Clip

• US 8,347,465 B2
• Filed: 02/16/2007
• Issued: 01/08/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 02/17/2006
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Piolax Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Piolax Incorporated
• Inventors: Arisaka, Oomi
• Primary Examiner(s): Batson, Victor
• Assistant Examiner(s): SULLIVAN, MATTHEW J
• Application Number:
  US12/224,103
• Publication Number:
  US 20090056087A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,153 Days
• Field of Search: 242/97, 244/52, 244/53, 244/58, 411/41, 411 44- 48, 411/344
• US Class Current: 24/297
• CPC Class Codes: F16B 19/1081 fastened by a drive-pin F16B19/109 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 24/309 Plastic type
• CPC Class Codes: Y10T 24/44 Clasp, clip, support-clamp, or required component thereof

Abstract

A clip comprises a grommet and a pin, and the grommet has a flange and leg pieces. The flange has a pair of right and left flange bodies, bridges for joining the flange bodies, and an opening portion formed at the center portion thereof. Peripheral walls of the opening portion are formed by the respective end faces of the flange bodies and the bridges, and the right and left peripheral walls formed by the end faces of the flange bodies and the front and rear peripheral walls formed by the end faces of the bridges are offset in a thickness direction, thereby establishing a positional relationship in which the right and left peripheral walls and the front and rear peripheral walls do not intersect to each other.

Claims

1. A clip comprising:

a grommet and a pin which are molded with resin;

wherein the grommet has a flange and a pair of leg pieces that extend from the back surface of the flange and is pushed into a fixing hole formed in an object to be fixed;

wherein the flange has a pair of right and left flange bodies, a pair of bridges for joining the respective flange bodies and an opening portion formed at a center portion surrounded by the flange bodies and the bridges;

wherein the pair of leg pieces are joined to each other at the tip portions thereof;

wherein the pin has a shaft portion and a head portion formed at one end of the shaft portion;

wherein the shaft portion is molded concurrently together with the flange so as to form a one-piece construction and so that the shaft portion of the pin penetrates through an opening portion of the flange; and

wherein peripheral walls of the opening portion are formed by respective end faces of the flange bodies and the bridges, and right and left peripheral walls formed by the end faces of the flange bodies and front and rear peripheral walls formed by the end faces of the bridges are respectively positionally offset from one another in a thickness direction so that the right and left peripheral walls do not respectively linearly intersect the front and rear peripheral walls along an entirety thereof in which the right and left peripheral walls are disposed below an upper surface of the flange and the front and rear peripheral walls are disposed above the upper surface of the flange; and

wherein a space adjacently between the right and left peripheral walls and a space adjacently between the front and rear peripheral walls are each opened, in defining said opening portion of the flange, so as to extend to the outside of the flange respectively below and above the upper surface of the flange in directions respectively orthogonal to one another.

2. The clip according to claim 1, wherein the pair of leg pieces extend from the back surfaces of the pair of right and left flange bodies joined by the pair of bridges, and the pair of bridges are formed to be thinner than the flange bodies and elastically bendable.

3. The clip according to claim 2, wherein the pair of bridges project in the opposite direction to the leg pieces with respect to the surfaces of the pair of flange bodies.

4. The clip according to claim 3, wherein the pair of bridges can be elastically bent so that the front and rear end edges of the pair of right and left flange bodies are twisted and displaced in the vertically opposite directions, the leg pieces extend from the back surfaces of the pair of flanges, each of the leg pieces has, on the outer peripheral surface thereof, a fitting convex portion which is passed through a fixing hole having a circular section formed in the object to be fixed and fitted to an opening edge of the fixing hole, and the respective outer peripheral edges of the fitting convex portions formed on the pair of leg pieces are formed in an arcuate shape so that the centers thereof correspond to positions offset from the center axis of the grommet in the front-and-rear direction.

5. The clip according to claim 4, wherein engaging recess portions are formed on the shaft portion of the pin, projecting pieces are formed on the inner surface of the leg pieces, and the projecting pieces of the leg pieces which are kept to be expanded by the shaft portion in connection with the pushing operation of the pin engaging recess are engaged with the engaging recess portions, thereby regulating the movement of the leg pieces in the front-and-rear direction.

6. The clip according to claim 3, wherein a push-in convex portion having the following constructions (1) to (3) is formed on the shaft portion of the pin:

(1) before the shaft portion of the pin is pushed in a direction to the tip of the leg pieces of the grommet, the push-in convex portion is disposed between the head portion of the pin and the flange of the grommet;

(2) when the head portion of the pin is pushed to press the shaft portion in the direction to the tip of the leg pieces of the grommet, the push-in convex portion abuts against the flange of the grommet to transmit the pushing force to the flange; and

(3) after the leg pieces of the grommet are pushed into the fixing hole of the object to be fixed and the flange abuts against the peripheral edge of the fixing hole, the push-in convex portion expands the opening by the pushing force and passes through the opening portion.

7. The clip according to claim 6, wherein the push-in convex portion abuts against the bridge of the flange to transmit the pushing force to the bridge.

8. The clip according to claim 3, wherein an expanding and holding convex portion having the following constructions (a),(b) is formed on the inner surface of each of the leg pieces of the grommet:

(a) when the head portion of the pin is pushed to press the shaft portion in a direction to the tip of the leg pieces of the grommet, the tip of the shaft portion of the pin abuts against the expanding and holding convex portion, so that the expanding and holding convex portion receives the pushing force of the pin; and

(b) after the leg pieces of the grommet are pushed into the fixing hole of the object to be fixed and the flange abuts against the peripheral edge of the fixing hole, the expanding and holding convex portion is pushed outwards by the pushing force received from the pin.

9. The clip according to claim 1, wherein the shaft portion is separated from the grommet, and dropout preventing convex portions are formed at the opposite position to the head portion through the flange, and the dropout of the shaft portion from the flange is regulated by the dropout preventing convex portions.

10. The clip according to claim 1, wherein a small piece for joining the bridge of the flange and the shaft portion of the pin is formed.

11. The clip according to claim 10, wherein when the pin is pushed into the grommet, the small piece is broken at the boundary between the small piece and the shaft portion of the pin, and it remains while projecting from the bridge of the flange.

12. The clip according to claim 11, wherein a guide face with which a small piece projecting from the bridge of the flange comes into sliding contact is formed on the shaft portion of the pin.

13. The clip according to claim 12, wherein a projecting guide portion which comes into sliding contact with the end face of the bridge of the flange to guide the pin halfway in the operation of pushing the pin into the grommet is formed on the shaft portion of the pin, and the guide face is formed to come into sliding contact with the small piece at least until the projecting guide portion comes into sliding contact with an inner surface of the bridge in the process of pushing the pin into the grommet.