Vehicle license plate frame

1. Apparatus for mounting a vehicle license plate, comprising:

a frame having a periphery, an outer side, an inner side for disposal adjacent a license plate and an elongated channel disposed near the periphery of the frame, the channel having a bottom and sides extending inwardly from the bottom of the channel toward the license plate, the frame including a transparent central area disposed laterally inwardly of the channel for viewing the license plate from the outer side of the frame; and

an elongated annular thermoplastic elastomeric gasket injection molded onto the inner side of the frame near the periphery of the frame, to fill the channel and to adhere to the bottom and sides of the channel, the gasket forming a flat receiving surface facing the license plate, at least one elongate compression rib formed on the gasket adjacent the flat receiving surface to extend inwardly from the flat receiving surface toward the license plate, the rib laterally surrounding a majority of the central area of the frame, leaving a bottom portion open.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the frame further comprises a plurality of holes for receiving respective fasteners to a vehicle license plate mounting bracket, the gasket closely laterally surrounding the holes.

3. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the inner side of the frame includes two elongate channels, the elastomeric gasket being molded into both said channels.

4. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the gasket is colored, the gasket molecularly adhered or wetted to the inner side of the frame such that a band of color appears to a viewer from the outside of the frame, undiminished by any optical refraction or scattering which would have been caused by air gaps between the gasket and the inner side of the frame.

5. The apparatus of claim 1 , wherein the gasket is formed of TEA.

6. Apparatus for mounting a license plate to a vehicle, comprising:

a frame having a periphery, an outer side, and an inner side for disposal adjacent a license plate;

an elongated elastomeric gasket disposed on the inner side near the frame periphery and having a generally planar receiving surface inwardly facing toward the license plate, the gasket further including at least one elongate compression rib which extends inwardly from said generally planar receiving surface to contact the license plate;

a plurality of mounting fastener holes formed in the frame, each mounting fastener hole having a continuous sidewall, formed integrally with the frame, which extends from the outer side of the frame to the inner side of the frame, the gasket closely laterally surrounding the mounting fastener holes, the sidewall extending inwardly to be substantially coplanar with the generally planar receiving surface of the gasket, wherein the sidewalls of the mounting fastener holes prevent the fasteners from overcompressing the gasket and fracturing the frame.

7. The apparatus of claim 6 , wherein the frame further includes a transparent central area disposed laterally inwardly of the fastener holes and gasket for viewing the license plate from the outer side of the frame.

8. The apparatus of claim 6 , wherein each mounting fastener hole sidewall forms a step, a first length of the hole extending from the outer side of the frame to the step and sized to receive a head of a fastener, a second length of the hole extending from the step to the inner side of the frame and sized to receive a shank of the fastener but not the head thereof.