Screen assembly and clip therefor

• US 4,637,178 A
• Filed: 12/07/1985
• Issued: 01/20/1987
• Est. Priority Date: 09/03/1982
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Nimlok Company
• Original Assignee: Nimlok Company
• Inventors: Willis, David, Kenny, Michael, Nimmo, Neil D.
• Primary Examiner(s): NOT, DEFINED
• Application Number:
  US06/804,221
• Time in Patent Office: 409 Days
• Field of Search: 52/239, 52/238.1, 52/241, 52/243, 52/79.9, 52/36, 160/135, 248/222.2, 248/222.3, 248/73
• US Class Current: 52/36.4
• CPC Class Codes: E04B 2/7438 with adjustable angular connection of panels to posts
• CPC Class Codes: E04B 2/7442 hinged connections E04B2/7444 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: F16B 2/22 of resilient material, e.g. rubbery material F16B2/205 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: F16L 3/2431 the special member being inserted and subsequently rotated to a limited extent
• CPC Class Codes: G09F 15/0006 planar structures comprising one or more panels
• CPC Class Codes: G09F 15/0018 panel clamping or fastening means

Abstract

A screen assembly includes at least one panel with slots in its side edges, a plurality of upright poles to which the panel is fastened and a plurality of fastening elements. The fastening elements and the panel are arranged such that a foot portion of a fastening element can be inserted into one of the slots and can then be rotated in the slot about an axis transverse to the slot, whereupon the foot portion becomes progressively more securely clamped in the slot and in a final position is locked to the panel. The fastening element is thus easily fixed to the panel and provides a very secure fixing when so fixed.

Claims

1. A screen assembly including at least one panel with slots along its side edges, a plurality of upright poles and a plurality of fastening elements which engages the upright poles and fasten the panel to the poles with the panel edges in confronting relationship to the poles, wherein the arrangement of the fastening elements and the panel is such that a foot portion of each fastening element can be inserted into a slot until a base of the fastening element abuts the side edge of the panel and can be rotated in the slot about an axis transverse to the slot, whereupon the foot portion becomes progressively more securely clamped in the slot and in a final position is locked to the panel.

2. An assembly as claimed in claim 1 wherein each fastening element is arranged such that in normal use it is urged to rotate beyond said final position.

3. An assembly as claimed in claim 1 wherein each fastening element has a substantially flat base to which a clamping head is connected by a neck, the clamping head having a width measured along a first direction less than the width of the slots and a width measured along a second direction greater than the width of the slots.

4. An assembly as claimed in claim 1 wherein the head when viewed in a direction perpendicular to the base of the fastening element is generally of parallelogram form with two sides of the parallelogram spaced apart by a distance greater than the width of the slots and the other two sides spaced apart by a distance smaller than the width of the slots.

5. An assembly as claimed in claim 1 wherein each slot is `T` shaped with the bar of the `T` defining an interior portion of the slot having longitudinal side walls and the stem of the `T` defining an outer entrance portion of the slot whose width is reduced by inwardly projecting lips on the panel.

6. An assembly as claimed in claim 5 wherein a clamping action is provided by engagement of the foot portion with the longitudinal side walls of the slot.

7. An assembly as claimed in claim 5 wherein a clamping action is provided by squeezing of the lips between opposing faces of the base of each fastening element and the foot portion.

8. An assembly as claimed in claim 7 wherein the base of the fastening element includes a resiliently deformable raised portion which comes into engagement with one of the lips as the fastening element is rotated towards the final position to effect the squeezing action.

9. An assembly as claimed in claim 8 wherein a slot is provided in the base of the fastening element which is able to close up to accommodate deformation of the raised portion.

10. An assembly as claimed in claim 1, wherein each fastening element is moulded from plastics material.

11. An assembly as claimed in claim 1 including further fastening elements in the form of brackets, each bracket including a plate like portion from which a foot portion extends, the foot portion being fastenable in said slot with said plate like portion extending outwards between the adjacent panel and pole without affecting the connection between said adjacent panel and pole.

12. An assembly as claimed in claim 11 wherein shelf supports are fastened to the brackets.

13. An assembly as claimed in claim 11 wherein the foot portion of each of said further fastening elements comprises a clamping head connected to the plate like portion by a neck, the clamping head having a width measured along a first direction less than the width of the slots and a width measured along a second direction greater than the width of the slots.

14. An assembly as claimed in claim 13 wherein the clamping head when viewed in a direction perpendicular to the plate like portion is generally of parallelogram form with two sides of the parallelogram spaced apart by a distance greater than the width of the slots and the other two sides spaced apart by a distance smaller than the width of the slots.

15. An assembly as claimed in claim 1 in which the fastening elements are clips, each of which has an arcuate portion arranged to snap onto a pole to fasten the clip to the pole.

16. A screen assembly including at least one panel with slots along its side edges, a plurality of upright poles and a plurality of clips, each clip comprising an arcuate portion which extends through an angle greater than 180°

and is arranged to snap onto a pole, and a foot portion for fastening in one of the slots of a panel, the arrangement of the clips and the panels being such that the foot portion of the clip can be pushed into the slot with the axis of the arcuate portion angled relative to the slot and the clip can then be rotated in the slot until the axis of the arcuate portion becomes aligned with the slot, whereupon the foot portion is securely clamped in the slot.

