Tapered surface panel retainer

A panel retainer comprises a one-piece, integrally formed member, formed from a resilient, elastically bendable material, and having a fastener-receiving portion and a panel-gripping portion. The fastener-receiving portion comprises a body portion having a top surface and a substantially flat bottom surface spaced from the top surface and defining a through aperture for receiving a fastener to secure the retainer to a given surface. The panel-gripping portion comprises a further body portion projecting from the first body portion and having a tapered surface portion diverging from the first body bottom flat surface for engagement with a panel to be retained thereby. The gripping portion is flexible in the area where it joins with the fastener-receiving portion to permit resilient, elastic bending thereof for engagement of the tapered surface in a surface-to-surface engagement with the panel.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
The present invention is directed to the panel retainer arts, and more 
particularly to a novel and improved panel retainer having a tapered 
surface. 
Panel retainer members or clips are designed for use in curio cabinets or 
similar pieces of furniture for retaining shelves or similar panels in 
place. Often, in such items of furniture, shelves or panels of glass or 
other materials are set flush into a frame or into surrounding support 
grooves or shoulders or the like provided therefor. However, such shelves 
or panels, particularly when formed of glass, should be removable for 
cleaning or replacement if necessary. Moreover, some shelves or panels may 
be selectively removable or selectively positionable within the cabinet to 
form a desired shelf configuration. 
The prior art has devised a number of panel retainer members for generally 
gripping edge parts of the panels or shelves where they rest on grooves or 
other support members provided therefor. Generally speaking, such 
retainers include a fastener-receiving portion having a through aperture 
for accommodating a threaded fastener or screw therethrough. Usually, a 
wood screw or similar screw is utilized to pass through the aperture and 
engage a complementary aperture provided therefore in a surface 
immediately adjacent the panel- or shelf-edge-receiving surface of the 
furniture. Accordingly, a second, panel-gripping portion of the panel 
retainer extends outwardly of this fastener-receiving body portion to 
overlie and engage a top surface of the panel or shelf. Hence, as the 
fastener is advanced and tightened relative to the adjacent frame, the 
panel-retaining portion advances relative to the shoulder or other support 
member underlying the panel or shelf edge to grip the same securely 
therebetween. 
However, many of the prior art panel-engaging arrangements provide only a 
relatively small surface area in contact with the panel edge. This results 
in a reduction of the holding power or force gripping engagement with the 
panel, such that the panel may well slip or move during shipment, or even 
while in service, due to vibrations or the like. Such movement or shifting 
can of course result in damage or breakage of the panel, particularly when 
glass shelves or panels are used. Moreover, when only a relatively small 
surface area of the retainer is in contact with the panel, the load on the 
panel due to tightening of the retainer fastener will be imposed on a 
relatively small area of surface contact. Such excessive per unit area 
forces can also cause damage or breakage of the panel, and particularly of 
a glass shelf or panel, at or around the points or areas of contact with 
the retainer. 
Accordingly, we have determined that it is most advantageous to maximize 
the holding power of the retainer while minimizing the per unit area load 
imposed thereby upon the panel. 
OBJECTS AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
Accordingly, it is a general object of the invention to provide a novel and 
improved panel retainer. 
A more specific object is to provide a panel retainer which provides 
relatively increased holding power, but decreased per unit area load as 
compared to prior art panel retainers.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE ILLUSTRATED EMBODIMENT 
Referring now to the drawings, and initially to FIGS. 1 through 4, it will 
be instructive to initially review two forms of prior art panel retainers, 
so that the novel features of the present invention may be more fully 
appreciated. 
One form of prior art panel retainer 10 is illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2. In 
FIG. 1, the retainer 10 is illustrated prior to full advancement and 
tightening of an associated threaded fastener or screw 12, while in FIG. 
