Abstract:
A universal attachment system for attaching to a motor vehicle the license plate from a number of countries, even though the locations of the attachment holes of the license plates may be different from country to country. A right nut body has a first plurality of license plate attachment holes, a left nut body has a second plurality of license plate attachment holes, and an attachment panel which carries the left and right nut bodies. The first and second pluralities of license plate attachment holes provides a plurality of pairs of license plate attachment holes for aligning with the license plate mounting holes of any, or all, of a North American, Japanese, Korean, Persian Gulf States and European license plate.

Description:
TECHNICAL FIELD 
     The present invention relates to holders used to attach a license plate to a motor vehicle, and more particularly to a universal license plate attachment system which accommodates differing sizes of license plates that are used in various locations around the world. 
     BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
     Motor vehicle regulations around the world require that motor vehicles display a license plate indicative of the registration of that vehicle. The usual attachment of the license plate to a motor vehicle is by threaded fasteners passing through mounting holes of the license plate and then threading into aligned attachment holes of the motor vehicle, for example at the rear deck lid, lift gate, rear deck panel, or bumper. 
     License plate size is not universal around the world. There are, for example, different size license plates, with different mounting hole locations, used in each of North America, Europe, Japan, Korea, and the Persian Gulf States of the Middle East. Problematically, since automakers ship motor vehicles to a number of countries, the license plate attachment must be correctly chosen to fit the mounting holes of the license plate of the country of destination, and this requires an added cost involved in the customization. In this regard, it is presently customary to provide license plate attachment holes into the vehicle sheet metal specific to the country of destination of the vehicle, or alternatively, to not provide any license plate attachment holes at the manufacturing facility and default to the dealer the job of drilling the license plate attachment holes (which holes are problematic in that they result in exposed metal edges which are prone to rust initiation). Into each attachment hole a respective plastic (nylon) nut is secured, and a threaded fastener is placed respectively through each mounting hole of the license plate and then threaded into the nut. These customary license plate attachment hole options involve a cost impact, part number proliferation, sequencing, scheduling and warranty issues, as well as the need to install plastic appliques to hide unused attachment holes. 
     Accordingly, what is needed in the art is a license plate attachment system which can somehow universally accommodate different sized license plates used around the world. 
     SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
     The present invention is a universal attachment system for attaching to a motor vehicle the license plate from any of a number of countries, even though the locations of the attachment holes of the license plates may be different from country to country. 
     The universal attachment system according to the present invention includes a right nut body, a left nut body, and an attachment panel which carries the left and right nut bodies, and wherein the left and right nut bodies are provided with a plurality of preselected license plate attachment holes. 
     The left nut body includes a left main nut body component and a left satellite nut body component, wherein preferably a bridge connects the left main nut body component to the left satellite nut body component. Similarly, the right nut body includes a right main nut body component and a right satellite nut body component, wherein preferably a bridge also connects the right main nut body component to the right satellite nut body component. Each of the left and right main nut body components has at least one selected country license plate attachment hole (preferably four selected countries license plate attachment holes), and the left and right satellite nut body components each have provision for a European license plate attachment hole. 
     The attachment panel has first and second right openings and first and second left openings which are spaced horizontally with respect to the first and second right openings. In this regard, the left main nut body component is attached to the first left opening, the left satellite nut body component is attached to the second left opening, the right main nut body component is attached to the first right opening, and the right satellite nut body component is attached to the second right opening, wherein a plurality of pairs of license plate attachment holes are thereby provided at the attachment panel which are alignable with the mounting holes of various sized license plates. 
     In the preferred embodiment, each of the left and right main nut body components has a respective left and right entry boss having a complementary shape to that of the first left and right openings, a respective left and right main nut body head, and at least one guide slot formed, respectively, in each sidewall of the left and right entry bosses. Each of the left and right satellite nut body components has a respective satellite nut body head and a respective snap feature attached respectively thereto in depending, perpendicular relation. 
