Fastener for truck bed liner

A protective liner is secured to a truck cargo bed by a plurality of one-piece resilient fasteners each including a bearing plate and a clamp member. The bearing plate and clamp member are integrally formed with the clamp member extending perpendicularly from the bearing plate. A lever arm extends from a peripheral edge of the clamp member toward the bearing plate to a free end portion removed from contact with the base plate. The lever arm is normally spring biased downwardly away from the bearing plate. On installation the clamp member is projected through an opening in the liner with the peripheral edge sliding over the edge of the liner around the opening. As the clamp member advances through the opening, the lever arm slides on the liner edge and is urged upwardly toward the bearing plate to allow the clamp member to pass through the opening. The pivotal movement of the lever arm allows the bearing plate to be compressed against the liner without flexing the bearing plate relative to the clamp member. The lever arm springs downwardly into latching engagement with the edge of the liner around the opening to urge a pressure point at the upper peripheral edge of the clamp member against a rail flange of the cargo bed and apply a downward force upon the liner so that a cap of the liner is compressed on the top surface of the rail. The liner is compressed against the rail flange by opposing forces exerted by the bearing plate and the clamping member.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
1. Field of the Invention 
This invention relates to method and apparatus for securing a protective 
bed liner to a cargo bed of a truck and more particularly to a one-piece 
molded fastener for securing the walls of the bed liner to a downwardly 
extending flange of a rail on a cargo bed side wall. 
2. Description of the Prior Art 
Fasteners for securing panels of sheet material to a supporting structure 
are well known in the art and particularly for connecting parts to the 
frame of an automotive vehicle. U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,853,913; 3,029,486; 
3,093,027; 4,122,583; and 4,470,737 are representative of panel clips and 
fasteners that are used to connect automotive trim to the vehicle body and 
the fire wall to the vehicle body. The clips and fasteners disclosed in 
the above patents include an expandable portion that is forced through a 
restricted opening in the panel and the supporting wall to secure the 
panel to the supporting wall. Typically, the clips are one-piece, molded 
plastic bodies. 
U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,093,874; 4,708,895; and 4,765,036 disclose one-piece 
automotive trim fasteners that include a resilient locking portion that is 
compressible to permit the fasteners to be engaged so that when the 
fastener is installed the locking portion is released to frictionally 
engage the wall of the supporting structure. 
With the plastic clips and fasteners disclosed in the above-identified 
patents, it is necessary to pass the clip through aligned holes in the 
sheet member or panel and the wall of the supporting structure. If the 
wall of the supporting structure does not include a hole, then one must be 
drilled, for example, into the vehicle body to receive the clip. This is 
particularly undesirable when a hole must be drilled in the metal body of 
the vehicle. If clips and fasteners of this type are used to secure a 
protective bed liner to a truck cargo bed, holes must be drilled in the 
side walls or flange portions of the truck bed. This can lead to rusting 
and deterioration of the side wall around the holes. 
To avoid drilling holes in metal supporting walls for receiving clips and 
fasteners to secure sheet member panels in place, non-invasive fasteners 
have been proposed. One type of non-invasive fastener utilizes a toggle 
bolt as disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,135,612 and 1,648,927. Toggle 
bolt-clamps, however, are limited in use because they have dimensional and 
structural features that restrict their usage. 
One of the problems encountered in securing a protective liner to the cargo 
bed of a pickup truck is providing a fastener that can connect a bed liner 
to a number of different designs of truck bed side walls and flanges. The 
flanges themselves vary considerably in dimension and configuration. For 
example, a truck bed rail flange may be vertical or angular and of varying 
length with or without an extending lip. Therefore, a bed liner fastener 
must be adaptable to a wide range of cargo bed designs to avoid 
customizing fasteners for each cargo bed design. Without the provision of 
a versatile fastener, the availability of fasteners for the different 
designs of cargo beds becomes unmanageable. 
To meet the growing demand for installing protective liners on all types of 
truck cargo beds, a number of fasteners have been proposed that are 
adaptable to a wide range of cargo bed styles. These types of fasteners 
are also preferred because they do not require that holes be drilled in 
the truck bed side walls. 
