JPS5830511A - Clamping device - Google Patents

Abstract

(57) [Summary] This bulletin contains application data before electronic filing, so abstract data is not recorded.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to fastening devices, and more particularly to expansion locking threadless fasteners.

Spread-lock type fasteners for securing pieces of material together or for attaching certain components to panels that can only be accessed from one side are known from conventional devices as exemplified by U.S. Pat. No. 3,438,302. It's technology. For example, this U.S. patent discloses that hollow blind rivets are upset to widen the inner end of the cylindrical skin behind the panel, and a slotted inner dome cooperates with the skin flange abutting the front side of the panel. It is shown that it is made in the structure of a cylindrical skin with a Accordingly, U.S. Patent No. 3.438.302
No. 1 is representative of known prior art fasteners that utilize flared ends for securing with the force to maintain the mated state parallel to the length of the fastener. Furthermore, U.S. Pat. Nos. 1.758.906 and 1.846.
No. 765, No. 2.061.467, No. 2.606.4
No. 60, No. 2.344.717, No. 2.562.72
No. 1 and No. 2.948.937 show prior art fastener devices.

Prior art clamping devices are constructed of a seven-flange hollow tube with a conical web member at one end, and both the tube and the web are provided with slots, so that when the conical web is deformed, the tube It is recognized that said one end is flared to tighten the assembly. One drawback in particular of such prior art clamping devices is that because the assembled parts are relatively thin, the clamping force is insufficient to hold the assembly in the assembled condition.

In summary, the invention provides first and second tubes made of a ductile metal and arranged opposite each other along the longitudinal axis of the tube.
The end quadrant of the tube includes a hollow combination unit, the first end quadrant having an opening therethrough, and the second end quadrant having a central web. member and wall means for integrally connecting the web member to the tube in a continuous relationship therebetween, the wall means being in an undeformed state for assembly purposes such that the direction of the first end quadrant is extending, the wall means and the central web member are integrally formed in a hollow frusto-conical shape extending from the tube, an annular flange is integrally formed in the first end quarter of the tube, and the wall means is integrally formed with a hollow frusto-conical shape extending from the tube; Slot means provided separates the wall means into a plurality of like tube sections, and after the central web member and wall means are assembled, the central web member and wall means are permanently deformed into a first tube. The 4th end is displaced to the center wall end of the V-flat, and the center wall end is locked outward in a transverse direction from the longitudinal axis of the tube. The laterally outwardly locked tube section cooperates with the annular 7 flange to apply a clamping force to the assembled parts, and the slot means extends from the second end 4 of the tube to the tube. and into the annular flange so that the clamping force is sufficient to hold it in the assembled condition.

One object of the present invention is to provide an integral hollow clamping device that can hold relatively thin parts assembled.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a fastening device in which a slot is provided along the tubular wall from one end to an annular flange at the other end.

Other objects of the invention will become apparent from the following description with reference to the accompanying drawings.

In the unassembled state, the present invention can be of any other non-circular cross-section, such as an elliptical, triangular or polygonal cross-section, but is preferably cylindrical, as it comprises a hollow tubular body 10. This is embodied in the tightening and tightening device shown in FIGS. One end portion 12 of the cylindrical tubular body 10 includes an open lip or annular flange 14 extending around the circumference of the tube, as shown in detail in FIG. has a hemispherical cross section.

The other end of the tubular body 10 includes a closed end quadrant 16 formed by a central web member 18, with the central web member 18 having an angled wall portion, as shown in FIG. 20 integrally connected to the end quadrant 16 of the tubular body 10.

The sloped wall portion 20 is connected to the open end quarter of the tubular body 10.
2 and extending generally projecting therefrom has the shape of a y-cone. Web member 18 is located inside the V of tubular body 10, with its central distal end extending slightly beyond the open end quarter 12 of tubular body 10. A longitudinal slot 22 extends from the end quarter 16 through the wall portion 20 and the tubular body 10 to form one continuous slot 22, which slot extends through the central web member 1.
It terminates in a wall section 20 at the junction with 8. In the tubular body 10 and annular flange 14, the slot 22 extends the entire length of the tubular body 10 and terminates in the annular flange 14 flush with the distal end of the web member 18.

Although the number of slots 22 may vary to meet particular requirements associated with a particular assembly and/or device, in preferred embodiments the slots 22 are evenly spaced radially about the longitudinal axis of the tubular body 10. 4 slots are used.

