Section for the manufacture of hollow body elements, hollow body element and component assembly

#The present invention relates to a section for the manufacture of hollow body elements, in particular for the manufacture of pierce and rivet nuts having a square or rectangular outline in plan view which are to be provided in a later process with a ring-like piercing section at a side confronting a component consisting of a sheet metal material or the like. Furthermore, the invention relates to hollow body elements which are manufactured from portions of the section and also to component assemblies which result from attachment of the hollow body elements to components.

#Methods for the manufacture of hollow body elements, such as nut elements, for the attachment to components normally consisting of sheet metal are known. In such known methods the hollow body elements are provided with an at least substantially square or rectangular outline by cutting off individual lengths of the section, which is present in the form of a bar section or of a coil after the previous punching of respective apertures in the section, optionally with the subsequent formation of a thread cylinder.

#A method of the initially named kind and also the corresponding hollow body elements are for example known from U.S. Pat. No. 4,971,499. Hollow body elements are also sold by the Company Profil Verbindungstechnik GmbH & Co. KG in Germany under the designation HI rectangular nuts.

#Further advantages of the section of the invention, of the hollow body element of the invention and of the component assemblies in accordance with the invention are to be found in the following description of preferred examples which are explained further with reference to the drawings. In the drawings are shown:

#FIG. 1 a perspective representation of a section of a first section in accordance with the invention for the manufacture of hollow body elements,

#FIGS. 2A-F a series of drawings which show the individual method steps which are required in order to manufacture a hollow body element in accordance with the invention from the section of FIG. 1,

#FIG. 1 shows a perspective representation of a first section 10 in accordance with the invention which can be used for the manufacture of hollow body elements 11 (FIG. 4) in accordance with the invention. The section 10 is present either in the form of a bar of for example 6 meters length or is delivered by the material manufacturer in the form of a coil. It is a cold rolled section. Preferred materials are all steel types in accordance with DIN 1654, but also NE-metals such as aluminium or the like.

#The section is at least substantially rectangular in cross-section and has additionally two bars 14, 16 having a spacing A from one another at the side 12 which later faces the component. The bars extend parallel to the longitudinal sides 18 and 20 of the section 10 and are approximately trapezoidal in cross-section. However, they only have one inclined inner side or flank 68, 70. One can also consider the shape of the section in such a way that it is at least substantially rectangular with a broad, but not very deep groove 22 of trapezoidal cross-section at the side 12 facing the component, with the groove 22 likewise extending parallel to the longitudinal sides 18, 20 of the section.

#The reference numeral 21 points to the central longitudinal axis of the section the “end face” 23 of which represents any desired plane of the section standing perpendicular to the central longitudinal axis 21 (since the section continues on the left-hand side of the plane 23). The axis 24 likewise stands perpendicular to the central longitudinal axis 21 of the section and forms, as will be explained later, the central axis of the ring-like piercing section which has yet to be formed for a hollow body element later manufactured from the section.