U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,181,349; 4,572,568; 4,595,229; 4,659,133; 4,740,026; 
4,768,822; 4,796,942; and 4,850,633 are examples of non-invasive fasteners 
for truck bed liners that can be used with a number of different styles of 
truck cargo beds. However, these fasteners require multiple parts, such as 
wing nuts, bolts and screws, that secure the fastener to the liner and 
clamp the liner to the bed side wall flange. Substantial inventory and 
order problems are encountered with any type of fastener that includes 
multiple pieces. The pieces must be properly packaged to see that all 
components are provided, and the installer must exercise care to see that 
all the pieces are available for installation. 
To overcome the problems encountered with multi-piece non-invasive 
fasteners for truck bed liners, one-piece fasteners have been proposed. An 
example one-piece fastener, not necessarily for bed liners, fabricated of 
resilient material is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,677,714. U.S. Pat. No. 
4,924,561 discloses a one-piece fastener that includes a lever for 
securing the fastener in a hole of a panel for mounting electric wire to 
the panel. 
One-piece fasteners for bed liners are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 
4,906,040; 5,046,775; and 5,150,940. With the fastener disclosed in U.S. 
Pat. No. 4,906,040 a pair of vertically spaced slots must be cut in the 
bed liner with a ridge formed in the liner wall between the slots to 
receive and retain a resilient clip. The clip has end portions which 
extend through the slots and a central body portion that frictionally 
engages the ridge. An upper end of the clip extends through one slot into 
underlying wedging engagement with the flange of the truck side wall. A 
lower end of the clip engages the opposite surface of the liner wall. 
While this device secures the liner to the truck bed wall with a single 
resilient piece, the liner wall must be specially constructed to receive 
and retain the resilient clip in place. 
U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,046,775 and 5,150,940 utilize one-piece resilient clips or 
fasteners which do not require that the bed liner be specially constructed 
to receive the fastener, other than forming an opening or aperture in the 
liner wall. Each of these fasteners includes a unitary molded piece 
requiring no tools for installation and features a snap-engagement with 
the flange of the truck bed rail to hold the liner securely in place. No 
holes are required to be drilled in the truck bed side nor screws or other 
multi-piece fasteners used. 
The known one-piece bed liner fasteners include an arcuately shaped 
clamping member rigidly connected to a base plate. The clamp member is 
extended through the hole in the bed liner and is snapped into locking 
engagement with the rail flange. The clamping member is urged against the 
rail flange, and the base plate is compressed against the liner side wall 
to secure the bed liner to the cargo bed. With this arrangement, the liner 
side wall is securely and tightly held against the rail flange by opposing 
forces exerted by the clamp member and base plate. 
With the one-piece fasteners, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,046,775 and 
5,150,940, the arcuately shaped clamp member is rigidly connected to the 
base plate. This requires bending the base plate relative to the clamp 
member to permit the fastener to snap in place and compress the liner on 
the rail flange. This has the effect of placing significant bending 
stresses on the point of connection of the base plate to the clamp member. 
Consequently, the base plate is subject to cracking or breaking, rendering 
the fastener inoperative. 
U.S. Pat. No. 4,305,182 discloses a C-shaped spring retainer clip for a 
refrigerator door gasket that overcomes the adverse effects of bending 
rigid C-shaped fasteners. A C-shaped bed liner fastener that does not 
require pivoting or bending of the base plate relative to the clamp member 
is manufactured and sold by Futurex Automotive Division of Futurex 
Industries, Inc., Marshall, Indiana. While this fastener does not rely 
upon the snap-in action of the one-piece fasteners described above, it 
requires that the base plate be held in position on the liner by a screw 
to maintain the end of the C-shaped clamp member compressed against the 
flange of the truck bed rail. 
While it has been suggested by the prior art devices to provide a resilient 
one-piece fastener for tightly securing the wall of a bed liner to the 
flanged rail of a truck cargo bed, the prior art devices require bending 
or flexing of the rigidly connected parts. This places stress on the 
fastener tending to break the fastener. In the alternative, those 
fasteners which require multi-piece components to clamp the bed liner to 
the truck bed rail are not convenient to install. 
Therefore, there is need for a resilient one-piece bed liner fastener that 
is non-invasive and requires no tools for installation. The fastener must 
be easily snapped in place without requiring excessive flexing or bending 
of the clamp member relative to the base plate. 
