[0001] The present disclosure described herein, in general, relates to providing
tight and rigid assembly of a heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC)
5 unit to a vehicle dash panel. In particular, the present disclosure relates to a
fastener for assembling an HVAC unit to a vehicle dash panel.
BACKGROUND
[0002] The background description includes information that may be useful in
understanding the present disclosure.
10 [0003] A heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) unit is assembled
or mounted to a dash panel of a vehicle with the help of fasteners such as a nutbolt. The bolt is inserted in a casing of the HVAC unit and then the HVAC unit is
mounted to the dash panel through holes provided in the dash panel and a nut is
fastened to the bolt from inside engine room so as to assemble the HVAC unit to
15 the dash panel of the vehicle. However, the problem with the existing bolt and nut
fasteners is that these fasteners are not able to provide a rigid and tight assembly
of the HVAC unit to the vehicle dash panel. As the nut is fastened to the bolt,
during the application of torque, the nut gets locked with the bolt resulting in
rotation of the bolt along with the nut thus rendering loose connection or assembly
20 of the HVAC unit to the vehicle dash panel. Attempts have been made in order to
restrict the rotation of the bolt during the fastening of the nut in the form of
stoppers provided in the form of teeth in the casing and around the bolt. However,
these stoppers are unable to arrest the motion of the bolt completely and since the
rotating force or torque with which the nut is fastened to the bolt is high (more
25 than 7Nm), these stoppers or teeth get worn out or breaks leading to free rotation
of the bolt.
3
[0004] In view of the above-mentioned issues, there is a need to provide a
solution for the proper assembly of the HVAC unit to the vehicle dash panel.
OBJECTS OF THE DISCLOSURE
[0005] Some of the objects of the present disclosure, which at least one
5 embodiment herein satisfy, are listed hereinbelow.
[0006] It is a general or primary object of the present disclosure to provide an
assembly of a heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) unit to a vehicle
dash panel that is tight and rigid.
[0007] It is another object of the present disclosure to provide a fastener for
10 assembling a heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) unit to a vehicle
dash panel that doesn’t rotate or whose motion is arrested when a nut is being
fastened to it.
[0008] These and other objects and advantages will become more apparent
when reference is made to the following description and accompanying drawings.
15 SUMMARY
[0009] This summary is provided to introduce concepts related to a fastener
for assembling a heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) unit to a
vehicle dash panel and to an assembly of an HVAC unit to a vehicle dash panel, in
general. The concepts are further described below in the detailed description. This
20 summary is not intended to identify key features or essential features of the
claimed subject matter, nor is it intended to be used to limit the scope of the
claimed subject matter.
[0010] The subject matter disclosed herein relates to an assembly of a heating,
ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) unit to a vehicle dash panel. The
25 assembly comprises a plurality of fastener receiver casings provided at predefined
positions of the HVAC unit. The assembly further comprises a plurality of
4
fasteners positioned in the plurality of fastener receiver casings for fastening the
HVAC unit to the vehicle dash panel. Each of the plurality of fasteners comprises
a polygonal head portion and a shaft portion connected perpendicular to a lower
end of the polygonal head portion, wherein at least two protrusions are formed at
5 the polygonal head portion. The two protrusions are formed in the same direction
and perpendicular to the shaft portion for locking the movement of the respective
fastener in a corresponding fastener receiver casing of the HVAC unit. This way a
tight and rigid assembly is achieved between the HVAC unit and the vehicle dash
panel.
10 [0011] In an aspect, each of the plurality of fastener receiver casings
comprises a pair of locating grooves formed parallel to each other. The two
protrusions formed at the polygonal head portion of each of the plurality of
fasteners are locked within the corresponding locating grooves formed in each of
the plurality of fastener receiver casings of the HVAC unit when the polygonal
15 head portion is slid within the corresponding fastener receiver casing provided at
the predefined positions of the HVAC unit.
[0012] In another aspect, the plurality of fastener receiver casings is plastic
casings.
[0013] In yet another aspect, the protrusions are formed with a height (h)
20 equivalent to the height (H) of the polygonal head portion of each of the plurality
of fasteners.
