Methods for Joining More Than Two Panels Together and Assemblies Formed by the Methods
AssigneeFord Global Technologies, LLC
InventorsJason Douglas Scott, Aindrea McKelvey Campbell, Amanda Kay Freis
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An assembly for a vehicle and a method of making an assembly including more than three panels stacked together and joined by self-piercing rivets or by clinch joints. A first panel and a second panel are joined together at a first attachment point. A third panel and the first panel are joined together at a second attachment point. A fourth panel and the third panel are joined together at a third attachment point. The first, second and third attachment points are spaced apart to avoid interference between the self-piercing rivets or the clinch joints.
Claims16
A method of attaching a plurality of panels together comprising:
- assembling a first panel and a second panel together in a face-to-face relationship;
- clinching the first panel and the second panel at a first attachment point to form a sub-assembly;
- assembling a third panel over the first panel covering the first attachment point;
- clinching the third panel and the sub-assembly at a second attachment point that is spaced from the first attachment point.
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A method of assembling multiple parts comprising:
- clinching a first flange and a second flange in a first set of locations;
- assembling a third flange over the first flange;
- and
- clinching the third flange and the first flange in a second plurality of locations that are spaced from the first set of locations.
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An assembly comprising:
- a first part;
- a second part overlapping the first part in a first overlap area;
- a third part overlapping the first part in a second overlap area;
- a first clinch joint formed in the first overlap area to join the first and second parts;
- and
- a second clinch joint formed in the second overlap area to join the first and third parts with the third part covering the first clinch joint.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.