Patent ID: 7618078

Claim:
A fuel flap of plastic material for automobiles, comprising: an outer visible surface and an inner surface, a first fastening element being formed at the inner surface for the attachment to a hinge arm, the hinge arm having a second fastening element on the side facing the fuel flap, the second fastening element co-acting with the first fastening element in order to attach the fuel flap to the hinge arm at a predetermined position, wherein the first fastening element includes at least two approximately parallel fastening ribs, at least one of the ribs having two spaced holes and the other has at least one hole, the axes of the holes being parallel, the second fastening element includes at least three projections having a cross-section complementary to that of the holes in order to provide a positive fit of the projections in the holes when the first and second fastening elements cooperate in order to position the fuel flap to the hinge arm with respect to first and second orthogonal directions, the axes of the projections being parallel so that upon assembly the holes can be aligned to the respective projections which upon a relative movement of fuel flap and hinge arm may engage each other in the plane of the axes, and a resilient portion is formed to the hinge arm which upon engagement of the projections in the respective holes is temporarily deformed and after the engagement of the projections in the holes is deformed back and cooperates with a locking portion of the fuel flap so that the fuel flap is secured also with respect to a third direction which is orthogonal to the first and second directions the hinge arm has an outer elevated marginal portion which extends in a plane perpendicular to the axes of the projections, the resilient portion is a resilient tongue formed from the marginal portion, the fastening rib adjacent to the marginal portion is provided with a recess which accommodates the resilient tongue when the fuel flap for assembly purposes is hold against the hinge arm, and the resilient tongue and the recess are formed such that the resilient tongue is moved out of the recess and lockingly engages a surface of the fastening rib when the projections are at least partially inserted into the respective holes.