Claims
- 1. A fastener device for attaching a rear face of a panel of semi-rigid material to a substrate, comprising:
an anchor part for attachment to the substrate; a screw part having an inner end adapted to be held by said anchor part in such manner as to be rotatable relative to the substrate when said anchor part is attached to said substrate, said screw part having a helical member with an outer end capable of penetrating the rear face of a said panel upon rotation of said helical member; drive means for rotating said screw part, said drive means including a non-circular recess open to an outer end of said screw part and suitable for engagement by a non-circular end of a drive rod extending through a transverse bore in the panel, such that rotation of the drive rod at the front face of the panel can cause the helical member to penetrate and engage a rear portion of the panel, said drive means allowing removal of the drive rod from said screw part after the panel has been secured so that the fastener is essentially concealed within the panel; said non-circular recess being sized to allow engagement by a drive rod having a diameter which is a small fraction of the diameter of said helical member so as to require only a similarly small diameter bore in the panel, whereby the fastener is essentially concealed within the panel after removal of the drive rod.
- 2. A fastener according to claim 1, wherein said non-circular recess is engageable by a drive rod less than ⅛ the maximum diameter of the helical member.
- 3. A fastener according to claim 1, wherein said non-circular recess is engageable by a drive rod less than {fraction (1/16)} the maximum diameter of the helical member.
- 4. A fastener according to claim 1, wherein said helical member has a leading edge capable of cutting into semi-rigid material; whereby said fastener can be used to secure a panel of nonrigid material without any prior preparation or penetration of said material.
- 5. A fastener according to claim 1, wherein the helical member has a diameter greater than the length of the screw part.
- 6. A fastener according to claim 1, wherein the helical member of the screw part has a diameter greater than twice the length of the screw part.
- 7. A fastener according to claim 1, wherein the helical member of the screw part has a diameter greater than one inch.
- 8. A fastener according to claim 1, wherein the helical member of the screw part has a diameter greater than 1½ inches.
- 9. A fastener according to claim 1, wherein said non-circular recess is engageable by a drive rod having a diameter less than ⅛ inch.
- 10. A fastener according to claim 1, wherein the anchor part is a plate having at least one hole for screw attachment of the plate to the substrate, said plate having a lug extending perpendicularly therefrom and capable of penetrating the rear face of the panel to stabilize the position of the panel.
- 11. A fastener according to claim 1, wherein said anchor part is formed of plastic material, and wherein said bearing provides a snap-in mounting for a shaft of said screw part.
- 12. The combination of a panel of semi-rigid material and a fastener device for attaching a rear face of said panel to a substrate, said fastener device comprising:
an anchor part for attachment to the substrate surface; a screw part having an inner end adapted to be held by said anchor part in such manner as to be rotatable relative to the substrate when said anchor part is attached to said substrate, said screw part having a helical member with an outer end capable of penetrating the rear face of a said panel upon rotation of said helical member without prior preparation or penetration of said panel; drive means for rotating said screw part, said drive means including an elongated drive rod arranged to extend from an outer end portion of said screw part, said drive rod being capable of extending from said screw part through a bore in said panel when the helical member is in contact with the rear face of the panel so that the drive rod is accessible for rotation at a front face of the panel to cause the helical member to penetrate and engage a rear portion of said panel, and, upon further rotation of the screw part, to secure the panel onto the substrate, said drive rod being removable from the screw part after the panel has been secured, said drive rod having a diameter which is a small fraction of the diameter of said helical member so that said bore in the panel is of a similarly small diameter, whereby the fastener is essentially concealed within the panel after removal of the drive rod.
- 13. The combination according to claim 12, wherein the drive rod is less than ⅛ the maximum diameter of the helical member.
- 14. A fastener according to claim 1, wherein the screw part includes a base member and a complementary member, said complementary member having said non-circular recess, said base member having a bore for receiving said anchor screw and being attachable to the substrate while the base member is separated from the complementary member, said base member having a surface rotatable while in contact with said substrate surface.
