Patent Publication Number: US-2002011542-A1

Title: Self-clinching hybrid fastener

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS  
     [0001] This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application Nos. 60/221,535, filed Jul. 28, 2000; 60/221,537, filed Jul. 28, 2000; and 60/222,211, filed Aug. 1, 2000 in the U.S. Patent &amp; Trademark Office, the disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference. 
    
    
     
       BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION  
       [0002] 1. Field of the Invention  
       [0003] The present invention relates to hardware that retains a wire or wire bundles inside sheetmetal enclosures. More particularly, the present invention relates to a self-clinching fastener which self-clinches to a supporting sheet panel and retains a wire or wire bundle.  
       [0004] 2. Description of the Related Art  
       [0005] In the design of sheetmetal enclosures, it is common to secure a wire or wire bundles with self-adhesive fasteners. These self-adhesive fasteners are often placed in key positions in an effort to support a single wire or several wires. These fasteners help ensure that the wire and/or wire bundles stay clear of various devices including moving parts and areas of high temperature. Further, these fasteners improve the neatness and provide a more visually pleasing apparatus.  
       [0006] The down side of the existing fasteners is the adhesive backing. Quite often, the adhesive backing will become separated from a supporting sheet panel. A chief cause of this failure is the temperature variation that the fasteners realize over time. Another disadvantage involves the positional placement of the fastener. Most often the placement is left up to the operator and thus the consistency from one placement to another can vary.  
       SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION  
       [0007] Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to improve a bond strength between a fastener and a supporting panel.  
       [0008] It is another object of the present invention to improve a positional placement of a fastener on a supporting panel.  
       [0009] It is still another object of the present invention to easily and efficiently secure wire bundles to a sheet panel.  
       [0010] Additional objects and advantages of the invention will be set forth in part in the description which follows and, in part, will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention.  
       [0011] To achieve the above and other objects of the present inventions, there is provided a fastener to provide an anchor point for a wire and to be fastened to a sheet panel, the fastener including a self-clinching base made of a first material, to self-clinch to the sheet panel, and a fastener section attached to the self-clinching base and made of a second material different from the first material, to secure the wire. 
     
    
    
     BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS  
     [0012] The above objects and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent by describing in detail preferred embodiments thereof with reference to the attached drawings in which:  
     [0013]FIG. 1 shows a perspective view of a self-clinching fastener having a metal base according to an embodiment of the present invention;  
     [0014]FIG. 2 shows a side view of the self-clinching fastener shown in FIG. 1;  
     [0015]FIG. 3 shows a side view of a non-flexible self-clinching base shown in FIG. 1 and having a flexible top fastener section which fastens to the self-clinching base;  
     [0016]FIG. 4 shows a perspective view of the self-clinching base shown in FIG. 3;  
     [0017]FIG. 5 shows the side view of the self-clinching base shown in FIG. 2 in greater detail and without the top fastener section;  
     [0018]FIG. 6 shows a perspective view of a self-clinching base according to an aspect of the present invention;  
     [0019]FIG. 7 show a perspective view of a self-clinching fastener having a self-clinching base according to another embodiment of the present invention; and  
     [0020]FIG. 8 shows a side view of the self-clinching fastener shown in FIG. 7. 
    
