US1772854A - Latch fastener - Google Patents

Description

Aug.- 12, 1930. H. A. BORRESEN LATCH FASTENER r 1,925 2 Sheets-Sheet l Filed March 16 50 .Zravfaf Helge 50W/@56m @y Q0 j Aug 12, 1930 H. A. BoRRx-:sEN 1,772,854

LATCH FASTENER Filed March 16, 1925 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 millillllllllli "Il" ima-73.75%

MMM. f@ Mw 90W@ Patented Aug. 12, 1930 CORPORATION, OF CAMBRIDGE, sETTs I'IlliIiG-VE A. BORRESEN,` CHICAGO, ILLNOS, ASSGNOB. TO UNITED-CARR FASTNER MAsseOHusnTTs, a CORPORATION OF MASSACHU- LATOH vFASTENER Application led March 16, 1925. Serial No. 15,848.

My invention relates to latch fasteners and more particularly to a. fastener comprising a pair of separable members, one of which has a locking member that is adapted to engage the other member to hold said `members locked together. f

Reference is hereby made to my co-pending application Serial No. 607,345, filed December 16, 1922, Which application contains claims generic to the type of fastenerillustrated and described in my present application. However, it is my intention'to claim in the present application, both `broadly .and specifically, improvements herein fdisclosed over my earlier tiled application.

it is a purpose of my invention toprovide a fastener oi' the above mentioned character that is provided with ay locking member that is adapted to engagea headed member, said locking member being mounted in a housing and being slidable into and vout of locking engagement- With they headed member. y f

it is a further purpose of my invention to provide a fastener of the abovedrmentioned character havinga one piece housing'comprising a ianged front portion and a `rear cover portion connected together by a reduced portion acting as a hinge during closing of said housing. f Y

It is still a further purpose of my inven-V tion to provide a ydevice' ofthe above men-l tioned character comprising a locking mem-4 ber or latch that is adapted tobeautomati-Y cally moved to unlockingposition by engage ment of the material upon Which the same is mounted 'With a portion of the latch or locking member to move said latch or locking member to ,unlocking position. Y 2

It is anotherV purpose of the invention to provide a device of the above mentioned character in which the locking' means is held in locking position by means of a spring or other resilient member wherein said spring or other resilient member is initially tensioned in as-k sembling the device. j

Itis also a purpose of the inventionto provide aA device ofthe above mentioned charac-Y ter in which the .locking latch is formed of a portion of the-,spring to thus providea simple and cheap, yet efficient construction.

It is a particular purpose of my invention to provide means whereby said'spring or other resilient means is automatically tensioned in assembling the device, saidrautomatic tensioning being preferablyvaccomplished by providing a One-piece housing having portions that are adapted to assume positions opposite each other when the housing is in assembled or closed position, one of the portions of the housing receiving the locking member and the otherwhaving means for holding the spring or other resilient member so that when said portions are brought into opposed relationship, the ends of the spring Will beimoved relative to each other so as to tension the same. In the preferred lform, the locking member is provided with a'projection receiving one end of the spring and the one portion of the housing is provided With a pair of hook-like projections over which the other end of the spring is hooked when the housing is in open position. Then by swinging the portion of Vthe housing having thehook-A like projections toward thefother portion of the housing and toward the locking member in' assembling the device, theA ends of the spring are brought closer together, placing the same under initial tensionfautomatically. This greatly reduces the cost of thefdevice.' It is another purpose of myl'invention to provide a fastener comprisinga headedmember having an enlargement Yadjacent the 'base thereof that is adapted to be received in' a recess in the housing of the member carrying the locking means to prevent movement of lie housing transversely of the headed memer. l

It is also a purpose of the invention to pro' vide a locking member that is in sliding Vengagement Withthe inner face ofY the housing so that any strains on the locking member are transmitted directly to thehousing. It is another purpose of my invention to provide va `fastener of the above. mentioned character that has asocket member secured to one member'which the fastener is intended to secure to another member and a device carrying a locking latch providedrwith a projecting portionl having a hook-like formation thereon adapted to enter said socket and lock 25 accompanying 5 acter having a socket portion that is undercut or which has an overhanging lip portion with which the hook-like projection adapted to engage to secure the parts together.

It is still another purpose of the invention lo to provide the hook-like projection on a slidlaua. +11 .f y

ably nieuiieetfiecki g-ineinb i that is mounted within a housing, said locking member being held in locking position by suitable resilient means and being movable out of locking position by movement of a portion of the housing.

It is another purpose of the invention to provide a locking member of the above mentioned character movable out of locking engagement with the socket member by movement of the housing which is also movable independently of the housing.

Other objects and advantages of the iiivention will appear as the vdescription of the drawings proceeds. However I desire to have it distinctly7 understood that I do not intend to limit myself to the exact details shown or described, butI that l intend to include as part 'of my invention all such obvious changes and modifications of parts as would occur to a person skilled in this art and as would fall within the scope of the claims.

Fig. 1 is a face view in elevation of one form of my improved fastener showing a fragment of the material upon which the same is mounted;

Fig. 2 is a rear elevation similar to Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a front elevation of the headed member forming a portion of the separable fastener showing a fragment of the material upon which the same is mounted;

Fig. 4 is an enlarged fragmentary view in section taken substantially on the line Fig. 5 is a section taken substantially on the line 5-5 of Fig. et;

Fig. 6 is a plan view of the blank from 70 which the housing of my improved 'fastener is made;

Fig. 7 is a view showing the housing in open position as the spring is assembled therewith;

Fig. 8 is a side elevation of the locking t .l form of the invention shown in Fig. 9;

Fig. 11 is a face view in elevation of a socket member with which the member shown in Fig. 1() is adapted to cooperate showing a fragment of the materialiupon F which the socket member is mounted;

Fig. 12 is an enlarged fragmentary view in transverse section of the member shown in Fig. 10 showing a fragment of the socket member in co-operating relation therewith;

Fig. 13 is av section taken on the line 13-13 of Fig. 12 on a reduced scale;

Fig. 14C is a rear face view of my improved fastener with the outer portion of the housing removed;

Fig. 15 is ay plan view of the blank from whph Hm mnvnhle member of the housing is made;

Fig. 16 is a view partly in section and partly in elevation of a stud provided with a socket member with which the member shown in Fig. 10 co-operates;

Fig. 17 is a perspective view of the locking member employed in the device shown in Fig. 12; f

Fig. 18 is a face view of the stud shown in Fig. 1G viewed from the left end thereof;

Fig. 19 is a side elevation of the movable housing member before the same is closed;

Fig. 2O is a view similar to Fig. 15 of a modification Fig. 21 is a view partly in plan and partly in section of said modification; and

Fig. 22 is ay fragmentary side view of a portion of the spring latch employed.

Referring in detail to the drawings, in Figs. 1 to 8 inclusive is shown a fastener comprising a housing having the top wall portion 20 and the bottom or rear wall portion 21. YSaid housing is formed from a blank suoli as that shown in Fig. 6, the portion in dicated by the numeral 20 in Fig. 6 representing the portion of the blank forming the top of the housing, and the portion bearing the numeral 21 that forming the back cover or rear 21 of the housing. The top forming portion is formed with a flange forming the side wall portions of the housing and the portions 2O and 21 are connected by means of a reduced portion 96 acting as a hinge to permit swinging of the cover 21 toward the flanged body portion 2O to close the housing.` Co-operating with the housing is a back plate 23 which is secured to the housing by means of the prongs 24 and 25 projecting from the housing which ai'e clinched over the plate 23, as will be clear from Figs. 2 and Ll, said prongs being preferably mounted in recesses 26 in the plate 23. Then the housing and the plate 23 are secured together, the supporting material 27 is clinched between said housing and said back plate, said plate 23 being provided with an upturiied curved peripheral liange portion 28 engaging said material, thus avoiding any sharp edges at the periphery of the plate 23.

Mounted within the housing is a slidable latch or locking member 29 which is adapted to slidably engage the inner face of the top 2O of the housing. An upstruck projection 30 pra is provided on the member 29 adjacent the elongated opening 31. The projection 30 Vis arcuate, as'will be clear from Fig. 5, yand is concavo-convexly curved as will be clear from Figs. 4 and 5, but is provided with a substantially flat surface 32 at which vthe shoulder 33 on the under face of the rounded head 34 provided on the stud 35 is adapted to engage, said stud 35 being provided with a threaded portion 36 screw-threadedly engaging a supporting member 37. It will be seen that the opening 31 accommodates the head 34 of the stud and permits slidingv move'- ment of thelocling member 29 transversely ofthe stud 35.

