Fasteners

Claim 2

A fastener comprising a locking plate and a stud with a lateral recess, the plate including a frame and at least one post projecting from the frame to extend generally laterally of the stud and engage in the recess when the plate and stud are connected, said post being resilient so that when deflected out of the recess for release or disengagement, it will return to the engaged position; a cover in which the frame is located; a release plate having a number of pegs arranged to deflect the post when the release plate is turned, the release plate being secured to the cover by projections from the pegs; the cover having slots for movement of the pegs, and the slots having enlargements to allow the projections to pass through in assembly, the arrangement being such as to prevent the projections returning to the enlargements in normal use.

Claim 3

A fastener assembly comprising a locking plate and a stud provided with a peripheral groove for engagement by the locking plate, the locking plate comprising a peripheral frame and a pair of posts formed integrally with the frame, the whole plate being formed as a plastics molding, each post extending between opposite sides of the frame with one end integral with the frame and the opposite end free to enable the post to be deflected resiliently about its fixed end, said posts lying in the same plane as the peripheral frame and having intermediate portions thereof confronting one another at a spacing less than the lateral dimension of the stud, the lengths of the posts being such that upon insertion of the stud between the posts, the posts are deflected apart substantially into contact with respective sides of said frame, and the thicknesses of said confronting portions of the posts being less than the width of said peripheral groove whereby, when the stud has been inserted to such an extent that its groove is in lateral alignment with said posts, the latter can resiliently restore to positions in which said confronting portions enter the peripheral groove and lock the plate to the stud, said fastener assembly further including a base member and a cover member adapted to be fitted together to form a cavity which receives the locking plate as a snug fit, and means for holding the plate angularly captive within said cavity, the base member having an aperture therein for reception of the stud, the said aperture being in alignment with the space between said confronting portions of the posts, the posts being confined within a space bounded by confronting faces of the cover member and the base member and by the peripheral frame, and having their fixed ends integral with opposite sides of the frame and extending generally parallel to one another, the cover member having two holes therein which are in registry with the space between the posts, and a release plate being provided which has a pair of pegs arranged to extend through said holes in the cover member and between the posts, whereby the posts can be caused to deflect apart by rotation of the release plate.

Claim 4

A fastener assembly comprising a locking plate and a stud provided with a peripheral groove for engagement by the locking plate, the locking plate comprising a peripheral frame and a pair of posts formed integrally with the frame, the whole plate being formed as a plastics molding, each post extending between opposite sides of the frame with one end integral with the frame and the opposite end free to enable the post to be deflected resiliently about its fixed end, said posts lying in the same plane as the peripheral frame and having intermediate portions thereof confronting one another at a spacing less than the lateral dimension of the stud, the lengths of the posts being such that upon insertion of the stud between the posts, the posts are deflected apart substantially into contact with respective sides of said frame, and the thicknesses of said confronting portions of the posts being less than the width of said peripheral groove whereby, when the stud has been inserted to such an extent that its groove is in lateral alignment with said posts, the latter can resiliently restore to positions in which said confronting portions enter the peripheral groove and lock the plate to the stud, said fastener assembly further including a base member and a cover member adapted to be fitted together to form a cavity which receives the locking plate as a snug fit, and means for holding the plate angularly captive within said cavity, the base member having an aperture therein for reception of the stud, the said aperture being in alignment with the space between said confronting portions of the posts, the posts being confined within a space bounded by confronting faces of the cover member and the base member and by the peripheral frame, and having their fixed ends integral with opposite sides of the frame and extending generally parallel to one another, the cover member having two holes therein which are in registry with the space between the posts, and a release plate being provided which has a pair of pegs arranged to extend through said holes in the cover member and between the posts, whereby the posts can be caused to deflect apart by rotation of the release plate.

Claim 5

A fastener assembly according to claim 2 in which the release plate is adapted to be turned angularly with respect to the cover member whereby the pegs are effective to deflect the free end of each post away from the fixed end of the other post, turning of the release plate in the opposite sense being resisted by virtue of the rigidity of said fixed ends.

Claim 6

A fastener assembly according to claim 2 in which each peg is provided with a lateral projection and in which said holes are in the form of slots extending arcuately about the axis of the stud, each slot being enlarged at one end to allow introduction of the projections on the pegs during assembly of the release plate to the cover member, the projections being arranged to engage behind marginal edges of the narrower parts of said slots and the engagement being such that when the pegs are received between the posts as aforesaid, the pegs are prevented from returning to said enlarged slot portions.