Mounting plate assembly

A process of securely fastening a first mounted member to a second mounted member comprising the steps of;

• providing a fastener-carrier member comprising a body portion, at least one threaded fastener depending from the body portion and at least one lock member depending from the body portion, the at least one lock member having a snap-lock head mounted on one end of a shaft of the lock member, the snap-lock head having a sloped leading edge and a locking edge extending substantially perpendicular to the shaft of the lock member;
• providing at least one threaded fastener aperture and at least one lock member aperture in the first and second mounted members;
• inserting the at least one threaded fastener and the at least one lock member in the at least one threaded fastener aperture and lock member aperture, respectively, of the first mounted member;
• inserting the at least one threaded fastener and the at least one lock member in the at least one threaded fastener aperture and lock member aperture, respectively, of the second mounted member such that the sloped leading edge of the snap-lock head bears against an edge of the lock member aperture and deflects the shaft of the lock member laterally with respect to the shaft of the lock member until the sloped leading edge positioning extends beyond the edge of the lock member aperture, the locking edge of the snap-lock head behind an exterior surface of the second mounted member, thereby temporarily securing the first mounted member to the second mounted member;
• and
• mounting the at least one nut to the at least one threaded fastener to securely mount the first and second members to one another.

A fastener-carrier system for mounting first and second mounted members to one another comprising a fastener-carrier member and at least one nut, the fastener-carrier member comprising at least one threaded fastener integrally molded into a body portion of the fastener-carrier member, the at least one threaded fastener being selectively received in at least one fastener aperture of the first and second mounted members and adapted to selectively receive the at least one nut to securely mount the first and second mounted members to one another, the improvement comprising;

• at least one lock member depending from the fastener-carrier member and adapted to be received in lock member apertures of the first and second mounted members and temporarily secure the first mounted member with respect to the second mounted member while the at least one nut is threadably mounted on the at least one threaded fastener, the at least one look member comprising a flexible shaft having a longitudinal axis, one end of the shaft being mounted to the fastener-carrier member and a looking head mounted to the other end, the at least one lock member being aligned with the at least one threaded fastener and apertures in the first and second mounted members such that the flexible shaft of the at least one lock member is deflected laterally relative to the longitudinal axis of the shaft as the shaft and locking head are inserted in the lock member apertures of the first and second mounted members.