasteners to a structure, the method comprising:-providing in a magazine of a power tool the male fastener components of a plurality of fasteners each in accordance with the first aspect of the present invention; for each male fastener component, moving the male fastener component from the magazine and into a drive socket of the power tool, such that the drive socket is in driving engagement with the drive surfaces of the male fastener component, and using the power tool to rotate the male fastener component and screw the male fastener component into the structure; and for each screwed-in male fastener component, snap fitting thereto one of the female fastener components of the fasteners by means of the ball-like portion of the male fastener component and the socket of the female fastener component.

For example, the drive socket of the power tool may be a power-operated chuck which automatically extracts a male fastener component from the magazine by grabbing hold of the drive surfaces of the male fastener component. The chuck then advances the male fastener component out of the tool and starts to rotate so as to rotate the male fastener component to enable the male fastener component to be driven into the structure (e.g. wall).

The power tool may incorporate hammering action.

According to a third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of fitting a panel to a structure, the method comprising:-fixing a plurality of fasteners to the structure using the method of the second aspect of the present invention; for each fastener, applying glue to the rear surface of the base plate of the female fastener component; and positioning the panel adjacent to the structure so as to glue the panel to the structure via the fasteners.

According to a fourth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of fitting a plurality of panels to a structure, wherein each panel is fitted using the method of the third aspect of the present invention and the panels are fitted to the structure so as to form an array of panels.

According to a fifth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of fitting, removing and re-fitting a panel to and from a structure, a method comprising:-fitting the panel to the structure using the method of the third aspect of the present invention; removing the panel from the structure by releasing each fastener by withdrawing the ball-like portion from the socket of the fastener; and re-.fitting the panel to the structure by snap fitting together again the ball-like portion and the socket of each fastener.

According to a sixth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a cladding unit comprising:-a panel having front and rear panel surfaces; and a plurality of fasteners each in accordance with the first aspect of the present invention, wherein for each fastener the male fastener component is screwed into the rear panel surface and the socket of the female fastener component is releasably gripping the ball-like portion of the male fastener component.

For example, the plurality of fasteners may be positioned around the periphery of the rear panel surface of the panel. If the panel is rectangular, four such fasteners may be positioned adjacent to respective corners of the rear panel surface.

According to a seventh aspect of the present invention, there is provided a male fastener component comprising a shank having a screw thread for fixing into a structure, drive surfaces for being driven by a tool to produce rotation of the male fastener component, and a ball-like portion.

According to an eighth aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method of manufacturing a male fastener component, the method comprising:-providing a metal screw portion comprising a shank having a screw thread and a head having drive surfaces; providing a metal ball; and welding the ball to the head of the screw portion.

In the preferred manufacturing method, the process is kept simple by welding one integral unit (a screw portion) to another integral unit (a ball) so that only a single precision spot weld is required.

An advantage of a spherical ball is that, during the manufacturing process when the ball is being welded to the head, no particular orientation of the ball relative to the head is required during the welding operation.

Preferably, during the welding operation, care is taken to limit the weld to a central zone of the top surface of the head, so as not to affect the periphery of the top surface and the drive surfaces.

Brief Description of the Drawings

Preferred, non-limiting embodiments of the present invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying diagrammatic drawings.

Fig. I is a side view of a fastener in accordance with the present invention, wherein the fastener comprises a male fastener component which is snap fitted into a female fastener component.

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of the fastener of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the fastener of Fig. 1 when viewed from a different direction to the viewing direction of Fig. 2.

Fig. 4A is a perspective view of the fastener of Fig. 1, showing how the female fastener component may be fitted to the male fastener component.

Fig. 4B is a perspective view of the fastener when assembled together.

Fig. 4C is a side view of the fastener.

Fig. 4D is a perspective view of the fastener, showing a slight amount of pivoting of the male fastener component relative to the female fastener component.

Fig. 4E is a side view of the fastener when again showing a slight amount of pivoting between the male and female fastener components.

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of the male fastener component of the fastener of Fig. 1.

Fig. 6 is a perspective view from a different direction of the male fastener component of Fig. 5.

Fig. 7 is a schematic view showing an installation method, wherein a power tool in the form of a dispenser gun is used to fix multiple male fastener components into a substrate such as a wall.

Description of the Preferred Embodiments

Referring to Figs. 1 to 6, the fastener comprises a male fastener component I and a female fastener component 2.

The male fastener component 1 is made of stainless steel or alternatively it could be made of mild steel, and it is easily assembled together from just two parts as will be described later, by means of a welding operation.

The female fastener component is moulded from a plastics material such as polycarbonate.

The male fastener component 1 comprises a spherical ball 10 which is welded to the top of a screw 11 so as to be aligned with the central longitudinal axis of the screw. The screw 11 comprises a shank 12, a disc 13 and a head 14.

The shank 12 has a first or proximal end 121 and a second or distal end 122.

The second end 122 incorporates a pointed tip 123 and is also shaped to provide a drill bit 124. Alternatively, the tip 123 may simply have a normal screw tip shape, such as that of a self-tapping screw.

