Installation method for fixing an apparatus

Abstract

An apparatus fixture device for fixing an apparatus to a ceiling portion of a vehicle includes at least one pair of rails for carrying a load when the apparatus is installed. Each rail has a narrow opening groove and a pair of rack-shaped portions on both sides thereof. A block has loose-fitting holes and an upper width insertable into the opening groove. Bolts are loosely fitted into the holes of the block. A cylinder is loosely fitted between the bolt and the hole. Nut plates have a nut hole to be screwed with the bolt. When the bolt is turned and pushed upwardly, end portions of the nut plates extend across the opening groove and are placed on the pair of rack-shaped portions and pulled downward by a tightening force of the bolt screwed into the nut hole. A fixing member engages the apparatus to the block.

1 . An apparatus installation method for fixing an apparatus, such as a display apparatus, to the ceiling portion or the like of a vehicle, comprising: 
 a step of loosely fitting a bolt, over which a cylinder having a predetermined length is loosely fitted, into a hole in a block of a fixture device,    a step of inserting a narrow nut plate having a nut hole screwed to the upper portion of the bolt, having a width smaller than the width of an opening groove on the lower face of a rail disposed in the space of the ceiling and having a length larger than that into a space in the rail from the opening groove on the lower face of the rail so that the narrow direction thereof is aligned with the narrow direction of the opening groove,    a step of connecting both end portions of the nut plate inserted into the space in the rail to the rail by pushing and turning the bolt so that the nut plate is turned substantially 90° around the axis of the nut hole and the end portions are placed on the rack-shaped portions on both sides of the opening groove in the rail,    a step of pressing and fixing the nut plate to the rack-shaped portions of the rail by tightening the bolt while maintaining said connection so that the nut plate is pulled by the bolt in a state wherein a clearance as large as the thickness of said rack-shaped portions is maintained between the nut plate and the upper face of said block, and    a step of fixing the apparatus to said fixture device.    
   
   
       2 . An apparatus installation method in accordance with  claim 1 , characterized in that 
 in the case that the bolt is tightened at an improper position at which the nut plate of said fixture device is not properly placed on the rack-shaped portions of said rail, the nut plate is pulled to the upper face of the block without having a clearance as large as the thickness of the rack-shaped portions between the nut plate and the upper face of said block, and a rattle (play) occurs in the axial direction at the lower portion of the bolt, and when means for indicating an improper fixing indicates an improper fixing, a step of aligning the narrow direction of the nut plate once again with the narrow direction of the opening groove and inserting it into the space in the rail and subsequent steps are repeated.    
   
   
       3 . A method of installing an apparatus in accordance with  claim 2 , characteraized in that the thickness D of the rack-shaped portions of said rail and the dimension Z of the rattle of said indication means are selected to have a relationship of D>Z.  
   
   
       4 . A method of installing an apparatus in accordance with  claim 2 , wherein the block of said fixture device is provided with a rib of a first type having a first height X to restrict the rotation of said nut plate and a rib of a second type having a second height Y larger than said first height X which are disposed at predetermined positions around a hole in the upper face, and 
 said first height X, second height Y and the thickness D of said rack-shaped portions are selected to have relationships of X≦D and X<Y.    
   
   
       5 . A method of installing an apparatus in accordance with  claim 2 , characterized in that the length of the bolt and the dimension of the block are selected so that the clearance Z for providing a predetermined rattle occurs between the integration of said bolt passing through a predetermined washer, a predetermined spring washer and a sleeve having a predetermined length, said nut plate and a nut fastened to said bolt in advance and the lower predetermined portion of the block of the fixture device.  
   
   
       6 . A method of installing an apparatus in accordance with  claim 2 , characterized in that said indication means comprises a cylinder having a predetermined length and loosely fitted over said bolt and a coil spring having a predetermined compression deformation amount, and the indication of the indication means is the existence of a rattle (play) of a predetermined amount that is present when said bolt is pushed in its axial direction by a force larger than a predetermined magnitude.