Apertured panel corner mount fastener for concrete walls

A corner mount fastener adapted to mount an apertured panel at its corner to a hard concrete vertical wall is L-shaped in plan configuration, is formed of molded plastic, each leg of which having a base defined by a front vertical wall and a rear stepped vertical wall when mounted to said concrete wall, with a transverse inner wall forming a projecting transverse lip defining a slot to receive the edges of the apertured panel at the received corner. Integral spring fingers project from the stepped portion of the vertical rear wall to frictionally lock the apertured panel to the fastener and mounting pins, supported within vertical integral cylinders between the inner and outer walls, are driven into the concrete wall to lock the fastener to the concrete wall after insertion of the corner of the apertured panel within the fastener slots.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION 
This invention relates to fasteners for fastening elements to hard walls 
such as concrete walls, and more particularly, to a corner mount fastener 
for fastening a apertured panel at its corners to a hard concrete wall or 
the like. 
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
Picture fasteners and the like have been molded in unitary fashion from 
plastic and have been provided with drivable, pointed, steel pins with the 
pins frictionally mounted within cylindrical molded portions of the 
fastener, and wherein the molded portions act as support for the pins when 
they are driven inwardly to fix the fastener to the wall. 
One such hard wall fastener is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,974,557. In that 
fastener, the steel pins 48 are mounted to cylindrical bushings 45 with 
the bushings in turn being drivable with respect to cylindrical recesses 
41 within the fastener 40, such that both the pins and the bushings are 
driven axially, with the bushings acting as guides during mounting of the 
fastener to the hard wall by embedding the steel pins within that hard 
wall and with the fastener flush to the wall. 
The present invention is directed to fasteners of this type, and more 
particularly, to a unitary, integral, molded plastic fastener for 
specifically fastening the corner of a sheet, wall board or apertured 
panel to a hard wall such as a concrete wall and wherein the fastener is 
both extremely simple to manufacture and is light weight to securely hold 
the corner of the wall board or pegboard in place during the mounting of 
the fastener to the wall and which frictionally locks the apertured panel 
to the fastener. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
The present invention takes the form of a corner mount fastener for 
fastening a pegboard or the like to a hard concrete or similar type wall, 
with the fastener comprising a unitary, hollow member and being L-shaped 
in plan configuration via intersecting legs. Each leg is of modified 
C-shape in vertical cross-section, defining intersecting slots, facing 
inwardly, to receive angled, intersecting edges of the apertured panel. 
The opening of the slots is of a thickness slightly in excess of the 
thickness of the apertured panel. The fastener comprises a vertical front 
wall joined by inner and outer transverse walls, forming the slot, and 
wherein at least one of the transverse walls includes partially cut out, 
flexible fingers projecting into the plane of the slot to frictionally 
lock the inserted corner of the apertured panel to the fastener. Vertical, 
pointed metal pin supporting means extend at spaced positions along at 
least one of the vertical walls and carry vertical holes bearing 
individually, hardened, pointed metal pins such that by driving the pins 
inwardly from the top of the intersecting legs, the fastener may be 
readily fixed to the hard concrete wall, with the corner of the apertured 
panel captured within the angled slots of the respective intersecting 
legs. 
Preferably, the vertical supports for the metal pins comprise integral 
cylinders vertically interposed between the transverse walls and in 
contact therewith. A large cylinder may be mounted between the outer and 
inner transverse walls at the corner intersection of the two legs to form 
a screw hole for auxiliary fixing of the fastener to the concrete wall. 
Preferably, the fastener is of molded plastic with integral molded 
flexible fingers. The fingers and the slots defining the same may project 
obliquely towards the leg intersection to facilitate insertion of the 
corner of the apertured panel into the intersecting slots of the fastener. 
One transverse edge of the flexible finger remote from the intersection of 
the legs may be beveled to further facilitate insertion of the apertured 
panel corner into the intersecting slots.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
Referring to the drawings, the corner mount apertured panel fastener, for 
use in fastening a apertured panel or similar board at its corners to a 
hard wall such as a concrete wall or the like, is indicated generally at 
10 in FIG. 1 and is generally L-shaped in plan configuration, constituting 
two right angle sections or legs 12 and 14 which are mirror images of each 
other. The fastener preferably is unitarily molded of suitable plastic 
such as acrylic and being completely integral in nature. Each leg, in 
transverse section, is generally of modified U or C shape in cross-section 
defining intersecting rectangular slots as at 16 for leg 12, and 18 for 
leg 14, respectively. Each leg is provided with a front wall which 
cooperates with a spaced rear wall and has inner transverse wall which 
joins the front wall to the rear wall. The front wall extends beyond the 
rear wall to form a flange or lip, which forms in conjunction with the 
inner transverse wall a given one of the intersecting slots. Thus, for leg 
18, a rear wall 22 has portions 22a and 22b which join at right angle 
portions 20 a and 20b. Front wall 20 includes right angle portions 20a and 
20b being opposite to and spaced from the rear wall 22 portions of legs 
12, 14. The fastener is hollow in construction and has its rear open as 
per FIG. 2. Each leg is characterized by a vertical front wall, a vertical 
rear wall, a transverse outer wall and a transverse inner wall, with the 
front wall extending joining at the front of the fastener the end of the 
transverse inner and outer walls and extending beyond the inner wall to 
form with the vertical rear wall a given apertured panel corner receiving 
slot. 