SUMMARY OF INVENTION 
In accordance with the present invention, there is provided a fastener for 
securing a sheet member to a flange portion of a supporting wall that 
includes a base member for engaging a surface around an opening in a sheet 
member to be secured to a flange portion of a supporting wall. An 
arcuately shaped clamping member extends at one end from the base member 
to a free end portion at an opposite end. The clamping member has a length 
for passing through the opening in the sheet member and positioning the 
free end portion in contact with the flange portion of the supporting 
wall. The clamping member has a planar body portion defined by a 
peripheral edge joined at one end to the base member and extending in an 
arcuate path to a second end spaced closely adjacent to the base member. 
The clamping member includes a lever portion pivotally connected at one 
end portion to the peripheral edge and extending therefrom to a free end 
portion forming the peripheral edge second end spaced from the base 
member. The lever portion is normally biased in a direction away from the 
clamping member body portion. The lever portion is pivotal on the 
peripheral edge toward the clamping member body portion against the 
direction of bias of the lever portion. The lever portion is pivoted 
toward the clamping member body portion into overlying relation with the 
sheet member surrounding the opening to exert a downward biasing force 
upon the sheet member and urge the clamping member peripheral edge against 
the flange to secure the sheet member to the supporting wall. 
Further in accordance with the present invention, there is provided a 
method for securing a protective liner to a side wall of a bed of a pickup 
truck that includes the steps of positioning a panel of a protective liner 
in abutting relation with the side wall of a pickup truck. A clamp member 
attached to a base member is aligned oppositely an opening in the panel. 
The clamp member is extended through the opening with the base plate 
overlying the panel around the opening to restrain the base plate from 
passing through the opening. The peripheral edge of the clamp member is 
moved into position opposite a downwardly extending flange portion of the 
side wall of the truck. A lever arm is pivotally connected at one end to 
the peripheral edge of the clamp member to extend at an opposite end 
toward the base plate. The lever arm is normally spring biased downwardly 
away from the base plate. The lever arm is pivoted upwardly relative to 
the base plate against the spring bias into overlying relation with an 
edge of the panel surrounding the opening. The lever arm is released to 
spring downwardly and exert a downward force upon the panel to urge the 
clamp member peripheral edge into engagement with the flange portion to 
secure the panel to the bed side wall. 
The present invention is also directed to apparatus for securing a 
protective liner to a side wall of a bed of pickup truck that includes a 
resilient unitary molded body portion including a bearing plate and a 
fastener clamp. The fastener clamp extends outwardly from the bearing 
plate. The fastener clamp has a peripheral edge with a pressure point at 
an upper end portion projecting toward the bearing plate and a spring 
biased arm member at a lower end portion extending toward the bearing 
plate. The arm member is normally spring biased in a direction away from 
the bearing plate so that when pivoted upwardly by a force acting against 
the direction of spring bias urges the pressure point to apply a 
compressive force toward the bearing plate. 
Accordingly, a principal object of the present invention is to provide 
method and apparatus for securing a protective liner to a cargo bed of a 
pickup truck by a one-piece resilient fastener that manually locks in 
place without the need for tools or holes to be drilled in the cargo bed. 
Another object of the present invention is to provide a one-piece resilient 
fastener for securely clamping a protective liner to a flanged rail of a 
cargo bed of a pickup truck by locking the fastener in place without the 
risk of breaking the fastener. 
An additional object of the present invention is to provide a one-piece 
resilient C-shaped fastener for securing a sheet member to a flange 
portion of a supporting wall without the need for tools, multi-piece 
fasteners, or drilling holes in the flange. 
An additional object of the present invention is to provide a fastener for 
securely clamping a protective bed liner to side walls of a cargo bed of a 
truck by exerting a spring force upon the bed liner to clamp it to the 
cargo bed. 
These and other objects of the present invention will be more completely 
disclosed and described in the following specification, accompanying 
drawings and appended claims.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS 
Referring to the drawings and particularly to FIG. 1, there is illustrated 
a conventional pickup truck 10 having an operator's cab (not shown) and a 
cargo bed 12. The cargo bed 12 includes a floor or bottom wall 14 and 
oppositely positioned side walls 16 and 18 extending vertically from the 
bottom wall 14 in spaced parallel relationship. In a conventional 
structure, each side wall 16 and 18 includes a top rail 20 extending 
longitudinally the length of the bed. The rail 20 includes a downwardly 
extending flange 22, as seen in detail in FIG. 2. The flange 22 terminates 
in a lip 24 extending outwardly in the direction toward the side wall 16, 
18. 
