Removable Molly bolt
OwnerStephen D. Albininventor
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A removable hollow-wall anchor for fastening machine screws to a wall is disclosed. Commonly called a Molly bolt, in one aspect of the invention the head of the Molly bolt is unthreadable from the anchor part of the Molly bolt so that once the Molly bolt has been secured to the wall the head can be unthreaded so as to remove it from the outer surface of the wall. A gripper is used in conjunction with the head to prevent rotation of the Molly bolt when the machine screw is being threaded in or out. The gripper is also removable from the wall. Once the machine screw, head and gripper have been removed from the wall, the outer surface of the wall is flush and free from any part of the Molly bolt.
Claims31
A hollow-wall anchor comprising:
- an inner portion provided with an inner aperture receptive to a threaded shaft of a machine screw;
- an outer portion having an outer aperture through which the threaded shaft can extend without engaging the outer aperture, the outer portion having outer portion threads;
- a deformable leg coupling the inner portion to the outer portion;
- and
- a flange removably attached to the outer portion, the flange including a surface having a flange aperture through which the threaded shaft can extend without engaging the flange aperture, and the flange having flange threads engagable with the outer portion threads.
A hollow-wall anchor comprising:
- an inner portion provided with an inner aperture receptive to a threaded shaft of a machine screw;
- an outer portion having an outer aperture through which the threaded shaft can extend without engaging the outer aperture;
- a deformable leg coupling the inner portion to the outer portion;
- a flange removably attached to the outer portion, the flange including a surface having a flange aperture through which the threaded shaft can extend without engaging the flange aperture;
- and
- a gripper having a tang, the gripper being engagable with the surface of the flange with the tang projecting towards the inner portion.
A hollow-wall anchor comprising:
- an inner portion having an inner aperture with a first internal diameter, the inner aperture having internal threads, the inner aperture being coaxial with an anchor axis;
- an outer portion having an outer aperture with a second internal diameter that is greater than the first internal diameter, the outer aperture being coaxial with the anchor axis;
- a deformable leg coupling the inner portion to the outer portion;
- a removable flange having a centrally located flange aperture having a third internal diameter that is greater than the first internal diameter, the flange being operationally attached to the outer portion with the flange aperture being coaxial with the anchor axis;
- and
- a gripper having a tang, the gripper being engagable with a surface of the flange with the tang projecting towards the inner portion.
A hollow-wall anchor comprising:
- an inner portion having an inner aperture with a first internal diameter, the inner aperture having internal threads, the inner aperture being coaxial with an anchor axis;
- an outer portion having an outer aperture with a second internal diameter that is greater than the first internal diameter, the outer aperture being coaxial with the anchor axis, the outer portion having outer portion threads;
- a deformable leg coupling the inner portion to the outer portion;
- and
- a removable flange having a centrally located flange aperture having a third internal diameter that is greater than the first internal diameter, the flange having flange threads being engagable with the outer portion threads, the flange aperture being coaxial with the anchor axis.
A hollow-wall fastener comprising:
- a machine screw having a head and a threaded shaft extending from the head, the threaded shaft defining an anchor axis and having a shaft diameter and a head diameter, the head diameter being greater than the shaft diameter;
- an anchor engaged with the machine screw, the anchor including:
- (a) an inner portion with an inner aperture having internal threads engagable with the threaded shaft of the machine screw;
- (b) an outer portion with an outer aperture having an internal diameter that is greater than the shaft diameter such that the threaded shaft does not engage the outer aperture;
- (c) a deformable leg coupling the inner portion to the outer portion;
- and
- (d) a flange having a centrally located aperture that has a diameter greater than the shaft diameter, the flange being removably attached to the outer portion;
- and
- a gripper having a tang comprising a pointed projection bent from a plane of the gripper, the gripper being engagable with a planar surface of the flange with the tang projecting towards the inner portion.
A hollow-wall fastener comprising:
- a machine screw having a head and a threaded shaft extending from the head, the threaded shaft defining an anchor axis and having a shall diameter and a head diameter, the head diameter being greater than the shall diameter;
- and
- an anchor engaged with the machine screw, the anchor including:
- (a) an inner portion with an inner aperture having internal threads engagable with the threaded shaft of the machine screw;
- (b) an outer portion with an outer aperture having an internal diameter that is greater than the shaft diameter such that the threaded shaft does not engage the outer aperture;
- (c) a deformable leg coupling the inner portion to the outer portion;
- and
- (d) a flange having a centrally located aperture that has a diameter greater than the shaft diameter, the flange being removably attached to the outer portion, wherein the flange includes a nut affixed to a planar surface of the flange coaxial with the anchor axis to provide flange threads, and wherein the outer portion is provided with outer portion threads to engage the flange threads of the nut.
A method for attaching and removing a hollow-wall fastener from a wall, the wall having an inner surface and an outer surface, the fastener comprising an anchor with an inner portion, an outer portion and one or more deformable legs which connect the inner portion to the outer portion, the fastener further comprising a machine screw threaded into the inner portion of the anchor, a flange positioned between the outer surface of the wall and a head of the machine screw, and a gripper positioned between the flange and the machine screw head, the method comprising the steps of:
- (a) inserting the fastener through the wall such that the inner portion and deformable legs are inside the wall and the flange abuts the outer surface of the wall;
- (b) rotating the machine screw so that the deformable legs deform and are brought to bear firmly against the inner surface of the wall, the anchor being unable to rotate due to the gripper engaging the outer surface of the wall;
- (c) unthreading the machine screw from the inner portion and removing it from the wall;
- (d) removing the gripper from the outer surface of the wall;
- and
- (e) unthreading the flange from the outer portion of the anchor and removing the flange from the outer surface of the wall, thus leaving a flush outer surface of the wall.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.