GB2459557A

GB2459557A - Punch-Riveting Tool

Info

Publication number: GB2459557A
Application number: GB0906695A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Volker Peitz
Original assignee: Dr Ing HCF Porsche AG
Current assignee: Dr Ing HCF Porsche AG
Priority date: 2008-05-23
Filing date: 2009-04-17
Publication date: 2009-11-04
Also published as: DE102008024938A1; GB0906695D0; KR20090012097U

Abstract

The invention relates to a punch-riveting tool for producing a punch-rivet connection (2) between two joining parts (3, 4), with a male die (5) for pressing a rivet (7) into the joining part (3) facing the male die (5) and a female die (6) for supporting the joining part (4) facing the female die (6) in a region located opposite the male die (5). Simplified quality assurance is yielded if the female die (6) has a negative form (8) of marking which, when the rivet (7) is pressed in on the joining part (4) on the female-die side, produces a positive form (9) of the marking.

Description

Punch-riveting tool The present invention relates to a punch-riveting tool for producing a punch-rivet connection between two or more joining parts. The invention furthermore relates to a punch-rivet connection between two or more joining parts which is produced with the aid of such a punch-riveting tool.

In punch-riveting, two joining parts can be joined securely together without an opening having to be made in one of the joining parts beforehand. In punch-riveting, a rivet is pressed or punched with the aid of a male die into the joining part facing the male die. In a region in which the male die presses the rivet in into the joining part on the male-die side, a female die supports the joining part facing the female die. The male die thus presses the rivet against the female die. In so doing, the rivet cuts through the joining part on the male-die side and penetrates into the joining part on the female-die side, with what is called the closing head being formed by upsetting the rivet. In this case, plastic deformation of the joining parts in the region of the rivet connection, which within this punch-rivet connection results in an intensive positive locking of the two joining parts.

In the context of quality assurance, it is of increasing interest to know as much data as possible about manufactured products, in particular also about connections within the product. There is therefore a need even with punch-rivet connections to be able to check connection data as simply as possible.

It is known from DE 201 02 539 Ui, for manufacturing blind-rivet connections, to produce a marking during the joining operation with the joining tool on the head of the blind rivet. Likewise, such a marking can be applied with the head of the riveting tool on the joining part on the tool side.

The present invention is concerned with the problem of devising an improved embodiment for a punch-riveting tool and also for a punch-rivet connection which is characterised in particular in that it permits simplified quality assurance.

The invention seeks to overcome or ameliorate at least one of the problems of the prior art by the subjects of the independent claims. Advantageous embodiments are the subject of the dependent claims.

The invention is based on the general concept of producing a marking by embossing with the aid of the female die of the punch-riveting tool on the joining part facing the female die. This makes it possible, particularly simply, to identify the punch-riveting tool, in particular the female die and possibly any additional join-related information, with which the respective punch-rivet connection was produced. In particular, thus connection data, such as for example rivet type and punch-riveting tool, can be checked without destroying the punch-rivet connection and hence without damaging the product.

This is achieved with the invention in that the female die is equipped with a negative form of a marking which, when the rivet is pressed in on the joining part on the female-die side, produces a positive form of this marking by embossing.

Corresponding to an advantageous embodiment, the female die may have a cavity into which material of the joining part on the female-die side flows when the rivet is pressed in. The negative form of the marking can then be arranged in this cavity. Additionally or aiternatively, the marking negative form can be arranged on an edge of the female die which encloses the cavity and which is supported on the joining part on the female-die side during the punch-riveting operation. Preferred here is an embodiment in which the negative marking is applied exclusively to the edge of the female die enclosing the cavity, on an end face facing the joining part on the female-die side. This edge comes to bear on the female-die side joining part with the entire reaction force, which counteracts the force applied by the male die when pressing the rivet in. The marking is thereby located directly on the punch-rivet connection and thereby permits clear relating. The negative marking applied to the edge avoids any adverse influence on the flow behaviour of the joining part on the female-die side during the punch-riveting operation.

Further important features and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the dependent claims, the drawing and the associated description of the figures with reference to the drawing.

It goes without saying that the above-mentioned features and those still to be explained below can be used not only in the combination specified in each case, but also in other combinations or on their own, without departing from the scope of the present invention.

Preferred examples of embodiment of the invention are illustrated in the drawing and will be explained in greater detail in the following description.

The single Fig. 1 depicts a highly simplified basic longitudinal section through a punch-riveting tool in the region of a punch-rivet connection.

Corresponding to Fig. 1, a punch-riveting tool 1, with the aid of which a punch-rivet connection 2 is produced between two joining parts 3 and 4, has a male die 5 and a female die 6. The male die 5 in this case serves to press a rivet 7 into the joining part 3 facing the male die 5, which part will also be referred to below as joining part 3 on the male-die side. The rivet 7 maybe a tubular rivet or a solid rivet. The female die 6 forms a counter-surface in the punch-riveting operation which, located opposite the male die 5, supports the pressing-in forces generated. For this, the female die 6 comes to bear, in a region located opposite the male die 5, on the joining part 4 facing the female die 6, which will also be referred to below as joining part 4 on the female-die side. Fig. I shows the punch-riveting tool 1 at the end of the punch-riveting operation, i.e. when the punch-rivet connection 2 has been fully produced.

The female die 6 has a negative form 8 of a marking which may be recessed or raised.

During the punch-riveting operation, this marking negative form 8 embosses a positive fonn 9 of the marking on the joining part 4 on the female-die side. This produces on the joining part 4 on the female-die side the marking positive form 9, which will also be referred to below as marking 9. With the aid of the marking negative form 8 applied to the female die 6, it is thus possible, when pressing the rivet 7 in on the joining part 4 on the marking side in the region in which the female die 6 is supported on this joining part 4, to produce a marking 9 on the female-die side.

The female die 6 has a cavity 10 facing the male die 5. The material of the component 4 on the female-die side which is displaced by the rivet is received in the cavity of the female die 6. The flow of material of the joining part within the cavity 10 is influenced due to the geometry of the cavity 10. The female die 6 furthermore has an edge 11 which encompasses the cavity 10 and lies against the joining part on the female-die side during the punch-riveting process. The marking negative form 8 can then be arranged in the cavity 10 andlor on an end face 12, facing the joining part 4 on the female-die side, of the edge 11. In the example, purely by way of example and without restricting the generality, marking negative forms 8 are arranged both in the cavity 10 and on the edge 11. However, an embodiment in which at least one such marking negative form 8 is arranged exclusively on the edge 11, and namely in particular on the end face 12, is preferred. The reaction forces which facilitate embossing of the marking 9 occur on the edge 11 or on the end face 12 thereof during the punch-riveting operation. At the same time, by arranging the marking negative form 8 exclusively on the edge 11, an adverse interaction for the flow operation of the joining part 4 on the female-die side within the cavity 10 can be avoided.

The respective marking negative form 8 can be formed on the female die 6 by at least one raised section or by at least one recessed sectioned section. In Fig. 1, for example two marking negative forms 8 in the form of recessed sections are shown inside the cavity 10 in the left-hand section, whereas three marking negative forms 8 in the form of raised sections are shown on the right. Also the marking negative form 8 shown by way of example on the edge 11 is reproduced here as a raised section.

The marking 9 produced with the aid of the female die 6 can be in the form of a code, with the aid of which the female die 6 or the punch-riveting tool 1 and in particular the rivet 7 can be identified.

In the example illustrated, furthermore the male die 5 is equipped with a negative form 13 of an additional marking. On pressing in the rivet 7, this additional marking negative form 13 can produce a positive form 14 of the additional marking on the rivet 7, which marking will likewise be referenced 14 below. The additional marking negative form 13 can also be formed on the male die 5 by at least one raised section and/or by at least one recessed section. Preferred in this case too are raised sections which can be used more easily to produce the additional marking 14 when pressing in the rivet 7.

The additional marking 14 may also represent a code for identifying the male die 5 or the punch-riveting tool 1, and also in particular the rivet 7.

With the aid of the punch-riveting tool 1 presented here or with the aid of the punch-rivet connection 2 shown here, the quality assurance on manufacturing products which have such punch-rivet connections 2 can be increased or simplified, since in particular mechanical working or even damage to the punch-rivet connection 2 is no longer necessary in order to identify its origin. Punch-rivet connections 2 are used e.g. in mass production of motor vehicles.

Claims

Claims 1. A punch-riveting tool for producing a punch-rivet connection between two or more joining parts, comprising: a male die for pressing a rivet into the joining part facing the male die, a female die for supporting the joining part facing the female die in a region located opposite the male die, the female die having a negative form of a marking which, when the rivet is pressed in on the joining part on the female-die side, produces a positive form of the marking.
2. A punch-riveting tool according to Claim 1, wherein the female die has a cavity into which material of the joining part on the female-die side flows when the rivet is pressed in, the negative form being arranged on an edge encompassing the cavity and/or is arranged in the cavity.
3. A punch-riveting tool according to Claim 1 or 2, wherein the negative form is formed on the female die by at least one raised section andlor by at least one recessed section.
4. A punch-riveting tool according to one of Claims ito 3, wherein the marking is a code for identifying the female die and/or the punch-riveting tool and/or the rivet.
5. A punch-riveting tool according to one of Claims 1 to 4, wherein the male die has a negative form of an additional marking which, when the rivet is pressed in produces a positive form of the additional marking on the rivet.
6. A punch-rivet connection according to Claim 5, wherein the negative form is formed on the male die by at least one raised section and/or by at least one recessed section.
7. A punch-riveting tool according to Claim 5 or 6, wherein the additional marking is a code for identifying the male die andlor the punch-riveting tool and/or the rivet.
8. A punch-rivet connection between two joining parts, comprising a marking produced by embossing upon punch-riveting on the joining part on the female-die side.
9. A punch-riveting tool, substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawing.
10. A punch-rivet connection, substantially as hereinbefore described with reference to the accompanying drawing.