Patent Publication Number: US-2015082729-A1

Title: Panel Fastener

Description:
This application claims the benefit of Provisional Patent Application 61/587,164 filed Jan. 17, 2012 and is a Division of U.S. Ser. No. 13/723,307, filed Dec. 21, 2012. 
     The invention relates to a panel fastener. More particularly, this invention relates to a panel fastener for cooler room walls. 
     As is known, panel fasteners have been incorporated into the sides of panels that are used to connect adjacent panels together to form a wall or walls in various types of structures, for example, a refrigerator wall panel as described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,671,006. In such constructions, two or more panel fasteners are usually located in the wall panels along the side edges and each includes a hook which can be rotated into or out of engagement with a cooperative pin in an adjacent panel. 
     Generally, panel fasteners are made in a symmetrical manner with a hook assembly sandwiched between a pair of plates. The hook assembly usually has a hub rotatably mounted in the plates via a boss or the like in each plate, an, eccentric mounted on the hub for rotation therewith and a hook mounted on the eccentric for rotation therewith. In addition, the hub is provided with a socket at each end to eventually receive a wrench. As the hub rotates, so also does the hook rotate. Examples of such panel fasteners are shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,365,851 and 4,574,537. One of the problems associated with these panels is the need for a wrench to secure adjacent panels together. As a result, time is required in order to manipulate the wrench to adjust each hook assembly of a panel in order to secure the panel to an adjacent panel. In addition, time may be lost when a suitable wrench is not readily available. 
     Accordingly, it is an object of the invention to provide a panel fastener that does not require a wrench for activation. 
     It is another object of the invention to be able to construct a cooler room wall in a minimum of time. 
     It is another object of the invention to simplify the process of securing wall panels together to form a wall. 
     Briefly, the invention provides a panel fastener for securing adjacent panels of a cooler wall or the like together in side-by-side relation. 
     The panel fastener is formed of two components that are constructed to be individually mounted on facing sides of two adjacent wall panels and to mate with each other in a slide fit manner when the wall panels are brought together. 
     One component of the panel fastener is formed as a female component and has a back wall including at least one opening for passage of a mounting element therethrough in order to mount the component on the side edge of a wall panel as well as a front wall having a longitudinally disposed slot aligned with the opening in the back wall. In addition, the front wall is spaced from and parallel to the back wall to define a cavity therewith. 
     In one embodiment, the first component is made of metal and the back wall has a pair of longitudinally spaced apart openings while the slot in the front wall has a pair of enlarged sections, each of which is aligned with a respective opening in the back wall. 
     The other component of the panel fastener is formed as a male component and has a back wall including at least one opening for passage of a mounting element therethrough in order to mount the component on the side edge of second wall panel as well as a projection extending from the back wall. This projection has a T-shaped cross-section including a longitudinally extending stem to be received in the slot of said panel fastener component and a longitudinally extending flange to be received in the cavity of said first component. 
     In the first embodiment of the panel fastener, the second component is also made of metal and the back wall of the component has a pair of longitudinally spaced apart openings with the projection disposed between the openings. 
     The two components are constructed so that the flange of the projection of the one component can slide into the cavity of the other component when the two components are longitudinally slid together while the stem of the projection slide through the slot of the other component. 
     In a second embodiment of the panel fastener, the two components have mating shapes that cause the first component and the second component to move towards each other as the components slide together to move a pair of panels together in a tightened manner. In this embodiment, the second component has a body of U-shaped cross-section received in the slot of the first component and a pair of flanges extending outwardly from the body and received in the cavity of the first component. 
    
    
     
       These and other objects and advantages of the invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings wherein: 
         FIG. 1  illustrates an exploded view of a pair of walls of a cooler that employ wall panels and panel fasteners in accordance with the invention; 
         FIG. 2  illustrates a perspective view of a female panel fastener component mounted on a section of an end piece of a wall panel of  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 3  illustrates a perspective view of the male panel fastener component of  FIG. 2  mounted on a section of an end piece of a wall panel of  FIG. 1 ; 
         FIG. 4  illustrates a perspective view of the female component of the panel fastener in accordance with the invention; 
         FIG. 5  illustrates a perspective view of the male component of the panel fastener in accordance with the invention; 
         FIG. 6  illustrates a perspective view of a modified male panel fastener component mounted on a section of an end piece of a cooler wall in accordance with the invention; 
         FIG. 7  illustrates a perspective view of a modified female panel fastener component for cooperating with the female panel fastener component of  FIG. 6 ; and 
         FIG. 8  illustrates a perspective view of the panel fastener components of  FIGS. 6 and 7  in mated relation. 
     
