Abstract: A universally self-aligned expandable nut including a head and a body moldable in a simple mold having a straight-line open and close action. The head includes an enlarged flange having a central opening through which a screw can pass. The body includes a shank connected to the flange having individual upper walls separated by axially extending upper slots and inner and outer surfaces parallel to a longitudinal axis defining a shank cavity. The upper walls have distal ends establishing a first fold line. The body also has individual tapered wall sections separated by axially extending lower slots aligned with the upper slots. The tapered walls each have an upper end connected to the distal end of an adjacent upper wall section, a lower end, and an inner surface that coacts with inner surfaces of adjacent lower walls to define a lower cavity. The lower wall inner surfaces terminate at a medial portion between the upper and lower ends establishing a second fold line.

Abstract: A releasable clip is provided for releasably holding an elongated member. The clip comprises a body and a slide member. The body includes a shank which is insertable into an aperture on a panel when the clip is installed and a head member having a first seat portion offset from the shank and a first latch means. The slide member is slidably mounted on the shank and has a second seat portion offset from the shank which is positionable in opposed facing alignment with the first seat portion. The slide member is movable along the shank to a seat closed position wherein the first and second seat portions are mated together around an elongated member. The slide member also has a second latch means interlockable with the first latch means to secure the first and second seat portions together in the seat closed position.

Abstract: A fastener for releasably securing an object to a panel having a hole therethrough comprises a screw having a screw head attached to the object and having a threaded screw shank insertable through the hole in the panel. The fastener further comprises a flexible resilient plastic push-on/screw-off nut having a bore therethrough which is slidably mountable onto the threaded screw shank into engagement with the panel. The nut has a resilient flexible concave nut head which operates to seal the panel hole and has a nut shank defining two resilient flexible legs, each of which has internal nut threads for engaging the threaded screw shank. The nut also comprises webs, each connected between the nut head and the outer side of a leg, which operate to force the nut threads tightly against the screw thread in locking engagement when the nut head is forced against the panel. The nut is removable from the screw by rotation in a conventional manner.

Abstract: A plastic re-usable two-piece push-pin stand-off fastener for releasably securing together two spaced-apart circuit boards comprises a hollow body having a body bore into which, for pre-assembly, a pin is insertable into the body bore prior to use. The pin has large and small outside diameter portions near its head and insertion ends, respectively. The body bore has large and small inside diameter bore portions near its head and insertion ends, respectively. The body also has outwardly extending inwardly depressible resilient flexible wings adjacent the large bore portion, has outwardly expandable resilient flexible legs adjacent the small bore portion, and has an external shoulder between the wings and the legs. In use, the body is inserted into a hole in the first board to entrap the board between the body head and wings. Then, the body is inserted into a hole in the second board so that the shoulder bears thereagainst.

Abstract: A re-usable two-piece fastener for releasably clamping two workpieces together comprises an expandable hollow plastic body for receiving an axially insertable and rotatable screw made of plastic or metal. The body comprises a slotted outwardly expandable shank having a head or flange at its outer end and a bore extending entirely through the body. The screw comprises a threaded shank having a head at its outer end. The body bore comprises an outer end portion of the same diameter as the threaded screw shank, an intermediate thread-engaging member having an aperture of the same diameter as the root diameter of the screw shank and sloped at the same pitch as the screw thread, and an inner end portion. The thread-engaging member may be integral with the body or may take the form of a metal insert. The inner end portion of the body bore may be of the same or larger diameter than the screw thread or may be of smaller diameter so that the screw thread can self-tap thereinto.

Abstract: A molded plastic one-piece hollow expansion nut comprises an outwardly expandable shank which is insertable through a panel hole and a head at one end of the shank for engaging the panel surface. A screw-receiving bore extends axially through the nut and receives the threaded shank of a screw whose screw head bears against the nut head. The portion of the bore along which shank wall expansion occurs is cylindrical and of slightly larger diameter than the screw thread. The inmost end of the bore is of oblong cross-section and its minor axis is shorter than the diameter of the screw thread. A single screw-engaging thread in the cylindrical bore initially holds and guides the screw. The shank walls opposite the ends of the minor axis have oblique screw-thread receiving slots therethrough which define very sturdy damage resistant nut threads which engage the screw thread.

Abstract: A two-piece fastener comprises a screw and a plastic nut for releasably securing together two apertured panels. The screw comprises a screw head and a threaded screw shank insertable in the aperture of one panel. The nut comprises a nut head, a nut shank insertable in the aperture of the other panel, and a bore extending through both the nut head and nut shank to receive the screw shank. The nut shank has an expandable portion, a screw-engaging portion, and a common wall therebetween. The bore has an unthreaded bore region through the nut head and through expandable nut shank portion, an intermediate bore region through the common wall and in a part of the screw-engaging nut shank portion, and a threaded bore region through the screw-engaging nut shank portion. The expandable nut shank portion comprises a plurality of thin, flexible, resilient walls, each connected between the common wall and the nut head. Each flexible wall has a parabolically shaped recess on its inner surface along which it can bend.

Abstract: A hand-held manually-operable tool is disclosed for installing a two-piece expandable plastic fastener (including an expandable body and an insertable pin) in a panel hole. The tool comprises a hand-held housing having a hollow barrel from which a spring-biased hollow plastic sleeve projects. A pushrod within the hollow sleeve is movable with the housing. The sleeve tip releasably engages and supports either the body or pin of a fastener manually mounted thereon and aligns the pin with the pushrod which subsequently forces the pin into the body to effect expansion. The sleeve tip end has either resiliently flexible legs to engage the body or resiliently flexible compressible foam rubber strips to engage the pin. In use, the tool directs the body into the panel hole and is pressed to cause the sleeve to retract so that the pushrod can force the pin into the body to effect body expansion.

Abstract: A fastener for securing primary and secondary panels together comprises a molded plastic one-piece U-nut and a molded plastic screw. The nut comprises two plates, each having a plate hole therethrough, which face each other with their plate holes in registry and which are integrally and resiliently interconnected along one edge in spaced apart relationship. One plate supports on its outer side an integrally formed nut shank having an internally threaded bore in registry with the plate holes. The other plate supports on its innerside an integrally formed annular shaped sloped lock tab which surrounds its associated plate hole and holds the nut in place on the primary panel. The bore thread is formed in discrete thread sections and locking teeth are formed on the undersides of the bore thread sections. The screw comprises a threaded screw shank having a screw head at one end. The screw thread has locking teeth formed on the upper side thereof at intervals therealong.

Abstract: A protective/decorative liner panel is mounted on a sheet metal support panel by molded plastic fasteners which allow the liner panel to be subsequently detached and reattached. Each fastener comprises a pin which is initially joined to a hollow grommet by a frangible web which aligns the pin shank with a bore in the grommet. The pin head is manually and twistably engageable with an installation hole in the liner panel and then the grommet is axially engaged with an installation hole in the support panel as the liner panel is moved toward the support panel. A hammer blow on the pin head fractures the web, forces the pin shank into the bore and moves the liner panel to its mounted position relative to the support panel. Serrations on the pin shank frictionally engage the bore wall to hold the pin and its attached liner panel in mounted position.