Radio Systems Corporation

David L Druif

Christopher E Mainini

William S Groh

Lawrence E Towle

Kurt J Steinbacher

Phillip R Greene

Animal feeder

A fastener which allows for the attachment of two articles without the need for hardware such as a screw, or such as nuts, bolts and washers. The fastener comprises two members&mdash;a fastener post which serves as a male member, and a fastener post receiver which serves as a female member. The male post defines two elongated prongs, with each prong having a flange near its end. The female receiver is configured to mate with the prongs of the post. To this end, the receiver has walls which extend from a base, with the walls having a series of teeth for receiving the flanges of the post as the post is advanced into the female receiver. In addition, the walls of the female receiver are separated by channels. The channels allow the walls of the receiver to pivot about the base. This feature, in turn, allows the walls to contract and engage the male post when one attempts to separate the male post from the female receiver. In this way, the fastener post is held within the receiver in essentially secure fashion without hardware. An additional feature of the fastener is that the male and female members can be quickly and easily disconnected. This is accomplished by rotating the male post so as to disengage the teeth from the wall portions of the receiver. The post can then be slidably removed from the receiver.

Growing community of inventors

Loudon, TN, United States of America

David L Druif