GB1559418A - Panel system and components - Google Patents

Description

(54) PANEL SYSTEM AND COMPONENTS (71) I, GARY DONALD HANNA, a Canadian citizen, of 6 Shamokin Drive, Don Mills, Ontario, Canada do hereby declare the invention, for which I pray that a patent may be granted to me and the method by which it is to be performed, to be particularly described in and by the following statement: This invention relates to assemblies of panels, e. g. for display stands, and more particularly to fasteners for such display stands as permit them to be easily assembled and disassembled.

British Patent No: 1,311,761 describes a knock-down display stand system which comprises rectangular panels and posts. The posts are provided with slots, and hooks, engageable with these slots, are mounted to extend outward of the periphery of the panels to engage the slots. These systems are principally intended as display panels but they can, as is apparent, be used for many applications such as room dividers.

Such systems have several shortcomings, the panels are normally constructed of material of substantial weight which increases the difficulty of handling, shipping and costs; the fasteners which serve to secure the panels to the support elements are expensive to install and unsightly, and they are subject to the further criticism that the junctions which are effected between the structural element and the panels are not too firm.

The present invention relates specifically to a fastener for securing a panel having a peripheral channel to a hollow structural element having slots. According to the invention such a fastener has a unitary structure and comprises an elongate body formed on one side with a hook-shaped member having its length parallel with that of the body and shaped to define a cam surface facing the side of the body and forming with it a gap which is narrow in relation to the width of the body but with a wider mouth, the body also having a pair of projections extending from the same side as the hook-shaped member and located beyond the respective ends of the hookshaped member so as to project beyond the part of the side of the body facing the cam surface on the hook-shaped member by equal distances less than the width of the narrow gap, whereby when the fastener is fixed to a panel in a channel having a depth such that the projections, but not the remainder of the side of the body, project beyond the mouth of the channel, the hook-shaped member projects from the channel for securing the panel to a hollow structural element having a wall thickness substantially equal to the lateral spacing between the cam surface and the ends of the projections and, when inserted in a slot in such an element, the cam surface engages the exterior surface of the element at spaced apart points to urge the panel and the structural element into firm engagement.

Such a fastener enables panels to be assemble and disassembled in any desired configuration to their respective support posts or other hollow structural elements, while remaining leasing to the eye. The fastener is simple to install in that it can be secured to the panel after assembly, and when engaged with the support posts of structural elements, makes a positive connection such that there is minimal noise in use and installation.

It will be understood that the bias or strength of the relative urging between the components will be dependent upon the material employed for the fastener, the configuration of the cam surface and the dimensions and spacing of the projections from and relative to the hook-shaped member.

These and other advantages of the invention will be more apparent from the follow ing description in which a preferred embodiment is described by way of example, and in which: Figure 1 is a general perspective view of a panel assembly including fasteners in accordance with the present invention, partly broken away, illustrating the relationship between the support posts, panels and fasteners; Figure 2 is an enlarged, partly exploded view of a fastener in accordance with the present invention; Figure 3 is a diagrammatic section through a support post, fastener and panel showing the inter-relationship between the various components; Figure 4 is a general perspective view, partly fragmented, showing the relationship between the panel and a fastener in accordance with the present invention ; Figure 5 is an alternative fastener structure for use with an alternative form of peripheral channel ; and Referring now to the drawings, in Figure 1, there is illustrated a general perspective view showing a panel 10, which is supported by a pair of vertical tubular posts 11 and 12.

The connection between these vertical posts and the panel 10 is accomplished by means of fasteners such as 20 which constitutes the subject matter of the present invention.

It will be observed that panel 10 is surrounded on its periphery by a channel generally indicated at 21. The fasteners such as 20 are mounted within this channel in the manner which will be described presently and engage slots such as 22 on post 12.

As is illustrated in Figure 2, a fastener in accordance with the present invention comprises a main body 23, which has a width such that it will slide within the channel such as 21.

Body 23 comprises a central portion 24 and two terminal portions 25 and 26 which are spaced apart from but connected to the central portion 24 to define a pair of recesses 27 and 28 for receiving screws which project laterally on either side of the body for threaded engagement with the channel side walls.

These screw-receiving recesses 27 and 28 are provided with steps such as 50 and 51 and 52 and 53, respectively. These steps serve to lock the screws when they are screwed down. The interaction between the screw threads and the plastic steps binds the screws and prevents their being shaken loose.

The central body portion 24 is provided with laterally extending flanges such as 29 on each other side thereof, and from the centre of the top surface of body portion 24 a hook-shaped arm 30 extends upwardly and parallel to the axis thereof.