2, the screw 12 is shown fully advanced and tightened. The panel retainer 
10 includes a fastener-receiving portion 14 which generally overlies, and 
upon advancement of screw 12, engages a surface 16 of the furniture or 
cabinet. This surface 16 is immediately adjacent to, and normally 
peripheral to, a shoulder or groove 18 for receiving and supporting an 
edge 20 of a panel or shelf 22. The panel or shelf 22 may be of glass or 
other material, however, as will be seen presently, the present invention 
is most advantageous in connection with securing panels or shelves of 
glass. The panel retainer 10 is provided with a panel-engaging portion 24 
which extends outwardly from the fastener-receiving portion 14 thereof. In 
accordance with the prior art configuration of FIGS. 1 and 2, this 
panel-retaining portion has a flat, panel-engaging surface 26 which 
generally is stepped or extends somewhat below and in a plane parallel to 
a flat undersurface 28 of the fastener-receiving portion 14. 
Accordingly, upon full advancement of fastener 12, the panel retainer 10 
assumes the position shown in FIG. 2. It will be noted that the relatively 
flat undersurface 26 of panel-retaining portion 24 tends to tilt somewhat 
about its trailing edge surface 30. That is, since the surface 26 is flat 
and initially horizontal and parallel to and below bottom surface 28, the 
leading or outer edge thereof tends to lift off and away from the panel, 
generally tilting or fulcruming about the rear edge portion 30. This 
results in a marked reduction in the surface area of the retainer in 
contact with the panel. Such reduction of contact area reduces the holding 
power or grip on the panel, which can permit undesired shifting or 
movement of the panel and resultant possible damage thereto or breakage 
thereof. This reduced area of surface contact also increases the per unit 
area load or force on the edge 20 of the panel, which may cause some 
breakage or damage of the panel edge 20 at or near the area of contact 
with the retainer. 
Referring now to FIGS. 3 and 4, a second form of prior art retainer 
attempted to alleviate some of the foregoing problems by providing a 
panel-retaining portion 24a having an undersurface or panel-engaging 
surface 26a which was generally curvilinear or rounded. In some prior art 
retainers, surface 26a actually comprised a generally semi-spherical 
protrusion. In this regard, the parts and components of the prior art 
arrangement of FIGS. 3 and 4 are designated by like reference numerals to 
the similar parts of FIGS. 1 and 2, with the suffix a. However, upon 
advancement of fastener 12a, as shown in FIG. 4, the panel-retaining 
member 24a still provides only a relatively small surface area in contact 
with the panel 22. That is, only a relatively small portion of the surface 
area of rounded or spherical portion 26a actually contacts the surface of 
the panel 22. Accordingly, this relatively small surface contact area 
results in the same problems discussed above relative to the prior art 
arrangement of FIGS. 1 and 2. Namely, the reduced surface area of contact 
both reduces the holding power of the retainer and increases the per unit 
area load on the panel edge. 
Referring now to FIGS. 5 through 9, a panel retainer 40 in accordance with 
the invention alleviates the foregoing problems of the prior art devices 
of FIGS. 1 through 4. In this regard, the panel retainer 40 of the 
invention comprises a one-piece integrally formed member, formed from a 
resilient, elastically bendable or deformable material. The panel retainer 
40 includes a fastener-receiving portion 42 and a panel-gripping portion 
44. 
Generally speaking, the fastener-receiving portion 42 need not be of any 
particular configuration in accordance with the invention. Rather, portion 
42 need only define a body for receiving fastener 12 therethrough to 
secure the same to a surface 16 of the furniture or cabinet adjacent the 
panel-receiving groove or peripheral shoulder surface 18. In the 
illustrated embodiment, this fastener receiving portion or body 42 has 
spaced apart top and bottom surfaces 46, 48, the latter being 
substantially flat, for flat, surface-to-surface contact with furniture 
surface 18 upon advancement of fastener 12. Preferably, the 
fastener-receiving portion or body 42 additionally defines a preformed 
through aperture 49 for receiving the fastener 12 therethrough. In this 
regard, fastener 12 is preferably a threaded, screw type fastener, which 
may have a wood screw type of thread or other suitable thread form for 
engagement and advancement relative to furniture surface 16, which may be 
additionally provided with a pre-bored opening 47 to receive the fastener, 
if desired. 
