Molding clip

A one-piece resilient fastener or molding clip for retaining trim, molding or applique strips, parts, panels and other decorative items in bridging position over a gap between two spaced members is disclosed. Such a clip, which is particularly useful for attaching objects such as trim strips in automobile interiors, is attached through a suitably-shaped aperture in a base or support, particularly a plastic base panel, disposed in the gap, and has a pair of flexing wings or legs extending upwardly and outwardly from the end of the clip opposite the end to which the decorative item being retained is attached. These flexing wings or legs, designed to prevent them from passing completely through the base or support, permit variation take up between the decorative item being retained and the base or support as well as repeated assemblies and disassemblies of the clip to the base or support, with minimum insertion force and adequate removal effort, without destroying the clip or damaging the base or support.

FIELD OF INVENTION 
This invention relates to fasteners. More particularly, this invention 
relates to a one-piece resilient fastener or molding clip for attaching 
objects such as automobile trim to a base or support located in the 
interior of an automobile. This invention further relates to a one-piece 
resilient fastener or molding clip whose use enables variation take-up 
between a trim, molding or applique strip, part, panel or the like, borne 
by said fastener, and a base or support, particularly a plastic base panel 
having a square, rectangular or round opening formed therein, to which the 
fastener is attached, and also enables repeated assemblies and 
disassemblies of the molding-bearing fastener to the base or support, with 
minimum insertion force and adequate removal effort, without destroying 
the fastener or damaging the base or support. 
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
Molding clips have become important articles of commerce, particularly in 
the automotive industry. For example, when assembling automotive 
interiors, elongated trim strips, generally formed of chrome-plated sheet 
metal or like materials, are often used to cover the gap between the 
interior of the windshield, backlight or a fixed window and the adjacent 
body structure, or to bridge the roof side rail and headliner, or to 
bridge gaps between other spaced members, thus providing a more pleasing 
appearance to the automobile's interior. 
Such elongated trim strips had long been fastened with sheet metal screws 
which were passed through holes in the strip and received in a suitable 
support, such as a based panel disposed in the gap betwen a window 
retaining structure and the body structure of the automobile. Fastening 
trim strips with sheet metal screws, however, can give rise to problems. 
It is sometimes necessary to remove an already fastened strip. If the strip 
had been fastened with screws, reaffixing it can lead to misalignment, to 
distortion of the slots and heads of the originally-used screws (and 
consequently to the need to discard and replace the screws) and to damage 
to the mating holes in the base panel. Perhaps an even more serious 
problem is the possible distortion and inevitable loss of smooth surface 
appearance in the trim strip caused by inserting screws through the strip 
and setting them from above the strip's smooth upper surface. 
A solution to many of these problems was provided by molding clips such as 
those disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,175,303, issued Nov. 27, 1979, to 
Nicholas M. Benedetti; one of the present inventors, and assigned to USM 
Corporation ("the '303 patent"). Such molding clips can be used instead of 
machine screws to fasten trim, molding or applique strips, parts, panels 
and the like to a base or support, particularly a plastic base panel, in 
an automobile interior, and facilitate assembly of such decorative items 
while retaining these items' smooth surface appearance and minimizing 
distortion. 
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION 
The present invention provides novel molding clips having important 
features not found in the clips disclosed in the '303 patent. These novel 
clips, like those shown in the '303 patent, one-piece clips for retaining 
trim, molding or applique strips, parts, panels and the like in bridging 
position over a gap between two spaced members, wherein the clip is 
attached to a base or support, particularly a plastic base panel, disposed 
in the gap. Unlike the clips disclosed in the '303 patent, however, the 
novel molding clips which embody the present invention have a pair of 
flexing wings or legs, preferably of equal length, extending upwardly and 
outwardly from the end of the clip opposite the end to which the 
decorative item being retained is attached, towards the portion of the 
clip to which the decorative item is attached. These flexing wings or 
legs, which are desinged to prevent them from passing completely through 
the base or support which receives the clip, permit variation take up 
between the decorative item being retained and the base or support. They 
also permit repeated assemblies and disassemblies of the clip to the base 
or support, with minimum insertion force and adequate removal effort, 
without destroying the clip or damaging the base or support. The clip, 
further, is capable of assembly to a base or support having either a 
square, rectangular or round opening formed therein.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
Referring now to the drawings, and in particular to FIG. 1, there is shown 
a one-piece resilient fastener or molding clip 10, preferably fabricated 
from spring steel or any other suitable resilient material. The molding 
clip 10 comprises an upper body portion 12 having a planar top 14, which 
may take any form suitable for a particular application but is preferably 
square or rectangular in shape, containing means (in this illustration a 
pair of toothed tabs 16 and 18 facing one another across a gap in the top 
14) adapted to engage and retain the underside of a trim strip or other 
decorative item (now shown in FIG. 1; shown in phantom at 50 in FIG. 4). 
