US1941156A - Snap fastener member - Google Patents

Description

Dec. 26, 1933. A. J, SMITH 1,941,156

. SNAP FASTENERMEMBER Original Filed April 13,. 1931 I wvnifar red J 6211/2535,

application Serial No.

Patented Dec. 26, 1933 PATENT OFFICE 1,941,156 smr FASTENER MEMBER Alfred J. Smith, Detroit, Mich,

er Corporation,

United-Carr Fasten assignor to Cambridge,

Mass., a corporation of Massachusetts Original application April 13, 1931, Serial No.

529,701. Divided and this application Novemher 4, 1931. Serial No. 572,910

4 Claims.

My invention aims to provide improvements in snap fastener members and snap fastener secured installations.

This application is a division of my co-pending 529,701, filed April 13, 1931.

In'the drawing which illustrates a preferred embodiment of my invention:-

Figure 1 is a plan section taken through a portion of a motor vehicle door showing my invention;

ing a manner of applying the finishing part;

Fig. 3 is a top plan of the stud member which forms a part of my invention;

Fig. 4 is a bottom plan of the stud member; and

Fig. 5 is an end view of, the stud member.

My invention, as illustrated by the'drawiiig, is particularly, though not exclusively, adapted for use in connection with securing upholstery covered panels to the inside structure of a motor vehicle or other frame structure. For the purposes of illustration only I have shown a panel of upholstery as it would be applied to a door structure, especially if the door structure had a wooden frame to which could be applied plates or strips to provide socket means which would be located at substantial distances from the edges of the door or other structure. Therefore, my invention is particularly useful in connection with installations where the stud-receiving apertures are located inwardly from the edges of the structures at greater distances than has been the usual practice heretofore.

The fastener stud member, which I have preferred to illustrate, is formed from a single piece of sheet metal and has a U-shaped base and socket-engaging means extending from one side of said base. The base of the fastener comprises a short side 1, a long side 2 and a portion 3 connecting said arms and holding them in spaced relation. At the free end of the arm 1 the metal is bent upwardly and divided by a slit 4 to provide yieldable fingers 5-5 each of which has an edge 5 whichcooperates with the other to present a diverging and then converging means for engagement with socket means. The fingers 5-5 are presented in offset planes (Fig. 3) so that one may cross the other and both are bent toward the portion 3 so that the axis of the fastening means is inclined (Figs. 1 and 3) with relation to a plane which would be normal to the. plane of the base. The slit 4 extends centrally of the side I nearly to the portion 3 (Fig. 3) so that the fingers 5 may be permitted to move to- Fig. 2 is a section similar to Figure 1, but show-- ward each other because of the fact that the material of the side 1 may twist.

From an inspection of Fig. 5 of the drawing it will be clear that the edges 5* -5 of the yieldable fingers 5-5 are curved throughout substantially their entire lengths and cooperate to provide diverging and then converging curved surfaces so shaped that when the yieldable fingers are entered into the aperture 12 in the supporting structure the greatest resistance to yielding of the fingers 5-5 will occur during the initial part of the entering operation. As the material surrounding the aperture 12 comes nearer to the largest distance across the fingers 5-5, the resistance to yielding of the fingers 5-5 will be lessened because the curved surfaces of the edges 5-5 present lesser angles as the fingers are being moved toward each other. Thus, it will be readily understood by those skilled in the art that my fastener members which are provided with curved edges 5 -5 are much more desirable than fasteners having straight portions diverging and straight portions converging.

In my improved installation the finishing structure, to which the stud is attached, comprises a backing 6 of cardboard or similar material having a series of apertures 7 (one being shown) around it and spaced substantial distances inwardly from the periphery. The front side of the backing is covered with a suitable covering 8 of cloth, leather or the like and is folded over the edge and secured to the back as shown in Figs. 1 and 2.

The fastener stud members are preferably applied after the covering 8 is applied to the backing 6 and from the rear side by inserting the long arm 2 through an aperture 7 and forcing the base into place so that the fastener assumes a position as shown in Fig. 2. The base is yieldable so that the arms may spread during the attaching operation.

The supporting frame structure illustrated includes a wooden frame means 9 covered at one side by sheet metal 10 which is bent over the edge of the wooden frame, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2. It is inconvenient and expensive to carry the metal 10 beyond the inner edge of the wood 9 so I have secured thereto a number of small plates 11 or strips in which I provide stud-receiving apertures 12 to receive the fingers 5-5 of the studs, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2.-

Heretofore, fastener studs have been used which had U-shaped bases and yieldable stud means extending therefrom normal to the plane of the base. These are satisfactory in some installations but in installations of the type illustrated, wherein the apertures 12 are located farther from the edge of the door or the like than usual, the usual construction is not as satisfactory as my improved fastener. The long side 2 of the base is essential to urge the edge of the finishing structure tightly against the frame structure and thereafter to hold it there. To do this, the side 2 has been stiffened by the rib 13 which extends the entire length of that arm and also along the connecting portion 3 (Fig. 5) to the end of the slit 4. The studs may shift laterally to some extent since the apertures 7 are larger in cross-sectional area than the portion 3. Thus, the studs may be properly aligned with the apertures 12.

By inclining the fingers 5-5 they are easier to enter into an aperture 12 (Fig. 2), especially after one side of the finishing structure has been attached, because they are presented substantially in alignment with an aperture 12 when the base is angled relative to the plane of the frame structure.

My invention is adapted for use in connection with re-upholstering of vehicles which are not .equipped for attachment of upholstery by means of snap fasteners. It is particularly useful in connection with re-upholstering of wooden frame structures.

While I have illustrated and described a preferred embodiment of my invention, I do not wish to be limited thereby, because the scope of my invention is best defined by the following claims.

I claim:

1. A snap fastener of the class described including a substantially U-shaped base having one side spaced from the plane of the other whereby said base may engage opposite sides of a supporting structure and snap fastening means extending from one of the sides of said base and having its axis in a plane inclined at an acute angle relative to a plane normal to the plane of one side of said base. 89

2. A snap fastener of the class described including a substantially U-shaped base having one side spaced from the plane of the other whereby said base may engage opposite sides of a supporting structure and snap fastening means extending from one of the sides of said base and comprising a pair only of yieldable finger portions extending from said basein a planeinclined at an acute angle relative to a plane normal to the plane of one side of said base.

3. A snap fastener of the class described including a substantially U-shaped base having one side spaced from the plane of the other whereby said base may engage opposite sides of a supporting structure and snap fastening means extending from one of the sides of said base and comprising a pair only of yieldable finger portions extending from the free end of one of the sides of said base in a plane inclined toward the closed end of said U-shaped base.

4. A sheet metal one-piece fastener stud having a U-shaped base comprising a short side 1, a

longer side 2 spaced from said short side and a portion 3 connecting said sides at one end, a rib 13 formed in said long side 2 and said connecting portion 3 only and a pair of flat fingers 5-5 extending from said short side 1 at an angle to the plane of the side 1 and divided by a slit 4 extending through the side 1 only.

ALFRED J. SMITH. 116

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