Said locking member is provided withr a pair of shoulders v38 thatare adapted to engage with the side wall portions 22 adjacent the opening 39 inthe side wall portion of the housing. j The reduced shank portion 40 ofthe locking member extends through the opening 39 and is held in closed'engagement with the top 2O of the housing due to the provision of the depending'fiange or lip 41 provided on the rear wall 21 of said housing leaving only a slot slightly larger than the portion 40 of the member 29 vthrough which said portion 40 projects. The projecting portion of the member 29 terminates in a curved transverse head portion 42 which yis curved both transversely7 and longitudinally, as will be clear from Figs. 4 and 5 so as to provide a rounded surface for engagement by the materialV 27 whereby the slidable locking member or latch 29 can be moved in a direction to move the overhanging lip portion 30 away from the head 34 of the stud 35 to disengage saidloclring member from said-head. The locking member has a rearward projection 43 that is adapted to engage with the wall 'portion 22 to limit the unlocking movement of the locking member 29.

The lockingmember is normally held with the shoulders 38 in engagement with the wall portions 22 andwith the lip portion 32 in engagement with the rear face 33 of the head 34 by means'of the spring having the curved portion of relatively large radius 34 engagingV with the projection 30 on the locking member 29 and having a portion of sharper curvature 35 joining the portion 34 with similar portion of relatively greaterl curvature 46 which joins the portion v47r lying substantially parallel to the side wall portion of the -housing and which spring is provided with a transversely extending substantially7 straight portion 48 connected with `the portion 47 by the abrupt bendv 49.- The spring is preferably put under initial tension so as to always exert a spring pressure on the locking member when the device is assembled. The holding means for the straight portion 48 of the spring is so arranged that the spring will be automatically tensioned during assembly of the device. I

It will be noted upon reference to Fig. 6 that a pair of prongsl 50 is punched out of the material of the rear portion 21 of the housing. The prongs 50 are in the position shown in Fig.. 7 when the rear portion 21 of the housing is bent partly over toward the front portion 20 thereof. Said prongs Vthen serve as hooksin back of which the straight portion 48y of the spring may be placed, said portion being then confined between the springs 50 and the wall 21. As the rear wall 21 is swung further toward the top forming portion 2O to close the housing, the prongs 50 and the straight portion 48 of the spring are moved toward the left in Fig. 7 or toward th-e projection 30. This continues until the rear portion 21 of the housing is substantially parallel with the front portion 2O thereof. At this time, the prongs will be in the position shown in Fig. 4 and the spring will be under tension due to thefact that the distance between the portions 44 and 48 thereof will have been materially decreased causing the' portion 46 to move away from the portion 44. The prongs 50 now act as an abutment to prevent the movement ofthe portion 48 of the spring toward thefwall portion 22 of the housing.

The rear plate23 is provided with an A.annular depression or recess 51 within which the enlargement 52 on the studv 35 is adapted to seat to prevent transverse displacement of the housingV relative to the stud, the projection of the enlargement 52 within the recess in the member 23 being limited due to the overhanging lip portion 53 with which the member 52 engages. The member 52 is preferably made hexagonal so as to serve as means for engagement of a tool therewith to screw the stud into positionr in the member 37. A L

guiding linger or projection 54 is also provided on the member 23 that enters the elongated opening 55 provided in the member 21, said linger or projection 54 acting to guide the head of the stud 34 in its movements into and out of engagement with the member 30 and prevent catching of the same on the member 21. Upon reference to Fig. 5, it will be seen that the projection 30 is provided with a curved edge portion 55 adjacent the stud 35, this preventing any sliding of the latch member out of locking position under the head of the stud. i

lnFigs. 9 to 18 inclusive another form of my invention is shown in which a housing having a top wall portion having a depending peripheral flange 61 and a back cover or rear wall portion 62 is provided. The top wall portion is preferably completely closed and the bottom wall portion 62 is provided with a pair of parallel slots 63, a rectangular opening G4 and a slightly oblong opening 65. This is vclearly shown in Fig. 15 in which the blank from which the housing is made iii) lil

Y wlicliearewbent over onY op is shown. From Fig. 15, it will be seen that a reduced portion or tongue 97 connects the portions 60. and 62 of the blank and serves as a l'iin'gel as they cover' 62 is swung touard the flanged bodyk portion 60. y

Mounted within the housing for sliding movement relative thereto is the locking member 66. A base plate 67 is secured to the bottom of the housing 62 by means of the ears 68 that extend through the slots-v 63 and tesides-.ofthe rlie ears 68 in its` sliding of the houslocking member or latch 66. guide the locking'- member moven'ients on the bottom 62 ing.

