US3116081A - Fastening device - Google Patents

Description

Dec. 31, 1963 c. GOODRIDGE FASTENING DEVICE Filed March 8, 1962 '//v VENTOR. LAWRENCE C. Gown/0 GE,

ATTORNE).

United States Patent 3,116,081 FASTENENG DEVlCE Lawrence C. Goodridge, Bristol, Conn, assignor to General Electric Company, a corporation of New York Filed Mar. 8, 1962, filer. No. 178,437 Claims. (Cl. 292--2.12)

This invention relates to fastening devices and particularly to a device mounted on a cover for fastening the cover to a receptacle or housing.

Many installations, such as panels boards, include a cover which is to be attached to a receptacle or housing by fastening means arranged to be tightened and released at the will of an operator to permit attachment and removal of the cover relative to the housing. It is desirable that the fastening device employed for such purpose be comprised of a minimum number of inexpensive parts which are capable of rapid assembly to the cover without requiring special knowledge and tools and, when once assembled, are captively mounted on the cover. Such a fastening device should also be capable of effecting a very positive clamp between the cover and the housing by a simple actuation of the actuatable part of the fastener from the front of the cover. It is further desirable that provision be made for indicating to an operator the condition of the fastener, that is whether or not the fastener is in a tightened or released condition. Although a wide variety of fasteners have heretofore been proposed, such fasteners have lacked one or more of the above-described desirable features.

It is accordingly 2. primary object of the invention to provide a novel and improved fastener comprised of a minimum number of inexpensive parts which are readily assembled to a cover or the like, without special knowledge and tools and which, when assembled, are thereafter held captive to the cover.

It is another object of the invention to provide a novel and improved fastener for mounting on a cover or the like which incorporates a clamp for positioning at the inside of the cover with means for effecting rotation of the clamp between operative and inoperative positions by a si iple actuation of a portion of the fastener from a position outside of the cover.

it is a further object of the invention to provide a novel and improved fastener for mounting on a cover or the like including a clamp at the inside of the cover rotatable between operative and inoperative positions from a position external to the cover and having means for indicating to an operator the position or" the clamp.

it is still another object of the invention to provide a novel and improved fastener for mounting on a cover or the like incorporating a minimum number of inexpensive parts which are readily assembled to the cover without the requirement of special tools and including a clamp on the inside of the cover rotatable through a quarter turn from outside the cover between operative and inoperative positions.

In carrying out the invention in one preferred form, a fastener is provided for mounting on a cover or the like and includes a collar at the outside of the cover having a projection extending through a specially shaped opening of the cover into snap fit engagement with a support at the inside of the cover. The support detachably "ice mounts a clamp in such a manner that the clamp is rotatable with the support in response to rotation of the collar about its axis, and is also movable towards and away from the cover in response to rotation of a screw which extends through the collar and through its projection into threaded engagement with a not held captive by the clamp. The collar is rotatable through a quarter turn between two positions wherein the clamp is respectively adjacent to and displaced from a support or flange to which the cover is to be attached. Rotation Otf the collar between such positions is limited by engagement of the collar projection with walls of the specially shaped opening of the cover. The collar includes markings viewable by an operator to indicate the rotary position of the clamp.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the folio-wing description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a view in front elevation with parts broken away of a. cover or the like showing the fastener of the present invention mounted thereon;

FlG. 2 is a view with parts shown in section taken along the line 22 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a view in rear elevation with parts broken away of the cover showing parts of the fastener at the inside thereof;

FIG. 4 is a view in elevation of a collar employed in the fastener of FIGS. 1-3;

FIG. 5 is a view in section taken along the line 5-5 of FIG. 4; and

FIG. 6 is a view in perspective of a support comprising a part of the fastener of FIGS. 1, 2 and 3.

Referring now to the drawings there is illustrated in FIG. 1 a fastener represented generally by the numeral it mounted upon a cover or panel front 11 adapted to be attached to a support or flange 12 shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 and which comprises part of a housing or enclosure. In general, the fastener of the present invention includes a collar 13 at the outside of the cover ll adapted for loose extension through a specially shaped opening 14 of the cover into snap-in engagement with a support 5 at the inside of the cover which detachably mounts a clamp 16 which is rotatable with the collar about the axis of the collar and which is adjustable toward-s and away from the cover by actuation of an adjusting means 17.