    
     DESCRIPTION OF THE PRESENT INVENTION  
     [0021] Reference will now made in detail to the present preferred embodiments of the present invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein like reference numerals refer to the like elements throughout. The embodiments are described below in order to explain the present invention by referring to the figures.  
     [0022] With reference to FIGS. 1 and 2, a self-clinching fastener  10  is shown. The self-clinching fastener  10  includes a base  12  made from a non-flexible material such as a metal and a flexible top fastener section  11  made of a flexible material such as a polymer, like plastic. In this instance, the base may be considered to be a self-clinching base. The top fastener section  11  is molded to the base  12  at an intersection  24  and thus the top fastener section  11  is permanently fastened to the base  12 . The base  12  provides for the self-clinching aspects of the present invention. The self-clinching aspects of the base  12  are similar to that described by Winton in U.S. Pat. No. 5,489,175. Winton teaches a self-clinching fastener that displaces material from a surrounding sheet into undercut grooves located on the Winton fastener. This self-clinching process thus bonds the fastener to the surrounding sheet panel. During the self-clinching process, a portion of the surrounding sheet panel cold flows into undercut grooves located on the Winton fastener.  
     [0023] An extended land  30  and an extended land  31  are respectively adjacent to an undercut groove  32  and an undercut groove  33 . The undercut groove  32  and the undercut groove  33  are respectively adjacent to a slanted wall  34  and a slanted wall  35 .  
     [0024] The top fastener section  11  has a flex arm  13  and a flex arm  14  which form an enclosed area  15 . The flex arm  13  pivots about a joint  20  and the flex arm  14  pivots about a joint  21 .  
     [0025]FIG. 3 shows a side view of a non-flexible self-clinching base shown in FIG. 1 and having a flexible top fastener section which fastens to the self-clinching base, and FIG. 4 shows a perspective view of the self-clinching base shown in FIG. 3;  
     [0026] As shown in FIG. 3, a pocket (groove)  71  is formed in a bottom part of the top fastener section  11 . In this instance, the pocket has a rectangular cross-section, but does not have to have such a cross-section. Other cross-sections, such as an elliptical cross-section, are possible. As shown in FIG. 5, the base  12  has a union  63 . The union  63  has a tang  62  and a tang  64 . The tang  62  has a sloping wall  61  and the tang  64  has a sloping wall  65 . Below the tang  62  is a recess  67  and below the tang  64  is a recess  66 .  
     [0027] As shown in FIGS. 1 and 3, the base  12  is fastened to the top fastener section  11  by a mechanical bonding process. Examples of such a mechanical bonding process include molding, press fitting, and via a snap-action movement. A press fit causes the tangs  62  and  64  to press into the pocket  71 . A snap-action fit causes the tangs  62  and  64  to snap into the pocket  71 . A molded fit would require that the top fastener section  11  be molded onto the base  12 . The sloping walls  61  and  65  are used to guide the top fastener section  11  during the press operation or snap operation. The recesses  67  and  66  provide a relief for all modes of fastening.  
     [0028] A wire or wire bundle  19  is made up of one or more electrical conductors and may or may not have insulation surrounding the conductor(s). The wire bundle  19  is fastened within the enclosed area  15  by the flex arms  13  and  14 .  
     [0029] During operation thereof, the self-clinching fastener  10  is first self-clinched into a sheet panel similar in fashion to that described by Winton in U.S. Pat. No. 5,489,175. The wire bundle  19  would then travel in a direction from the flex arms  13  and  14  toward enclosed area  15  (from top to bottom in FIG. 2). As the wire bundle  19  advances toward the enclosed area  15 , the flex arms  13  and  14  are displaced downward and thus allow the wire bundle  19  to enter into the enclosed area  15 . The flex arm  13  is able to displace toward the enclosed area  15  by rotating about the joint  20 , and likewise, the flex arm  14  is able to displace toward the enclosed area  15  by rotating about the joint  21 . After the wire bundle  19  is located in the enclosed area  15 , it is prevented from leaving the enclosed area  15  due to the large force necessary to deflect the flex arms  13  and  14  in a direction away from the enclosed area  15 .  
