GB1566914A - Fixing members of box section - Google Patents

Description

(54) FIXING MEMBERS OF BOX SECTION (71) We, ITW FASTEX ITALIA S.p.A., an Italian company of Strada Setti- mo 344, Turin, Italy, do hereby declare the invention, for which we pray that a patent may be granted to us and the method by which it is to be performed, to be particularly described in and by the following state- ment: In recent decades the building industry has evolved radically due to the need to construct larger buildings in noticeably shorter times and indeed the need to use more modern techniques of building. This has led to the wide use of carrier frameworks, of metallic box sections, to which there are fixed panels constituting either dividing or external walls.To construct the frameworks, the box sections are usually cut to measure on site and then fixed to one another by traditional methods, for example with screws or bolts. The problem with which the present invention is concerned is to provide a simple fixing element of low cost which permits two box sections to be fixed perpendicularly to one another both rapidly and with extreme facility.

According to the present invention two members of box section are fixed perpendicularly to one another by a fixing element formed in one piece of a resilient plastics material and including a U-shaped part whose ends are connected by a bridge piece, the opposed external walls of the U-shaped part having projections which are in engagement with apertures in opposed walls of a first one of the members, near an end of that member into which the U-shaped part has been inserted, the internal wall of the bridge piece having a projection with a bore therethrough, there being a self-tapping screw passed through a hole in a wall of the second one of the members and engaged in the bore.

The invention will now be explained in greater detail with reference to a preferred embodiment thereof, given solely by way of example and thus non-limitative, illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein: Figure 1 is a perspective side view of a fixing element; Figure 2 is a perspective front view of the element shown in Figure 1; and Figure 3 is a transverse section taken through said element when inserted into a metallic member of box section, a second nember of similar section being shown fixed perpendicularly thereto by means of a selftapping screw.

The fixing element 10, shown in Figures 1 and 2, is constituted wholly of a yieldable plastics material having a high degree of elastic resilience, and is obtained in one single injection-moulding operation. A plastics material which possesses such characteristics is for example an acetal resin. The fixing element 10 has a U-shaped part 11, the ends 12 and 13 of which are united integrally with one another by a bridge piece 14. The internal wall of the bridge piece 14 is equipped in its centre with a projection 15 (Figure 3) having a bore 16 therethrough.

External opposed walls 17 and 18 of the arms of the U-shaped part 11 have projections 19 and 20 respectively, whose respective outer surfaces 21 and 22 diminish in height in the direction of the bight of the U-shaped part until they merge therewith.

The surfaces 21 and 22, which are preferably of circular outline, constitute cam surfaces for assisting in insertion, in use, of the U-shaped part 11 within a box section member P1 (Figure 3). On the sides directed towards the bridge piece 14, the projections 17 and 18 have steps 23 and 24, respectively, intended to operate as stops against the edges of apertures 25, 26 formed for this purpose in opposed walls of the box section member P1 into which the U-shaped part 11 of the fixing element 10 is to be inserted.

Figure 3 shows diagrammatically the fix ing of two metallic members of box section P1 and P2 perpendicularly to one another.

The fixing element 10 is inserted into one of the hollow ends of the member P1 and, since its width dimension is slightly greater than the width of the member P1, it will be compelled to be compressed transversely inwards, that is the arms of the U-shaped part 11 will approach one another. The member P1 has the two opposed apertures 25 and 26 formed in two opposite lateral walls at the level of, and with substantially the same diameter as, the projections 17 and 18. Thus, when the projections 17 and 18 of the fixing element 10, which is compressed within the box section member P1, reach the apertures 25 and 26, they spring resiliently outwards, penetrating into those apertures, and the steps 23 and 24 come to abut against the lower edges (Figure 3) of those apertures.The fixing element 10 therefore remains locked in position, with the bridge piece 14 acting as a closure for the end of the member P1.

The member P2 has a hole 27 in one wall, matching the bore 16 of the bridge piece 14, and in the opposite wall has an aperture 28 adapted to receive a screwdriver, so that a self-tapping screw 29 may be screwed through the hole 27 and the bore 16, to fix the member P2 perpendicularly to the member P1.

In Figure 3, the fixing element 10 is also shown to be provided with two abutments 30 and 31 protruding substantially perpendicularly from the opposed internal walls of the arms of the U-shaped part 11 in correspondence with the lateral projections 17 and 18. These abutments 30 and 31 are spaced apart from one another by a distance less than the diameter of the end of the selftapping screw 29, so that when the screw 29 is screwed in its end will urge the abutments 30 and 31 apart so that the steps 23 and 24 of the projections 17 and 18 are retained even more securely in the apertures 25 and 26 provided therefor.