As well known in the art, the structure of the side walls 16 and 18 and top 
rail 20 varies considerably between different makes and models of trucks 
as to dimensions and configuration. With some models the flange does not 
terminate in a horizontally extending lip as shown in FIG. 2. The flange 
is a vertical member with no lip or in-turned leg. It should also be 
understood that the cargo bed 12 is closed at one end portion by a 
tailgate which is not shown in FIG. 1 to better illustrate the 
configuration of the cargo bed 12. 
To protect the cargo bed 12 from damage, a protective bed liner generally 
designated by the numeral 26 is positioned in the cargo bed 12 to cover 
the front wall (not shown), bottom wall 14, and side walls 16 and 18. The 
bed liner 26 is formed of high density polyethylene in a single, integral 
unit. 
The liner 26 includes a bottom wall 28 adapted to fit on and substantially 
cover the full length and width of the cargo bed bottom wall 14. The liner 
bottom wall 28 normally has a width substantially as great as the distance 
between the truck bed rails 20. In a conventional manner, the liner bottom 
wall 28 includes a plurality of separate inverted U-shaped longitudinal 
corrugations. A pair of wheel wells 30 extend upwardly from the bottom 
wall and are adapted to accommodate the truck cargo bed rear wheel wells. 
Two liner side walls 32 and 34 and a front wall (not shown) are integrally 
formed with the liner bottom wall 28 and wheel wells 30. With this 
arrangement, the bed liner 26 is complementary with the cargo bed 12 at 
the front wall, side walls 16 and 18 and bottom wall 14 to completely 
cover and protect the surfaces of the cargo bed 12. 
As seen in FIG. 2, each liner side wall 32 and 34 includes a top cap 36 
that is formed integral with and extends horizontally relative to the 
vertical side wall. The top cap 36 extends the width of the truck bed top 
rail 20 and includes a downwardly extending flange 38 that terminates a 
relatively short distance from the top cap 36. With this arrangement, the 
distance between the bed liner side walls 32, 34 and the flange 38 is 
equal to the width of the truck bed top rail 20. 
As seen in FIGS. 1 and 2, the bed liner side walls 32 and 34 are provided 
with openings 40 spaced a preselected distance apart and located a 
relatively short distance from the liner top cap 36. As seen in FIG. 1, at 
least two openings are provided in each liner side wall on the opposite 
sides of the wheel well 30; however, any number of openings may be 
provided. The size and configuration of the opening 40 is adapted to 
receive a fastener generally designated by the numeral 42 that securely 
and tightly clamps the liner side walls 32 and 34 to the truck cargo bed 
side walls 16 and 18 without the requirement for drilling holes in the 
cargo side walls or the use of bolts or screws. The fasteners 42 manually 
snap in place without the need for tools. 
As illustrated in FIG. 3, each fastener 42 has a length greater than its 
width so that a portion of the fastener remains in abutting relation with 
the side of the liner positioned within the cargo bed 12. Other than this 
limitation, the openings 40 do not require any specific configuration. 
Each fastener 42 is a single piece of plastic or similar resilient 
material, such as polyethylene, used to fabricate the bed liner 26. 
Each fastener 42, as illustrated in detail in FIGS. 4-8, includes a base 
member or bearing plate 44 integrally formed with an arcuately shaped 
clamping member generally designated by the numeral 46. As seen in FIG. 3, 
the bearing plate 44 has a generally rectangular configuration. The 
clamping member 46 extends from a center region of the bearing plate 44 
perpendicularly therefrom. 
The length and width of the bearing plate 44 exceeds the length and width 
of the opening 40 in the liner side wall so that the surface area of the 
bearing plate exceeds the area of the opening 40. This prevents, as shown 
in FIGS. 2 and 7, the bearing plate 44 when positioned in a coplanar 
relationship with the liner side wall from passing through the opening 40. 
The clamping member 46 has an arcuately shaped peripheral edge 48 that 
extends from one end portion 50 to an opposite free end portion 52 where 
the end portions 50 and 52 are positioned in spaced overlying 
relationship. In accordance with the present invention, the clamping 
member end portion 50 is formed integral with the base plate 44 and the 
end portion 52 is disconnected from the bearing plate 44 to move in a 
pivotal fashion relative to the bearing plate 44 as shown in FIG. 4. 
