This application claims priority of Taiwanese Application No. 099118541, filed on Jun. 8, 2010.
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a fastening device and an object having the same, and more particularly to a non-threaded fastening device and an object having the same, the fastening device being convenient to assemble and disassemble quickly.
2. Description of the Related Art
Referring to
When it is desired to fasten the first housing 21 to the second housing 22, the retaining hooks 11 are pressed respectively toward the retaining members 12. When downwardly facing inclined surfaces 113 of the hook portions 112 come into contact with upwardly facing inclined surfaces 122 of the retaining members 12, the hook portions 112 and, thus, the arms 111 are pushed outwardly to thereby deform the arms 111. As soon as the hook portions 112 are aligned respectively with the retaining grooves 121, the former are biased into the latter due to the returning force of the deformed arms 111. Hence, the hook portions 112 abut respectively against stop walls 123 to thereby prevent removal of the first housing 21 from the second housing 22.
Since the arms 111 of the retaining hooks 11 are connected fixedly to the first housing 21, if a force is applied improperly to either of the retaining hooks 11 during assembly or disassembly of the fastening device 1, breakage may occur at the junction between the first housing 21 and the corresponding arm 111. Therefore, it is desirable to assemble and disassemble the fastening device quickly to prevent breakage of the fastening device.
An object of this invention is to provide a fastening device that is convenient to interconnect two articles quickly and that can be prevented from breakage during operation.
Another object of this invention is to provide an object that includes a fastening device, which is convenient to interconnect two articles quickly and which can be prevented from breakage during operation.
According to an aspect of this invention, there is provided a fastening device adapted to fasten a first article to a second article, the fastening device comprising:
a first hook adapted to be disposed on the first article;
two positioning plates adapted to be disposed on the first article and respectively located in front of and behind the first hook, each of the positioning plates including at least one positioning guide tack, the positioning guide track of each of the positioning plates including an upright slot portion having an open bottom end, a curved guiding slot portion having top and bottom ends in spatial communication with the upright slot portion and located at a side of the upright slot portion distal from the first hook, and a stop shoulder disposed between a top end of the upright slot portion and the top end of the curved guiding slot portion;
at least two fixed plates spaced apart from each other in a front-to-rear direction and adapted to be disposed on the second article; and
at least one second hook including an upright plate body connected pivotally between the fixed plates, a hook body extending from a top end of the plate body and engaging removably the first hook, and two guiding rods extending from the top end of the plate body and spaced apart from and respectively located in front of and behind the hook body, each of the guiding rods including a guiding stub that extends from an upper end thereof, that abuts against the stop shoulder of the positioning guide track of a corresponding one of the positioning plates, and that is inserted into and guided by the upright slot portion of the positioning guide track of the corresponding one of the positioning plates to abut against the stop shoulder of the positioning guide track of the corresponding one of the positioning plates during assembly of a corresponding one of the guiding rods to the corresponding one of the positioning plates.
According to another aspect of this invention, there is provided an object comprising:
a first article;
a second article; and
a fastening device for fastening the first article the second article, the fastening device including
As such, to interconnect the first and second articles, it is only necessary to move the first and second articles toward each other. To separate the first and second articles from each other, it is only necessary to move the first and second articles away from each other. Thus, the object is convenient to assemble and disassemble quickly. Furthermore, when the first and second articles are separated from each other, the second hook portion can be prevented from obstruction of the first hook portion and, thus, breakage.
These and other features and advantages of this invention will become apparent in the following detailed description of a preferred embodiment of this invention, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:
Before the present invention is described in greater detail in connection with the preferred embodiments, it should be noted that similar elements and structures are designated by like reference numerals throughout the entire disclosure.