The drill bit 124 occupies a front portion of the shank 12. A central portion of the shank is formed into a screw thread 125, and a rear portion 126 of the shank at the proximal end 121 is cylindrical.

The screw thread 125 is not tapered, but in alternative embodiments it could be tapered. The screw thread 125 is shown as being a continuous spiral, but it could instead be discontinuous. The thread may be designed to suit particular applications (e.g. the nature of the material, such as metal, wood or plastics, into which the fastener is to be driven) by, for example, varying the pitch, andlor the crest and root diameters.

A V-shaped thread is preferred, as shown.

The disc 13 is circular and plate-like and has a diameter greater than the diameters of the shank 12 and the head 14. It has flat top and bottom surfaces 131, 132. In use, the bottom surface 132 serves to limit the extent to which the male fastener component 1 can be screwed into the substrate (e.g. wall). The screwing-in operation will stop when the bottom surface 132 comes into contact with the surface of the wall. When viewed from underneath, the bottom surface 132 appears annular with the shank 12 located at the centre of the bottom surface.

The head 14 is hexagonal in plan view, and its periphery provides six drive surfaces 141 which occupy substantially the full height of the head. The top surface 142 is shaped to have a central depression 143 which has a flat bottom, and a rim 144 extends around the periphery of the depression 143.

The ball 10 is spot welded to the centre of the depression 143 so as to be positioned on the central longitudinal axis of the screw 11.

The female fastener component 2 is moulded so as to have a plate-like disc 21 with a flat front surface 22 and a flat rear surface 23. The rear surface 23 carries seven stand-off projections 24 comprising six projections arranged in a circle so as to be equi-angularly spaced apart, and a seventh projection arranged at the centre of the rear surface 23. The disc 21 also incorporates six through holes 25 which are equi-angularly spaced apart.

The female fastener component 2 has a socket 26 projecting forwards from the front surface 22 of the disc 21. The socket 26 comprises six forwardly-projecting arms 29 which have a generally tubular configuration. The arms 29 are separated by axial slots 27 and have tips 28 which curve inwards slightly in order to enable the arms to snap onto and grip the ball 10 when the ball 10 is inserted into the socket 26.

The size, shape and characteristics of the ball 10 and the socket 26 may be varied depending on the weight to be carried by the fastener. For example, the arms 29 may need to exert a large gripping force on the ball 10 when the fastener is to carry a heavy panel. In other words, the arms 29 may need to be made thicker in order to have a high "jaw strength".

As may be seen from Fig. 1, the arms 29 of the socket 26 do not extend all of the way to the top surface 142 of the head 14. This leaves an annular gap between the arms 29 and the top surface 142, whereby the ball 10 is able to pivot in the socket 26.

The ability of the ball 10 to pivot in the socket 26 enables the fastener to connect together opposed surfaces which are not parallel.

The socket 26 is engineered so that the arms 29 exert a tight grip on the ball 10 in order to avoid any slackness in the snap-fit connection between the male and female fastener components 1, 2.

The front surface 22 incorporateS a rim 222 which extends continuously around the periphery of the front surface.

In this illustrated embodiment, only a limited degree of pivoting is possible between the male and female fastener components 1, 2 as shown in Figs. 4D and 4E.

Fig. 7 schematically illustrates an efficient way of quickly installing fasteners onto a substrate such as a wall 3. Use is made of a power tool 4 which is hand held and incorporates an internal rechargeable battery. A magazine 41 contains a plurality of male fastener components 1, which are automatically fed in a feed direction 42.

When a male fastener component reaches the feed position 1X it is automatically grabbed by a chuck (not shown) of the power tool 4. The chuck is arranged to grip the drive surfaces 141. The male fastener component I is then automatically advanced to the position I Y, and the user pulls the trigger 44 to cause the chuck to rotate the male fastener component. The power tool 4 is pushed in the direction 43 so as to bring the tip 123 of the male fastener component 1 Y into contact with the surface 31 of the wall 3. The drill bit 124 of the male fastener component 1 Y starts to drill into the wall 3 until the male fastener component is in the finish position IZ, in which the bottom surface 132 of the disc 13 is flush against the wall surface 31.

The clutch of the power tool 4 then disengages from the male fastener component I Z. The male fastener components I in the magazine 41 are then each advanced by one position, and the installation cycle may be repeated to permit the installation of the next male fastener component.

In Fig. 7, the male fastener component 1A is shown after it has been installed by the power tool 4, and after its female fastener component 2 has been snap fitted onto the male fastener component IA, thereby to produce a filly-installed fastener.

After sufficient fasteners have been installed onto the wall 3 at desired positions, the fasteners may be used to support a panel (not shown) or any other object which it is desired to fix to the wall 3.

In the case of fixing in position a panel, such as a rectangular panel, the user could first of all use the power tool 4 to install four fasteners in a rectangular configuration on the wall surface 31. Then, glue could be applied to the rear surface 23 of the female fastener component 2 of each of the four fasteners. Then, the panel could be offered up into position against the four female fastener components 2, and thereby glued into position. For example, the end configuration could have a fastener underneath each corner of the rectangular panel.

If, at a later stage, the panel needs to be removed, it is a simple matter to unsnap the four female fastener components 2 from the four male fastener components 1, thereby to enable the panel (and the female fastener components) to be lifted away from the wall 3. When it is desired to reinstall the panel, the panel is offered back up towards the wall 3, so as to re-engage the snap fit connections between the balls 10 and sockets 26 of the male and female fastener components 1, 2.

In this way, the panel can be reinstalled exactly in its previous position.

It will be appreciated that the above description is non-limiting and refers to the currently-preferred embodiments of the invention. Many modifications may be made within the scope of the invention. Although features believed to be of particular significance are identified in the appended claims, the applicant claims protection for any novel feature or idea described herein andlor illustrated in the drawings, whether or not emphasis has been placed thereon.

Claims

CLAIMS1. A fastener for releasably joining a first structure to a second structure, the fastener comprising: -a male fastener component comprising a shank having a screw thread for fixing into the first structure, drive surfaces for being driven by a tool to produce rotation of the male fastener component, and a ball-like portion; and a female fastener component comprising a base plate for fixing to the second structure and a socket facing in a forward direction for releasably receiving and gripping the ball-like portion of the male fastener component.
2. A fastener according to claim 1, wherein the male *fastener component comprises a head between the shank and the ball-like portion and the drive surfaces are provided on the periphery of the head.
3. A fastener according to claim 2, wherein a notional circle to which the drive surfaces are tangents has a diameter which is greater than the diameter of the ball-like portion.
4. A fastener according to any preceding claim, wherein the male fastener component comprises a plate at the head end of the shank.
5. A fastener according to claims 2 and 4, wherein the plate provides a flange projecting beyond the periphery of the head.
6. A fastener according to any preceding claim, wherein the male fastener component is made of metal and the ball-like portion is welded in position.
7. A fastener according to any preceding claim, wherein the tip of the shank is a drill bit.
8. A fastener according to any preceding claim, wherein the ball-like portion is pivotable when gripped by the socket.
9. A method of fixing fasteners to a structure, the method comprising:-providing in a magazine of a power tool the male fastener components of a plurality of fasteners each in accordance with any one of claims 1 to 8; for each male fastener component, moving the male fastener component from the magazine and into a drive socket of the power tool, such that the drive socket is in driving engagement with the drive surfaces of the male fastener component, and using the power tool to rotate the male fastener component and screw the male fastener component into the structure; and for each screwed-in male fastener component, snap fitting thereto one of the female fastener components of the fasteners by means of the ball-like portion of the male fastener component and the socket of the female fastener component.
10. A method of fitting a panel to a structure, the method comprising:-fixing a plurality of fasteners to the structure using the method of claim 9; for each fastener, applying glue to the rear surface of the base plate of the female fastener component; and positioning the panel adjacent to the structure so as to glue the panel to the structure via the fasteners.
11. A method of fitting a plurality of panels to a structure, wherein each panel is fitted using the method of claim 10 and the panels are fitted to the structure so as to form an array of panels.
12. A method of fitting, removing and re-fitting a panel to and from a structure, the method comprising:-fitting the panel to the structure using the method of claim 10; removing the panel from the structure by releasing each fastener by withdrawing the ball-like portion from the socket of the fastener; and re-fitting the panel to the structure by snap fitting together again the ball-like portion and the socket of each fastener.
13. A cladding unit comprising:-a panel having front and rear panel surfaces; and a plurality of fasteners each in accordance with any one of claims 1 to 8, wherein for each fastener the male fastener component is screwed into the rear panel surface and the socket of the female fastener component is releasably gripping the ball-like portion of the male fastener component.
14. A cladding unit according to claim 13, wherein the plurality of fasteners are positioned around the periphery of the rear panel surface of the panel.
15. A cladding unit according to claim 14, wherein the panel is rectangular and first to fourth said fasteners are positional adjacent to respective corners of the rear panel surface.
16. A male fastener component comprising a shank having a screw thread for fixing into a structure, drive surfaces for being driven by a tool to produce rotation of the male fastener component, and a ball-like portion.
17. A male fastener component according to claim 16, further comprising a head between the shank and the ball-like portion, wherein the drive surfaces are provided on the periphery of the head.
18. A male fastener component according to claim 17, wherein a notional circle to which the drive surfaces are tangents has a diameter which is greater than the diameter of the ball-like portion.
19. A male fastener component according to any one of claims 16 to 18, wherein the male fastener component comprises a plate at the head end of the shank.
20. A male fastener component according to claims 17 and 19, wherein the plate provides a flange projecting beyond the periphery of the head.
21. A male fastener component according to any one of claims 16 to 20, wherein the male fastener component is made of metal and the ball-like portion is welded in position.
22. A male fastener component according to any one of claims 16 to 21, wherein the tip of the shank is a drill bit.
23. A method of manufacturing a male fastener component, the method comprising-providing a metal screw portion comprising a shank having a screw thread and a head having drive surfaces; providing a metal ball; and welding the ball to the head of the screw portion.
24. A fastener substantially as herein described with reference to, or with reference to and as illustrated in, the accompanying drawings.
25. A male fastener component substantially as herein described with reference to, or with reference to and as illustrated in, the accompanying drawings.