Preferably, the peripheral edge 48 of the clamping member 46 is arcuately 
shaped to facilitate the insertion of the clamping member 46 through the 
bed liner opening 40 as shown in FIG. 8. Extending upwardly from the end 
portion 50 of the clamping member 46 is a pressure point 54 for engaging 
the flange lip 24 or the flange directly in the embodiment where the cargo 
bed rail 20 does not include a lip 24 on the flange. 
The clamping member 46 has a generally planar configuration defined by the 
arcuate peripheral edge 48 and a central body portion 56. As seen in FIG. 
6, the central body portion 56 has a thickness less than the thickness of 
the peripheral edge 48. This permits the body portion 56 to attenuate upon 
installation and allow for dimensional variances in the various styles of 
truck cargo beds. 
Extending from the lower portion of the peripheral edge 48 is a lever arm 
generally designated by the numeral 58. The lever arm 58 includes a first 
end portion or hinge point 60 and a second end portion 52 which forms the 
free end portion of the peripheral edge 48, as above described. The lever 
arm 58 is integrally formed as an extension of the peripheral edge 48. The 
lever arm 58 is pivotal about the hinge point 60 between a first or 
lowermost position, as illustrated by the solid lines in FIG. 4, to a 
second or uppermost position, as illustrated in phantom in FIG. 4. Due to 
the resilient nature of the material from which the fastener 42 is 
fabricated, the lever arm 58 is normally biased to assume the lowermost 
position as shown in FIG. 4. 
In its normally biased position, the lever arm 58 is urged downwardly from 
the clamping member central body portion 56 and away from the bearing 
plate 44 in the direction indicated by the directional arrow 62 in FIG. 4. 
Thus, the lever arm 58 is normally acting in the direction 62 away from 
the base plate 44. 
To pivot the lever arm 58 upwardly about the hinge point 60 an upward force 
must be applied to the lever arm in a direction opposite to the arrow 62. 
In this manner, the lever arm 58 is pivoted to the position shown in 
phantom in FIG. 4. The downward spring force normally exerted by the lever 
arm 58 resists upward movement of the lever arm. Upon release of an upward 
force applied to the lever arm 58, the arm 58 pivots or springs downwardly 
about the hinge point 60 to the lowermost position as shown by the solid 
lines in FIG. 4. 
In the static position of the fastener 42, as shown in FIG. 4, the lever 
arm 58 is positioned in its lowermost position where the free end portion 
52 of the arm is substantially displaced from the central body portion 56 
and the bearing plate 44. Upon insertion of the fastener 42 into the 
opening 40 in the bed liner side wall 32, the clamping member 46 is 
positioned oppositely of the opening 40. The upper end portion or pressure 
point 54 is first introduced through the opening 40. The lower peripheral 
edge 48 slides on a lower surface 64 of the liner as the upper surface of 
the peripheral edge 48 passes beneath an upper surface 66 of the liner 
surrounding the opening 40. By sliding the peripheral edge 48 on the liner 
surface 64, the fastener 42 is guided by the arcuate configuration of the 
clamping member peripheral edge 48 through the liner opening 40. 
The lever arm 58 is spaced from the clamping member body portion 56 by an 
elongated slot 68. The slot 68 is closed at end portion 70 and is open at 
end portion 72 where the lever arm 58 is spaced from and disconnected from 
the bearing plate 44. The length and width of the slot 68 is designed to 
provide the lever arm 58 with a wide range of pivotal movement about the 
hinge point 60. This permits the lever arm 58, as shown in FIG. 8, to be 
pivoted upwardly about hinge point 60 as the peripheral edge 48 slides 
over the side wall surface 64 as the clamping member 46 is advanced 
through the opening 40. 
The resilient nature of the lever arm 58 and the dimensions of the slot 68 
facilitate pivotal movement of the lever arm toward the bearing plate 44. 
This allows the lever arm 58 to follow the peripheral edge 48 through the 
opening 40. Upward pivotal movement of the lever arm 58 about the hinge 
point 60 is accomplished by sliding the peripheral edge 48 on the liner 
side wall surface 64. 
To stabilize the fastener 42 in its clamped position on the liner side wall 
32 as shown in FIG. 7, the lever arm 58 includes a recess 74 at the lower 
edge of the arm free end portion 52. Also, the peripheral edge 48 at end 
portion 50 is recessed to receive the liner surface 66. Preferably, the 
recess 74 has an arcuate configuration complementary with the 
configuration and thickness of the bed liner lower surface 64. As the 
lever arm 58 slides along the surface 64, it pivots upwardly until the 
clamping member 46 has advanced through the opening 40 to the point where 
the recess 74 snaps into position on the liner lower surface 64. 