The panel-retaining portion 44 preferably comprises a further projecting 
body portion, which extends or projects from the fastener-receiving body 
42. Hence, panel-retaining portion 44 extends outwardly from both the body 
42 and the surface 16 to overlie panel-receiving surface 18, and to grip 
the panel edge 20 therebetween when the fastener 12 is advanced. In 
accordance with the invention, the panel-retaining portion has a tapered 
gripping surface, designated generally by reference numeral 50, for 
engagement with the panel 22. The panel retaining portion 44 is also 
flexible or bendable relative to the fastener-receiving portion or body 
42, particularly in the area intermediate the two portions, or where the 
two are joined, as designated generally by reference numeral 52 in FIG. 6. 
Consequently, when the fastener 12 is fully advanced as illustrated in FIG. 
6, the panel-retaining portion flexes or bends backwardly or upwardly 
within its elastic band within its elastic limits somewhat in consequence 
of the engagement of the tapered surface 50 with the panel 22. In 
accordance with the invention, the tapered surface 50 tapers in a 
divergent fashion relative to the flat undersurface 48 of the 
fastener-receiving body 42. Advantageously, as best seen in FIG. 6, this 
tapered divergent surface 50, together with the flexible or elastic nature 
of the panel retainer 40, assures a relatively large area of 
surface-to-surface contact between surface 50 and the panel 22. 
Referring now also to FIGS. 7 through 9, in accordance with the preferred 
form of the invention illustrated, the gripping surface 50 comprises a 
plurality of individual, discrete protruding lugs 54. Each of these 
protruding lugs 54 has a flat, tapered surface and the lugs are arranged 
such that their flat tapered sufaces collectively define the tapered 
gripping surface 50. Moreover, the lugs 54 define grooves or recesses 56 
therebetween. In consequence of these grooved or recessed portions, and 
the flexible nature of the panel retainer 40, the lugs 54 and hence the 
gripping surface 50 is sufficiently elastically deformable to permit flat, 
surface-to-surface engagement between the individual lugs 54 and the panel 
22. Advantageously, this helps assure a maximum surface area of engagement 
therebetween, accommodating any slight irregularities in the surface of 
the panel 22, or misalignments of the shelf 22 or of the retainer 40 
relative to the surfaces 16, 18 of the furniture, due to irregularities in 
any of these surfaces or in the retainer itself, or the like. 
In accordance with the illustrated embodiment, the lugs 54 are distributed 
in an orthogonal, grid-like pattern, such that the grooves or recesses 56 
also define an orthogonal grid-like pattern. Moreover, the lugs 54 of the 
illustrated embodiment are substantially rectilinear, and preferably 
substantially square in cross-section. Preferably, however, the leading 
lateral edges 58 of the retainer are rounded, such that outermost lugs 54 
are also similarly rounded at their lateral edges and hence not completely 
square in cross-section. 
In the illustrated embodiment, the fastener-receiving body or portion 42 
additionally defines a thin, radially inwardly extending lip portion 60 
about through aperture 49 at the top surface 46 thereof. This lip 60 is 
substantially coaxial with the through aperture 49. It will also be noted 
that in the illustrated embodiment the grooves or recesses 56 defined 
between the lugs 54 are substantially coplanar with the flat undersurface 
48 of the fastener-receiving portion 42. 
Advantageously, the foregoing configuration of the gripping lugs 54, and 
the flexibility of the material of the retainer 40 provide a spring-like 
or resilient gripping engagement with the panel 22. Such engagement is 
advantageous both for relieving any possible excessive force due to 
overadvancement of fastener 12, misalignment of the shoulder or 
shelf-receiving member 18 relative to surface 16, or the like. However, 
this configuration also assures relatively firm, gripping engagement of a 
maximum surface area of lugs 54 with the panel 22 to assure engagement 
over a relatively large total surface area. As discussed hereinabove, such 
flexibility and engagement over relatively large surface area increases 
the holding power or grip on the panel, while advantageously decreasing 
the per unit area loading forces thereupon. 
While particular embodiments of the invention have been shown and described 
in detail, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that changes and 
modifications of the present invention, in its various aspects, may be 
made without departing from the invention in its broader aspects, some of 
which changes and modifications being matters of routine engineering or 
design, and others being apparent only after study. As such, the scope of 
the invention should not be limited by the particular embodiment and 
specific construction described herein but should be defined by the 
appended claims and equivalents thereof. Accordingly, the aim in the 
appended claims is to cover all such changes and modifications as fall 
within the true spirit and scope of the invention.