Temporary support pin

Claim 1

A pin for temporarily supporting a workpiece while said workpiece is being permanently mounted to an object, comprising: an engaging end for insertion into a preformed aperture of said object, said engaging end having engaging means for removably holding said pin in said preformed aperture; a gripping end opposite said engaging end which facilitates manipulation of the pin; and an elongated central body between said engaging and gripping ends, said central body including a plurality of resilient protruding arms, said arms connected to and flaring outward from said gripping end toward said engaging end, said arms terminating in shoulders which are substantially perpendicular to the elongated dimension of the pin, at least two of said shoulders further connected to a neck which connects said shoulders to said engaging end of the pin, said arms, shoulders and neck defining a hollow central chamber into which said arms and shoulders can be compressed in a direction transverse to the elongated dimension of said pin, to temporarily reduce the width of said pin; whereby after said engaging means have been attached to said preformed aperture of the object, an aperture in said workpiece may be aligned with said pin, thereby permitting said workpiece to be pushed over said resilient protruding arms and shoulders, compressing said arms and shoulders into said hollow central chamber until said workpiece passes over said shoulders, whereupon said arms and shoulders spring back into their uncompressed positions, so that said shoulders support but do not engage said workpiece, and whereby said pin can be removed from said preformed aperture and workpiece by disengagement of said engaging means without recompression of said arms and shoulders.