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US 2022/0090619 A1Published application
Grooved self piercing rivet
AssigneeFord Global Technologies, LLC
InventorsAndrey M. Ilinich, S. George Luckey, JR., Amanda Kay Freis, Garret Sankey Huff
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A self-piercing rivet (SPR) includes a head portion and a shaft extending from the head portion. The shaft defines a hollow bore and a sidewall surrounding the hollow bore. The sidewall has a reduced thickness towards a distal end portion of the shaft to define a cutting edge on a distal end tip of the shaft, and the SPR defines a circumferential groove disposed at least partially around the shaft and extending into the sidewall.
Claims20
A self-piercing rivet comprising:
- a head portion;
- a shaft extending from the head portion and comprising a hollow bore and a sidewall surrounding the hollow bore, the sidewall having a reduced thickness towards a distal end portion of the shaft to define a cutting edge on a distal end tip of the shaft;
- and
- a circumferential groove disposed at least partially around the shaft and extending into the sidewall.
1 more element
A structural assembly comprising:
- an upper substrate;
- a lower substrate disposed proximate the upper substrate;
- and
- a self-piercing rivet extending through the upper substrate and into a portion of the lower substrate, the self-piercing rivet comprising:
- a head portion;
- a shaft extending from the head portion and comprising a hollow bore and a sidewall surrounding the hollow bore, the sidewall having a reduced thickness towards a distal end portion of the shaft to define a cutting edge on a distal end tip of the shaft;
- and
- a circumferential groove disposed at least partially around the shaft and extending into the sidewall,
- wherein during installation of the self-piercing rivet, the circumferential groove collapses on itself and directs flaring of the self-piercing rivet into the lower substrate.
6 more elements
A structural assembly comprising:
- an upper substrate;
- a lower substrate disposed proximate the upper substrate;
- and
- a self-piercing rivet extending through the upper substrate and into a portion of the lower substrate, the self-piercing rivet comprising:
- a head portion;
- a shaft extending from the head portion and comprising a hollow bore and a sidewall surrounding the hollow bore, the sidewall having a reduced thickness towards a distal end portion of the shaft to define a cutting edge on a distal end tip of the shaft;
- and
- a circumferential groove disposed at least partially around the shaft and extending into the sidewall,
- wherein during installation of the self-piercing rivet, the circumferential groove collapses on itself and directs flaring of the self-piercing rivet into the lower substrate, and wherein the self-piercing rivet does not extend through a bottom surface of the lower substrate, and a material of the lower substrate does not flow into the circumferential groove.
6 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.