US2759238A

US2759238A - Plastic cap for collapsible type snap fastener socket

Info

Publication number: US2759238A
Application number: US364838A
Authority: US
Inventors: Harold W Williams
Original assignee: Scovill Inc
Current assignee: Scovill Inc
Priority date: 1953-06-29
Filing date: 1953-06-29
Publication date: 1956-08-21
Anticipated expiration: 1973-08-21

Description

Aug. 21, 1956 H. w. WILLIAMS 2,759,238

PLASTIC CAP FOR COLLAPSIBLE TYPE SNAP FASTENER SOCKET Fild June 29, 1953 &

TTORNEY INVENTOR Harold wwilliclma United States PatentO PLASTIC CAP FOR COLLAPSIBLE TYPE SNAP FASTENER SOCKET Harold W. Williams, Pawling, N. Y., assignor to Scovill Manufacturing Company, Waterbury, Conrn, a corporation of Connecticut Application June 29, 1953, Serial No. 364,838

2 Claims. (Cl. 24--216) This invention relates to snap fastener sockets and particularly to improvements in the cap member used in association with the so-called self-setting or collapsible type of socket piece of the character disclosed in the Richardson Patent No. 605,833.

One of the principal objects of this invention is to provide an improved construction of a plastic cap to be used in association with the above type of socket piece.

In making plastic caps for use with the collapsible type of socket pieces, in the past it was necessary to provide a recess in the cap having a restricted opening so that the socket piece could obtain a suitable anchorage within the cap when the socket piece was collapsed therewithin. This was obtained in the earlier type of plastic cap by molding the cap about a metal insert. This insert construction was objectionable because there was not suflicient flexibleness to the insert within the plastic cap, so that often the collapsible socket would be restricted by the insert piece and interfere with the required resilient action of the socket. Also it required an extra piece and was relatively expensive. While it has been proposed to use a single piece cap made only of plastic material, this gave rise to other difficulties in that a restricted recess within a cap could not be molded directly because it would be impossible to remove the cap from the die. Thus it was necessary to mold a cap having a recess with parallel surface walls so as to permit removal of the cap from the die and by a subsequent forming operation to the wall to restrict the recess opening into the cap.

It is the object of this invention to make a plastic cap that can be completely constructed in a single molding operation and provided with integral structural characteristics that will permit a self-setting type of socket piece to be collapsed within the cap coincident with the attaching of the cap and socket piece to a support and assure a firm anchorage of the parts to the support without interfering with the resilient requirements of the socket piece.

For this purpose a plastic cap is provided having a cylindrical recess opening through its underside and a series of parallel vertical radial ribs are formed on the circumferential wall of the recess and extend the full depth of the recess. The ribs are of such a character that during the setting of the socket piece within the recess, portions of the ribs adjacent the base of the recess are mutilated or deformed by the outwardly collapsed walls of the socket piece, and the collapsed walls become embedded within the ribs to securely anchor the cap to the socket piece without the need of altering the general overall shape of the cap from its original state.

The full nature of this invention along with other objects and various advantages thereof will be more apparent from a consideration of the following description when read in connection with the accompanying drawing, in which,

Fig. 1 is a cross-sectional view of the plastic cap embodying the features of the invention.

Referring now to the drawingthe numeral 10 designates a socket cap made of plastic material and used to attach a self-setting or collapsible type of metal resilient socket piece 11 to a support member 12 such as fabric, sheet plastic, leather or similar material.

The plastic cap 10 is initially molded in the state as shown in Fig. 1 having a closed end or base 13 and an annular rigidwall 14 perferably made somewhat thicker than the closed end 13. The closed end 13 and annular wall 14 define a recess or cavity 15 opening through the I underside of the cap. Projecting from the circumferential wall of the recess is a series of radially projecting ribs 16 closely spaced thereabout and extending the full depth of the recess 15.