     In operation of the preferred embodiment, the right entry boss of the right main nut body component is placed through the first right opening such that the periphery of the first right opening is aligned with the at least one guide slot of the right main nut body component. The right nut body is then rotated so as to trap the periphery of the first right opening between the right entry boss and the right main nut body head. At this position, the snap feature of the right satellite nut body component is aligned over the second right opening, and the snap feature thereof is thereupon pressed snappingly into the second right opening. The left nut body is similarly mounted to the first and second left openings of the attachment panel. Finally, the mounting holes of the license plate of a particular country are aligned to an appropriate pair of license plate attachment holes of the left and right nut bodies, and thereupon a threaded fastener is threaded respectively into the aligned license plate attachment holes to thereby secure the license plate onto the attachment panel, which is, itself connected to the motor vehicle. 
     Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a license plate attachment system which accommodates attachment to a motor vehicle a number of license plates from various countries, wherein the license plates may have differing locations of the mounting holes formed therein. 
     This and additional objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become clearer from the following specification of a preferred embodiment. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
         FIG. 1  is a perspective view of a left nut body according to the present invention. 
         FIG. 2A  is a top plan view of the left nut body of  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 2B  is a top plan view of a right nut body according to the present invention. 
         FIG. 3  is a side plan view of an attachment panel according to the present invention. 
         FIG. 4A  is a bottom plan view of the left nut body of  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 4B  is a bottom plan view the right nut body of  FIG. 2B . 
         FIG. 5  is an exploded, perspective, view of the left nut body of  FIG. 1 . 
         FIG. 5A  is a side view seen along line  5 A— 5 A of  FIG. 5 . 
         FIG. 6  is a sectional view of the left nut body of  FIG. 1 , seen along line  6 — 6  of  FIG. 2A . 
         FIG. 7  is a side view showing the left and right nut bodies at a first stage of attachment to the attachment panel. 
         FIG. 8  is a side view as in  FIG. 7 , now showing the left and right nut bodies at a second and final stage of attachment to the attachment panel. 
         FIG. 9A  is a sectional view as in  FIG. 6  of the left nut body, now shown at the final attachment stage with respect to the attachment panel. 
         FIG. 9B  is sectional view, seen along line  9 B— 9 B of  FIG. 9A . 
         FIG. 10A  is a side view of a North American license plate mounted to the left and right nut bodies which are, in turn, attached to the attachment panel according to the present invention. 
         FIG. 10B  is a side view of a Japanese license plate mounted to the left and tight nut bodies which are, in turn, attached to the attachment panel according to the present invention. 
         FIG. 10C  is a side view of a Korean license plate mounted to the left and right nut bodies which are, in turn, attached to the attachment panel according to the present invention. 
         FIG. 10D  is a side view of a Persian Gulf States license plate mounted to the left and right nut bodies which are, in turn, attached to the attachment panel according to the present invention. 
         FIG. 10E  is a side view of a European license plate mounted to the left and right nut bodies which are, in turn, attached to the attachment panel according to the present invention. 
     
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
     Referring now to the Drawing,  FIG. 8  depicts a license plate attachment system  10  according to the present invention. The license plate attachment system includes a left nut body  12 , a right nut body  14  and an attachment panel  16  to which the left and right nut bodies are attachable. The left and right nut bodies  12 ,  14  have corresponding license plate attachment holes  26  which form pairs of mutually cooperating license plate attachment holes, each pair having predetermined mutual spacing between the holes to thereby provide alignment with the mounting holes of predetermined sizes of license plates. 
