FASTENER AND USE OF A FASTENER

Abstract

Disclosed is a fastener for fastening a part to another part, the fastener comprising a sleeve and a bolt, with the bolt being configured to be inserted into the sleeve. The bolt and/or the sleeve or an element, which is located on or can be attached to the bolt and/or the sleeve, is/are configured for holding the part, the bolt being held in the sleeve in at least two positions which are mutually spaced apart along the longitudinal axis of the sleeve, between which positions the bolt can be translationally moved. The bolt and the sleeve are configured so as to allow rotation of the bolt in the first position relative to the sleeve and to prevent rotation in the second position.

Claims

1. A fastener for fastening a part to another part, the fastener having a sleeve and a bolt, the bolt being configured to be inserted into the sleeve, wherein the bolt and/or the sleeve or an element of the fastener, which is located on or attachable to the bolt or the sleeve, is configured for holding the part, wherein the bolt is held in the sleeve in at least a first position and a second position spaced apart from one other in the longitudinal axis of the sleeve, between which the bolt can be moved translationally in the sleeve, and wherein the bolt and the sleeve are configured such that in the first position the bolt can be rotated relative to the sleeve and in the second position rotation of the bolt relative to the sleeve is prevented.

2. The fastener according to claim 1, wherein the bolt and the sleeve are dconfigured in such a way that the bolt is secured against being pulled out of the sleeve.

3. The fastener according to claim 1, wherein the sleeve and the bolt are configured in such a way that in the first and second positions a positive fit acting along the longitudinal axis is formed between them.

4. The fastener according to claim 1, wherein the boltor the sleeve has a projection, whose extension along the longitudinal axis is adapted to an extension of a recess along the longitudinal axis of the sleeve or bolt.

5. The fastener according to claim 1, wherein the bolt and the sleeve are configured to form in the second position a positive fit acting in the direction transverse to the longitudinal axis and/or in a circumferential direction of the sleeve.

6. The fastener according to claim 5, wherein the bolt and the sleeve have elements in the form of a projection and a recess for forming the positive fit.

7. The fastener according to claim 1, wherein the bolt and the sleeve at their respective positions are freely movable along the longitudinal axis within a region in the longitudinal axial direction along the longitudinal axis of the bolt and sleeve so that the sleeve and the bolt can move relative to each other in the longitudinal axial extension of the sleeve and the bolt.

8. The fastener according to claim 6, wherein a plurality of projections are provided circumferentially distributed on the sleeve and/or on the bolt.

9. The fastener according to claim 6, wherein the projections are arranged: a) at a head end; b) substantially centrally with respect to the longitudinal axis; and/or c) at a foot end on the bolt and/or sleeve.

10. The fastener according to claim 1, wherein the sleeve and/or the bolt comprises a plastic, a metal and/or a composite material.

11. A method of fastening a part to another part, comprising fastening the part to another part with the fastener of claim 1.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0036] The invention is explained in more detail below with reference to drawings which show embodiments of the invention. The drawings show:

[0037] FIG. 1a shows a perspective oblique side view of a bolt of a fastener;

[0038] FIG. 1b shows the bolt according to FIG. 1a with an element for holding a part according to a first embodiment;

[0039] FIG. 2a shows a perspective oblique side view of a sleeve of a fastener;

[0040] FIG. 2b shows a perspective view according to FIG. 2a with an element for holding a part according to a first embodiment;

[0041] FIG. 3 shows a partially transparent perspective view of a fastener with a bolt according to

[0042] FIG. 1a and a sleeve according to FIG. 2a in a first position;

[0043] FIG. 4 shows a sectional view according to FIG. 3 in a plane through the longitudinal axis and a projection on the bolt;

[0044] FIG. 5 shows a sectional view according to FIG. 3 in a plane through the longitudinal axis and next to a projection on the bolt;

[0045] FIG. 6 shows a partially transparent perspective view of the fastener from FIG. 3 in a second position;

[0046] FIG. 7 shows a sectional view according to FIG. 6 in a plane through the longitudinal axis and a projection of the bolt;

[0047] FIG. 8 shows a sectional view according to FIG. 6 in a plane through the longitudinal axis and next to a projection of the bolt;

