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US 6,220,804 B1Granted
Self-piercing clinch nut
AssigneeR B & W Corporation
InventorsW. Richard Pamer, Stanley H. Umbel
Life of this patent
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AssigneeR B & W Corporation
InventorsW. Richard Pamer, Stanley H. Umbel
Estimating the term…
A self-clinching fastener for attachment to a plastically deformable metal panel includes a body portion with a central axis and a central pilot portion extending from the body portion and coaxial with the central axis. The body portion forms a generally annular-shaped end face adjacent the central pilot portion and a groove defined in the end face encircling the central pilot portion. The groove has an inclined inner wall forming an undercut and an inwardly inclined bottom wall such that the groove has an increasing depth in a direction toward the undercut. The inclined bottom wall is formed by a plurality of generally flat faces and the inclined inner wall is formed by a plurality of generally flat faces which are aligned with the faces of the bottom wall. The fastener further includes a plurality of spaced apart lugs encircling the central pilot portion and axially extending from at least one of the end face and the groove. The lugs form abutments to improve torsional resistance of the fastener.
A self-clinching fastener for attachment to a plastically deformable metal panel, said self-clinching fastener comprising a body portion with a central axis and a central punch portion extending from said body portion and coaxial with said central axis, said body portion forming a generally annular-shaped end face adjacent said central punch portion and a groove defined in said end face encircling said central punch portion, said groove having an inclined inner wall forming an undercut and an inwardly inclined bottom wall such that said groove has an increasing depth in a direction toward said undercut, said inclined bottom wall being formed by a plurality of generally flat faces, and a plurality of spaced apart lugs encircling said central punch portion and axially extending from said end face, said lugs forming abutments to improve torsional resistance of said fastener, said lugs having a generally rectangular cross-section formed by generally flat upper sides axially spaced from said bottom wall and having a width dimension extending in the direction of fastener rotation, said abutments having an axial dimension extending from said bottom wall to said upper side, said width dimension of said upper side being greater dimension than said axial dimension of said abutment.
A self-clinching fastener for attachment to a plastically deformable metal panel, said self-clinching fastener comprising a body portion with a central axis and a central punch portion extending from said body portion and coaxial with said central axis, said body portion forming a generally annular-shaped end face adjacent said central punch portion and a groove defined in said end face encircling said central punch portion, said groove having an inner wall formed by a plurality of generally flat faces and a bottom wall formed by a plurality of generally flat faces that are each substantially polygonally-shaped, said faces of said bottom wall being aligned with said faces of said inner wall, and a plurality of spaced apart lugs encircling said central punch portion and axially extending from said bottom wall of said groove along substantially the full radial extent thereof, said lugs forming abutments to improve torsional resistance of said fastener.
A self-clinching fastener for attachment to a plastically deformable metal panel, said self-clinching fastener comprising a body portion with a central axis and a central punch portion extending from said body portion and coaxial with said central axis, said body portion forming a generally annular-shaped end face adjacent said central punch portion and a groove defined in said end face encircling said central punch portion, said groove having an inclined inner wall forming an undercut and an inwardly inclined bottom wall such that said groove has an increasing depth in a direction toward said undercut, said inclined bottom wall being inclined at an angle greater than 2 degrees and less than about 50 degrees relative to a plane perpendicular to the central axis, and a plurality of spaced apart lugs encircling said central punch portion and axially extending from said bottom wall of said groove along substantially the full radial extent thereof, said lugs forming abutments to improve torsional resistance of said fastener.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.