Referring to
With further reference to
The detailed structures, assembly, and disassembly of the above-mentioned components will be described in the following. The first hook 51 includes an arm 511 connected to the first article 3, and two first hook portions 512 projecting from a bottom end of the arm 511 and respectively located at left and right sides of the arm 511. The second hook bodies 542 extend respectively from the plate bodies 541 toward each other, and are spaced apart from each other in the left-to-right direction. Each of the plate bodies 541 includes an upright plate portion 543. The hook bodies 542 extend respectively from the upright plate portions 543 for engaging the first hook portions 512, respectively.
The plate body 541 of each of the second hooks 54 further includes a horizontal stop plate portion 544 extending from a bottom end of the upright plate portion 543 and abutting against the second article 4. Each of the fixed plates 53 is connected integrally to the second article 4, and includes a pivot groove 531. Each of the second hooks 54 further includes two pivot shafts 545 extending respectively from front and rear sides of the stop plate portion 544 and received respectively and rotatably within the pivot grooves 531 in the corresponding pair of the fixed plates 53, so that the corresponding second hook 54 is rotatable about the pivot shafts 545 relative to the corresponding pair of the fixed plates 53. Since the stop plate portions 544 abut against the second article 4, the rotational directions of the second hooks 54 are limited, and the contact area between the second hooks 54 and the second article 4 is increased to thereby position effectively the second hooks 54 relative to the second article 4. In this embodiment, the pivot groove 531 of each of the fixed plates 53 has a curved pivoting groove portion 532 that permits the corresponding pivot shaft 545 to be received therein, and a guiding groove portion 533 that is open in the left-to-right direction for guiding the corresponding pivot shaft 545 into the pivoting groove portion 532 during the assembly of the object 300. As such, each of the second hooks 54 can be mounted conveniently and quickly between the corresponding pair of the fixed plates 53.
Each of the fixed plates 53 further includes a first positioning portion 534 disposed at an inner side surface thereof and spaced apart from and adjacent to the pivoting groove portion 532, such that the pivoting groove portion 532 is disposed between the guiding groove portion 533 and the first positioning portion 534. Each of the second hooks 54 further includes two second positioning portions 546 disposed respectively at front and rear sides thereof. In this embodiment, each of the first positioning portions 534 is configured as a circular groove, and each of the second positioning portions 546 is configured as a cylindrical tongue. The first positioning portions 534 engage respectively the second positioning portions 546 so as to prevent rotation of the second hooks 54 relative to the fixed plates 53 and, thus, removal of the hook bodies 542 from the first hook portions 512 of the first hook 51, thereby maintaining the hook bodies 542 at upright positions. Of course, in design, the first positioning portions 534 may be cylindrical tongues, and the second positioning portions 546 may be circular grooves, as shown in
To allow the hook bodies 542 of the second hooks 54 to engage respectively and stably the first hook portions 512 of the first hook 51 to prevent forward or rearward removal of the hook bodies 542 from the first hook portions 512, the two positioning plates 52 of the fastening device 5 are connected integrally to the first article 3, and are respectively located in front of and behind the first hook 51. In addition, each of the second hooks 54 further includes two guiding rods 547 extending from the upright plate portion 543 of the plate body 541 and spaced apart from and respectively located in front of and behind the hook body 542 (i.e., flanking the hook body 542). The guiding rods 547 abut respectively against the inner side surfaces of the positioning plates 52 to thereby prevent forward and rear movement of the second hooks 54 relative to the first hook 51 and, thus, forward and rearward removal of the hook bodies 542 from the first hook portions 512, respectively.
Each of the guiding rods 547 includes a rod body 548 connected to the top end of the corresponding upright plate portion 543, and a guiding stub 549 extending perpendicularly from an outer side surface of the rod body 549 and movable along the corresponding positioning guide track 521. Each of the hook bodies 542 includes an arm 550 extending from the top end of the upright plate body 543, and a second hook portion 551 extending from a top end of the arm 550 and engaging the corresponding first hook portion 512. The guiding stub 549 of each of the guiding rods 547 is above the second hook portion 551 of the corresponding hook bodies 542. During assembly of the first and second articles 3, 4, the guiding stubs 549 of the guiding rods 547 are moved respectively and upwardly into upright slot portions 522 of the positioning guiding tracks 521 through open bottom ends of the upright slot portions 522. When the guiding stubs 549 are moved respectively and upwardly along the upright slot portions 522, since the second positioning portions 546 engage respectively the first positioning portions 534 so that rotation of the second hooks 54 relative to the fixed plates 53 can be prevented, engagement of the second hook portions 551 of the hook bodies 542 with the first hook portions 512 of the first hook 51 is ensured.
