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US 4,726,504 AGranted
Portable self-piercing riveting apparatus
AssigneeSenco Products, Inc.
InventorEric H. Halbert
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A portable self-piercing riveting system includes a pneumatically driven driver which forces a self-piercing rivet through a workpiece. An anvil carried on a pivotal clamp is moved into operative alignment with the driver on the blind side of the workpiece to receive and set a rivet. The clamp is part of a linkage mechanism which moves the anvil into and out of operative position. When the anvil is in an operative position to receive and set a rivet, the linkage mechanism is in a locked position whereby the impactive force received by the anvil is not transmitted to an actuator for the linkage mechanism.
Claims22
A portable self-piercing riveting apparatus, comprising:
- (a) a body;
- (b) a reciprocally movable driver adapted to drive a self-piercing rivet;
- (c) driving means disposed within said body for selectively applying an impactive force to said driver for driving a self-piercing rivet through a workpiece;
- (d) a clamp pivotally secured relative to said body;
- (e) an anvil and die assembly securely mounted on said clamp for receiving a rivet driven by said driver;
- (f) an actuator for selectively pivoting said clamp, said anvil and die assembly being moved into and out of alignment with said driver by the pivotal movement of the clamp;
- (g) means for selectively interposing a self-piercing rivet between said driver and a workpiece positioned between said driver and said anvil;
- (h) trigger means for actuating said driving means to initiate the application of an impactive force to said driver;
- and
- (i) locking means for selectively opposing the pivotal movement of said clamp against the impactive force applied by the driver.
7 more elements
A portable self-piercing rivet system, comprising:
- (a) enclosure means for storing a pressurized fluid;
- (b) a cylinder disposed within said enclosure means, said cylinder and said enclosure means cooperating to define a fluid storage chamber about said cylinder;
- (c) a piston reciprocally movable within said cylinder;
- (d) a driver secured to said piston and reciprocally movable therewith;
- (e) valve means for selectively establishing fluid communication between said fluid storage chamber and said cylinder to create a pressure differential across said piston to cause said piston to move within said cylinder;
- (f) a driver guide externally disposed with respect to said enclosure means for defining a movement path for said driver, said driver guide having an inboard end secured relative to said cylinder and an outboard end distal to said cylinder;
- (g) a clamp pivotally secured about a pivotal axis fixed relative to said driver guide, said clamp carrying an anvil and die assembly which is brought into and out of operative spaced alignment with the outboard end of said driver guide by the pivotal movement of said clamp, said anvil and die assembly and said driver guide being spaced in operative alignment to accommodate an interposed workpiece;
- (h) a first link, one end of said first link being pivotally secured about an axis fixed relative to said driver guide;
- (i) a second link, one end of said second link being pivotally secured to said clamp about an axis noncoincident with the pivotal interconnection of said clamp relative to said driver guide, the opposite end of said second link being pivotally interconnected to the end of said first clamp opposite to fixed interconnection of the first clamp relative to said driver guide;
- (j) an actuator pivotally interconnected to the pivotal interconnection between the first and second links, said actuator being operative to pivotally move said clamp by moving the pivotal interconnection between the first and second links, said first and second links being arranged to bring each of the ends of the first and second links into co-linear alignment whenever the anvil is brought into operative alignment with the outboard end of said driver guide;
- and
- (k) control means for sequentially bringing said anvil and die assembly into operative alignment with the outboard end of said driver guide and creating a pressure differential across said piston to move said driver.
9 more elements
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.