Patent Application
20070210602
The present application relates generally to fasteners and more particularly to an automotive vehicle trim retainer.
Conventional polymeric fasteners have been used in the automotive industry to retain interior trim panels to sheet metal structure. Examples of such traditional fasteners are disclosed in the following U.S. Pat. No.; 5,592,719 entitled “Fastening Clip” which issued to Eto et al. on Jan. 14, 1997; U.S. Pat. No. 5,573,362 entitled “Fastener Including Elastic Legs for Retaining the Fastener in a Mounting Hole” which issued to Asami et al. on Nov. 12, 1996; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,301,396 entitled “Fastener Assembly with Compression Member” which issued to Benoit on Apr. 12, 1994; all of which are incorporated by reference herein. Known fasteners such as these have unsuccessfully attempted to provide desirable insertion versus extraction forces while also achieving self-centering and over-compression resistance. Moreover, many conventional polymeric fasteners are not acceptably reusable after removal from the often sharp, sheet metal hole edges.
In accordance with the present invention, a retainer employs a flexible arm with an internal rib. In another aspect of the present invention, a retainer has at least one generally triangularly shaped projection laterally extending from an arm. A further aspect of the present invention retainer provides a laterally enlarged member, a trim panel-retaining head and stem, a central post, one or more flexible wings flexibly spanning between a tip of the post and the laterally enlarged member, and an internal rib and/or at least a pair of generally angular extensions flexibly extending from each arm.
The retainer of the present invention is advantageous over conventional fasteners in that the ribs of the present invention deter the arm from taking an undesired “set” by not allowing each arm to become over-compressed or collapse more than is desired to clear the sheet metal hole into which the retainer is designed for. Furthermore, the generally triangular projections or angular extensions assist in achieving somewhat higher and more consistent extraction forces over a greater range of reusability as compared to prior door trim retainers. Additional advantages and features of the present invention will become apparent from the following description and appended claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
Referring to
A post 51 centrally and coaxially extends from the bottom of umbrella 21. Post 51 has a typical cross sectional shape defined by opposite lateral edges 53, each having a slightly curved configuration, and slightly tapered and somewhat flat internal segments 55 connected to middle flat segments 57. A tapered tip 59 is located at a leading end of post 51 opposite umbrella 21. An arm 71 flexibly spans between a leading end of post 51 adjacent tip 59 and bottom surface 25 of umbrella 21. It is alternately envisioned that a trailing end of arm 71 is flexibly connected to the trailing end of post 51 although the performance may not be as desirable as with the preferred embodiment. Returning to the preferred embodiment, post 51 is elongated in a longitudinal direction and arm 71 is also predominately elongated in the longitudinal direction but defined by a first lead in angled segment 73 and a reversed angled securing segment 75. There are two arms 71 which are in mirrored symmetry to each other, and separated by post 51. An external notch 77 is located on each arm 71.
An internally projecting rib 81 extends in a somewhat longitudinally elongated manner from an inside surface of each arm 71. Each rib 81 has a generally rectangular cross sectional shape of less lateral width than the adjacent segment of the arm. Furthermore, a pair of angular extension wings 83, of generally triangular shape, laterally and circumferentially project from lateral edges of each arm 71. Retainer 11 is preferably injection molded from an impact modified acetal copolymer plastic material, however, it should be appreciated that other materials may alternately be employed.
During use, an automotive vehicle, interior trim panel, such as an interior door trim panel, is secured to the heads and stem of retainer 11. Stem 15 is snapped in a sliding manner into a key-holed opening in dog house 27, as is shown in
While certain aspects of the trim retainer have been disclosed, it should be appreciated that other variations maybe employed. For example, a trim retainer of the present invention can be used for securing other automotive vehicle components, such as and not be limited to, garnish moldings, package shelves, sail trim panels, headliners, lamps, trunk trim and the like. Moreover, slightly different wing, rib, arm, post and other shapes may be provided, such as with additional radii and the like, although various advantages of the present invention may not be realized. It should also be appreciated that the present invention ribs may or may not be used in combination with the present invention wings, although various advantages of the present invention may not be realized. Additionally, the post and tip may extend longitudinally beyond the leading intersection of the arms to provide an additional alignment and locating feature prior to full insertion, although again, all of the advantages of the present invention may not be provided. It is alternately envisioned that more or less heads and wings may be included, although various advantageous of the present invention may not be utilized. It is intended by the following claims to cover these and any other departures from the disclosed embodiments which fall within the true spirit of this invention.