     Referring now to  FIGS. 1 through 2B , the left nut body  12  is shown, which is generally a mirror image of the right nut body  14 . The left and right nut bodies  12 ,  14  have respective left and right main nut body components  20 L,  20 R, a respective left and right satellite nut body component  22 L,  22 R, and a respective bridge  24 L,  24 R connecting together each left and right main nut body component with its respective left and right satellite nut body component. Each of the left and right main nut body components  20 L,  20 R has at least one selected license plate attachment hole, forming, in combination, at least one cooperating pair of license plate attachment holes. It is preferred for four license plate attachment holes to be provided in each of the left and right main nut body components  20 L,  20 R, namely, a North American license plate attachment hole  26 A, a Japanese license plate attachment hole  26 B, a Korean license plate attachment hole  26 C, and a Persian Gulf States license plate attachment hole  26 D. As further shown by  FIGS. 2A and 2B , each of the left and right satellite nut body components  22 L,  22 R has provision for a respective centrally disposed European license plate mounting hole  28 . 
       FIG. 3  shows the attachment panel  16 , which includes first and second left openings  32 L,  34 L and first and second right openings  32 R,  34 R. The left and right main nut body components  20 L,  20 R are structured to fastenably cooperate with the periphery  32 P of the first left and right openings  32 L,  32 R, and the left and right satellite nut body components  22 L,  22 R are structured to fastenably cooperate with the periphery  34 P of the second left and right openings  34 L,  34 R, as will be detailed hereinbelow. When the left and right nut bodies  12 ,  14  are attached to the attachment panel, the relative positioning of the aforementioned license plate attachment holes are predetermined to provide pairs of license plate attachment holes, each of which being alignable with the mounting holes of a respective license plate, to wit: a pair of North American license plate attachment holes  26 A which are alignable with the mounting holes of a North American license plate, a pair of Japanese license plate attachment holes  26 B which are alignable with the mounting holes of a Japanese license plate, a pair of Korean license plate attachment holes  26 C which are alignable with the mounting holes of a Korean license plate, a pair of Persian Gulf States license plate attachment holes  26 D which are alignable with the mounting holes of a Persian Gulf States license plate, and a pair of European license plate attachment holes which are alignable with the mounting holes of a European license plate. 
     Each of the left and right main nut body components  20 L,  20 R has a respective left and right main nut body head  38 L,  38 R. As shown at  FIGS. 4A through 6 , it is preferred for the license plate attachment holes  26 A– 26 D to be in the form of blind bores  26 ′ defined by closed-end cylindrical casings  26 ″ which are integrally formed with a rear side  38 A of each of the left and right main nut body heads  38 L,  38 R in perpendicular relation thereto such that the blind bores open at a front side  38 B of the left and right main nut body heads. In this regard, a threaded fastener may be threaded into a blind bore  26 ′, and if later backed out, the blind bore remains intact, without breakage. This feature is particularly useful should a user accidentally drive a threaded fastener into a “wrong” license plate attachment hole  26 A– 26 D, in that environmental integrity is maintained. The blind bores  26 ′ preferably have four axially disposed flutes for facilitating threading thereinto by a threaded fastener. 
     Each of the left and right satellite nut body components  22 L,  22 R has a respective left and right satellite nut body head  40 L,  40 R and a respective pair of legs  42  perpendicularly projecting from a rear side  40 A of each of the respective left and right satellite nut body heads, wherein a semi-cylindrical cut-out is formed in each leg of the pairs of legs in bilateral disposition to form a threaded fastener receptacle  46 . At the front side  40 B of the satellite nut body heads  40 L,  40 R, a piercible recess surface  44  is formed which demarcates an entry location for a threaded fastener. The recess surface  44  is aligned with the threaded fastener receptacle  46 , such that piercing of the recess surface results in a threaded fastener passing therethrough and threadably engaging the threaded fastener receptacle. 
     Each pair of legs  42  has a snap feature  48  in the form of radially oriented V-shaped surfaces disposed opposite the threaded fastener receptacle  46 . A grommet  50  is provided with each of the left and right satellite nut bodies  22 L,  22 R as a separate, snap-on piece. Each grommet  50  has a down-turned peripheral grommet lip  52  and a central aperture  54 , wherein each grommet is snap fit onto a respective pair of legs  42  via interaction of its snap feature  48  with the periphery of the central aperture. 