The two remaining body portions, 25 and 26, are each provided with projections, 31 and 32. The screws which are employed are normal-set screws such as 33 and 34 which are normally seated with a tight fit in their respective recesses 27 and 28.

It will be observed from Figures 3 and 4 that the side walls of the channels 21 have lateral flanges adjacent to their free ends and threads are provided on the internal faces of the side walls. The lateral flanges 29 on body portion 24 normally sit with their inner surfaces upon the uppermost limit of the threads so that the upper surface of the body portion 24 is flush or slightly below the upper outer limits of the channels 21.

The projections 31 and 32 on the respective body portions 25 and 26, however, project beyond the outer limits of the channel for a short distance.,;n,3 It will be observed that the hook-shaped member 30 has an arm section 41 which extends substantially parallel to the axis of the body 24. This arm 21 has a cam-shaped surface 39 on the side adjacent to. the channel 21 and a detent 38, at its innermost end, so that it will define an open mouth of width which first decreases and then. increases again in the vicinity of the detent 38, Normally the display panels and their supports are shipped to the location in which they are to be employed in a knocked-down condition and in this condition, for facility of transportation, the fastening means are unmounted. At the site, the fastening means are inserted in the channels by merely slipping them into position and aligned with the slots on the vertical posts with which they are to be engaged. The set screws 33 and 34 are then placed into position. In the preferred attitude, the body 24 sits in the channel with the flanges 29 engaging the uppermost thread. As the set screws 33 and 34 are tightened, then the serrations on the screws will engage the threads on either side of the channel so as to secure the fastener firmly in position.

At this point the arm 30 is passed through the slots such as 20 in the vertical tubular posts and pushed downward. As the arm 30 is pushed downward, the cam surface 39, engages the interior surface of the post and urges the post and panel together in secure engagement. This action permits the securement to be firm. At the same time, the projections 31 and 32 engage the exterior surface to the tubular post and serve ~ counter any relative motion between the posts and the panel.

In the embodiments illustrated, it will be observed that the fastener is nylon. It will, of course, be understood that any other equivalent material may also be employed for the same purposes.

It will also be apparent that instead of hollow posts, other hollow structural ele ments of alternative forms such as square tubes or the like may be employed.

In Figure 5, the channel 21 has no threading on the sidewalls but is provided with overhanging lips. The fastener 23 is also modified in that the screws 33 and 34 engage internal threads on the fastener which pass through the fastener body. In this fashion these screws pass through to engage the bottom channel wall and urge the fastener into engagement with the internal faces of the lips.

Claims (7)

WHAT I CLAIM IS:

1. A fastener for securing a panel having a peripheral channel to a hollow structural element having slots, the fastener having a unitary structure and comprising an elongate body formed on one side with a hook-shaped member having its length parallel with that of the body and shaped to define a cam surface facing the side of the body and forming with it a gap which is narrow in relation to the width of the body but with a wider mouth, the body also having a pair of projections extending from the same side as the hook-shaped member and located beyond the respective ends of the hook-shaped member so as to project beyond the part of the side of the body facing the cam surface on the hook-shaped member by equal distances less than the width of the narrow gap, whereby when the fastener is fixed to a panel in a channel having a depth such that the projections, but not the remainder of the side of the body, project beyond the mouth of the channel, the hook-shaped member projects from the channel for securing the panel to a hollow structural element having a wall thickness substantially equal to the lateral spacing between the cam surface and the ends of the projections and, when inserted in a slot in such an element, the cam surface engages the exterior surface of the element at spaced apart points to urge the panel and the structural element into firm engagement.

2. A fastener as claimed in Claim 1 wherein the body further includes a pair of spaced apart recesses one adjacent to each of the projections, and screws mountable therein so as to project laterally on either side of the body for engagement with the side walls of the channel.

3. A fastener as claimed in Claim 1 or Claim 2 and made of a synthetic high-impact plastics material.

4. A fastener for securing panels having peripheral channels to structural elements which have slots, the fastener being substantially as described and as illustrated with reference to Figures 2,3 and 4 or Figure 5 of the accompanying drawings.

5. A combination comprising a panel having a channel extending around at least part of its periphery and a fastener according to anyone of the preceding Claims fixed within the channel with the projections but not the remainder of the side of the fastener projecting beyond the mouth of the channel.

6. An assembly comprising a combination according to Claim 5 and a hollow structural element having a wall thickness substantially equal to the lateral spacing between the cam surface and the ends of the projections of the fastener, with the hook portion inserted in a slot in the element so that the cam surface engages the interior surface of the wall of the element and the projections engage the exterior surface of the element.

7. An assembly according to Claim 6, in which the projections are wider than the slot in the element.