As best shown in Fig. 1 the lower edge of the wall 14 is formed on a slight inwardly downward bevel 17 and the ribs 16 project a slight distance below the beveled edge 17 as at 18, the lower ends of the ribs being likewise beveled as at 19 in a manner comparable to the beveled edge 17 to provide relatively sharp rib extremities.

The socket piece 11 in its initial state as shown in Fig. 3 is the so-called collapsible self-setting type of socket of conventional construction and consists of a barrel or body 20 terminating in a lateral projecting angular flange 21 surrounding the open end. The barrel 20 is slitted substantially its entire length as at 22 so as to permit the barrel 20 to collapse under axial pressure and these slits extend entirely through the flange 21 as indicated at 23 so as to impart resiliency to the socket piece. As noted in Fig. 3 an intermediate portion of the barrel is provided with openings or piercings 24 that are positioned to intercept the slits 22 so as to weaken that portion of the barrel in order that the barrel will collapse outwardly within that general area during the setting operation. The juncture of the barrel and flange has an offset bead 25 which forms a constricted resilient neck opening adapted to engage the complementary portion of a stud member (not shown) of any usual approved construction.

In the operation of assembling the socket part 11 to the support material 12, the material 12 is first provided with a piercing 26 of a suitable size to receive the barrel 20 of the socket part. The socket part is mounted in a suitable die (not shown) and then the support material is placed thereover with the barrel 20 projecting through an opening 26 in the material 22 as seen in Fig. 3. The cap 10 is also secured in a die (not shown) and as the dies are moved toward each other the closed end 17a of the barrel 17 abuts against the base surface of the cap recess 15. As the dies continue to move closer toward each other the sections of the barrel 20 that are divided by the slits will be collapsed outwardly in the region of the barrel openings 24 into a bulged state and said barrel sections will embed themselves into the ribs 16 and deform them at the innermost end of said ribs as shown in Fig. 5. It is to be understood that when the barrel sections of the socket piece are expanded into the ribs, some amount of the rib material will be displaced and moved into the spaces between the adjacent ribs thus facilitating the collapsing of the barrel within the cap recess.

By reason of the fact that it is only the inner ends of the ribs into which the barrel sections of the socket piece are embedded, there is assured a very firm anchorage be- 3 tween the socket piece 11 and plastic cap 12 withou danger of pulling apart. This construction also assures that the support material will be firmly embraced between the flange 21 of the socket part and the beveled edge 17 of the cap wall 14 with the projecting portions 18 of the ribs embedding themselves in the support material so as to provide a secure anchorage to the cloth immediately surrounding the socket so as to prevent the cloth pulling outwardly therefrom.

It is also to be noted from Fig. 4 that the offset bead 25 constituting the resilient opening of the socket piece is sufiiciently spaced from the cap and the ribs in the cap so as not to interfere with the normal resilient characteristics of the socket during the engaging action with any complementary stud.

While the form of invention herewith shown and described embraces a preferred embodiment of same it is understood that the construction may be varied without departing from the spirit of invention and the scope of what is claimed.

What I claim is:

l. A snap fastener socket member consisting of a plastic cap and a sheet metal resilient socket piece adapted to be assembled to each other through an opening in a support member from opposite sides thereof, said plastic cap having a base part and a rigid wall depending from the circumference of the base part to define therewith a cavity, a series of axially arranged ribs projecting radially inwardly from the wall of said cavity, said socket piece comprising a barrel part and an end flange surrounding the open end of the barrel part, said socket piece having slits extending through said barrel part and said flange dividing the, same into sections, the wall sections of said barrel part adjacent its closed end being expanded outwardly to provide an enlarged inner end which extends across the upper portions of said ribs which have been deformed by the outward expansion of the barrel sections whereby the interengagement of the expanded barrel portion and deformed ribs permanently interlock the socket piece to the plastic cap.

2. A snap fastener socket member as defined in claim 1 wherein the ribs are extended beyond the edge of said wall and are adapted to embed into the support member.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS