Plate and non-removable screw assembly

Claim 1

In a wooden door frame having an improved plate and nonremovable screw assembly for adjustably positioning the door frame relative to fixed wooden studs, the combination comprising: a wooden plate of said door frame having front and rear planar surfaces in which said door frame is positioned with said rear surface facing a fixed wooden stud; said plate further defining a first opening extending through said plate from said front surface to said rear surface; and a substantially flat screw-retaining member having a plurality of transversely extending barbs insertable into said wooden plate for securing said member to said rear plate surface in substantially parallel relation thereto, said screw retaining member having a plurality of flexible lips extending substantially parallel to said plate, said lips having ends thereof lying in the same plane as said lips and facing and spaced from one another to define a second opening in register with said first opening for threadingly receiving a screw having a head engageable with said front plate surface and a shank extendable through said first opening and provided with a spiral thread and groove screwable through said second opening into the fixed wooden stud, said second opening having a diameter less than the maximum root diameter of the spiral groove of the screw threaded therethrough whereby said lips are flexed by the groove, and said screw further having a peripheral channel axially spaced from a surface of said head a distance substantially equal to the perpendicular distance between said front plate surface and said lips, said channel further defining a cylindrical neck having a diameter smaller than the spiral groove root diameter adjacent said neck whereby said flexed lips enter said channel and said screw cannot be removed from said plate when said screw is screwed into said plate with said head of said screw substantially in engagement with said front plate surface and said lips in register with said channel.