Fastener with parts having projecting engaging portions

Claim 2

A fastener comprising two similar parts, each part having a uniform cross section along an axis and including a base portion including means for securing said fastener part to other objects, and major and minor projecting portions projecting in spaced relationship from said base portion, said major projecting portion projecting a greater distance from said base than said minor portion, having a ridge along its distal end parallel to said axis, having a recess along the side of said major portion opposite said minor projecting portion parallel to said axis and defining the side of said ridge adjacent said base portion, and having a plurality of corrugations along the side surface of said major projecting portion adjacent said minor projecting portion and parallel to said axis, said minor projecting portion having a lip along its side adjacent said major projecting portion and parallel to said axis, said major and minor projecting portions of said parts being shaped and spaced from each other to define slots therebetween adapted so that the slot on each part can simultaneously receive the ridge on the other major projecting portion from the other of said parts with said corrugations of said major projecting portions in face to face relationship and the lips on each of said parts in the recess of the other, and said ridges, corrugations and lips of said parts having cam surfaces adapted to engage each other to resiliently bend said parts to afford simultaneous entry of said ridges into said slots and said corrugations into face to face relationship to engage said parts when said parts are pressed together in directions at right angles to their axes, and having cam surfaces adapted to engage each other to resiliently bend said parts to afford simultaneous movement of said ridges out of said slots and movement of said corrugations over each other to disengage said parts when said parts are pulled away from each other in said directions at right angles to their axes.

Claim 3

A fastener according to claim1 wherein the shapes of said parts in planes transverse of said axis are identical.

Claim 4

A fastener according to claim 1 wherein said cam surfaces are planar and intersect along lines parallel to said axis to define tooth like corrugations.

Claim 5

A fastener according to claim 3 wherein said intersecting planar cam surfaces include engagement surfaces facing generally away from said base portion, which engagement surfaces cam against each other to help resiliently bend the parts and help afford entry of the ridges into the slots when the parts are engaged; and holding surfaces facing generally toward said base portions of said parts that cam against each other to help resiliently bend said parts and afford removal of said ridges from said slots when said parts are separated; with the angles at which said engagement and holding surfaces are disposed with respect to the directions in which the parts are moved into and out of engagement being selected to help provide a larger disengagement force than engagement force for said fastener parts.

Claim 6

An elongate member from which parts of fasteners adapted to engage each other may be formed, said elongate member having an axis and a uniform cross section along said axis, the elongate member including a base portion including means for securing fastener parts made from the elongate member to other objects, and major and minor projecting portions projecting in spaced relationship from said base portion, said major projecting portion projecting a greater distance from said base than said minor portion, having a ridge along its distal end parallel to said axis, having a recess along the side of said major portion opposite said minor projecting portion parallel to said axis and defining the side of said ridge adjacent said base portion, and having a plurality of corrugations along the side surface of said major projecting portion adjacent said minor projecting portion and parallel to said axis, said minor projecting portion having a lip along its side adjacent said major projecting portion and parallel to said axis, said portions defining a slot between said major and minor projecting portions adapted, when said elongate member is separated into two parts, so that the slot on each part will simultaneously receive the ridge on the major projecting portion of the other part with said corrugations of said major projecting portions in face to face relationship and the lips on each part in the recess on the other part, and said ridge, lip and corrugations having cam surfaces adapted to engage each other on such parts to resiliently bend said parts to afford entry of said ridges into said slots and said corrugations into face to face relationship to releasably engage said parts when said parts are pressed together in directions at a right angle to their axes and having cam surfaces adapted to engage each other on such parts to resiliently bend said parts to afford simultaneous movement of said ridges out of said slots and movement of said corrugations over each other to disengage said parts when said parts are pulled away from each other in said directions at a right angle to their axes.