In the position shown in FIG. 7, the natural spring bias of the lever arm 
58 locks the arm on the liner surface 64, and the bearing plate 44 is 
compressed in abutting position with the surface of the bed liner side 
wall. Further, the spring bias of the lever arm 58 exerts a downward 
compressive force upon the liner side wall to force the bearing plate 44 
against the surface of the side wall. This urges the pressure point 54 at 
the upper end of the peripheral edge 48 into clamping engagement with the 
flange lip 24. 
The downward force exerted by the lever arm 58 urges the upper end of the 
clamping member 46 against the lip 24. Accordingly, movement of the 
clamping member 46 toward the flange 22 is restrained by abutting contact 
of the pressure point 54 with the lip 24 or, in the case where the top 
rail 20 does not have a lip 24, into abutting relation with the vertical 
wall of the flange 22. With this arrangement, the bed liner side wall 32 
and rail flange 22 are compressed together by opposing forces exerted by 
the bearing plate 44 against the bed liner side wall and the clamping 
member 46 against the rail flange 22. 
The bed liner side wall and rail flange are compressed together by the 
fastener 42 of the present invention. In addition, the lever arm 58 exerts 
a downward force upon the bed liner around the opening 40 to compress the 
bed liner top cap 36 into frictional engagement with the truck bed top 
rail 20, as shown in FIG. 2. 
The provision of the recess 74 on the bottom edge of the lever arm 58 to 
receive the surface 64 of the bed liner around the opening 40 serves to 
stabilize the fastener 42 in engagement with the bed liner 26. However, 
the recess 74 is not essential to the operation of the fastener 42. The 
lever arm 58 is equally operable where the edge of the lever arm 58 
without the recess 74 engages the bed liner to exert a downward force on 
the bed liner. 
Further in accordance with the present invention, the provision of the 
lever arm 58 pivotal on the peripheral edge 48 toward and away from the 
clamping member body portion 56 permits installation of the fastener 42 
without requiring flexing of the bearing plate 44 relative to the clamping 
member body portion 56. As shown in FIG. 8, the pivotal nature of the 
lever arm 58 permits the clamping member 46 to be compressed to the degree 
to permit the body portion 56 to be advanced through the opening 40 
without flexing of the bearing plate 44. 
Absent the provision of the pivotal lever arm 58, the bearing plate 44 
would have to flex or bend outwardly from the bed liner sidewall to permit 
the body portion 56 to advance through the opening 40. As encountered with 
the prior art fasteners that require pivoting or flexing of the clamping 
member with respect to the bearing plate, the bending forces acting on the 
bearing plate are known to crack or break the bearing plate. A broken or 
cracked bearing plate can not be efficiently compressed against the bed 
liner side wall. The lever arm 58 pivotal on the clamping member 
peripheral edge 48 eliminates this problem. 
The installation of the fastener 42 to securely clamp the bed liner to the 
truck cargo bed is accomplished by mere thumb pressure applied to the 
bearing plate 44. No tools are required for installation nor bolts or 
screws to hold the fastener 42 in place. When it is desired to disengage 
the fastener from the bed liner to remove the bed liner from the cargo 
bed, the fastener 42 is also easily disengaged. A thin, rigid member is 
advanced upwardly below the lever arm 58 between the bearing plate 44 and 
the bed liner side wall. The rigid member is advanced into engagement with 
the lever arm 58 to pivot the lever arm 58 upwardly into the slot 68. 
With the lever arm 58 pivoted upwardly an outward force exerted on the 
pressure plate 44 permits the peripheral edge 48 to slide over the lower 
surface 64 of the bed liner to disengage the fastener from the flange 22. 
This allows the fastener 42 to be advanced out of the opening 40. Thus, 
the pivotal action of the lever arm 58 also facilitates efficient removal 
of the fastener 42 without requiring flexing of the bearing plate 44 
relative to the clamping member 46. This also avoids breaking the base 
plate upon removal of the fastener 42 from the bed liner side wall. 
According to the provisions of the patent statutes, I have explained the 
principle, preferred construction, and mode of operation of my invention 
and have illustrated and described what I now consider to represent its 
best embodiments. However, it should be understood that within the scope 
of the appended claims the invention may be practiced otherwise than as 
specifically illustrated and described.