Apparatus for joining sheet material
AssigneeBTM Corporation
InventorEdwin G. Sawdon
Life of this patent
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Abstract
There is disclosed an improved apparatus for joining a plurality of pieces of sheet metal or other sheet material items by first drawing and then laterally extruding portions of the material to be joined into an enlarged shape which will permanently mechanically interlock the sheet material pieces. The apparatus utilizes a novel die construction in which portions thereof are resiliently biased toward one another and pivot or slide laterally in response to lateral extrusion of the joining material to form a visually attractive joint having a rivet-like appearance.
Claims19
An apparatus for joining two or more sheet material items, the apparatus including punch means and further comprising:
- first and second die members having operative portions configured to cooperate with the punch means to forcibly deform portions of the sheet material items when the punch means and said die members are moved relatively toward one another in a generally longitudinal direction, said die members defining an opening for receiving the sheet material portions during such deformation;
- means for mounting the operative portions of said die members for lateral movement with respect to one another;
- and
- an anvil disposed in said opening and having an end surface against which the sheet material portions can be pressed by said punch means, said end surface being concave in configuration.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.