Said locking member is provided with a projection 69 having a hoololilrc end= por 76 that is adapted to engage with the overhanging lipportion 71 provided on the socket member 72, said' lip portion being preferably annular. The socket member 72 preferallily projects from a base 78tbat carries 'theprongs 74l forv securing the saine to any suitable mount-ing materiala7 The socket member 72 is shown in. Fig. 11 as being provided with such a base for securing the same to a piece of flexible material'. Sometimes, however, it is desirable to provide a socket member that can be secured in a framework member of any automobile or similar part and for this purpose, the arrangement sho vn inl 16 and 18 may be used in which the screw niember 76 is provided with a head having al exagonal portion 77 and provided with a. socket portion 78 having an overha-.nging lip portion 79 which is preferably annular in form as described inv connection with the lip portion 71. rllhe hoolc-lilre member would en.- gage with the lip portion 79 of the member 76 in the same manner as it engages with the lip portion 71 ofv the member 72.

The slidable locking member 66 further provided with a depending. flange or lip 8() which' passes. through the opening 6'1- and which limits the movement of the locking member relative tothe housing in both directions. The member 66 is further provided with a prong or a lip portion 81 extending in the opposite direction to the flange or lip which isturned over indicated in Figs. 12 and 13 so as to secure one end of the spring 82 to said member 66. The spring 82 is provided with a plurality of bends, as will be clear from Fig. 13, three such bends being provided therein.. The opposite end of the spring 82 is secured to the base n'iember 67 by means of the prong 83 extending upwardly therefrom and bent over said spring 82 as shown in Fig. 12. The prong or hook 88 e ztends through the openingA 64, as will be clear from Figs. 12 and 13. A pair of rearwardly extending lingers8et is also provided on the member 66, said' fingers extending' on opposite sides of the opening 64 and passing on opposite sides of the prong 83.

The base member 67 is-provided with a plurality of prongs which pass through suitable openings 89 in the washer or baclr plate 86, the material 87 to which the fastener is secured being clamped between the members 67 and 86. Said prongs preferably lie in recesses-88 in the member 86 so as tobe flush with the surface thereof.

The annular groove 91 is providedl on the washer or plate 86 to accommodate the enlargement 77 -on the stud 01.` the. rib .9.0. .011 the member 73. The member 67 is, of course, provided with an oblong opening 92 through Vwhich the projection 69 passes and the washer 86 is provided with an open-ing 93 to accommodate the projection 69. An annular inturned flange 9e is provided on the mem-ber 86 to provide a recess within whichl the end of the socketmember 7 2' or 7 8 projects to prevent movement of the back plate 86 of the fastener and the portion 67 of the housing relative thereto.

It will be seen from the above, that the hoololilre member 70y can be disengaged from the li. p portion 71 by moving. the housing comP prising the'portion 60, 61 and 62 to the left in Fig. 12. The' movement of the housing -will carry the locking member 66 along with the same due to the fact that the end of the rectangular opening 64 will enga-ge with the lip 80, the prongs or ears 68 sliding inthe slots 63 when this occurs, the length of the slots of course limiting the movement of the housing relative to the base member 67. It is, however, unnecessary to move-the housing to engage the hook-like member 701withy the socket member 72 or 78 as the curved camlike face 95 will engagei with the lip 71 and Willmove the member 66 against the tension of the spring 82 both relative to the housing and the base plate 67, the lug or projection/80 moving in the slot 64 when this occurs.

The length of the studY or projection 69 or the member 30 Will depend upon the4 thickness of the material 87, it heilig obvioust-ha-t a longer stud has to'be provided for thicker material as indicated in dotted lines at G9 i-n Fig. 17, or as indicated at 30 in Fig. 8..

In assembling the device the membersv 66 and 67 aswell as the Spring 82 are assembled with back cover or rear wall portion 62, the same extending substantially at right angle to the portion 60 at this time as shown infFig. 19. Then the housing; is closed by swinging the portion 62 about the hinging portion 97 until the parts are in the position shown in Fig. 12.

In Figs. 20, 21 and 22 a modified construction of fastener is shown in which. the housing comprises the Vmain body forming portion and the rear wall or cover forming portion 101, these being connected4 together by a reduced connecting portion 1024 as clearly shown in Fig. 20, this. figure showing; the blank. The body forming portion l160 is formed in a die so as to have the flange portion 103 t-hereon, the portion 102 serving as a connecting hinge portion between the cover 101 and the body portion 100. The blank is further provided with a plurality of holding prongs 104 that are adapted to engage with the material Vupon which the member is mounted for holding the same in place. The cover portion 101 is provided with an oblong opening 104 through which the stud `106 having the head 10i thereon extends.