     As shown best at  FIGS. 4A through 5 , an entry boss  60 L,  60 R is attached, respectively, to each of the rear side  38 A of the main nut body heads  38 L,  38 R, preferably by sonic welding. In this regard, the rear side  38 A of each of the left and right main nut body heads  38 L,  38 R is provided with alignment pins  62  which are received into cooperating alignment holes  64  of its respective entry boss  60 L,  60 R. Additionally, each of the left and right entry bosses  60 L,  60 R is provided with cylindrical casing holes  66  for receiving therethrough the cylindrical casings  26 ″ of its respective left and right main nut body head  38 L,  38 R. 
     As indicated at  FIGS. 4A ,  4 B and  5 A, the sidewall  68  of each of the left and right entry bosses  60 L,  60 R is provided with at least one guide slot  70  (four guide slots being shown, one guide slot at each side of the sidewall) running from a midpoint M and passing through a respective corner C thereof. As shown at  FIG. 5A , each guide slot  70  is tapered, having its least height H at the corner C and maximum height at the midpoint M, the purpose of which will become clear momentarily.  FIGS. 4A and 4B  show that each guide slot cuts into the sidewall  68  with a shallow diagonal, having least depth at the midpoint and maximum depth at the corner. 
     The rear side  38 A of each of the left and right main nut body heads  38 L,  38 R has a down turned peripheral main head lip  72 . As can be understood best from  FIGS. 4A and 4B , the orientation of the entry bosses  60 L,  60 R is skewed relative to the periphery of their respective left and right main nut body heads  38 L,  38 R, as for example a skew angle S of 20.15 degrees (see  FIG. 4B ). This skewing is predetermined so as to provide proper operation with respect to the first and second left and right openings  32 R,  32 L,  34 R,  34 L, respectively, as will become clear momentarily. 
     Referring again to  FIG. 3 , the second left and right openings  34 L,  34 R are located on the attachment panel  16  such that the distance between the respective centers thereof is equal to the distance between the center of each of the mounting holes of a European license plate. Accordingly, by placing the satellite nut body components  22 L,  22 R respectively at the second left and right openings  34 L,  34 R, the European attachment holes  28  (each composed of the threaded fastener receptacle  46  thereof and piercing of the recess surface  44  thereat) are aligned with the license plate mounting holes of a European license plate. In this regard, the snap feature  48  of each of the satellite nut body components snappingly engages the periphery of its respective second left and right opening  22 L,  22 R when pushed thereinto. 
     Now, with the satellite nut body components  22 L,  22 R located at the respective second left and right openings  22 L,  22 R, the respective bridges  24 L,  24 R orient the main nut body components  20 L,  20 R such that their respective license plate attachment holes  26 A– 26 D form pairs of license plate attachment holes, each pair having holes being spaced so as to be alignable with the mounting holes of a license plate of a particular country. That is, the North American license plate attachment holes  26 A form a pair of North American license plate attachment holes which are spaced for alignment with the mounting holes of a North American license plate, the Japanese license plate attachment holes  26 B form a pair of Japanese license plate attachment holes which are spaced for alignment with the mounting holes of a Japanese license plate, the Korean license plate attachment holes  26 C form a pair of Korean license plate attachment holes which are spaced for alignment with the mounting holes of a Korean license plate, and the Persian Gulf States license plate mounting holes  26 D form a pair of Persian Gulf attachment holes which are spaced for alignment with the mounting holes of a Persian Gulf States license plate. 
     It is preferred for the left and right nut bodies  12 ,  14 , including the entry bosses  60 L,  60 R and the grommets  44  be composed of a nylon material, however, other corrosion resistant, durable materials may be used. 
     Tool-free installation of the left and right nut bodies  12 ,  14  with respect to the attachment panel  16  will now be described with reference to  FIGS. 7 through 9B . 