More specifically, the collar 13 includes a head 18 adjacent the outer surface of the cover ll and a hollow projection 19 which contains a passage 2t) and which is of generally elliptical cross section as best shown in FlG. 1. The projection 19 is adapted for loose extension through the opening '14 into snap-in engagement with an aperture 22 formed in the support 15 and of generally elliptical configuration conforming to the cross section configuration of the projection 19. The projection 19 includes adjacent its outer end a pair of opposed resilient ribs 21 struck out from the more widely-spaced sides of the projection 19 as best shown in H6. 5. The aperture 22 is formed in one section 23 of the L-shaped support l5 which also includes a section 24 bent at right angles to the section 23. An opening 26 is formed in the support 15 and includes portions in each of the sections 23, 24 as best shown in FIG. 6.

The opening 26 of the support 15 receives a pair of bearing hooks 27 of the clamp 16 formed at the ends of spaced generally parallel legs 23 connected by a curved web 29 which includes a clamping extension 3%} adapted to clanipingly engage the flange 12 of the enclosure. With the arrangement thus far described the collar 13, the support 15, and the clamp 16 are connected together so that rotation of the collar 13 relative to the cover about its axis effects corresponding rotation of the support 15 and the clamp 16. Thus, the clamping extension 36 of the clamp 16 may be rotated between an operative position wherein the clamp is adjacent the flange 12 as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3; and an inoperative position wherein the clamp is angularly displaced from the flange 12 in response to rotation of the collar I13.

The adjusting means 17 is provided for the purpose of permitting adjustment of the clamp 16 and the clamping extension 3% towards and away from the cover ill to permit clamping and unclarnping of the cover 11 to the flange 12. As best shown in FIG. 2, the adjusting means 17 includes a nut 31 which is held captive within a pair of aligned openings 3?. formed in the spaced legs 23 of the clamp 16. The nut 32 is adapted to threadably receive the threaded end of a screw 33 which extends loosely through the passage 29 of the collar 13 and which includes a slotted head portion 3 3 abutting the outer surface of the collar 13 whereby rotation of the screw 33 relative to the collar 13 is readily effected by an operator from a position outside the cover. Inasmuch as the nut 32 is held against substantial movement, rotation of the screw 33 is effective to displace the nut 32 and the clamp 16 axially of the screw towards and away from the cover 11 in vertical directions as viewed in FIG. 2. As the screw is rotated in a direction to draw the clamp 16 toward the cover, the hooks 27 will pivot and slide against the back surface of the cover so that the screw will remain at a right angle to the cover. Further details of the clamp and screw arrangement may be found in U.S. Patent No. 2,501,722.

As previously described the clamp 16 may be rotated between two spaced positions in response to rotation of the collar 13. Such rotation of the clamp 116 is effected by gripping diametrically opposed extensions 35 on the collar and is limited by engagement of the projection 19 of the collar with walls of the opening 14 of the cover 11. Preferably, rotation of the clamp 16 is limited to an angle of approximately ninety degrees or a quarter turn and to this end the opening 14 includes wall portions 36 configured to engage the outer surface of the projection 19 to establish a first position of the clamp 16 shown in FIG. 2 wherein the clamp is positioned for clamping engagement with the flange 12. The clamp 16 may be rotated from the position just described by effecting counterclockwise rotation of the collar as viewed in FIG. 1 through an angle of the order of ninety degrees until the projection engages wall portions 37 of the opening 14 whereby the clamp '16 assumes a vertically-extending position so that the clamping extension 36 is angularly displaced from the flange 12. The angular position of the clamp is indicated to an operator by the location of the extensions 35.

To assemble the fastener the support 15 is centered inside the cover over the opening 14 and the collar 13 is positioned at the outside of the cover and the projection .19 thereof is extended through the opening 14 into snap-in engagement with the aperture 22. formed in the support 15. The clamp 16 is next hooked through the opening 236 of the support 15 and the nut 31 is then positioned within the openings 32. Finally, the screw 33 is extended through the collar and its projection into threaded engagement with the nut 32. The fastener is thus permanently mounted upon the cover 11 and cannot be removed therefrom except by forcible methods. This is for the reason that the resilient ribs 21 assume their normal struck out condition after the projection 19 is snapped into the aperture 22, and the ribs 21 therefore project outwardly to prevent withdrawal of the collar from the aperture 22.

'It is seen that the fastener of the present invention is readily assembled in the field without special knowledge and tools and is captively mounted on the cover.

