Appeal No. 1999-2765 Page 8
Application No. 08/752,396
Elongated panel connector members, indicated generally at 30,
provide the second, corresponding component of a friction
lock, snap fit connector of Hunts' system. As seen in Figures
4-6, the panel connector members 30 comprise a longitudinally
elongated base member 32 which includes a hollow center
portion 34 and outwardly projecting, coextensive, snap fit
lock members 36 configured to receive and frictionally engage
the grooves 24 of the connector tongue portion of a panel to
secure the panel thereto in a positive snap fit attachment.
The snap fit lock members 36 each comprise a pair of stiffly
resilient, spaced apart, opposite arm members 38, 38'
projecting outwardly from the base member, the arms configured
at their outer terminal ends with at least one inwardly facing
locking detent 40 configured to frictionally engage the
locking groove 24 provided on one or both faces of a panel 10.
Additionally, and as seen best in Figures 7a-7c, it is
important that the space 42 defined between the opposite arm
members 38, 38' inwardly of
the detents 40 is configured to matingly correspond to the
particular surface configuration of the connector tongue 28 of
the panel. In this manner there is achieved a fully mating,
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