Claim 7

An elongate member from which parts of fasteners adapted to engage each other may be formed, said elongate member having an axis and a uniform cross section along said axis, the elongate member including a base portion including means for securing fastener parts made from the elongate member to other objects, and major and minor projecting portions projecting in spaced relationship from said base portion, said major projecting portion projecting a greater distance from said base than said minor portion, having a ridge along its distal end parallel to said axis, having a recess along the side of said major portion opposite said minor projecting portion parallel to said axis and defining the side of said ridge adjacent said base portion, and having a plurality of corrugations along the side surface of said major projecting portion adjacent said minor projecting portion and parallel to said axis, said minor projecting portion having a lip along its side adjacent said major projecting portion and parallel to said axis, said portions defining a slot between said major and minor projecting portions adapted, when said elongate member is separated into two parts, so that the slot on each part will simultaneously receive the ridge on the major projecting portion of the other part with said corrugations of said major projecting portions in face to face relationship and the lips on each part in the recess on the other part, and said ridge, lip and corrugations having cam surfaces adapted to engage each other on such parts to resiliently bend said parts to afford entry of said ridges into said slots and said corrugations into face to face relationship to releasably engage said parts when said parts are pressed together in directions at a right angle to their axes and having cam surfaces adapted to engage each other on such parts to resiliently bend said parts to afford simultaneous movement of said ridges out of said slots and movement of said corrugations over each other to disengage said parts when said parts are pulled away from each other in said directions at a right angle to their axes.

Claim 8

An elongate member according to claim 5 wherein said cam surfaces on said corrugations are planar and intersect along lines parallel to said axis.

Claim 9

An elongate member according to claim 6 wherein said intersecting planar cam surfaces include engagement surfaces facing generally away from said base portion, which engagement surfaces cam against each other to help resiliently bend the parts and help afford entry of the ridges into the slots when the parts are engaged; and holding surfaces facing generally toward said base portions of said parts that cam against each other to help resiliently bend said parts and afford removal of said ridges from said slots when said parts are separated; with the angles at which said engagement and holding surfaces are disposed with respect to the directions in which the parts are moved into and out of engagement being selected to help provide a larger disengagement force than engagement force for said fastener parts.

Claim 10

A fastener comprising two similar parts, each part having a uniform cross section along an axis and including a base portion including means for securing said fastener part to other objects, and major and minor projecting portions projecting in spaced relationship from said base portion, said major projecting portion projecting a greater distance from said base than said minor portion, having a ridge along its distal end parallel to said axis, having a recess along the side of said major projecting portion opposite said minor projecting portion parallel to said axis and defining the side of said ridge adjacent said base portion, and having a plurality of corrugations along the side surface of said major projecting portion adjacent said minor projecting portion and parallel to said axis, said minor projecting portion having a lip along its side adjacent said major projecting portion and parallel to said axis, said major and minor projecting portions of said parts being shaped and spaced from each other to define slots therebetween adapted so that the slot on each part can simultaneously receive the ridge from the major projecting portion on the other of said parts with said corrugations of said major projecting portions in face to face relationship and the lips on each of said parts in the recess of the other, and said ridges, corrugations and lips of said parts having cam surfaces adapted to engage each other to resiliently bend said parts to afford simultaneous entry of said ridges into said slots and said corrugations into face to face relationship to engage said parts when said parts are pressed together in directions at right angles to their axes and having holding surfaces adapted to engage each other on such parts to hold said parts together when said parts are pulled away from each other in said directions at a right angle to their axes.

Claim 11

A fastener comprising two similar parts, each part having a uniform cross section along an axis and including a base portion including means for securing said fastener part to other objects, and major and minor projecting portions projecting in spaced relationship from said base portion, said major projecting portion projecting a greater distance from said base than said minor portion, having a ridge along its distal end parallel to said axis, having a recess along the side of said major projecting portion opposite said minor projecting portion parallel to said axis and defining the side of said ridge adjacent said base portion, and having a plurality of corrugations along the side surface of said major projecting portion adjacent said minor projecting portion and parallel to said axis, said minor projecting portion having a lip along its side adjacent said major projecting portion and parallel to said axis, said major and minor projecting portions of said parts being shaped and spaced from each other to define slots therebetween adapted so that the slot on each part can simultaneously receive the ridge from the major projecting portion on the other of said parts with said corrugations of said major projecting portions in face to face relationship and the lips on each of said parts in the recess of the other, and said ridges, corrugations and lips of said parts having cam surfaces adapted to engage each other to resiliently bend said parts to afford simultaneous entry of said ridges into said slots and said corrugations into face to face relationship to engage said parts when said parts are pressed together in directions at right angles to their axes and having holding surfaces adapted to engage each other on such parts to hold said parts together when said parts are pulled away from each other in said directions at a right angle to their axes.