[0014] The subject matter disclosed herein also relates to one of the plurality
of the above-mentioned fastener for assembling a heating, ventilation and air
conditioning (HVAC) unit to a vehicle dash panel. The fastener comprises a
25 polygonal head portion and a shaft portion connected perpendicular to a lower end
of the polygonal head portion. At least two protrusions are formed at the
polygonal head portion wherein the two protrusions are formed in the same
direction and perpendicular to the shaft portion. The at least two protrusions are
being locked within corresponding grooves formed in a fastener receiver casing of
5
the HVAC unit when the polygonal head portion of the fastener is slid within the
fastener receiver casing of the HVAC unit. This way the fastener doesn’t rotate or
whose motion is arrested when a nut is being fastened to it.
[0015] In order to further understand the characteristics and technical contents
5 of the present subject matter, a description relating thereto will be made with
reference to the accompanying drawings. However, the drawings are illustrative
only but not used to limit the scope of the present subject matter.
[0016] Various objects, features, aspects, and advantages of the inventive
subject matter will become more apparent from the following detailed description
10 of preferred embodiments, along with the accompanying drawing figures in which
like numerals represent like components.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0017] It is to be noted, however, that the appended drawings illustrate only
typical embodiments of the present subject matter and are therefore not to be
15 considered for limiting of its scope, for the invention may admit to other equally
effective embodiments. The detailed description is described with reference to the
accompanying figures. The illustrated embodiments of the subject matter will be
best understood by reference to the drawings, wherein like parts are designated by
like numerals throughout. The following description is intended only by way of
20 example, and simply illustrates certain selected embodiments of devices, systems,
and methods that are consistent with the subject matter as claimed herein,
wherein:
[0018] FIG. 1A illustrates a perspective view of a heating, ventilation and air
conditioning (HVAC) unit along with fasteners as per state of the art;
25 [0019] FIG. 1B illustrates a magnified cross-section view of a conventional
fastener used for assembling the HVAC unit on a vehicle dash panel as per state
of the art;
6
[0020] FIG.1C illustrates a way in which a polygonal head portion of the
fastener is accommodated in a plastic casing as per state of the art;
[0021] FIG. 2 illustrates a fastener for assembling the HVAC unit on the
vehicle dash panel in accordance with the present disclosure;
5 [0022] FIG. 3 illustrates a top view of an assembled state of the fastener with
a fastener receiver casing of the HVAC unit in accordance with the present
disclosure; and
[0023] FIG. 4 illustrates a perspective view of the assembled state of the
fastener with the fastener receiver casing in accordance with the present
10 disclosure.
[0024] The figures depict embodiments of the present subject matter for the
purposes of illustration only. A person skilled in the art will easily recognize from
the following description that alternative embodiments of the structures and
methods illustrated herein may be employed without departing from the principles
15 of the disclosure described herein.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0025] The detailed description of various exemplary embodiments of the
disclosure is described herein with reference to the accompanying drawings. It
should be noted that the embodiments are described herein in such details as to
20 clearly communicate the disclosure. However, the amount of details provided
herein is not intended to limit the anticipated variations of embodiments; on the
contrary, the intention is to cover all modifications, equivalents, and alternatives
falling within the spirit and scope of the present disclosure as defined by the
appended claims.
25 [0026] It is also to be understood that various arrangements may be devised
that, although not explicitly described or shown herein, embody the principles of
the present disclosure. Moreover, all statements herein reciting principles, aspects,
7
and embodiments of the present disclosure, as well as specific examples, are
intended to encompass equivalents thereof.
[0027] The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular
embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of example embodiments. As
5 used herein, the singular forms “a”, “an” and “the” are intended to include the
plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will be
further understood that the terms “comprises”, “comprising”, “includes” and/or
“including,” when used herein, specify the presence of stated features, integers,
steps, operations, elements and/or components, but do not preclude the presence
10 or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements,
components and/or groups thereof.
[0028] It should also be noted that in some alternative implementations, the
functions/acts noted may occur out of the order noted in the figures. For example,
two figures shown in succession may, in fact, be executed concurrently or may
15 sometimes be executed in the reverse order, depending upon the functionality/acts
involved.
[0029] Unless otherwise defined, all terms (including technical and scientific
terms) used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of
ordinary skill in the art to which example embodiments belong. It will be further
20 understood that terms, e.g., those defined in commonly used dictionaries, should
be interpreted as having a meaning that is consistent with their meaning in the
context of the relevant art and will not be interpreted in an idealized or overly
formal sense unless expressly so defined herein.
