US3921846A

US3921846A - Clip fastener

Info

Publication number: US3921846A
Application number: US502310A
Authority: US
Inventors: John A Mellott; Roderick G Rohrberg
Original assignee: MELMAT Inc
Current assignee: MELMAT Inc
Priority date: 1974-09-03
Filing date: 1974-09-03
Publication date: 1975-11-25
Anticipated expiration: 1992-11-25

Abstract

A clip fastener for securing two angularly displaced abutting panels having cleats along their outer marginal surfaces including a pair of spatially displaced L-shaped wire members each having a substantially 90* angular relationship between the legs of the wire member and with the first and second wire members disposed in a nonparallel relationship to each other and with the end portions of the first and second wire members including inwardly displaced angular extensions and with at least one pair of these angular extensions interconnected for maintaining this spatial relationship between the first and second wire members. Both pairs of the angular extensions can be interconnected with at least one being a continuous interconnection and with the other having an abutting relationship. The abutting relationship may be secured using a weld joint, a crimped sleeve or any other method of maintaining the abutting members affixed to each other.

Description

United States Patent [191 Mellott et al.

[ Nov. 25, 1975 1 CLIP FASTENER [75] inventors: John A. Mellott, Rancho Palos Verdes; Roderick G. Rohrberg, Torrance, both of Calif.

[73] Assignee: Melmat, Inc., Torrance, Calif. 22 Filed: Sept. 3, 1974 21 Appl. No.: 502,310

[52] U.S. C1 217/65; 267/182 [51] Int. Cl. B651) 9/34 [58] Field 01' Search 217/65, 69; 267/182 [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,388,297 11/1945 Slaughter 217/65 3,082,897 3/1963 Highley 217/65 Primary Examiner-James B. Marbert Attorney, Agent, or FirmGeorge F. Smyth [57] ABSTRACT A clip fastener for securing two angularly displaced abutting panels having cleats along their outer marginal surfaces including a pair of spatially displaced L-shaped wire members each having a substantially 90 angular relationship between the legs of the wire member and with the first and second wire members disposed in a nonparallel relationship to each other and with the end'portions of the first and second wire members including inwardly displaced angular extensions and with at least one pair of these angular extensions interconnected for maintaining thisspatial rela-v tionship between the first and second wire members. Both pairs of the angular extensions can be interconnected with at least one being a continuous interconnection and with the other having an abutting relation ship. The abutting relationship may be secured using a weld joint, a crimped sleeve or any other method of maintaining the abutting members affixed to each other.

I 10 Claims, 9 Drawing Figures U.S. Patent Nov. 25, 1975 Sheet 1 of2 3,921,846

US. Patent N0v.25,1975 sheetzom 3,921,846

CLIP FASTENER The present invention is directed to a clip fastener generlly constructed out of one piece of spring wire which is bent to form a pair of L-shaped wire members. Each wire member has leg portions substantially 90 to each other and with the pair of L-shaped wire members having a nonparallel relationship to each other. The ends of the leg portions are bent inwardly and with the inwardly bent portions at one pair of ends integrally connected and with the inwardly bent portions at the other pair of ends abutting each other.

The clip fastener of the present invention is an improvement over a clip fastener currently on the market and disclosed in the Highley U.S. Pat. No. 3,082,897, issued Mar. 26, 1963. The clip fastener shown in the Highley patent is constructed from a piece of spring wire which is bent to form a pair of L-shaped wire members are bent inwardly in a similar fashion to that shown in the present invention.

Generally, the Highley clip fastener has certain difficulties which the present invention overcomes. Since the clip fastener is used as a removable and reusable means of securing wooden box panels with cleated edges, these clip fasteners should be easy to attach and should not become distorted out of shape with use. Specifically, the Highley clip patent has an acute angle between the leg portions of the pair of wire membersand this acute angle is used to create a force to maintain the panels secured to each other. When the Highley clip fastener isattached, the acute angle tends to stick up and to catch when the completed box is moved about. This will distort the Highley clip fastener so that often only one of the leg members is holding the box. In addition, after a number of uses, the Highley clip fastener tends to open up to 90 and in some cases, more than 90 because of the force needed to attach and remove the Highley clip fastener and the ultimate result is that the clip fastener no longer fits the cleated box edges snugly and thereby allows movement between the box panel members. Other difficulties with the Highley clip fastener is that it needs considerable force and skill to attach it to the cleat portions of the box panels. For example, a special hammer-like tool has been developed and should be used in order to attach and remove the Highley clip fastener.