     Firstly, each entry boss  60 L,  60 R is placed into its respective first left and right opening  32 L,  32 R. In this regard, the entry bosses  60 L,  60 R and the first left and right openings  32 L,  32 R are of complementing rectangular shapes which define a respectively exclusive entry orientation of the left and right nut bodies  12 ,  14  whereby the respective satellite nut body components  22 L,  22 R are located generally adjacent their respective second left and right openings  34 L,  34 R, as defined by the aformentioned skew angle. In the position shown at  FIG. 7 , the main head lip  72  abuts the attachment panel  16  and the at least one guide slots  70  are aligned with the periphery of the first left and right openings  32 L,  32 R. 
     Next, the left and right nut bodies  12 ,  14  are rotated along respective arrows A, A′, such that the satellite nut body components  22 L,  22 R are aligned over their respective second left and right openings  34 L,  34 R of the attachment panel  16  (see  FIG. 8 ), again as defined by the skew angle. In performing the rotation, the periphery of the first left and right openings  32 L,  32 R is increasingly tightly trapped in the at least one guide slots  70  as the height of the at least one guide slots decreases with respect to the respective left and right main body washer head  38 L,  38 R (see  FIG. 9A ). Now the satellite nut body components  22 L,  22 R are pressed toward the attachment panel  16 , thereby forcing the snap feature  48  into the respective second left and right openings  34 L,  34 R (see  FIG. 9B ). Upon completion of installation, the grommet and main head lips  52 ,  72  are in firmly abutting relation with the attachment panel so as to thereby provide a sealing relationship therebetween. 
       FIGS. 10A through 20E  depict the license plate attachment system  10  in operation with respect to license plates of various countries. 
     In  FIG. 10A , a North American license plate  80  has mounting holes  80 A which are aligned with the North American attachment holes  26 A, and a threaded fastener  90  has been respectively passed through each of the mounting holes  80 A and threaded into each of the North American license plate attachment holes  26 A so as to thereby attach the North American license plate to the attachment panel  16 , and, consequently, the motor vehicle. 
     In  FIG. 10B , a Japanese license plate  82  has mounting holes  82 A which are aligned with the Japanese attachment holes  26 B, and a threaded fastener  90  has been passed respectively through each of the mounting holes  82 A and threaded into each of the Japanese license plate attachment holes  26 B so as to thereby attach the Japanese license plate to the attachment panel  16 , and, consequently, the motor vehicle. 
     In  FIG. 10C , a Korean license plate  84  has mounting holes  84 A which are aligned with the Korean attachment holes  26 C, and a threaded fastener  90  has been respectively passed through each of the mounting holes  84 A and threaded into each of the Korean license plate attachment holes  26 C so as to thereby attach the Korean license plate to the attachment panel  16 , and, consequently, the motor vehicle. 
     In  FIG. 10D , a Persian Gulf States license plate  86  has mounting holes  86 A which are aligned with the Persian Gulf States attachment holes  26 D, and a threaded fastener  90  has been respectively passed through each of the mounting holes  86 A and threaded into each of the Persian Gulf States license plate attachment holes  26 D so as to thereby attach the Persian Gulf States license plate to the attachment panel  16 , and, consequently, the motor vehicle. 
     In  FIG. 10E , a European license plate  88  has mounting holes  88 A which are aligned with the European attachment holes  28 , and a threaded fastener  90  has been respectively passed through each of the mounting holes  88 A, pierced each of the recesses  44  and threaded into each of the European license plate attachment holes  28  so as to thereby attach the European license plate to the attachment panel  16 , and, consequently, the motor vehicle. 
     To those skilled in the art to which this invention appertains, the above described preferred embodiment may be subject to change or modification. For example, the bridges could be omitted. Such change or modification can be carried out without departing from the scope of the invention, which is intended to be limited only by the scope of the appended claims.