When the guiding stubs 549 of the guiding rods 547 are guided by the upright slot portions 522 to abut respectively against the stop shoulders 524, the second hook portions 551 of the hook bodies 542 engage respectively the first hook portions 512 of the first hook 51. Subsequently, when the first article 3 is removed from the second article 4, since the guiding stubs 549 are obstructed by the stop shoulders 542 from moving downwardly into the upright slot portions 522, they move along the curved guiding slot portions 523, respectively. At initial stage of movement of the guiding stubs 549 along the curved guiding slot portions 523, since each of the curved guiding slot portions 523 is located at a side of the corresponding upright slot portion 522 distal from the first hook 51 (i.e., outer side of the corresponding upright slot portion 522), the guiding stubs 549 of each of the second hooks 54 are moved respectively away from those of the other of the second hooks 54. Hence, the second positioning portions 546 are removed from the first positioning portions 534 to allow the second hooks 54 to pivot away from each other to thereby separate from the first hook portions 512. When each of the guiding stubs 549 moves past the outermost position of the corresponding curved guiding slot portion 523 distal from the corresponding upright slot portion 522 (i.e., the middle position of the corresponding curved guiding slot portion 523), the guiding stubs 549 of each of the second hooks 54 are moved respectively toward those of the other of the second hooks 54 to engage the second positioning portions 546 with the first positioning portions 534, respectively. As a consequence, when the guiding stubs 549 are removed respectively from the upright slot portions 522, each of the second hooks 54 returns to its original position (as shown in
Through the design of the curved guiding slot portions 523, when the first and second articles 3, 4 are disconnected from each other, the second hook portions 551 cannot be obstructed by the first hook portions 512. In other words, the first hook portions 512 can be removed easily from the second hook portions 551 without the risk of breaking the arms 550. Thus, the first and second articles 3, 4 can be separated conveniently and quickly from each other.
In this embodiment, each of the upright slot portions 522 includes a main slot section 525 that is open at a bottom end thereof and that is in spatial communication with the bottom end of the corresponding curved guiding slot portion 523, and a guiding slot section 526 that extends upwardly from a top end of the main slot section 525 and that has a top end in spatial communication with the top end of the corresponding curved guiding slot portion 523. For each of the positioning guide tracks 521, since the main slot section 525 has a depth greater than that of the curved guiding slot portion 523 at the junction between the main slot section 525 and the curved guiding slot portion 523 such that a stop wall surface 520 (see
When it is desired to interconnect the first and second articles 3, 4, the two first hook portions 512 are first aligned respectively with the second hook portions 551 of the two second hooks 54. Next, the first article 3 is pressed downwardly in a first direction (I), and/or the second article 4 is pressed upwardly in a second direction (II), as shown in
With particular reference to
When the second hook portions 551 are moved upwardly past the first hook portions 512, they are biased to return to their original positions due to the returning force of the arms 550, as shown in
Referring to
With particular reference to
With reference to
Alternatively, the fastening device 5 may include only one first hook portion 512, only one pair of fixed plates 53, and only one second hook 54, and each of the positioning plates 52 may include only one positioning guide track 521. In this state, the fastening device 5 is also changeable between the locking state and the release state.
With this invention thus explained, it is apparent that numerous modifications and variations can be made without departing from the scope and spirit of this invention. It is therefore intended that this invention be limited only as indicated by the appended claims.
Number | Date | Country | Kind |
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099118541 | Jun 2010 | TW | national |