A prong or nger 108 is provided on the cover member 101 which is adapted to be engaged with the end porti-on 109 of the spring wire member 110 in a similar manner to which the prong engaged with the portion 48 of the spring in the device shown in Fig. 5. The spring wire member 110 has a portion forming substantially to the inner contour of the container formed by the member 100 being spaced suciently therefrom to obtain the desired action of the spring. Said member has an odset portion at 111 that is adapted to engage with' the adjoining portion of the housing and with a further outwardly 'offset portion 112 that serves as an operating por-V tion. From the oiiset portion 112, a sharply curved portion 113 extends which is connected with the more gradually curved portion 114 that is adapted to engage under the head 107 of the stud 106 So as 'to interlock therewith the portion 114 serving as the latching portion'of the spring wire member 110, the latch 29 shown in Fig. 5 being disposed with in this form of the invention.

in order to engage under the head of the stud, no matter Ywhat the extent of said head into the housing may be, the spring ywire member 110 is suitably formed to engage under said head, being ozset to engage therewith as indicated at 115 in Fig. 22 when this is necessary, the amount of offset being greater as indicated in dotted lines at 115, if the stud extends a shorter distance into the housing and being less as indicated at 115, if the stud extends a greater distance'into the housing. The housing is provided with a lip portion 116 that extends toward the cover 101 and a depending lip portion 117 that extends toward the body portion 100, thus forming a guide for the odset portion 112 which extends on opposite sides of said lips.

It will be evident from the above, ,that in the form shown in Figs. 20 to 22 inclusive a very cheap and simple construction is obtained which has all the advantages of the SeparateY latch Vand spring but inY which the spring wire member formsa spring portion, an operating portion and a latching portion.

Having thus described my inventionwhat 1 desire to claim and secure by United States Letters Patent is:

1. A device of thecharacter describedcomprising aV headed member and a member adapted to engage saidL headed member, said :relationship to ormx-the housing, ,a latch enlast member comprising a housing having an Vaperture therein adapted: :to receive said gaging 'one of said portions, a projection thereon, a spring engaging said projection and Vmeans on one of said portions 'engaging Ysaid spring to tension the samev when said portions, are brought into opposed relation- Ship.

3. A device of the ycharacter described, comprising a housing having top and bottom portions adaptedto be brought into opposed relationship to form the housing, a latch fiatly engaging one of said portions, a projection thereon, a spring engaging said projection and means on saidl other portion engaging saidV spring to tension the same when said portions are brought into opposed relationship.

4. A device of the character described, comprising a housing having top and bottom portions adapted to be brought into opposed relationship to lorm the housing, a latch engaging one of said portions, a projection thereon, a spring engaging said projection and prongs on said other portion engaging said spring to tension the same when said portions are brought into opposed relationship. l

5. A device of the character described, comprising a housing having top and bottom portions adapted to be brought into opposed relationship to form the housing, a latch engaging one of said portions, a yprojection thereon,4 a spring engaging said projection and a pair of hook prongs on said other portion engaging said spring to tension the saine when said portions are brought into opposed relationship. Y

6. A device of the character described, comprising a housing having top and bottom portions adapted to be brought into opposed relationship to form the housing, a latch '1 slidably engaging one of said portions, a projection thereon, a spring having a bowed n end portion engaging said projection and prongs on'said other portion of said housing, said spring having a portion engageable over said prongs before moving said portions o said housing into opposed relation, whereby said spring is tensioned when said opposed portions are moved into opposed relation.

6 Maasai 7 A device of the character described, comprising a housing having topand bottom portions adapted to be brought into opposed relationship to form the housing, a latch slidably engaging one of said portions, a projection thereon, co-operating means on said latch and housing, for limiting the movement of said latch Within said housing, a

spring, having a bowed end portion engaging 10 said projection, and prongs on said other portion of said housing, said spring having a portion engageable over said prongs before moving said portions of said housing into opposed relation, Whereby said spring is tensioned when said opposed portions are moved into opposed relation.

8. A fastener of the character described comprising a housing, a latch in said housing, a spring controlling said latch, and a -30 headed member adapted to be projected into said housing to engage With said latch, said latch having an offbset portion projecting to- Ward said headed member to engage under the head thereof, saidspring engaging said :35 offset portion and having a portion engag ing a side Wall ofthehousing.

In Witness whereof, I hereunto subscribe my name this 6th day of March A. D. 1925.

HELGE A. BORRESEN.

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