US 4,815,908 A · Captive panel fastener assembly

A captive panel fastener assembly comprising:

a bolt having an enlarged head at one end tapered on its underside, a nose at the other end having a tapered portion tapering downwardly and inwardly toward the center axis of said bolt, and an intermediate body portion with a groove provided on the bolt between the nose and the body portion:
a panel having an exterior side and an interior side with a countersunk opening on said exterior side leading into a hole extending therethrough, said countersunk being a tapered cavity in said panel on the exterior side thereof with said hole being a generally cylindrical aperture through said panel leading from said tapered cavity to the interior side of said panel, the tapered underside of said bolt head conforming to said tapered cavity with said tapered underside being adapted to engage said tapered cavity presenting a flush upper surface on the exterior of said panel;
grommet
a grommet assembly mounted in said hole, the grommet assembly including a grommet having a pre-formed outwardly flared portion at one end disposed entirely in said tapered cavity of said countersunk and conforming thereto and a generally cylindrical portion integral with and extending from said pre-formed flared portion disposed in said generally cylindrical aperture and conforming thereto, and a terminal end on the interior side of said panel integral with and extending from said cylindrical portion retaining said grommet against the interior side of said panel, said grommet including an annular cavity, said annular cavity being generally rectangular in cross section defined by a generally flat vertical peripheral inside wall, a lower wall extending generally normal to said inside wall, and an upper wall sloping inwardly and upwardly toward the center axis of said grommet;
and
an annular retaining ring having an outer diameter substantially less than its overall height with a central opening therein mounted in said annular cavity, said ring having a first upper wall portion tapering downwardly and inwardly toward the center axis of said ring and thus conforming to the taper of said nose, and a second upper wall portion tapering downwardly and outwardly away from the center axis of said ring and thus conforming to the slope of said cavity, said bolt extending through said grommet and through the opening in said ring, said ring encircling said bolt between the head and nose thereof and being adapted to ride along the body portion of said bolt and snap into said groove thereby retaining the bolt in a first position held out from the exterior side of said panel and retaining said bolt in a second position wherein said bolt is adapted to engage a receptacle assembly mounted in an adjacent sub-panel, the retaining ring being adapted to move along the body of said bolt toward said head when said bolt is inserted into said grommet assembly, then back along the body of said bolt and into the groove of said bolt when said bolt is moved to said first position.

3 more elements

In a captive panel fastener assembly comprising a bolt having an enlarged head at one end, a tapered nose at the other end, and an intermediate body portion, a groove provided on the bolt between the nose and the body portion, a panel having a hole extending therethrough with a grommet assembly mounted therein for retaining the bolt in a first position held out from the access side of said panel and for retaining said bolt in a second position wherein said bolt is adapted to engage a receptacle assembly mounted in an adjacent sub-panel, the grommet assembly including an annular cavity therein having a retaining ring mounted in the cavity along the body of said bolt toward said head when said bolt is inserted into said grommet assembly, back along the body of said bolt and into the groove of said bolt when said bolt is moved to said first position, an annular washer encircling said grommet assembly on the blind side of said panel, said washer abutting against the blind side of said panel, said grommet assembly including a grommet having a terminal end on the blind side of said panel bearing against said washer thereby holding said washer against the blind side of said panel and bearing thereagainst, the improvement which comprises

said cavity being generally rectangular in cross section having a generally flat vertical peripheral inside wall, a lower wall extending generally normal to said inside wall, and an upper wall sloping inwardly and upwardly toward the central longitudinal axis of said grommet assembly, said ring being substantially less in outer diameter than its overall height, said ring being a split metallic ring having an outer generally flat vertical wall adapted to bear against the inside wall of said cavity when to disposed in said groove, said ring having a generally flat bottom wall bearing against said lower wall of said cavity and a generally flat top wall bearing against said upper wall of said cavity, said ring also including a tapered wall leading form said top wall of said ring downwardly and inwardly toward the central axis thereof and conforming to the tapered nose of said bolt allowing quick and easy installation thereon.

In a panel fastener assembly comprising a bolt having an enlarged head at one end, a tapered nose at the other end and an intermediate body portion, a groove provided on the bolt between the nose and the body portion, a grommet assembly encircling the bolt between said head and nose, said grommet assembly including a grommet having an annular cavity therein with a retaining ring mounted in the cavity, an annular washer encircling the terminal end of said grommet below said cavity, the improvement which comprises:

said cavity being generally rectangular in cross section having a generally flat vertical peripheral inside wall, a lower wall extending generally normal to said inside wall, and an upper wall sloping inwardly and upwardly toward the central longitudinal axis of said grommet assembly, said retaining ring having a first upper wall portion tapering downwardly and outwardly away from the center axis thereof conforming to said sloping upper wall of said cavity, and a second upper wall portion tapering downwardly and inwardly toward the center axis of said ring conforming to the taper of the nose of said bolt thus providing quick and easy assembly and a wedging action between the ring and cavity sloping wall.

Captive panel fastener assembly

Life of this patent

Captive panel fastener assembly

Life of this patent

Abstract

Claims26