The present invention overcomes many if not all of the above-mentioned difficulties with the Highley clip fastener. Specifically, because each of the leg portions of the wire members is at a 90 angle and because of the nonparallel relationship between the wire members, the two wire members tend to move towards each other so that the leg portions become elongated as the clip fastener is forced over the cleats so that the clip fastener more easily slips over the cleats. Once in position, the wire members move outwardly to force the fasteners tight against the cleats and to lie snugly against the cleats without sticking up from the box. In addition, the clip fastener of the present invention will fit snugly against the cleat edges through a relatively wide range of cleat dimensional tolerances, whereas the Highley clip fastener will not provide such a snug fit for differences in dimensional tolerances. Actually, the clip fasvention comes closer to the edge of the box and thereby makes a stronger corner.

Other improvements with the wire fastener of the present invention is in the provision of means to secure the abutting edges against each other. This can be accomplished with a permanent joint such as a weld joint or with a sleeve member such as a crimped sleeve, or by designing the edges so that one edge is recessed into the other. This helps to prevent distortion of the clip fastener during use.

A clearer understanding of the invention will be had with reference to the following description and drawings wherein FIGS. 1 and 2 show the clip fastener of the prior art and FIG. 3 illustrates the clipfastener of the prior art in taining the abutting edges of the clip fastener of the present invention in essentially fixed relationship to each other.

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2 showing the prior art clip fastener, it can be seen that the clip fastener includes a pair of wire members 10 and I2 and with wire member 10 having leg portions 14 and 16and wire member 12 having

leg portions

18 and 20. As shown in FIG. 1,

which is a side view, only wire member 10 with

leg portions

14 and 16 is seen, but it can be seen in FIGS. 1 and 2 that the angular relationship between the leg portions of each wire member is an acute angle less than The ends of the leg portions include inwardly disposed

extensions

22 and 24 whi'chform loops to interconnect the

wire members

10 and 12. The loop extension 22 is continuously, whereas the loop extension 24 has an abutting joint 26.

FIG. 3 illustrates the clip fastener of the prior art positioned to maintain cleated box panels in position. Specifically, three clip fasteners are generally used at each corner as shown in FIG. 3 and additional clip fasteners may be used along the edges for additional support. As can be seen in FIG. 3, three

box panels

28, 30 and 32 are abutted to form a corner. The box panel 28 has

cleats

34 and 36 along two of its edges. Box panel 30 has

cleats

38 and 40 along two of its edges and box panel 32 has

cleats

42 and 44 along two of its edges. These six cleat members are attached to the box panels and the clip fasteners extend over the cleatsand lock the back panels together.

Specifically, a clip fastner 46 shown during attachment

locks box panels

28 and 32 together. A clip fastener 48

locks box panels

30 and 32 together, and clip fastner 50

locks box panels

28 and 30 together to form a completely jointed corner. One end extension of one of the clip fasteners such as clip fastener 46 is hooked over the cleat and the clip fastener is then driven over the other cleat with .a force from a hammer or other blunt instrument. During attachment, the acute angle opens up to more than 90. The acute angle of the clip member shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 provides the force to lock the cleat members together, but as the cleat member is attached and removed a number of times, this acute angle is gradually opened and the clip member loses its holding force. In addition, as the cleats have a tolerance range for some tolerances of the cleats wherein the dimensions are small, the acute angle of the wire members of the clip of the prior art allows for the clip member to stand up away from the box and often these clips can catch against each other or other objects when the box is moved so as to distort the clip fastener.

A clip fastener according to the present invention shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, and as shown attached to cleated box panels in FIG. 6, in FIGS. 4 and 5, the clip fastener of the present invention is shown to have a pair of

wire members

100 and 102 and with wire member 100 having

leg portions

104 and 106 and with wire member 102 having

leg portions

108 and 110. As shown in FIG. 4, which is a side view of the clip fastener of FIG. 5, only the wire member 100 can be seen and the

leg portions

104 and 106 are at a substantially 90 angle to each other.

The ends of the leg portions include

interconnecting loops

112 and 114 and with loop 112 being continuous and with the loop 114 having abutting ends as shown at joint 116. The

interconnecting loops

114 and 112 extend inwardly to grip the cleat members to maintain box panels engagement. As can be seen in FIG. 5, the

wire members

100 and 102 are disposed in a nonparallel relationship to each other as opposed to the parallel relationship of the prior art shown in FIG. 2. FIG. also illustrates that during the attachment of the clip fastener of the present invention shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, the

wire members

100 and 102 will tend to come closer to each other as shown by the dotted lines which has the effect of elongating the legs 104 through 110 to allow the clip to slip more easily over the cleats. This can be seen in FIG. 6, wherein the

box panels

28, and 32 and the associated cleat members have the same reference characters as shown in FIG. 3.

