Convoluted bolt retainer

A resilient retainer for receiving the shank of a. fastener, said retainer being at least partially disposed within a bore having a central axis wherein the bore has a diameter substantially larger than the diameter of the shank, thus allowing for insertion of said fastener shank at various angles relative to the central axis of the bore and translation of said fastener shank within the bore, said retainer comprising:

• a convoluted, unitary, thin-walled annular body made of a polymeric material and having an aperture therethrough;
• wherein said annular body is defined in part by a plurality of resilient polymeric ear portions having a given wall thickness projecting radially outwardly which extend longitudinally along the annular body, the outermost portions of said ear portions demarking an outer diameter slightly larger than the bore, whereby upon insertion of the retainer into the bore at least a plurality of the ear portions deform, tending to maintain the retainer within the bore;
• wherein said annular body is furthermore defined by a plurality of resilient ribs having a smaller wall thickness projecting radially inwardly which extend longitudinally along the annular body, the innermost portion of said ribs demarking an inner diameter slightly smaller than the outer diameter of the fastener shank, whereby upon insertion of the shank into the aperture of the retainer further deformation occurs and the ear portions and ribs in cooperation tend to maintain the shank along the central axis of the bore absent opposing external forces;
• wherein said retainer has a longitudinal length and stiffness sufficient to successfully maintain the fastener along the central bore axis absent opposing external forces;
• and
• wherein said longitudinally extending ear portions and ribs are alternately and symmetrically spaced and have sufficient circumferential spacing to permit to align the fastener with a bore in a second structural member lateral movement of the fastener shank within the axial bore.

A method of attaching at least one fastener having an extending shank to a first structural member, said structural member including a bore for receiving the fastener shank, said bore including a central axis and a diameter which is substantially larger than the diameter of the shank, said method comprising the steps of:

• inserting a retaining apparatus having a plurality of resilient radially outwardly extending projections the outermost portions of which define an outer diameter, a plurality of resilient radially inwardly extending projections the innermost portions of which define an inner diameter, and an aperture therethrough into the bore such that the outer diameter of the retaining apparatus seats against a wall of the bore;
• inserting the shank of said at least one fastener at least partially through said aperture such that the shank engages the innermost surface of the retaining apparatus;
• whereby the inward and outward projections cooperate to maintain the fastener shank along the central axis of the bore absent an opposing external force;
• aligning the first structural member with a second structural member such that a number of bores contained on the first structural member overlap a number of corresponding bores contained on said second structural member;
• and
• further inserting said at least one fastener into the corresponding bore contained on that second structural member, and manipulating the shank of the fastener away from the central axis of the bore contained on the first structural member thereby aligning the fastener shank with a non-coincident central axis of the corresponding bore.