    
    
     Referring to  FIG. 1 , a pair of cooler walls  10  are disposed in perpendicular relation to each other and are connected together at a corner (not shown). In this respect, only two walls  10  of the cooler need be illustrated for an understanding of the invention. 
     Each cooler wall  10  is constructed of a plurality of wall panels  11  that are disposed in side-by-side co-linear relation. 
     The wall panels  11  are of similar or identical construction. For example, each wall panel  11  has a main section  12  of any suitable construction and a pair of vertical end pieces  13 ,  13 ′ as viewed. One end piece  13  is formed with a longitudinally extending groove  14  that extends over the length of the end piece  13  while the other end piece  13 ′ is formed with a longitudinally extending rib  15  that is sized to mate within the groove  14  of an adjacent wall panel  11 . 
     The main section  12  of each wall panel  11  is made of any suitable materials. For example, the main section  11  may be made of wood, foamed-in-place materials, or any other conventional construction. 
     As shown in  FIG. 1 , the end piece  13  of each panel  11  has one component  16  of a two-component panel fastener mounted thereon within the groove  14  while the other end piece  13 ′ has a second component  17  of the two-component fastener mounted on the rib  15 . Each component  16 ,  17  of the panel fastener is illustrated as being mounted mid-height of the wall panel  11 . However, the components  16 ,  17  of a panel fastener may be mounted at any suitable height of a wall panel and two or more panel fasteners may be used to secure two wall panels together as is conventional. 
     Referring to  FIG. 2 , the panel fastener component  16  is formed as a female component and is disposed to fit across the base of the groove  14  while being recessed within the plane of the groove  14 . 
     Referring to  FIG. 3 , the rib  15  of the end piece  13 ′ is provided with a rectangular recess  18  and the panel fastener component  17  is fitted within the recess  18  in a recessed manner. The longitudinal length of the recess  18  is sufficient to allow the female panel fastener component  16  to be fitted into the recess  18  and to thereafter slide into mating relation with the other panel fastener component  17 . 
     Referring to  FIG. 4 , the panel fastener component  16  has a back wall  19  including a pair of openings  26 , such as counterbores, for passage of a pair of mounting elements, such as wood screws (not shown), and a front wall  20  having a longitudinally disposed slot  21  aligned with the openings  26  in the back wall  19 . The front wall  20  is spaced from and parallel to the back wall  19  to define a cavity  22  therewith. As shown, the panel fastener component  16  is of a cubic shape and may be easily manufactured. 
     The slot  21  and cavity  22  of the female fastener component  16  from a T-shaped passage within the component to slidably receive the other fastener component  17 . The slot  21  also has a pair of enlarged recesses  23  on opposite sides in alignment with the openings  21  to allow for the passage of the mounting elements when the female fastener component is secured to the end piece  13  (see  FIG. 2 ). 
     Referring to  FIG. 5 , the panel fastener component  17  is formed as a male component and has a back wall  24  including a pair of openings  25  for passage of a pair of mounting elements, such as wood screws, and a projection  26  extending from the back wall  24  of the component  17 . The projection  26  has a T-shaped cross-section including a longitudinally extending stem  27  to be received in the slot  21  of said first component  16  and a longitudinally extending flange  28  to be received in the cavity  22  of the first component  16 . 
     In use, the components  16 ,  17  of each panel fastener are mounted on the end pieces  13 ,  13 ′ of each wall panel  11  as indicated in  FIG. 1 , for example, during manufacture of each wall panel. Thereafter, the end of one wall panel  11  is brought adjacent to the end of another wall panel  11  with the groove  14  of the one wall panel  11  aligned with the rib  15  of the other wall panel and with the panel fastener components  16 ,  17  longitudinally aligned one above the above within the recess  18 . One wall panel  11  is then moved vertically relative to the other wall panel  11  to pass the projection  25  of the male component  17  into the cavity  22  of the female component  16  while the stem  26  slides through the slot  21 . For example, one wall panel  11  is moved so that the female fastener component  16  is moved downwardly to pass over the projection  26  of the male fastener component  17  with the stem  27  of the projection  26  sliding through the slot  21  of the female fastener component  16  and the flange  28  sliding into the cavity  22 . 