In FIG. 6, however, a plurality of

clip fasteners

118, 120 and 122 is shown locking the box panels into a corner joint. As can be seen, the

clip fasteners

118, 120 and 122 have nonparallel wire members and the spacing between the wire members depends on the dimensions of the cleat members. Wire fasteners of the present invention thereby adapt to different dimensional tolerances for the cleat members. As shown in FIG. 5, the clip fastener of the present invention, shown as clip fastener 118, when being attached, has its wire members tend to come together to elongate the leg portions. This facilitates the attachment of the clip fastener of the present invention and prevents some of the distortion of the clip fastener, during attachment. Once attached, the wire members tend to spring outwardly to assume the locking position shown in FIG. 6 so that the clip fasteners lock snugly against the cleat members. It can also be seen from a comparison between FIG. 3 and FIG. 6 that because of the nonparallel relationship between the wire members, the clip fastener of the present invention extends outwardly to come closer to 114 which has the abutting ends 116 may have the abutting ends secured together so as to provide for a completely integral construction with no possibility of having one wire member becoming distorted relative to the other wire member. In FIG. 6, a weld 124 is shown securing the ends 116. In FIG. 8, a sleeve member 126 is shown crimped over the abutting edges 116 to secure the abutting edges. In FIG. 9, the abutting edges are shown to have a point entering into a recess so as to secure movement between the abutting ends. It is to be appreciated that other methods may be used to provide for securing the abutting ends to prevent movement.

The present invention is therefore directed to a clip fastener which is used for securing box panels together which box panels have cleated members along the edge and with the clip fastener being rapidly attached and removed. Specifically, the invention includes the use of nonparallel wire members and with each wire member having leg portions substantially perpendicular to each other so as to have the clip fastener adjust to tolerances in the cleated members and to provide for a secure attachment between box panels due to the outward springing force of the nonparallel wire members. Although the invention has been disclosed with reference to a particular embodiment, it is to be appreciated that other adaptations and modifications may be made, and the invention is only to be limited by the appended claims.

We claim:

1. A spring wire corner fastener for securing two substantially perpendicularly displaced abutting members having cleats along the outer marginal surfaces includmg a pair of spatially displaced L-shaped resilient wire members,

at least a substantial portion of one of the wire members substantially nonparallel to a complementary portion of the other wire member,

each of the wire members including a pair of leg portions and with the leg portions of each wire member disposed substantially perpendicular to each other,

a first contiguous interconnecting wire loop forming continuous extensions of first complementary end portions of the wire members and angularly displaced inwardly relative to the L-shaped resilient wire members, and

a second interconnecting wire loop forming continuous extensions of second complementary end portions of the wire members and angularly displaced inwardly relative to the L-shaped resilient wire members.

2. The spring wire corner fastener of Claim 1 wherein the complementary leg portions of the wire members extend outwardly from each other to have the wire members nonparallel to each other throughout their entire length.

3. The spring wire corner fastener of claim 2 wherein the spacing between the wire members is at its greatest at the intersection of the leg portions of the pair of wire members.

4. The spring wire corner fastener of claim 1 wherein ends of the continuous extentions forming the second interconnecting wire loop abut each other.

5. The spring wire corner fastener of claim 4 additionally including means for securing the abutting ends of the continuous extentions.

6. A clip fastener including,

a first L-shpaed wire member having a substantially 90 angular relationship between the legs of the 6 tions interconnected for maintaining the spatial relationship between the first and second L-shaped wire members. 7. The clip fastener of claim 6 wherein the legs of the 5 first wire member are nonparallel to the legs of the sec- 0nd wire member throughout their length.

8. The clip fastener of claim 7 wherein the first and second wire members extend outwardly from each other.

9. The clip fastener of claim 6 wherein the ends of the other pair of angular extentions abut each other.

10. The clip fastener of claim 9 additionally including means for securing the abutting ends of the angular extentions.

Claims

1. A spring wire corner fastener for securing two substantially perpendicularly displaced abutting members having cleats along the outer marginal surfaces including a pair of spatially displaced L-shaped resilient wire members, at least a substantial portion of one of the wire members substantially nonparallel to a complementary portion of the other wire member, each of the wire members including a pair of leg portions and with the leg portions of each wire member disposed substantially perpendicular to each other, a first contiguous interconnecting wire loop forming continuous extensions of first complementary end portions of the wire members and angularly displaced inwardly relative to the Lshaped resilient wire members, and a second interconnecting wire loop forming continuous extensions of second complementary end portions of the wire members and angularly displaced inwardly relative to the L-shaped resilient wire members.

6. A clip fastener including, a first L-shpaed wire member having a substantially 90* angular relationship between the legs of the first L-shaped wire member, a second L-shaped wire member having a substantially 90* angular relationship between the legs of the second L-shaped wire member, the first and second L-shaped wire members spatially disposed relative to each other and with a substantial portion of the first L-shaped wire member in a substantially nonparallel relationship to a complementary portion of the second L-shaped wire member, and the ends of the first and second L-shaped wire members including angular extentions displaced inwardly and with at least one pair of angular extentions interconnected for maintaining the spatial relationship between the first and second L-shaped wire members.

7. The clip fastener of claim 6 wherein the legs of the first wire member are nonparallel to the legs of the second wiRe member throughout their length.