Snap-in fastener and apparatus for molding same

Claim 1

A snap-in type composite fastener for telescopic association as a unit with a work aperture, including a shank, an integral head section at one extremity thereof providing a work engaging surface, peripheral shoulder means on said shank spaced axially from said work engaging surface and facing toward the entering end of the shank, an open ended resilient sleeve member having a circumferentially continuous periphery telescopically associated with said shank and with the periphery of the sleeve member tapering from a larger dimension adjacent the head to a smaller dimension adjacent the entering end of the shank, internal shoulder means adjacent the entering extremity of said sleeve member abutting the aforesaid peripheral shoulder means to position said sleeve a predetermined distance from said work engaging surface and to prevent shifting of the sleeve member toward the head, laterally yieldable peripheral work engaging protuberant shoulder means at the trailing end of said sleeve spaced a predetermined distance from the aforesaid work engaging surface, said laterally yieldable shoulder means normally projecting radially outwardly beyond a circumference defined by the maximum diameter of said shank, and abutment means integral with the shank and abruptly angled to at least approach a position generally normal to the shank axis for engaging a complemental surface on the sleeve member in advance of the smaller dimension thereof to prevent unauthorized axial separation thereof from the entering extremity of the shank and thus prevent removal of the shank from the sleeve member in the direction of the larger diameter thereof.