Connected to the top 14 as continuations thereof is a pair of downwardly 
and inwardly sloping sides 20 and 22 which, together with the top 14, give 
the upper body portion 12 a triangular cross-section when viewed in side 
elevation (see also FIG. 4). A pair of bosses 24 and 26 (optional) add 
strength to the upper body portion 12. 
Each edge of the side 20 and 22 slopes inwardly from the top 14 until it 
reaches the beginning of the clip's lower body portion 28. This lower body 
portion 28 is formed by the continuation of the side 20 and 22, with each 
of their edges parallel to the others, extending downwardly past the 
lowermost apex of the triangular cross-sectioned upper body portion 12 
(i.e., extending downwardly past the point 30 at which one side 20 meets 
the other side 22 in abutting relationship) in substantially parallel 
relationship to one another and substantially perpendicular to the top 14 
(see also FIG. 3). 
The further continuation of the sides 20 and 22 beyond the lower and 32 and 
the lower body portion 28 forms a pair of upwardly turning and outwardly 
facing flexing wings or legs 34 and 36, preferably of equal length, 
adapted at their upper ends 38 and 40 by means such as dog leg bends or in 
any other suitable fashion to prevent their upper ends 38 and 40 from 
passing completely through the base or support 42 (shown in phantom in 
FIG. 1) which receives the clip 10 through an aperture 44 (see also FIG. 
4). 
The portions of the sides 20 and 22 which form the lower body portion 28 
can, if desired, be held together by a pair of locking tabs 46 and 48 
(both shown in FIG. 2), or by any other suitable means, e.g., by 
adhesives, crimping or the like, to keep the sides 20 and 22, and thus the 
flexing wings or legs 34 and 36 from separating. Attachment of the sides 
20 and 22 is advantageous in those applications wherein an element on the 
underside of the trim strip or other decorative item is inserted into the 
gap in the top 14. Should the element be of wide dimensional tolerance, an 
oversize element would tend to spread the side 20 and 22 and the flexing 
wings or legs 34 and 36 to an extent wherein entry into the aperture 44 
would be inhibited, and could result in damage to the legs or the element. 
Attachment of the sides 20 and 22 results in alleviating this problem on 
assembly. 
As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the sides 20 and 22 also contain cut-outs or 
slot holes 52 and 54, positioned partly in the upper body portion 12 and 
partly in the lower body portion 28, which admit the upper ends 38 and 40 
of the flexing wings or legs 34 and 36 so as to permit entry of the wings 
or legs 34 and 36 and thus permit them to be compressed to facilitate 
assembly and disassembly of the decorative item-bearing clip 10 and the 
base or support 42. 
Referring particularly to FIGS. 1 and 4, the molding clip 10 will, in use, 
engage the underside of a molding strip 30 (shown in phantom in FIG. 4) by 
means of the clips toothed tabs 16 and 18 contained in the top 14 of its 
upper body portion 12. 
The molding strip 50 can be, for example, an elongated trim strip used to 
bridge the gap formed between a fixed window panel and an adjacent 
interior decorative panel in an automobile interior, and a plurality of 
molding clips 10 will be used to engage the strip 50 along its length. 
A base or support panel 42, containing a plurality of apertures 44 along 
its length to receive the molding clips 10 will be positioned in the gap 
between the fixed window panel and the adjacent decorative panel. To 
assemble the strip onto the automobile interior, the molding clips 10, 
positioned along the underside of the strip 50 in alignment with the 
apertures 44 in the panel 42, are pushed into the apertures 44 to a 
position wherein only the top portion of the upper ends 38 and 40 of the 
flexing wings or legs 34 and 36 protrude above the surface of the panel 
42. 
In FIG. 4, the undistorted position of the flexing wing or leg 34 is 
designated by the letter "U", while the maximum distorted position of the 
flexing wing or leg 34, achieved while inserting the clip 10 into the 
panel 42 through aperture 44 (the upper ends 38 and 40 of the flexing 
wings or legs 34 and 36 having been compressed into the slot holes 52 and 
54 in the sides 20 and 22 during this assembly operation; see FIG. 1) is 
also shown, and is designated by the letter "D". As can be seen, the 
flexing wings or legs 34 and 36 permit the strip 50 to be moved back and 
forth to properly position it, and by manually grasping the protruding 
portions of the upper ends 38 and 40 of the flexing wings or legs 34 and 
36, the clips 10 can be disassembled, if necessary, from the panel 42. 
It will be obvious to those skilled in the art that other changes and 
variations can be made in the present invention without departing from the 
spirit and scope thereof as defined in the appended claims.