[0030] As shown in FIG. 1A, in order to provide a tight and rigid assembly
25 between heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning (HVAC) unit 100 and a dash
panel (not shown in FIG. 1A) of a vehicle, multiple fasteners 102-1, 102-2, 102-3,
…, 102-N, which may be collectively referred to as fasteners 102 and individually
as fastener 102 in the description hereinafter.
8
[0031] FIG. 1B illustrates a magnified cross-sectional view of a fastener 102
provided in the form of a bolt. The bolt is inserted in one of the plurality of plastic
casings 104 of the HVAC unit 100 and a nut (not shown in FIG. 1B) is fastened
from the engine room. However, while fastening the nut, the bolt or fastener 102
5 gets locked with the nut and rotates inside its respective plastic casing 104.
[0032] FIG.1C shows a way in which a polygonal head portion 102a of the
fastener 102 or bolt is accommodated in the plastic casing 104. The polygonal
head portion 102a tends to rotate in the plastic casing 104. Attempts have been
made in order to restrict the rotation of the bolt or its polygonal head portion 102a,
10 in particular, during fastening of the nut by providing stoppers in the form of teeth
(not shown) in the plurality of plastic casings 104. But being formed of plastic,
these stoppers fail to arrest the motion of the polygonal head portion 102a
completely and since the rotating force or torque with which the nut is fastened to
the bolt is high (more than 7Nm), these stoppers or teeth get worn out or breaks
15 leading to free rotation of the polygonal head portion 102a of the fastener 102.
[0033] To resolve this issue, the present subject matter provides a fastener 200
in accordance with an embodiment shown in FIG. 2. The fastener 200 includes a
polygonal head portion 202 and a shaft portion 204 connected perpendicular to a
lower end 202a of the polygonal head portion 202. In an embodiment, the fastener
20 200 can be, but not limited to, lag bolt, square bolt, hex bolt, flange head bolt and
the like. In a preferred embodiment, the fastener 200 is a hex bolt as shown in the
FIG. 2.
[0034] Further, at the polygonal head portion 202, at least two protrusions
206a, 206b are formed. The protrusions 206a, 206b are formed in the same
25 direction and perpendicular to the shaft portion 204. As visible from the FIG. 2,
the at least two protrusions 206a, 206b are formed with a height ‘h’ equivalent to
the height ‘H’ of the polygonal head portion 202 of the fastener 200.
[0035] FIG. 3 shows a fastener receiver casing 300 of an HVAC unit with the
polygonal head portion 202 of the fastener 200. In an embodiment, the fastener
9
receiver casing 300 can be a metallic or a non-metallic casing. In a preferred
embodiment, the fastener receiver casing 300 is a plastic casing. The fastener
receiver casing 300 comprises at least two locating or guiding grooves 302a, 302b
unlike the conventional plastic casing 104 as shown in FIG. 1C. The two
5 protrusions 206a, 206b formed on the polygonal head portion 202 of the fastener
200 are to be received and locked in the corresponding grooves 302a, 302b when
the polygonal head portion 202 of the fastener 200 is slid within the fastener
receiver casing 300 of the HVAC unit. In an aspect, the protrusions 206a, 206b
forms an “M” shape along with the adjacent edges of the polygonal head portion
10 202. Although the invention is described with two protrusions provided on the
fastener and two grooves provided on a fastener receiver casing, it would be
obvious to a person skilled in the art to use any number of protrusions and the
corresponding number of grooves to realize the invention and its advantages.
[0036] FIG. 4 shows the engaged or assembled state of the fastener 200 with
15 the fastener receiver casing 300. The protrusions 206a, 206b received and locked
in the respective grooves 302a, 302b of the plastic casing 300 helps in locking or
arresting the movement of the fastener 200 in any direction within the fastener
receiver casing 300 when a nut is being fastened to it. Hence the nut is tightly
fastened to the fastener 200 with the help of a washer for providing a tight and
20 rigid assembly of the HVAC unit with the dash panel.