17. An assembly as claimed in claim 16 further characterized in that each clip is manually rotatable to a position where the arcuate portion is close to alignment with the slot and is further rotatable to the aligned position when two clips are snapped onto a pole and so become aligned with the slot.

18. A clip of plastics material for connecting a panel to an upright pole of a screen assembly, the clip comprising a foot portion and a resilient arcuate portion which extends through an angle greater than 180°

, the clip having a substantially flat base to which a clamping head is connected by a neck, the clamping head having an overall width measured in a direction perpendicular to the axis of the arcuate portion greater than the overall width measured in a direction inclined to said perpendicular direction.

19. A clip as claimed in claim 18 wherein the clamping head when viewed in a direction perpendicular to the base of the clip is generally of parallelogram form with two sides of the parallelogram substantially parallel to the axis of the arcuate portion of the clip and spaced apart by a distance greater than the spacing of the other two sides of the parallelogram.

20. A display system including;

a plurality of panels,

a plurality of upright poles, and

a plurality of chips for fastening the panels to the poles,

each panel having upright side edges along which slots are provided, the slots being in confronting relationship to the poles,

each slot being `T` shaped with the bar of the `T` defining an interior portion of the slot having longitudinal side walls and the stem of the `T` defining an outer entrance portion of the slot whose width is reduced by inwardly projecting lips on the panel,

each clip having a base from which extends an arcuate portion which subtends an angle greater than 180° and

is snap fitted to one of said plurality of upright poles, and a clamping head connected by a neck to the base, the clamping head having a width measured along a first direction less than the width of the outer entrance portion of each slot and a width measured along a second direction greater than the width of the interior portion of each slot, whereby each clip can be pushed into a slot with the axis of the arcuate portion angled relative to the slot and the clip can then be rotated in the slot until the axis of the arcuate portion becomes aligned with the slot, whereupon the clamping head is securely clamped in the slot.

21. A display system including;

a plurality of panels,

a plurality of upright poles, and

a plurality of clips which fasten the panels to the poles,

each panel having upright side edges along which slots are provided, the slots being in confronting relationship to the poles,

each slot being "T" shaped with the bar of the "T" defining an interior portion of the slot having longitudinal side walls and the stem of the "T" defining an outer entrance portion of the slot whose width is reduced by inwardly projecting lips on the panel,

each clip having a base from which extends an arcuate portion which subtends an angle greater than 180° and

is snap fitted to one of said plurality of upright poles, and a clamping head connected by a neck to the base, the clamping head having a width measured along a first direction less than the width of the outer entrance portion of each slot and a width measured along a second direction greater than the width of the interior portion of each slot, whereby each clip can be pushed into a slot with the axis of the arcuate portion angled relative to the slot and the clip can then be rotated in the slot until the axis of the arcuate portion becomes parallel with the slot and the clamping head engages the side walls of the interior portion of the slot preventing further rotation of the clip, whereupon the clip is securely clamped to the slot,

the clips being prevented from rotating relative to the panels once the display system is fully assembled by virtue of the engagement of the arcuate portions of the clips with the poles.

22. A display system according to claim 21 in which the clamping head when viewed in a direction perpendicular to the base of the fastening element is generally of parallelogram form with two sides of the parallelogram spaced apart by a distance greater than the width of the entrance portion of the slot and the other two sides spaced apart by a distance smaller than the width of the slot.

23. A display system including at least one panel with slots along its side edges, a plurality of upright poles and a plurality of clips which engage the upright poles and fasten the panel to the poles with the panel edges in confronting relationship to the poles, each clip being made in one piece from plastics material and comprising an arcuate portion which extends around a central axis at a substantially constant radius through an angle greater than 180°

, and a foot portion, wherein the arrangement of the clips and the panel is such that a foot portion of each clip can be inserted into a slot with the axis of the arcuate portion angled relative to the slot and can be rotated in the slot about an axis transverse to the slot, whereupon the foot portion becomes progressively more securely clamped in the slot and in a final position, with the axis of the arcuate portion parallel with the slot and with the foot portion engaging the side walls of the slot to prevent further rotation of the foot portion, is fixedly clamped to the panel.

24. A display system including:

a plurality of panels,

a plurality of upright poles, and

a plurality of clips which fasten the panels to the poles,

each panel having upright side edges along which slots are provided, the slots being in confronting relationship to the poles,

each slot being "T" shaped with the bar of the "T" defining an interior portion of the slot having longitudinal side walls and the stem of the "T" defining an outer entrance portion of the slot whose width is reduced by inwardly projecting lips on the panel,

each clip being moulded in one piece from plastics material and having a substantially flat base to which a clamping head is connected by a neck and an arcuate portion which extends around a central axis at a substantially constant radius through an angle greater than 180°

, the arcuate portions being snap fitted to said plurality of upright poles, the clamping head of each clip having a width measured along a first direction parallel to the base of the clip less than the width of the outer entrance portion of each slot and a width measured along a second direction parallel to the base of the clip greater than the width of the interior portion of each slot, whereby each clip can be pushed into a slot with the axis of the arcuate portion angled relative to the slot and the clip can then be rotated in the slot until the axis of the arcuate portion becomes parallel with the slot whereupon the clip is securely clamped to the slot with the clamping head engaging the side walls of the interior portion of the slot preventing further rotation of the clip and with the lips of the slot jammed between the clamping head and the base of the clip, and the clips being prevented from rotating relative to the panels once the display system is fully assembled by virtue of the engagement of the arcuate portions of the clips with the poles.