Assembly for fastening a layer of compressible material to a rigid member

Claim 1

An assembly for fastening together a stack of flat generally horizontal members including a layer of compressible material and a rigid member underlying the layer, said assembly comprising a disk made of a resiliently flexible material and having a central hole, an annular flange formed integrally with and depending from the underside of said disk adjacent the periphery thereof and having a downwardly facing surface defining a contact pad engageable with said stack to apply downward pressure thereto around an annular sealing band, an elongated fastener projecting through said hole and adapted to project down through said layer, the lower end portion of said fastener being threaded to be driven into said rigid member, a head formed on the upper end of said fastener to engage the upper side of said disk, an annular hub formed integrally with said disk and projecting downwardly from the underside thereof, said hub being coaxial with said hole to surround the upper end portion of said fastener and being of sufficient length to project downwardly a substantial distance below said disk and into said layer, the upper end portion of said hub being joined continuously to said disk around the entire circumference of the hub, the lower end portion of said hub being formed with downwardly opening longitudinally extending slots to define angularly spaced fingers which flex to enable the hub to expand, the lower ends of said fingers being located in a substantially horizontal plane, and a collar formed on said fastener above said threaded lower end portion and having an upper end providing an upwardly facing shoulder spaced downwardly from the underside of said head, said collar having a side surface which tapers downwardly from the periphery of said shoulder to cam said fingers apart and permit said collar to pass through said hub as said fastener is inserted through said hole, said shoulder being located completely below all portions of said disk so as to be located within said layer, said shoulder being located in a substantially horizontal plane and being spaced from said head a distance generally equal to the length of said hub to squarely engage the lower ends of said fingers and to hold the disk adjacent said head, the substantially horizontal shoulder and the lower ends of said fingers constituting means configured to keep the disk adjacent the head of the fastener regardless of whether the fastener rotates in either direction relative to the disk after the fastener is inserted through said hole in said hub.