6-5 illustrate the use of the fastening apparatus of the present invention to connect a pair of relatively thin element unitary assemblies. In this example, the pair of elements are shown as ring-shaped discs or washers 24 and 26, but they do not have to be the same elements (they may be different in size, shape, material, function, etc.). To make the assembly shown in FIGS.
A suitable tool (not shown) is inserted into the flange 14 into the mounting hole 4.26 so as to abut the leading end of the web member 18. A thrust or impact force is applied to the tool to expand the closed end 16 of the tube to the condition shown in FIGS. The tubular body 10 is pushed outward in a flat state in a plane that intersects the longitudinal axis of the tubular body 10 in the y direction. This displacement and flattening operation is known as a widening operation as the end quarter 16 of the tubular body widens from the diameter shown in FIG. 2 to the larger diameter shown in FIG. 4
The tube sections separated by two slots 22 are wall sections 20
It follows the expanding movement and is thus permanently deformed laterally outward from the longitudinal axis of the tubular body 10. The clamping device of the present invention can be made of a material that can be permanently deformed during the expansion operation, such as one of the ductile metals such as aluminum, copper, brass or steel.

Although the prior art tightening system is satisfactory for its intended purpose, the prior art tightening system is 0.140 to 0.70.
It has been found that clamping cannot work satisfactorily on thin assemblies having thicknesses in the inch range. The tightening system of the present invention has the advantage that slots 22 extend through the thickness of the flange so that sufficient tightening forces can be applied to thin assemblies from 0.1 to 0.60 inches thick. This solves the problem for relatively thin assemblies.

The ends of the slots 22 define the pivot or hinge points on the sides of the tubular body 10, so that once the pivot points are located within the flange 14, the tightening is sufficient to hold the body in the assembled condition. Attaching forces you to apply force.

Permanent deformation, as described above, refers to a condition in which a tube section is stressed beyond the physical limits of its material and is permanently set in such a way that it cannot return to its original, undeformed state. means. Furthermore, the definition of permanent deformation does not mean that the tube section is stressed to the extent that the tube section breaks or breaks its elastic limit, but rather that the tube section is always stressed near the wall section and the open end quadrant. It is attached to the pipe section so that the material of the pipe does not crack. Even if the elastic limit is exceeded during permanent deformation, the material of the tube still has an inherent elasticity, since it has not been cracked, and therefore the permanently deformed tube section is in the element 24 or 2
6 or both.

Since the invention is susceptible to various modifications and changes in detail, it is to be understood that the specific examples described and illustrated above are to be construed as illustrative only and not as restrictive.

[Brief explanation of the drawing]

Figure 1 is a top view of a tightening device embodying the present invention;
The figure is a cross-sectional view taken along line 2-2 in Figure 1, Figure 3- is a side view of the assembly that uses the tightening device in Figure 1, and Figure 4 is a top view of Figure 3. 5 is a sectional view taken along line 5--5 in FIG. 4. 10...Tube 12, 1″t5... End quarter of the tube 14...
...Flange 18... Web member 20.
...Wall part 22...Slot means F76, l/'4 to f'6.4

Claims (1)

Claims: (1) An integral hollow body comprising a tubular body made of a ductile metal and having first and second end quarters facing each other along the longitudinal axis of the tube. the first end portion having an opening extending therethrough;
The second end quadrant includes a central web member and a wall integrally connecting the central web member to the tubular body in continuous relationship therebetween, the wall being suitable for assembly purposes. It has a non-deformable shape and extends in the y direction at the first end 4 minutes,
The wall and the central web member are integrally formed as a hollow truncated cone extending from the tubular body, and an annular flange is integrally formed in the first end quadrant of the tubular body and is mounted on the wall. slot means separating the wall into a plurality of wall sections and the tubular body into a plurality of tube sections, the central web member and the wall section being permanently deformed after assembly; and the wall portion are moved away from the first end 4 to form a y-flat central wall end, and the central wall end crosses the longitudinal axis of the tubular body so that the tube portion is The tubular body is locked laterally outwardly from the longitudinal axis of the tubular body, and the laterally outwardly locked tube section cooperates with the annular flange to exert a tightening force on the assembled element. , wherein the slot means extends from the second end portion of the tubular body through the tubular body into the annular flange so that the clamping force is sufficient to hold the assembled elements in the assembled condition. is a device. (21) The fastening device of claim 1 wherein the assembled elements have a thickness of 0.100 to 0.03 inches. (3) The slot means includes four equally spaced slots. The tightening device according to claim 2 is a device.