[0048] FIG. 9 shows a sectional view of an embodiment of a fastener in a first position;

[0049] FIG. 10 shows a perspective view of the embodiment of the fastener according to FIG. 9 in a first position;

[0050] FIG. 11 shows a sectional view of the embodiment of a fastener according to FIG. 9 in a second position, and

[0051] FIG. 12 shows a perspective view of the embodiment of the fastener according to FIG. 9 in a second position.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

[0052] Referring to FIGS. 1-12, wherein like numerals indicate corresponding parts throughout the several views, bolt is illustrated and generally designated 1. In particular, FIG. 1a shows a perspective oblique side view of a bolt 1 of a fastener 2 (see FIG. 3). The bolt 1 has an elongated shape, the longitudinal axis L of the bolt 1 being drawn as a dashed line in FIG. 1 a. The bolt 1 has a free end 3, which is shown on the left in FIG. 1 a. The free end 3 is arranged on the pin 1 at the foot end. The bolt 1 also has an end 4 at the head end and an end on which an element for holding 5 a part can be arranged or is located (FIG. 1 b). The element for holding 5 is formed on the bolt 1 in FIG. 1 b.

[0053] FIG. 2a shows a perspective oblique side view of a sleeve 6 of a fastener 2. The sleeve 6 has a longitudinal axis L shown as a dashed line.

[0054] The bolt 1 and the sleeve 6 are configured in such a way that the bolt 1 with its free end 3 can be inserted into an opening 7 of the sleeve 6. The bolt 1 and the sleeve 6 here interact, as described below.

[0055] Firstly, FIG. 2b shows a perspective view of the sleeve 6 with an element formed on the sleeve 6 for holding 8 a (further) part, wherein the element for holding 8 is configured as a (further) hose clip.

[0056] The bolt 1 and the sleeve 6 interact as plug-in elements. The bolt 1 and sleeve 6 have interacting means to hold the bolt 1 to the sleeve 6 at two positions spaced apart from each other in the extension of the longitudinal axis L. In the first position (FIG. 3), the bolt 1 is pushed less deeply into the sleeve 6 than in the second position (FIG. 6). The holding of the bolt 1 in the sleeve 4 is implemented by means of a plurality of positive fits between the bolt 1 and the sleeve 6 that act along the longitudinal axis L.

[0057] The bolt 1 has recesses 10 formed at least partially circumferentially about the longitudinal axis L. The reduction in the cross-section at the recesses 10 results in projections 9, one of which is arranged between the two recesses 10. The two recesses 10 are configured substantially identically and have substantially the same length in particular in the extension along the longitudinal axis L. In addition, the depth of the recesses 10 is the same. For interaction with the bolt 1, the sleeve 6 has a region in the channel 11 extending from the opening 7, whose cross-section is reduced so that a projection 12 of the sleeve 6 projecting into the channel 11 is formed which is formed at least partially unbroken circumferentially about the longitudinal axis L. The projection 12 of the sleeve 6 is adapted to the extension of the recess 10 along the longitudinal axis L of the bolt 1.

[0058] In the exemplary embodiment shown in FIG. 3 the bolt 1 is located at a first position relative to the sleeve 6. FIG. 5 shows a sectional view in which the projection 12 of the sleeve 6 is arranged precisely in the recess 10. There is a positive fit, acting along the longitudinal axis L, between the recess 10 of the bolt 1 and the projection 12 of the sleeve 6, that holds the bolt 1 in the first position relative to the sleeve 6. For this purpose, abutment faces 20 running at an angle to the longitudinal axis L are provided on the projection 12 and come into abutment with curved abutment faces 21 delimiting the recess 10.

[0059] In order to move the bolt 1 from the first position (FIG. 3) relative to the sleeve 6, a force must be applied to overcome the positive fit. Should a sufficient tensile force be applied to the bolt 1 in relation to the sleeve 6 in the exemplary embodiment illustrated in FIGS. 3 to 5, the bolt 1 can be pulled out of the sleeve 6 and bolt 1 and sleeve 6 can be separated from each other. On the other hand, if a sufficient compressive force is applied to the bolt 1, the bolt 1 will be able to move from the first position (FIG. 3) into the second position shown in FIGS. 6 to 8.

[0060] Also in the second position there is a positive fit acting in the longitudinal axial direction between the projection 12 of the sleeve 6 and a recess 10 of the bolt 1. The bolt 1 is held in the sleeve 6 or held in the second position. In addition, the end 3 at the foot end of the bolt 1 abuts at its end face against the channel base delimiting the channel 11. If a sufficient tensile force is exerted on the bolt 1, the positive fit between the recess 10 and the projection 12 can be overcome and the bolt 1 can be brought back to the first position (cf. FIG. 3).

[0061] In the first position (FIG. 3), the bolt 1 is freely rotatable in the sleeve 6 about the longitudinal axis L. In the second position (FIG. 6), the rotation of the bolt 1 relative to the sleeve 6 about the longitudinal axis L is prevented, this being achieved by the formation of a positive fit. In the second position, projections 13 of the bolt 1 engage in recess 14 of the sleeve 6 (interspaces between projections on the sleeve). The rotational movement about the longitudinal axis L is prevented. For this purpose, the recesses 14 of the sleeve 6 and the projections 13 of the bolt 1 have abutment faces which in particular have a section which runs in particular transversely to the longitudinal axis L, in particular radially to the longitudinal axis L.

[0062] FIGS. 9, 10, 11 and 12 show an exemplary embodiment of a fastener 2 in which the elements for holding 5, 8 take the form of clip bodies and form an opening on one side, through which tubes or lines can be inserted with resilient bending of the clip walls. To simplify the insertion of the tubes or lines, obliquely inwardly facing insertion walls are provided on the free ends of the clip walls on both sides of the opening. The bolt 1 and the sleeve 6 form a section of a bridging piece by means of which the clip bodies are connected to each other. In the first position of the fastener 2 shown in FIGS. 9, the two clip bodies can be turned about the longitudinal axis L so that the clip bodies can be adapted to the particular local conditions when tubes or lines are installed. The clip bodies can be adjusted or adapted to any angle of inclination of tubes or lines running next to each other. In the second position of the fastener 2 shown in FIG. 10, the rotation of the clip bodies relative to each other is prevented.

[0063] The terms comprising or comprise are used herein in their broadest sense to mean and encompass the notions of including, include, consist(ing) essentially of, and consist(ing) of. The use of for example, e.g., such as, and including to list illustrative examples does not limit to only the listed examples. Thus, for example or such as means for example, but not limited to or such as, but not limited to and encompasses other similar or equivalent examples. The term about as used herein serves to reasonably encompass or describe minor variations in numerical values measured by instrumental analysis or as a result of sample handling. Such minor variations may be in the order of 0-25, 0-10, 0-5, or 0-2.5, % of the numerical values. Further, The term about applies to both numerical values when associated with a range of values. Moreover, the term about may apply to numerical values even when not explicitly stated.

[0064] Generally, as used herein a hyphen - or dash in a range of values is to or through; a > is above or greater-than; a is at least or greater-than or equal to; a < is below or less-than; and a is at most or less-than or equal to. On an individual basis, each of the aforementioned applications for patent, patents, and/or patent application publications, is expressly incorporated herein by reference in its entirety in one or more non-limiting embodiments.

[0065] It is to be understood that the appended claims are not limited to express and particular compounds, compositions, or methods described in the detailed description, which may vary between particular embodiments which fall within the scope of the appended claims. With respect to any Markush groups relied upon herein for describing particular features or aspects of various embodiments, it is to be appreciated that different, special, and/or unexpected results may be obtained from each member of the respective Markush group independent from all other Markush members. Each member of a Markush group may be relied upon individually and or in combination and provides adequate support for specific embodiments within the scope of the appended claims.

[0066] The present invention has been described herein in an illustrative manner, and it is to be understood that the terminology which has been used is intended to be in the nature of words of description rather than of limitation. Many modifications and variations of the present invention are possible in light of the above teachings. The present invention may be practiced otherwise than as specifically described within the scope of the appended claims. The subject matter of all combinations of independent and dependent claims, both single and multiple dependent, is herein expressly contemplated.