Claim 12

A fastener according to claim 8 wherein the shapes of said parts in planes transverse of said axis are identical.

Claim 13

A fastener according to claim 8 wherein said cam and holding surfaces are planar and intersect along lines parallel to said axis to define tooth like corrugations.

Claim 14

A fastener according to claim 10 wherein said intersecting planar cam surfaces face generally away from said base portion, and said holding surfaces face generally toward said base portions of said parts that engage each other.

Claim 15

An elongate member from which parts of fasteners adapted to engage each other may be formed, said elongate member having an axis and a uniform cross section along said axis, the elongate member including a base portion including means for securing fastener parts made from the elongate member to other objects, and major and minor projecting portions projecting in spaced relationship from said base portion, said major projecting portion projecting a greater distance from said base than said minor portion, having a ridge along its distal end parallel to said axis, having a recess along the side of said major projecting portion opposite said minor projecting portion parallel to said axis and defining the side of said ridge adjacent said base portion, and having a plurality of corrugations along the side surface of said major projecting portion adjacent said minor projecting portion and parallel to said axis, said minor projecting portion having a lip along its side adjacent said major projecting portion and parallel to said axis, said portions defining a slot between said major and minor projecting portions adapted, when said elongate member is separated into two parts, so that the slot on each part will simultaneously receive the ridge on the major projecting portion on the other part with said corrugations of said major projecting portions in face to face relationship and the lips on each part in the recess on the other part, and said ridge, lip and corrugations having cam surfaces adapted to engage each other on such parts to resiliently bend said parts to afford entry of said ridges into said slots and said corrugations into face to face relationship to releasably engage said parts when said parts are pressed together in directions at a right angle to their axes and having holding surfaces adapted to engage each other on such parts to hold said parts together when said parts are pulled away from each other in said directions at a right angle to their axes.

Claim 16

An elongate member from which parts of fasteners adapted to engage each other may be formed, said elongate member having an axis and a uniform cross section along said axis, the elongate member including a base portion including means for securing fastener parts made from the elongate member to other objects, and major and minor projecting portions projecting in spaced relationship from said base portion, said major projecting portion projecting a greater distance from said base than said minor portion, having a ridge along its distal end parallel to said axis, having a recess along the side of said major projecting portion opposite said minor projecting portion parallel to said axis and defining the side of said ridge adjacent said base portion, and having a plurality of corrugations along the side surface of said major projecting portion adjacent said minor projecting portion and parallel to said axis, said minor projecting portion having a lip along its side adjacent said major projecting portion and parallel to said axis, said portions defining a slot between said major and minor projecting portions adapted, when said elongate member is separated into two parts, so that the slot on each part will simultaneously receive the ridge on the major projecting portion on the other part with said corrugations of said major projecting portions in face to face relationship and the lips on each part in the recess on the other part, and said ridge, lip and corrugations having cam surfaces adapted to engage each other on such parts to resiliently bend said parts to afford entry of said ridges into said slots and said corrugations into face to face relationship to releasably engage said parts when said parts are pressed together in directions at a right angle to their axes and having holding surfaces adapted to engage each other on such parts to hold said parts together when said parts are pulled away from each other in said directions at a right angle to their axes.

Claim 17

An elongate member according to claim 12 wherein said cam and holding surfaces are planar and intersect along lines parallel to said axis.

Claim 18

An elongate member according to claim 13 wherein said planar cam surfaces face generally away from said base portion, and said planar holding surfaces facing generally toward said base portions of said parts.