Metal working – Method of mechanical manufacture – Assembling or joining
Patent
1996-12-30
2000-10-03
Echols, P. W.
Metal working
Method of mechanical manufacture
Assembling or joining
29515, 403242, 403282, 411180, 411188, B23P 1100
Patent
active
061255246
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to self-riveting elements or fasteners, such as screws, bolts, nuts and the like, wherein the rivetable element includes a shaft or barrel portion and an integral head portion having a riveting portion on the underside of the head portion, adjacent the shaft or barrel portion. The field of this invention also relates to riveting dies having a central opening which receives the shaft or barrel portion of the riveting element and a riveting portion adjacent the opening which deforms the sheet metal part or panel to which the riveting element is attached into the riveting portion of the fastener head. Finally, the field of this invention relates to methods of attaching riveting elements of the type described to a sheet metal part or plastically deformable panel.
RELATED APPLICATIONS
This application claims priority to German patent application P 44 10 475.8 filed Mar. 25, 1994.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
As described, the present invention relates to improved self-riveting elements or fasteners having a shaft or barrel portion and an integral head portion which may be permanently affixed to a sheet metal part or panel by riveting. Elements of this type are previously known, wherein the shaft is generally threaded and introduced in a pre-formed hole in the sheet metal part. The head portion then bears on one side of the metal part. The sheet metal part or panel is then shaped in a setting operation, such that the panel molds physically into a small groove in the shaft of the element, directly adjacent to the bearing surface on the underside of the head portion, thereby securing the element in a sheet metal part or panel. The underside of the head, adjacent the shaft, may include radial ribs and the panel is deformed over the ribs during installation, preventing relative rotation of the elements on the sheet metal panel. Such assemblies are frequently used in industrial production by the automotive and appliance industries to fasten another component to the assembly, which may consist of a second sheet metal part and fastener, such as a nut. The contact surface of the head portion is thus located on one side of the first panel, opposite the second fastening element, such that the sheet metal part is stressed by compression between the fasteners.
In practice, however, the previously known self-riveting elements of this type were not securely attached to the metal part, such that the element commonly loosened in shipping or storage before assembly, particularly where the sheet metal part is relatively thin as now used by the automotive and appliance industries. It is not uncommon for the riveting element to become lost or assume an orientation in the panel which is unacceptable for further processing of the sheet metal part, as described above. The loosening of the prior self-riveting elements of this type also sometimes resulted in inefficiency of the intended anti-rotation means, such that the element will rotate as the nut is assembled on the shaft portion, before the nut is tightened on the bolt. These difficulties are a particular problem in automotive body construction and other applications where the head portion of the riveting elements are located in an enclosed cavity following installation, which is no longer accessible for repair. If the fastening element freely rotates in the panel or is lost under these conditions, the object being manufactured, such as an automobile, can no longer be finished in regular production, but must be repaired at substantial expense. Obviously, these problems should be avoided, if possible.
Another problem, particularly with attaching a riveting fastener to thin sheet metal panels results from the fact that the anti-rotation ribs must have a certain height; that is, the height of the ribs from the contact surface on the underside of the head portion must be sufficient to prevent rotation. Where the sheet metal part is relatively thin, the ribs dent the panel to a degree such that the full strength of the sheet metal par
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Echols P. W.
Multifastener Corporation
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