Shroud top vent grille retaining means

A shroud top vent grille is releasably retained or attached to the front fenders of a vehicle by a retainer means. The retainer means comprises a pair of headed weld studs welded to an inner wall of the fender a predetermined distance below its upper external surface and a one piece plastic retainer member which can be readily secured to the weld studs and which is adapted to releasably retain the shroud top vent grille in place and so that it is flush with the adjacent external fender while preventing rattling.

The present invention relates to a retaining means for attaching a panel to 
a vehicle and more particularly, to a retaining means for releasably 
retaining a shroud top vent grille on a vehicle. 
Some automotive vehicles have a metal or plastic shroud top vent grille 
located adjacent the windshield and rearwardly of the hood to provide an 
air intake for fresh air into the passenger compartment of the vehicle. 
While various fastening means have been employed to hold the vent grilles 
in place, they have not always been satisfactory from the standpoint of 
insuring flushness with the adjacent external fender structure of the 
vehicle. 
In accordance with the provisions of the present invention, a novel 
retainer means is provided for attaching a shroud top vent grille to its 
adjacent fender structure so that flushness with the adjacent external 
fender structure is achieved. The retainer means allows the grille to be 
readily attached to the fender structure and in a manner which prevents 
rattling and which also allows the grille to be readily detached from the 
adjacent fender structure, when necessary to do so. 
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a new and 
improved retainer means for retaining a vehicle panel, such as a shroud 
top vent grille, in place, and which enables the panel to be readily 
attached to and detached from the vehicle, which functions as an 
anti-rattle device, and which provides for flushness with the adjacent 
external body or fender structure. 
Another object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved 
retainer means for retaining a shroud top vent grille in place, and in 
which the retainer means can be readily attached to the fender a 
predetermined distance froms its upper external surface and in which the 
retainer means comprises a base portion and upwardly extending fore, 
middle and aft arms integral with the base portion, the middle arm being 
deflectable and having a transversely extending barb at its upper free end 
and the fore and aft arms at their free ends defining a curved leaf 
spring, and in which the shroud top vent grille has downwardly extending 
legs provided with longitudinally extending slots, and wherein the middle 
arm is deflectable by the downwardly extending legs of the vent grille 
when being attached to the retaining means until the slots are aligned 
with the barb whereupon the middle arm will self return to its normal 
position to secure the vent grille in place, and wherein the curved leaf 
springs engage the underside of the vent grille to prevent rattling 
thereof. 
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a new and 
improved retainer means, as defined in the next preceding object, and in 
which the barbs on the middle arm also have tapered sides which are 
engageable by legs of the shroud top vent grille when moved fore or aft so 
that the arms can be deflected out of the way to allow for easy removal of 
the vent grille.