In this respect, therefore, for leg 14, there is provided a front wall at 
20a, a vertical rear wall 22a, a transverse outer wall 24a, a transverse 
inner wall 26a. A transverse flange 20a projects rearwardly from the 
vertical rear wall 22a. Right angle leg 12 is similarly defined by a front 
wall 20b, a rear wall 22b, a transverse outer wall 22b, a transverse inner 
wall 26b, and the vertical rear wall 22b is provided with a right angle 
flange 28b. These surfaces all meet at the intersection between legs 12 
and 14, and the molded plastic fastener further comprises end walls for 
respective legs as at 30a and 30b respectively which join to the other leg 
walls at right angles thereto. The back or rear of the molded plastic 
fastener is open, as may be best seen in FIG. 2, this opening of course 
being covered by the hard wall when the fastener is applied to the hard 
wall such as the concrete wall W, FIG. 6. 
In the illustrated embodiment, the rear walls 22a and 22b are each molded 
with a U-shaped or partial cut out opening as at 34, forming flexible 
fingers as at 36a for leg 14 and 36b for leg 12. In the molding process, 
the U-shaped opening 34 is of irregular configuration and of non-uniform 
dimensions. Further, each one of the flexible fingers is provided with a 
beveled outer edge relative to the intersection point of the two legs 12 
and 14. For instance, finger 36b is provided with a beveled edge 38b, 
while finger 36a is provided with a beveled edge 38a, FIG. 1. 
Further, the fingers are molded so that they do not lie flush with the 
surface of the rear walls 22a and 22b, but in fact partially project into 
the slots 16 and 18, as may be seen in FIGS. 3, 4, 5 and 7. The slots 16 
and 18 are slightly larger than the thickness of the apertured panel B, 
FIG. 6 and FIG. 7, such that when the apertured panel B is inserted into 
the slots 16 and 18, the outer surface 40 of the apertured panel B 
contacts the front wall 20a and 20b, while the rear surface 42 of the same 
apertured panel B contacts the flexible fingers as at 36a and 36b. 
Important also, is the manner in which the fastener can be secured to the 
hard wall such as concrete wall W, FIG. 6, FIG. 7. In the illustrated 
embodiment of the invention, since the fastener 10 is formed of molded 
acrylic plastic or the like, there is molded integrally with element 10 a 
plurality of cylinders, as at 44, which extend from the front walls 20a, 
20b of legs 12 and 14, to the edges of the rear wall flanges 28a, 28b. 
Preferably, the cylinders 44 are of a diameter so as to bridge between 
transverse inner and outer walls 24a, 24b, and transverse inner walls 26a, 
26b, in each instance. While two cylinders 44 are provided for each of the 
legs 12 and 14, any number of such cylinders may be employed, preferably 
in excess of two. 
Additionally, as an alternate mounting means, there is provided a large 
cylinder 46 between the transverse inner and outer walls at the 
intersection of the two legs 12 and 14. In this case, cylinder 46 includes 
a bore 46a which is of a larger diameter than the holes 44a within the 
cylinders 44. The holes 44a are of a diameter slightly less than the 
diameter of steel mounting pins 48 which have sharpened ends at 48a. The 
pins 48 are driven into the holes 44a from the front walls 20a, 20b, so 
that the head of each pin extends outwardly from the front wall prior to 
mounting of the fastener to the concrete wall W as per FIGS. 6 and 7. The 
cylinders 44 at their spaced positions between the inner and outer 
transverse walls lend rigidity to the molded plastic fastener without a 
major addition of weight or mass. The presence of the flexible fingers 
36a, 36b insures frictional locking of the fastener to the pegboard either 
prior to the mounting of the fastener to the hard wall W or vice versa, 
upon receiving a corner of the apertured panel B, or vice versa. 
A mounting screw S, FIG. 6, is shown within the hole 46a of the large 
cylinder 46 for additional rigidity and structural strength to the 
fastening of the apertured panel B. The pin supporting cylinders do not 
interfere with the slot reception of the corner of the apertured panel B 
by the fastener, while permitting a separation or spacing of the 
attachment points for the fastener with respect to the concrete wall W 
receiving the fastener. Further, cylinders 44 are spaced sufficiently from 
the larger cylinder 46 so that the additional support provided by screw S 
is not affected by the previous or subsequent driving of the pins axially 
through the cylinders 44 with the pointed ends 48 of the pins being deeply 
embedded within the concrete wall W, FIG. 7. 
While the unitary corner mount fastener 10 of the present invention is 
illustrated as being formed of molded plastic, it may be formed of a 
completely different material, such as metal or the like, as long as the 
metal exhibits the spring characteristics necessary to provide the 
flexible locking fingers 36a, 36b for frictionally locking the apertured 
panel B at its corner to the corner receiving fastener 10. 
While the invention has been particularly shown and described with 
reference to a preferred embodiment thereof, it will be understood by 
those skilled in the art that various changes in form and details may be 
made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.