- 15. A fastener device for attaching a rear of a panel of semi-rigid material to a substrate, comprising:
a screw part having an inner end capable of being rotatably held relative to the substrate by an anchor screw having a head, said screw part having a helical member with an outer end capable of penetrating the rear of the panel upon rotation of said helical flight; drive means for rotating said screw part, said drive means including a non-circular recess open to an outer end of said screw part and suitable for engagement by a non-circular end of a drive rod extending through a transverse bore in the panel, such that rotation of the drive rod at the front face of the panel can cause the helical member to penetrate and engage a rear portion of the panel, said drive means allowing removal of the drive rod from said screw part after the panel has been secured so that the fastener is essentially concealed within the panel; said screw part including a base member and a complementary member, said base member having an aperture for receiving the anchor screw and being attachable to the substrate by the head of the anchor screw while the base member is separate from the complementary member, said complementary member being attachable to the base member when the anchor screw is in place in the base member aperture, the base member being rotatable about the axis of the anchor screw while the anchor screw engages the substrate, the axis of the base member aperture which receives the anchor screw being coincident with the axis of the non-circular recess for the drive rod when the two members are assembled together, whereby the bore in the panel which receives the drive rod may be coaxial with the anchor screw; and wherein said non-circular recess of the drive means is of smaller diameter than the head of said anchor screw.
- 16. A fastener according to claim 15, wherein said non-circular recess is engageable by a drive rod which has a diameter less than ⅛ the diameter of the helical member.
- 17. A fastener according to claim 15, wherein the helical member of the screw part has a diameter greater than one inch.
- 18. A fastener according to claim 15, wherein said base member includes the helical member of the screw part and has a central socket leading to said aperture for receiving the anchor screw, and wherein the complementary member is an insert engageable in said central socket and which has said non-circular recess for receiving said drive rod.
- 19. A fastener according to claim 18, wherein said central socket is non-circular, and wherein said insert has an outer surface which fits non-rotatably into said central socket.
- 20. A fastener according to claim 18, wherein said insert is connected to said base member by a hinge which allows the insert to be removed from the base member while said anchor screw is being inserted into the base member aperture.
- 21. A fastener according to claim 20, wherein said insert has a depression with inwardly sloping sides which lead to said non-circular recess.
- 22. A method of attaching a rear of a panel of semi-rigid material to a substrate at a desired installation position by making use of a screw part having an inner end capable of being held relative to the substrate by an anchor screw having a head, such that the screw part can rotate relative to the substrate about an axis co-axial with the anchor screw, said screw part having a helical member with an outer end capable of penetrating the rear of the panel upon rotation of said helical member, said screw part having a base member and a complementary member, said base member having an aperture for said anchor screw and said complementary member having a non-circular drive recess for a drive rod which is co-axial with the anchor screw aperture when the two members are assembled together, the method comprising the steps of:
forming a transverse bore through the panel and marking an anchor screw location for said anchor screw in the substrate such that said anchor screw will be aligned with the transverse bore when the panel is in its installation position; fixing the base member of a said screw part to the substrate by means of said anchor screw inserted at said anchor screw location, with said anchor screw head engaging inside said aperture of the base member, whereby an inner end of said base member is rotatably held relative to the substrate by said anchor screw head; attaching said complementary member of the screw part to the base member of the screw part; placing a panel at the installation position and passing an elongated drive rod through said transverse bore in the panel and fitting an inner end of the drive rod into the non-circular drive recess of the complementary member so that an outer end part of the rod protrudes from a front face of the panel when the helical member of the screw part contacts the said panel rear, rotating said drive rod by its protruding end part to cause the helical member to penetrate and engage a rear portion of the panel, and, upon further rotation of the screw part, to secure the panel onto the substrate, and removing said drive rod from the screw part after the panel has been secured so that the fastener is essentially concealed within the panel.
- 23. A method of attaching a panel to a substrate according to claim 22, wherein said steps of forming the transverse bore in the panel and marking the screw anchor location are performed simultaneously by a penetrating tool being pushed through the panel when held in its installation position.
- 24. A method of attaching a panel to a substrate according to claim 22, wherein said steps of forming the transverse bore through the panel and marking the screw anchor location are performed separately by use of a template to mark the positions of the bore and anchor screw, these steps including positioning the template using edges of the panel so that a hole in the template indicates the position for the bore, and positioning the template using sides of an area at which the panel is to be placed so that said hole indicates the position for the anchor screw.
Priority Claims (2)
Number |
Date |
Country |
Kind |
2,268,252 |
Apr 1999 |
CA |
|
2,340,590 |
Mar 2001 |
CA |
|
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION
[0001] This application is a continuation-in-part of my U.S. Ser. No. 09/536,130, filed Mar. 28, 2000.
Continuation in Parts (1)
|
Number |
Date |
Country |
Parent |
09536130 |
Mar 2000 |
US |
Child |
09948655 |
Sep 2001 |
US |