Referring to FIG. 1 of the drawings, an automotive vehicle A is thereshown. 
The vehicle A includes a windshield 10, left and right front side fenders 
12, a hood 14 whose rearward end is spaced forwardly of the windshield 10 
and a shroud top vent grille 16 disposed between the rearward end of the 
hood 14 and the windshield 10. The vent grille 16 covers a transversely 
extending opening or slot 18 and provides an intake for fresh air into the 
passenger compartment of the vehicle A. 
In accordance with the provisions of the present invention the shroud top 
vent grille 16 is releasably retained or attached to the front fenders 12 
of the vehicle A by a novel retainer means 20. The retainer means 20 
comprises, in general, a pair of headed weld studs welded to an inner wall 
12a of the fender 12 a predetermined distance below its upper external 
surface 12b and a one piece plastic retainer member 24 secured to the weld 
studs 22 and which is adapted to releasably retain the shroud top vent 
grilles 16 in place. 
The shroud top vent grille 16 is made from a suitable plastic material and 
has a pair of downwardly extending legs 30 at its right and left ends, as 
viewed in FIG. 1. Since both the right and left legs are of identical 
construction, only the right leg 30, as viewed in FIG. 1, will be shown 
and described in detail. The downwardly extending leg 30 has a 
horizontally extending slot 32 therethrough, and for a reason to be 
hereinafter more fully described. 
The one piece retainer member 24 is molded from a suitable plastic material 
and comprises a base or base portion 36, having two spaced apart openings 
38 therethrough. The openings 38 are shaped to provide an enlarged opening 
portion 38a at one end and a smaller opening portion 38b at their other 
end. The shape of the openings 38 is such that the large opening end 
portions 38a can freely pass over the head of the headed weld studs 22 and 
then the base 36 can be secured to the weld studs by pushing the member 24 
to the right, as viewed in FIG. 2. This movement causes the smaller 
opening portions 38b to frictionally receive the stems of the weld studs 
12 and the heads of the weld studs 12 to be positioned behind the base 36 
to secure and retain the retainer 24 in place on the inner wall 12a of the 
fender 12. 
The retainer 24 also includes three spaced apart upwardly extending arms 
40, 41 and 42. The arms 40, 41 and 42 have laterally extending portions 
40a, 41a and 42a which extend transversely of the base 36 and upwardly 
extending, vertically disposed portions 40b, 41b and 42b, respectively. 
The arms 40 and 42, which are located fore and aft of the middle arm 41, 
as viewed in FIG. 2, have their upper free ends terminating in curved, 
deflectable leaf springs 40c and 42c, and for a reason to be hereinafter 
more fully described. 
The middle arm 41 of the retainer member 24 at its upper free end has a 
transversely extending barb 50 which extends towards the inner wall 12a of 
the fender 12. The barb 50 has a tapered upper surface 52 which tapers 
downwardly proceeding from the arm 41 towards its free end. The barb 50 
also has tapered sides 54 which taper toward each other proceeding from 
the arm 41 towards the free end of the barb 50. The arm 41 is deflectable 
toward and from the inner wall 12a of the fender 12 and is self-biased 
toward its normal free state position, as shown in the drawings. 
The shroud top vent grille 16 is secured to the retainer member 24 by 
placing the grille over the opening 18 and moving the vent grille 16 
downwardly. It should be understood that two retainers 24 are employed, 
one secured to the inner wall of the left fender 12 and one secured to the 
inner wall of the right fender 12. The downward movement of the vent 
grille 16 will cause the legs 30 to engage the tapered surfaces 52 of the 
barb 50 as it is moved downwardly. This causes the arms 41 to be deflected 
laterally away from the inner walls 12a of the fenders 12 until the barb 
50 is aligned with the slots 32 in the legs 30 whereupon the self biasing 
force of the plastic arms 41 will cause the same to move towards their 
normal free state position and with the barbs 50 being located within the 
slots 32. As this occurs, the shroud top vent grille 16 along its 
underside will engage the curved leaf spring 40c and 42c and cause the 
same to be deflected from their normal free state position. The leaf 
springs 40c and 42c serve as an anti-rattle feature by biasingly holding 
the shroud top vent grille 16 against the barbs 50 of the arms 41. 
The shroud top vent grille 16 when attached to the retainer members 24, can 
also be readily detached from the retainer members 24. This is 
accomplished by moving the shroud top vent grille 16 either fore or aft 
until the legs 30 thereof defining the end of the slots 32 engage the 
tapered sides 54 of the middle arms 41. Further pushing in the fore or aft 
direction will cause the arms 41 to be deflected away from the inner wall 
12a of the fender 12 from its normal free state position until the slots 
clear the barbs 50 whereupon the vent top shroud grille 16 can be removed 
from the vehicle A. 
From the foregoing, it should be apparent that by locating the weld studs 
22 a predetermined distance from the upper surface 12b of the fender and 
the slots 32 a predetermined distance beneath the top of the vent grille 
16 that good control of the flushness between the vent grille 16 and the 
upper wall 12b of the fender 12 can be achieved. It should also be 
apparent that the retaining means 20 can be readily attached to the weld 
studs 22, that the vent grille 16 can be readily attached to the retainer 
members 24 and that the retainer members 24 securely retain the vent 
grille 16 in place and in a manner which prevents rattling. It should 
further be apparent that the shroud top vent grille 16 can be readily 
removed from the vehicle by merely moving the same fore or aft and then 
reassembled at a later time. 
Although the illustrated embodiment hereof has been described in great 
detail, it should be apparent that certain modifications, changes and 
adaptations may be made in the illustrated embodiment, and that it is 
intended to cover all such modifications, changes and adaptations which 
come within the spirit of the present invention.