     [0030]FIG. 6 shows a base  50  according to another aspect of the present invention, and is a variation of the metal base  12  shown in FIG. 4. The base is made of a non-flexible material such as a metal. In this embodiment, a top section  52  of the base  50 , which is positioned within the pocket  71  of top fastener section  11  has a width which is the same as the width of a bottom section  54  of the base  50 , which performs the self-clinching operation to the supporting sheet panel (not shown).  
     [0031]FIGS. 7 and 8 show a self-clinching fastener according to another embodiment of the present invention. A self-clinching fastener  80  is made from a base  92  made of a non-flexible material such as a metal and a top fastener section  81  made of a flexible material such a polymer, like plastic. The top fastener section  81  is fastened to the base  82  at the intersection  94  by a mechanical bonding process like in the previous embodiments shown in FIGS. 1 through 6. As noted above, examples of such a mechanical bonding process include molding, press fitting, and via a snap-action movement. Thus, the top fastener section  81  is permanently fastened to the base  82 . The base  82  provides for the self-clinching aspects of the invention, and can be the same as the one shown in FIG. 4 or the one shown in FIG. 6.  
     [0032] An extended land  100  and an extended land  101  are respectively adjacent to an undercut groove  102  and an undercut groove  103 . The undercut groove  32  and the undercut groove  33  are respectively adjacent to a slanted wall  34  and a slanted wall  35 .  
     [0033] The top fastener section  81  has a flex arm  83  and a flex arm  84  which form an enclosed area  85 . The flex arm  83  pivots about a joint  90  and the flex arm  84  pivots about a joint  91 .  
     [0034] Teeth  88  and a handle  92  are formed on the flex arm  84 . The top fastener section  11  has a thin section  91  formed below the handle  92  and a lower tab  87  that is adjacent to the flex arm  83 . The flex arm  83 , the joint  90 , and the lower tab  87  form an enclosed area  86 . A lower handle  93  is joined to the flex arm  83 . A tooth  106  is formed on the flex arm  13  and is adjacent to the tab  87 .  
     [0035] A wire or wire bundle  89  is made up of one or more electrical conductors and may or may not have insulation surrounding the conductor(s). The wire bundle  89  is fastened within the enclosed area by the flex arms  83  and  84 .  
     [0036] During operation thereof, the self-clinching fastener  80  is first self-clinched into a sheet panel (not shown) similar in fashion to that described by Winton in U.S. Pat. No. 5,489,175. The wire bundle  89  is then placed in the enclosed area  55  according to the following operations. After placing the wire bundle  89  inside the enclosed area  85 , a slight pressure is applied to the handle  92  in a direction toward the flex arm  83 . By applying a slight force to the handle  92 , the teeth  88  will advance toward the midpoint between the tooth  106  and the tab  87  by pivoting about the thin section  91 . A continued force will cause the teeth  88  to enter the enclosed area  86 . While the teeth  88  are being forced to enter the enclosed area  86 , the flex arm  13  is displaced in a direction away from the wire bundle  19 . The flex arm  83  will temporarily deflect away from the tab  87  by rotating about the joint  90 . After the force is removed from the handle  92 , the teeth  88  will engage the tooth  106  and the tab  87  and thus the wire bundle  89  will be held within the enclosed area  85 .  
     [0037] To release the wire bundle  89  from the enclosed area  85 , a slight force is applied to the lower handle  93  in a direction toward the joint  90 . This slight force will free the teeth  88  from being captured [is this the correct term?] by the tab  87  and the tooth  106 .  
     [0038] The wire fastener according to the present invention is able to maintain its position on a supporting sheet panel, while positioning a wire bundle. Because the base of the wire fastener is made of a non-flexible material such as a metal and has a self-clinching ability, the wire fastener is able to solidly maintain its position with respect to the supporting sheet panel. Because the top fastening section of the wire fastener is made of a flexible material such as a polymer, like plastic, the wire fastener can easily capture and secure a wire bundle, ensuring that the wire bundles stay clear of various devices including moving parts and areas of high temperature and improving the neatness and providing a more visually pleasing apparatus.  
     [0039] Although the present invention has been described with reference to the preferred examples, the foregoing disclosure should be interpreted as illustrative only and it should be understood that various modifications and variations can be easily made by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of the invention. Accordingly, a true scope and spirit of the invention should be defined by the following claims.