WHAT WE CLAIM IS: 1. Two members of box section fixed perpendicularly to one another by a fixing element, formed in one piece of a resilient plastics material and including a U-shaped part whose ends are connected by a bridge piece, the opposed external walls of the U-shaped part having projections which are in engagement with apertures in opposed walls of a first one of the members, near an end of that member into which the Ushaped part has been inserted, the internal wall of the bridge piece having a projection with a bore therethrough, there being a self-tapping screw passed through a hole in a wall of the second one of the members and engaged in the bore.

2. Two members and a fixing element according to claim 1, in which each of said projections on the U-shaped part possesses an inclined cam surface for assisting in insertion of the U-shaped part within the first member.

3. Two members and a fixing element according to claim 2, in which each of said cam surfaces is of circular outline.

4. Two members and a fixing element according to any preceding claim, in which the opposed internal walls of the U-shaped part have abutments which are urged apart from one another by an end of the screw driven therebetween, this outward urging of the abutments causing the projections on the opposed external walls of the U-shaped part to be retained more securely in the apertures provided therefor in the first member.

5. Two members and a fixing element according to any preceding claim, in which the plastics material is an acetal resin.

6. Two members and a fixing element according to claim 1 and substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.

**WARNING** end of DESC field may overlap start of CLMS **.

Claims (6)

**WARNING** start of CLMS field may overlap end of DESC **. ing of two metallic members of box section P1 and P2 perpendicularly to one another. The fixing element 10 is inserted into one of the hollow ends of the member P1 and, since its width dimension is slightly greater than the width of the member P1, it will be compelled to be compressed transversely inwards, that is the arms of the U-shaped part 11 will approach one another. The member P1 has the two opposed apertures 25 and 26 formed in two opposite lateral walls at the level of, and with substantially the same diameter as, the projections 17 and 18. Thus, when the projections 17 and 18 of the fixing element 10, which is compressed within the box section member P1, reach the apertures 25 and 26, they spring resiliently outwards, penetrating into those apertures, and the steps 23 and 24 come to abut against the lower edges (Figure 3) of those apertures.The fixing element 10 therefore remains locked in position, with the bridge piece 14 acting as a closure for the end of the member P1. The member P2 has a hole 27 in one wall, matching the bore 16 of the bridge piece 14, and in the opposite wall has an aperture 28 adapted to receive a screwdriver, so that a self-tapping screw 29 may be screwed through the hole 27 and the bore 16, to fix the member P2 perpendicularly to the member P1. In Figure 3, the fixing element 10 is also shown to be provided with two abutments 30 and 31 protruding substantially perpendicularly from the opposed internal walls of the arms of the U-shaped part 11 in correspondence with the lateral projections 17 and 18. These abutments 30 and 31 are spaced apart from one another by a distance less than the diameter of the end of the selftapping screw 29, so that when the screw 29 is screwed in its end will urge the abutments 30 and 31 apart so that the steps 23 and 24 of the projections 17 and 18 are retained even more securely in the apertures 25 and 26 provided therefor. WHAT WE CLAIM IS:

1. Two members of box section fixed perpendicularly to one another by a fixing element, formed in one piece of a resilient plastics material and including a U-shaped part whose ends are connected by a bridge piece, the opposed external walls of the U-shaped part having projections which are in engagement with apertures in opposed walls of a first one of the members, near an end of that member into which the Ushaped part has been inserted, the internal wall of the bridge piece having a projection with a bore therethrough, there being a self-tapping screw passed through a hole in a wall of the second one of the members and engaged in the bore.

2. Two members and a fixing element according to claim 1, in which each of said projections on the U-shaped part possesses an inclined cam surface for assisting in insertion of the U-shaped part within the first member.

3. Two members and a fixing element according to claim 2, in which each of said cam surfaces is of circular outline.

4. Two members and a fixing element according to any preceding claim, in which the opposed internal walls of the U-shaped part have abutments which are urged apart from one another by an end of the screw driven therebetween, this outward urging of the abutments causing the projections on the opposed external walls of the U-shaped part to be retained more securely in the apertures provided therefor in the first member.

5. Two members and a fixing element according to any preceding claim, in which the plastics material is an acetal resin.

6. Two members and a fixing element according to claim 1 and substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawings.