Sealing cover for a processing hole in aluminum sheet metal

A sealing cover for permanently sealing a processing hole having a predetermined shape in a metal sheet having a predetermined thickness comprising:

• a cover plate having a cover edge with an integrally formed concentric bead;
• a strip of adhesive disposed on said cover plate adjacent said cover edge, wherein said strip of adhesive extends a predetermined height above said cover edge;
• a support surface protruding from a center portion of said cover plate, wherein said support surface is disposed in a plane parallel to said cover plate, and is spaced from said cover plate by an inner wall, and a height of said inner wall corresponds to the thickness of the metal sheet;
• and
• a spring plate fixedly connected to said support surface, wherein an outer edge of said spring plate has a shape corresponding to the shape of the processing hole in the metal sheet, and said spring plate includes at least two integrally formed spring tongues and a free end of each spring tongue includes an integrally formed protrusion extending towards said cover plate, for exerting a spring force on a back side of the metal sheet after rotating said sealing cover, to seal the processing hole in the metal sheet.

A method of permanently joining a sealing cover to a metal sheet, said method comprising the steps of:

• providing a metal sheet having a processing hole with a predetermined shape and the metal sheet has a predetermined thickness;
• assembling a spring plate to a cover plate, wherein the cover plate has a cover edge with an integrally formed concentric bead, and a strip of adhesive is disposed on the cover plate adjacent the cover edge, such that the spring plate is fixedly connected to the cover plate in a plane parallel to the cover plate and is spaced from the cover edge of said cover plate a distance corresponding to the thickness of the metal sheet, wherein an outer edge of the spring plate has a shape corresponding to the shape of the processing hole in the metal sheet, and the spring plate includes at least two integrally formed spring tongues, and a free end of each tongue including an integrally formed protrusion extending towards the cover plate;
• placing the spring plate through the processing hole in the metal sheet so that the adhesive strip is adjacent a front side of the metal sheet;
• seating the sealing cover in the processing hole in the metal sheet by rotating the sealing cover, wherein the spring tongue exerts a force on a back side of the metal sheet to fixedly hold the sealing cover to the metal sheet;
• and
• finishing the joined metal sheet and sealing cover to form a permanent joint between the sealing cover and the metal sheet by melting the adhesive strip, so that the cover edge is adjacent the front side of the metal sheet.