[0037] The above-described disclosure illustrates a single assembled state of
the fastener 200 with the fastener receiver casing 300. However, the assembly
between the HVAC unit and the vehicle dash panel is achieved by such plurality
of assembled state of the fastener 200 with the fastener receiver casing 300 i.e. the
25 assembly comprises a plurality of such fastener receiver casings 300 provided at
predefined positions of the HVAC unit and a plurality of such fasteners 200
positioned in the plurality of fastener receiver casings 300 for fastening the
HVAC unit to the vehicle dash panel, each of the plurality of fasteners 200
comprising a polygonal head portion 202 and a shaft portion 204 connected
30 perpendicular to a lower end 202a of the polygonal head portion 202 wherein at
10
least two protrusions 206a, 206b are formed at the polygonal head portion 202, the
two protrusions 206a, 206b being formed in the same direction and perpendicular
to the shaft portion 204 for locking the movement of the respective fastener 200 in
a corresponding fastener receiver casing 300 of the HVAC unit. Each of the
5 plurality of fastener receiver casings 300 comprises a pair of locating grooves
302a, 302b formed parallel to each other. Therefore, tight and rigid assembly is
provided between the HVAC unit and the vehicle dash panel.
TECHNICAL ADVANTAGES
[0038] The present disclosure provides a fastener for assembling the heating,
10 ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) unit to the vehicle dash panel that
doesn’t rotate or whose motion is arrested when a nut is being fastened to it.
[0039] The present disclosure provides a fastener that provides an assembly of
the heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) unit to the vehicle dash
panel that is tight and rigid.
15 [0040] While the foregoing describes various embodiments of the present
disclosure, other and further embodiments of the present disclosure may be
devised without departing from the basic scope thereof. The scope of the
invention is determined by the claims that follow. The present disclosure is not
limited to the described embodiments, versions or examples, which are included
20 to enable a person having ordinary skill in the art to make and use the present
disclosure when combined with information and knowledge available to the
person having ordinary skill in the art.

WE CLAIM:

1. An assembly of a heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) unit to
a vehicle dash panel, the assembly comprising:
a plurality of fastener receiver casings (300) provided at predefined positions
5 of the HVAC unit; and
a plurality of fasteners (200) positioned in the plurality of fastener receiver
casings (300) for fastening the HVAC unit to the vehicle dash panel, each of the
plurality of fasteners (200) comprising a polygonal head portion (202) and a shaft
portion (204) connected perpendicular to a lower end (202a) of the polygonal
10 head portion (202),
wherein at least two protrusions (206a, 206b) are formed at the polygonal
head portion (202), the two protrusions (206a, 206b) being formed in the same
direction and perpendicular to the shaft portion (204) for locking the movement of
the respective fastener (200) in a corresponding fastener receiver casing (300) of
15 the HVAC unit.
2. The assembly as claimed in claim 1, wherein each of the plurality of
fastener receiver casings (300) comprises a pair of locating grooves (302a, 302b)
formed parallel to each other.
20 3. The assembly as claimed in claim 2, wherein the at least two protrusions
(206a, 206b) formed at the polygonal head portion (202) of each of the plurality of
fasteners (200) are being locked within the corresponding locating grooves (302a,
302b) formed in each of the plurality of fastener receiver casings (300) of the
HVAC unit.
25 4. The assembly as claimed in claim 1, wherein the plurality of fastener
receiver casings (300) are plastic casings.
12
5. The assembly as claimed in claim 1, wherein the at least two protrusions
(206a, 206b) are being formed with a height (h) equivalent to the height (H) of the
polygonal head portion (202) of the fastener (200).
6. A fastener (200) for assembling a heating, ventilation, and air conditioning
5 (HVAC) unit to a vehicle dash panel, the fastener comprising:
a polygonal head portion (202); and
a shaft portion (204) connected perpendicular to a lower end (202a) of the
polygonal head portion (202),
characterized in that,
10 at least two protrusions (206a, 206b) formed at the polygonal head portion
(202), wherein the at least two protrusions (206a, 206b) being formed in the same
direction and perpendicular to the shaft portion (204).
7. The fastener (200) as claimed in claim 6, wherein the at least two
protrusions (206a, 206b) are being locked within corresponding grooves (302a,
15 302b) formed in a fastener receiver casing (300) of the HVAC unit.
8. The fastener (200) as claimed in claim 6, wherein the at least two
protrusions (206a, 206b) are being formed with a height (h) equivalent to the
height (H) of the polygonal head portion (202) of the fastener (200).