     A downward vertical movement of the two wall panels  11  relative to each other is limited by the wall panels  11  bottoming on a common support surface or by the fastener component  16  bottoming in the recess  18  in the end piece  13 ′. 
     Referring to  FIG. 1 , the fastener components  16 ,  17  are mounted in the end pieces  13  in a recessed manner so as not to project from the plane of the respective end piece  13 . Typically, the surface of the flange  28  of the male component  17  is flush with the plane of the surface of the rib  15  of the end piece  13 ′. 
     Referring to  FIGS. 6 ,  7  and  8 , wherein like reference characters indicate like parts as above, in another embodiment, the panel fastener components  29 ,  30  have mating shapes that cause the two components to move with an x-vector so that, as the two components  29 ,  30  slide together, the two components  29 ,  30  also move the wall panels on which they are secured together laterally in a tightened manner. 
     Referring to  FIG. 6 , the male panel fastener component  29  is mounted within a recess  18  in the rib  15  of an end piece  13 ′ of a cooler wall and is secured in place, for example, by mounting elements such as wood screws (not shown) that pass through openings  25  (only one of which is shown) in the component  29 . 
     As illustrated, the male panel fastener component  29  is of one-piece construction with a body  31  of U-shaped cross-section from which two flanges  32  extend outwardly. The component  29  is shaped such that one end is larger than the opposite end. That is, the body  31  of U-shaped cross-section tapers from one end to the opposite end. 
     Referring to  FIG. 7 , the female panel fastener component  30  is mounted within a recess  33  in the groove  14  of an end piece  13  of a cooler wall and is secured in place, for example, by mounting elements such as wood screws (not shown) that pass through openings  26  in the component  30 . 
     As illustrated, the female panel fastener component  30  is of one-piece construction similar to the component  16  of  FIG. 4 . In this respect, the component  30  has a back wall  34  including a pair of openings  26  for passage of a pair of mounting elements, such as wood screws (not shown), and a front wall  35  having a longitudinally disposed slot  36  aligned with the openings  26  in the back wall  34 . The front wall  35  is spaced from the back wall  34  to define a cavity  37  therewith. 
     The component  30  is shaped such that one end is larger than the opposite end. That is, the front wall  35  tapers at an angle relative to the back wall  34  so that the cavity  37  is of smaller height at one end than at the opposite end. 
     As illustrated, the recess  33  in the end piece  13  receives the female panel fastener component  30  in a recessed manner to locate the component  30  in a fixed position and together with the mounting elements (not shown) provides a firm securement of the component  30  in place. 
     As in the first described embodiment, the components  29 ,  30  serve to secure two adjacent wall panels  10  together by sliding of the two components  29 ,  30  together into mating relation and into a position as shown in  FIG. 8 . In this respect, the female panel fastener component  30  is fitted into the recess  18  above the male panel fastener component  29  (see  FIG. 6 ) with the larger end of the female panel fastener component  30  facing the larger end of the male panel fastener component  29 . As the two adjacent panels move vertically relative to each other, e.g. with a y-vector, the female panel fastener component  30  moves over the male panel fastener component  29 . During this time, the spacing between the front wall  35  of the female component  30  and the flanges  32  of the male component  29  narrows until the front wall  35  and flanges  32  come into contact. Thereafter, the front wall  35  slides on the flanges  32  causing the two components  29 ,  30  and the wall panels on which they are secured to move with an x-vector thereby closing any gap between the wall panels. 
     In other embodiments, the wall panels  11  may be provided with two or more panel fasteners  16 ,  17  in spaced apart relation for securing pairs of wall panels together at two or more points as in conventional. 
     Further, the panel fasteners  16 ,  17  may be used to secure two wall panels  11  together in perpendicular or angular relation by a suitable arrangement of the end pieces  13 ,  13 ′ relative to the remainder of the wall panels  11 . 
     Thus, the invention provides a panel fastener that does not require a wrench for activation. 
     Further, the invention allows the construction of a cooler room wall in a minimum of time and in a simple manner as there is no need for special tools to secure adjacent panels together. 
     
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