While I have shown and described a p rticular embodiment of my invention, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that various changes and modifications may be made without departing from my invention in its broader aspects and I, therefore, intend in the appended claims to cover all such changes and modifications as fall within the true spirit and scope of my invention.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. A fastening device for a cover WhlCh has an opening, said device comprising a support to be positioned on the inside of the cover and having an aperture, a collar to be positioned on the outside of the cover and having a projection for loose extension through the opening of the cover into locking engagement with the aperture of the support, said collar being manually rotatable from outside said cover about its axis to effect rotation of said support and having a marking viewable from outside the cover to indicate the rotary position of the support, a clamp to be detachably mounted by the support for rotation therewith and for movement relative thereto towards and away from the cover, said clam having a clamping part engageable with a member to which the cover is to be attached, and adjusting means including a nut to be held captive by said clamp, and a screw adapted to extend loosely through the collar into threaded engagement with the nut for rotation relative to the collar for adjusting the clamp and its clamping part towards and away from the cover, the opening of the cover having a wall configured to engage the projection of the collar to limit rota-tion of the collar through an angle of the order of ninety degrees.

2. A fastening device for a cover which has an opening, said device comprising a support to be positioned on the inside of the cover and having an aperture of generally elliptical configuration, a collar to be positioned on the outside of the cover and having a hollow projection with a generally elliptical cross-section conforming to the configuration of the aperture of the support, said projection having adjacent its end resilient tabs at opposed sides thereof, said projection being adapted to extend loosely through the opening of the cover into snap-in engagement with the aperture of the support with the tabs locking the support to the collar, said collar being rotatable about its axis to effect rotation of said support and having a marking viewable from outside the cover to indicate the rotary position of the support, a clamp to be detachably mounted by the support for rotation therewith and for movement relative thereto towards and away from the cover, said clamp having a clamping part engageable with a member to which the cover is to be attached, and adjusting means including an actuatable part adapted to extend loosely through the collar and its projection for adjusting the clamp and its clamping part towards and away from the cover.

3. A device as defined in claim 2 wherein the opening of the cover and the projection of the collar are configured so as to limit rotation of the collar through an angle of the order of ninety degrees.

4. A device as defined in claim 2 wherein the adjusting means includes a nut to be held captive by the clamp, said actuatable part comprising a screw to be threaded into said nut.

5. A fastening device for a cover which has an opening, said device comprising a support to be positioned on the inside of the cover and having an aperture of generally elliptical configuration, a collar to be positioned on the outside of the cover and having a hollow projection with a generally elliptical cross-section conforming to the configuration of the aperture of the support, said projection having adjacent its end resilient tabs at opposed sides thereof, said projection being adapted to extend loosely through the opening of the cover into snap-in engagement with the aperture of the support with the tabs locking the support to the collar, said collar being rotatable about its axis to effect rotation of said support and having a marking viewable from outside the cover to indicate the rotary position of the support, a clamp to be detachably mounted by the support for rotation therewith and for movement relative thereto towards and away from the cover, said clamp having a clamping part engageable with a member to which the cover is to be attached, a nut to be held captive by the clamp, and a screw adapted for loose extension through the collar and its projection into 6 threaded engagement with the nut, the opening of the cover having a wall configured to engage the sides of the projection and limit rotation of the collar through an angle of the order of ninety degrees.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,501,722 Hammerly et al Mar. 28, 1950 2,860,904 Barry et al. Nov. 18, 1958 3,023,041 Pluylaar Feb. 27, 1962 3,065,012 Trotter Nov. 20, 1962

Claims (1)

1. A FASTENING DEVICE FOR A COVER WHICH HAS AN OPENING, SAID DEVICE COMPRISING A SUPPORT TO BE POSITIONED ON THE INSIDE OF THE COVER AND HAVING AN APERTURE, A COLLAR TO BE POSITIONED ON THE OUTSIDE OF THE COVER AND HAVING A PROJECTION FOR LOOSE EXTENSION THROUGH THE OPENING OF THE COVER INTO LOCKING ENGAGEMENT WITH THE APERTURE OF THE SUPPORT, SAID COLLAR BEING MANUALLY ROTATABLE FROM OUTSIDE SAID COVER ABOUT ITS AXIS TO EFFECT ROTATION OF SAID SUPPORT AND HAVING A MARKING VIEWABLE FROM OUTSIDE THE COVER TO INDICATE THE ROTARY POSITION OF THE SUPPORT, A CLAMP TO BE DETACHABLY MOUNTED BY THE SUPPORT FOR ROTATION THEREWITH AND FOR MOVEMENT RELATIVE THERETO TOWARDS AND AWAY FROM THE COVER, SAID CLAMP HAVING A CLAMPING PART ENGAGEABLE WITH A MEMBER TO WHICH THE COVER IS TO BE ATTACHED, AND ADJUSTING MEANS INCLUDING A NUT TO BE HELD CAPTIVE BY SAID CLAMP, AND A SCREW ADAPTED TO

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