IE55130B1

IE55130B1 - Plate-shaped spacer

Info

Publication number: IE55130B1
Application number: IE1116/84A
Authority: IE
Original assignee: Niemann Hans Dieter
Priority date: 1983-05-31
Filing date: 1984-05-04
Publication date: 1990-06-06
Also published as: DK212084A; DK159573C; DK212084D0; DE3319661A1; DK159573B; EP0127021B1; ATE27047T1; EP0127021A3; EP0127021A2; IE841116L; DE3463558D1

Abstract

1. Plate-like flat spacer (10) for the building industry, with a slot (11) which is open to one side, which extends from its open slot entry beyond the centrepoint (15) of the plate, and which at its slot end (26) encloses a fastening screw (12) or the like without gripping it, characterised in that the spacer (10), made of plastics material, has at least one resilient retaining projection (24, 27 to 32) which protrudes into the slot (11) and is arranged at a distance (a) in front of the slot end (26) allowing the fastening screw (12) to locate at said slot end without being gripped.

Description

The invention relates to a plate-shaped flat spacer with a slot, open on one side, which extends from the open start of the slot beyond the centre of the plate and, with its slot end, surrounds a fixing screw or the like without clamping.

It is an object of the invention to improve a spacer of the type initially mentioned in such a way that it is particularly suitable for the installation of windows and interior and exterior house improvement.

Accordingly, the invention provides a plate-shaped flat spacer for the building industry with a slot, open on one side, which extends from the open start of the slot beyond the centre of the plate and, with its slot end, surrounds a fixing screw or the like without clamping, the spacer consisting of plastics material and possessing at least one elastic retaining projection which protrudes into the slot and is arranged at a distance (a) in front of the slot end such as to ensure that the fixing screw is not clamped. 3 355130 A spacer consisting of plastics material is particularly suitable for building, as it cannot decay and hence permanently ensures that a space is bridged as required.

The fact that its useful slot length is greater than the distance of the centre of gravity of the plate from the start of the slot makes it particularly suitable for conditions where space is cramped. Thus if the slot is pushed over the fixing means, for example a fixing screw, to the point that the latter, viewed from the start of the slot, is beyond the centre of gravity of the plate, the spacer can no longer slip down from the fixing screw but, with the slot vertical, automatically remains in the assembly position until the screw is tightened. In this 4 manner the spacer also facilitates the installation of a window or the fixing of the part arranged in .the space to another part. It is also possible to avoid spacers falling into installation areas where they are undesirable or may cause problems and, due to adverse space conditions, may possibly be difficult to retrieve.

A spacer with a slot, in the form of a metal spacer, is generally known. As a metal construction element it is used, for example, where high fixing forces arise. Its use in building is not possible. Due to the moisture always present in building work it is prone to corrosion, which can have troublesome effects, and it is too heavy, since it has to be comparatively large due to the low specific load-bearing capacity of the . materials used for the parts to be spaced. Experience shows that when the spacer is arranged vertically it can easily be lost. In contrast, spacers according to the invention consisting of plastic are comparatively light and correspondingly are also simple to handle. The fact that the fixing screw is surrounded on virtually all sides prevents the flange of the window frame from becoming distorted or warped. The spacer can be given a sufficiently large surface area, and its outer periphery can also be adapted to special intended uses, for example to installation in a groove or to use in combination with a web-like bearing surface, whose side dimensions must not be exceeded.

To enable the spacer also to be used in those areas of use in which positional securing of the spacer on a fixing screw by gravity is impossible, inadequate or in- 5 555130 sufficiently reliable, the spacer has at least one retaining projection protruding into the slot. This retaining projection helps to secure the position of the spacer, or secures it alone. The spacer can therefore also be used 5 if, for example, relative movements take place between the surfaces to be spaced, or if impact or shock stresses or other mounting parts to be introduced into the vicinity of of the fixing point exist, so that positional securing by gravity alone could become a problem.

In the case of the invention, the retaining pro jection or projections are located at a distance from the end of the slot, and thus form between themselves and the end of the slot a free space in which the fixing means or fixing screw is located. As a result, the spacer can 15 be moved on the screw without its necessarily being able to fall down. It is however also possible for the retaining projection or projections to be designed as intermittent clamping points, or clamping points which substantially extend over the entire length of the slot. This 20 type of design of the retaining projections as clamping points likewise ensures an undisplaceable seating of the spacer on the fixing screw or on a fixing means, and has the further advantage that the spacer has to be arranged in a very specific position relative to one or both of 25 the structural elements to be spaced.

A particularly simple embodiment of the spacer is obtained if the retaining projection or projections are arranged integrally with the spacer at the slot edges. This embodiment requires only a low production cost, 6 which makes the spacer suitable for mass use.

In a development of the invention, the retaining projection or projections are spring tongues which, when the spacer is pushed onto the fixing screw, spring back into recesses present in the slot edges. As a consequence, slot widths can be used which are of exactly the same size as the diameter of-the screw. The retaining projections designed as spring tongues close or virtually close the slot and/or engage with the slot edges at the open end of the slot. The closure or virtual closure makes it possible, with a large slot width, also to use thin fixing screws or nails, without the danger that the spacer will fall down. The arrangement of the spring tongues at the open end of the slot makes it easier for the travels of the spring tongues to be long, which is particularly necessary if the slot width is large and is closed by the spring tongues.

The retaining projection can be a separate spring part inserted into the spacer, and as such can be matched, for example, to the particular shaping of the fixing means. The spring part allows long travels, which can be advantageous particularly in the case of rigid plastic or a thick spacer.

In order to enable a spacer to be inserted between two structural elements when space is restricted, a screwdriver insertion slot is present in one outer edge, preferably opposite the slot. As a consequence of this the spacer can be introduced with a screwdriver even into a narrow gap and can be slipped onto a screw crossing this 7 7 55130 gap transversely, if the gap is too narrow for the finger or the hand of the person concerned.

Particularly thick spacers are ribbed on one or both sides. The ribbing saves construction material, and 5 makes the spacer lighter and hence better to handle. If one bearing surface of the spacer is rough, for example consisting of plaster, the roughnesses can press into the spaces between the ribs of the spacer, enabling the.fixing forces to be reduced or the seating of the spacer on 10 the plaster surface to be improved by corresponding frictional adhesion.

In order that it should still be possible to drive in nails in the area of a nail joint even when a spacer has been placed, the spacer consists of nailable plastic. 15 For this purpose the plastic, consisting for example of polyvinylchloride, is given an increased plasticiser con-ent, preventing shattering of the spacer.

The spacer is rounded off at its corners remote from the slot. The rounding-off of the corners remote 20 from the slot saves construction material, but has the particular advantage that the centre of gravity lies comparatively low relative to the end of the slot, or that, given the same relative positioning of the centre of gravity of the plate and the end of the slot, a compara-25 tively short slot length for the spacer will suffice.

The invention is explained with reference to exemplary embodiments shown in the drawings. In the draw-i ngs: Figure 1 shows a plan view of a bearing surface 8 8 55130 SI of a spacer according to the invention, Figure 2 shows an edge-on view in direction A in Figure 1, Figures 3 to 8 show particular embodiments of a 5 slot in a spacer, and Figure 9 shows a plan view analogous to Figure 1.

The spacer 10 shown in Figure 1 is square. It is also plate-shaped, i.e. its height h as shown in 10 Figure 2 is small in comparison to the edge length k.

The spacer 10 has a slot 11 with slot width w and slot length 1. The dimensions of the slot width w are selected so that the spacer 10 with the slot 11 can be pushed onto a fixing means, which is not shown in detail 15 but is indicated as being circular by the broken lines in Figure 1 and is intended to represent the cross-section of a fixing screw 12. Per this purpose, the slot wall 19 is of semicircular design in the area of the fixing screw 12. However, a'design other than this is possible.

As a result of the slot 11, the centre of gravity 14 of the spacer 10 lies rather above its geometrical centre 15. This is caused by the rather greater mass of the upper half of the spacer 10. If the centre of gravity 14 is required to coincide with the centre 15, this mass of 25 the upper half of the spacer 10 must be reduced, for example by the rounding-off 16 of the corners 17 remote from the slot, as shown in dotted lines. The coincidence of the centre of gravity 14 with the centre 15 has the advantage of permitting better instinctive work, for example if 9 955130 the work is being done quickly and the spacer 10 is pushed on onLy to an extent corresponding to half of its edge length k instead of being pushed on rather further, corresponding to the distance of its centre of gravity 14 from the start 11' of the slot, if the centre of gravity 14 and the centre 15 do not coincide.

The insertion of a spacer 10 into a gap is facilitated by a screwdriver insertion slot 18, into which the blade of a screwdriver is inserted, so that the spacer 10 can be introduced into the narrow gap with the screwdriver instead of with the hands.

The radial centre 13 of the semicircular slot wall 19, or the axis of the fixing screw 12, is more remote than the centre of gravity 14 of the plate from the start 11' of the slot. The spacer 10 can be pushed horizontally onto the fixing screw 12 to the extent that the radial centre 13 comes to lie beyond the centre of gravity 14 of the plate, if the fixing screw 12 is in contact with the semicircular slot wall 19 of the longitudinal slot 11. If the spacer 10 is then released, the outer ends 20 of the U-shaped spacer 10 swing into their lowest position, and the spacer 10 is suspended on the fixing screw 12 and is unable to slip down.

