A continuous caulking method of blind rivets, characterized in that a specific blind rivet holder belt is loaded in a specific continuous riveter in riveting for caulking,
- the continuous riveter including:
- a chuck cylinder in which a jaw case piston is slidably inserted to separate an air chamber above the jaw case piston from an oil chamber below the jaw case piston, the chuck cylinder having a nose piston slidably inserted therein to separate the oil chamber above the nose piston from an air chamber below the nose piston, the nose piston being placed below the jaw case piston, the nose piston having a tubular body fixedly attached to the bottom of the nose piston, the tubular body extending to the outside of the chuck cylinder, the jaw case piston having a tubular jaw case fixedly attached thereto, and the jaw case moving up and down in the tubular body;
- an oil cylinder communicated with the oil chamber of the chuck cylinder through a vent, the oil cylinder being coupled to the chuck cylinder, the oil cylinder being coupled to an air cylinder for driving an oil piston of the oil cylinder, and the air cylinder having a piston that is integrally coupled to the oil piston of the oil cylinder;
- a pair of jaws slidably inserted in a hole which is drilled in a front end of the jaw case and which is reduced in diameter toward the front end forming a tapered face on an inner face of the front end, the pair of jaws being positioned in the tapered face of the jaw case and biased downward by a spring through a jaw pusher, the jaws gripping and releasing a shank of a blind rivet that is inserted in a hole formed in a lower end of the tubular body directly from the outside or through a nose piece;
- a shank recovery pipe connected to an upper end of the jaw case;
- a vacuum ejector communicated with a shank storing case or with the outside of the cylinder to exert a suction force on the shank recovery pipe, the vacuum ejector sucking in a shank of a blind rivet which is cut off upon caulking through the shank recovery pipe to eject the shank, the vacuum ejector running constantly while the riveter is in use to provide the suction force with which a blind rivet inserted in a jaw portion of the jaw case from the front end of the tubular body of the nose piston is held;
- an oil chamber side seal member and an air chamber side seal member which are provided in the oil cylinder where the oil piston separates the oil chamber of the oil cylinder from an air chamber of the air cylinder, a portion of the oil cylinder which is between the seal members having an air vent;
- and
- an oil chamber side seal member and an air chamber side seal member which are provided in the jaw case piston and in the nose piston, the seal members sealing an area between an oil chamber and an air chamber, the pistons between the seal members each having an air vent, the continuous riveter further including:
- a rivet supplying section that has a storage case and a tape air cylinder, the storage case storing the blind rivet holder belt wound into a loop, the blind rivet holder being loaded with blind rivets, the tape air cylinder guiding the blind rivet holder belt along a guide plate to supply the blind rivets of the blind rivet holder belt one by one, the guide plate being extended from the storage case of the rivet supplying section, the guide plate having a linear feed portion of a predetermined length and a bent portion which is continuous from the linear feed portion and where a direction of a vertical portion of the rivet holder belt is bent at a predetermined angle;
- a pressing plate which extends over a guide surface from the linear feed portion to the bent portion of the guide plate to guide the blind rivet holder belt by pressing down on the vertical portion of the blind rivet holder belt;
- and
- a feed claw that is put into a linear reciprocating motion due to the tape air cylinder to linearly feed the blind rivet holder belt, which is then guided by the pressing plate from the linear feed portion to the bent portion to be bent, the continuous riveter positioning the tubular body of the nose piston on the axial center of a shank of a blind rivet held by an upper tab and a lower tab which are situated immediately past the bent portion where the blind rivet holder belt is bent after passing the linear feed portion of the guide plate, the axial center of the shank and the axial center of the tubular body coinciding with each other, the blind rivet holder belt including:
- an elongated body shaped like a mirror image of a letter C, a vertical portion of the elongated body having upper tabs and lower tabs along its upper and lower edges at minute regular intervals, one tab and its adjacent tab being separated from each other by a narrow cut;
- feed holes formed in the vertical portion to send the elongated body in a fixed direction;
- a first through hole formed in each of the upper tabs to hold a shank of a blind rivet that is inserted through the first through hole;
- and
- a second through hole formed in each of the lower tabs to hold a rivet main body of a blind rivet that is inserted through the second through hole with a head portion of the rivet main body resting against an inner face of the lower tab, the upper tabs and the lower tabs being horizontally staggered in a longitudinal direction of the vertical portion, the first and second through holes being slanted at an angle that is adjusted to an outer circumference of the shank and the rivet main body of the blind rivet inserted obliquely, cuts between the upper tabs and cuts between the lower tabs are being connected by oblique fold lines formed on an inner face of the vertical portion.