Figure 2 shows that the spacer 10 is of ribbed design in the case of greater heights h. The plate body itself consists of a comparatively thin-walled centre plate 21, which has projecting webs 22 and ribs 23 on one side or, according to Figure 2, on both sides, these webs and ribs coming to bear on the bearing surfaces of 10 10 55130 the structural elements to be spaced, provided that no projections on these bearing surfaces, for example roughnesses of plaster, engage between the webs 22 and ribs 23.

The spacers 10 in Figures 3 to 8 exhibit retain ing projections of varying design. The retaining projections 24 are strips which project into the slot on both sides and, over their length, form clamping points 25 for a fixing screw 12, so that the spacer 10 can be moved into 10 several positions. The spacer 10 clamps firmly on the fixing screw 12 and retains the position into which it was slipped on. The retaining projections 24 are at a distance a from the slot end 26, this distance being such that the fixing screw 12 lies in the slot 11 without clamping, 15 so that the spacer 10 can be moved correspondingly without its being possible, however, for the spacer 10 to fall off the fixing screw 12. This is again the case with the design of the slot 11 according to Figure 4, where the retaining projections 27 are likewise located at a 20 distance a from the slot end 26 and merely ensure that the spacer will not fall off a fixing screw 12, but do not ensure that it is clamped over the entire length of the slot.

The retaining projections 28 of the spacer 10 25 according to Figure 5 clamp a fixing screw 12 at a specific point shortly before the end 26 of the slot.

The retaining projections 29, 30, 31 of the spacers 10 in Figures 6 to 8, by contrast, each guarantee a position of the fixing screw 12 in the slot 11 allowing 11 115 513 0 relative movement, the retaining projections 29 being of spring-type design to facilitate the pushing-in of the fixing screw 12 or the pushing of the spacer 10 onto a fixing screw 12, while in the case of the spacer shown in Figure 5 7 cam-like retaining projections 30 protrude into the slot 11 and thus form a particularly simple embodiment. The retaining projections 31 of the spacer in.accordance with Figure 8 are, in a similar manner to the retaining projections 24, designed to extend over virtually the entire 10 length of the slot 11. However, they are not present over the entire height h of the spacer 10 at the slot edges 111 *, but only over a part thereof, so that when the spacer is slipped onto a fixing screw 12 they can more easily move out of the way and thus facilitate pushing 15 on.

The spacer 10 in Figure 9 has a slot 11 with spring tongues 32 protruding similarly to those in Figure 6, and engaging at the end 11' of the slot on the slot edges 11'' of the spacer 10. They virtually close the 20 slot 11, so that even a small fixing screw 12 cannot slip out of the wide slot 11 hence allowing the spacer 10 to fall down. The mutually facing sides of the spring tongues 32 form an inlet funnel and retract into the recesses 32' when the spacer 10 is pushed onto the fixing screw 12.

The recesses 32' are so designed that the diameter of the fixing screw 12 can be virtually identical to the slot width w of the slot 11 without the spring tongues 32 presenting an insuperable obstacle to the pushing-on of spacer 10. Once the spacer 10 has been snapped onto the fixing 5 5 13 0 12 screw 12, which involves the production of an appropriate sound, the user of the spacer 10 knows that the latter has reached its assembly position.

Claims

55130 1 3

1. A plate-shaped flat spacer for the building industry with a slot, open on one side, which extends from the open start of the slot beyond the centre of the plate and, with its slot end, surrounds a fixing screw or the like without clamping, the spacer consisting of plastics material and possessing at least one elastic retaining projection which protrudes into the slot and is arranged at a distance (a) in front of the slot end such as to ensure that the fixing screw is not clamped.

2. A spacer according to Claim 1, wherein the retaining projection or projections are arranged integrally with the spacer at the slot edges.

3. A spacer according to Claim 1 or 2, wherein the retaining projection or projections are spring tongues which, when the spacer is pushed onto the fixing screw, spring back into recesses present in the slot edges.

4. A spacer according to Claim 3, wherein the retaining projections designed as spring tongues close or virtually close the slot and/or engage with the slot edges at the open end of the slot.

5. A spacer according to one of Claims 1 to 4, wherein the retaining projection or projections are formed by a separate spring part inserted into the spacer. 14 14 ο 5 i 3 Ο

6. A spacer according to one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the retaining projection or projections are designed as intermittent clamping points, or clamping points which substantially extend over the entire 5 length of the slot.

7. A spacer according to one of Claims 1 to 6, wherein a screwdriver insertion slot is present in one outer edge, preferably opposite the slot.

8. A spacer according to one Of Claims 1 to 7, which 10 is ribbed on one or both sides.

9. A spacer according to one of Claims l to 8, which consists of nailable plastics material.

10. A spacer according to one of Claims l to 9, wherein its corners remote from the slot are rounded 15 off.

11. A plate-shaped flat spacer as claimed in Claim 1, substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to and as illustrated in the accompanying drawings. F. R. KELLY & CO., AGENTS FOR THE APPLICANTS.