WO2018057569A1

WO2018057569A1 - Tool for installing and setting rivets

Info

Publication number: WO2018057569A1
Application number: PCT/US2017/052417
Authority: WO
Inventors: Douglas J. Blew
Original assignee: Commscope Technologies Llc
Priority date: 2016-09-23
Filing date: 2017-09-20
Publication date: 2018-03-29

Abstract

An assembly for inserting a rivet includes: a housing; a rivet source attached to the housing and configured to supply rivets; a drive member mounted to the housing and configured to reciprocate in opposed first and second directions relative to the housing; a rail attached to the housing and positioned to receive rivets from the rivet source; a pusher attached to the drive member; and a striker attached to the housing and moveable between retracted and striking positions. The rail includes a curved end section. The pusher is formed of a flexible material. In operation the drive member moves in the first direction and drives the pusher along the rail, the pusher capturing a rivet and pushing it to the end section of the rail. The striker is configured to move to the striking position when the rivet is positioned at the end section of the rail to set the rivet.

Description

TOOL FOR INSTALLING AND SETTING RIVETS

Related Application

[0001] The present application claims priority from and the benefit of U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 62/398,666, filed September 23, 2016, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated herein in its entirety.

Field of the Invention

[0002] The present invention is directed generally to tools, and more particularly for tools for automatically installing and setting rivets.

Background

[0003] Rivets are commonly used to permanently connect two or more components of an assembly. Automatic rivet tools typically include a hand-held tool that holds and positions rivets and a system to feed rivets to the tool from a rivet supply magazine or hopper to the tool. When a rivet is to be installed (or "set"), it is positioned at the end of the tool, inserted into the appropriate location on the target component, and engaged to splay, flare, or otherwise upset or deform some portion thereof to secure the rivet in place.

[0004] Plastic rivets are commonly used with many components. Often plastic rivets will comprise two pieces, a male and a female piece, which are configured such that, during installation, insertion of the male within the female causes the female to expand outwardly, thereby setting the rivet. One exemplary rivet R is shown in FIGS. 1 A and IB. The male piece Rl is configured similarly to a thumbtack, with a head and shaft. The female piece R2 also has a head and a shaft, but the shaft includes an internal bore that extends through the head. Initially, the shaft of the male piece Rl is partially inserted through the head of the female piece R2 (see FIG. 1 A). When the rivet R is to be used to connect two components, the shaft of the female piece R2 is inserted into a hole in the target component, and the shaft of the male piece Rl is pressed fully through the head of the female piece R2 and into the bore of the female shaft (see FIG. 2). This movement causes the female shaft to flare outwardly, thereby setting the rivet as the male head contacts the female head.

[0005] It may be desirable to provide tools for installing and setting rivets that can simplify and speed up production.

Summary

[0006] As a first aspect, embodiments of the invention are directed to an assembly for inserting a rivet. The assembly comprises: a housing; a rivet source attached to the housing and configured to supply rivets; a drive member mounted to the housing and configured to reciprocate in opposed first and second directions relative to the housing; a rail attached to the housing and positioned to receive rivets from the rivet source; a pusher attached to the drive member; and a striker attached to the housing and moveable between retracted and striking positions. The rail includes a curved end section. The pusher is formed of a flexible material. In operation the drive member moves in the first direction and drives the pusher along the rail, the pusher capturing a rivet and pushing it to the end section of the rail. The striker is configured to move to the striking position when the rivet is positioned at the end section of the rail to set the rivet.

[0007] As a second aspect, embodiments of the invention are directed to an assembly for inserting a rivet, comprising: a housing; a rivet source attached to the housing and configured to supply rivets; a drive member mounted to the housing and configured to reciprocate in opposed first and second directions relative to the housing; a rail attached to the housing and positioned to receive rivets from the rivet source; a pusher attached to the drive member; a striker attached to the housing and moveable between retracted and striking positions; and a striker drive element. In operation the drive member moves in the first direction and drives the pusher along the rail, the pusher capturing a rivet and pushing it to the end section of the rail. The striker drive element is configured to induce the striker to move to the striking position as the drive member moves in the second direction. Brief Description of the Figures

[0008] FIGS. 1A and IB are perspective views of a two-piece rivet, with FIG. 1 showing the rivet prior to setting and FIG. IB showing the rivet in a set condition.

[0009] FIG. 2 is a schematic illustration of a rivet insertion assembly according to embodiments of the invention.

[0010] FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the insertion tool of the assembly of FIG. 1.

[0011] FIG. 4 is a perspective cross-sectional view of the insertion tool of FIG. 3.

[0012] FIG. 5 is a bottom perspective view of the insertion tool of FIG. 3 with the housing removed for clarity.

[0013] FIG. 6 is a partial cross-section of the insertion tool of FIG. 3 with a rivet positioned for setting.

[0014] FIG. 7 is a partial cross-section of the insertion tool of FIG. 3 with the rivet set by the striker.

Detailed Description

[001] The present invention now is described more fully hereinafter with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which embodiments of the invention are shown. This invention may, however, be embodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limited to the embodiments set forth herein; rather, these embodiments are provided so that this disclosure will be thorough and complete, and will fully convey the scope of the invention to those skilled in the art.

[002] Like numbers refer to like elements throughout. In the figures, the thickness of certain lines, layers, components, elements or features may be exaggerated for clarity. Broken lines illustrate optional features or operations unless specified otherwise.

[003] The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the invention. Unless otherwise defined, all terms (including technical and scientific terms) used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this invention belongs. It will be further understood that terms, such as those defined in commonly used dictionaries, should be interpreted as having a meaning that is consistent with their meaning in the context of the specification and relevant art and should not be interpreted in an idealized or overly formal sense unless expressly so defined herein. Well-known functions or constructions may not be described in detail for brevity and/or clarity.

[004] As used herein, the singular forms "a", "an" and "the" are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms "comprises" and/or "comprising," when used in this specification, specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and/or groups thereof. As used herein, the term "and/or" includes any and all combinations of one or more of the associated listed items. As used herein, phrases such as "between X and Y" and "between about X and Y" should be interpreted to include X and Y. As used herein, phrases such as "between about X and Y" mean "between about X and about Y." As used herein, phrases such as "from about X to Y" mean "from about X to about Y."

[005] It will be understood that when an element is referred to as being "on", "attached" to, "connected" to, "coupled" with, "contacting", etc., another element, it can be directly on, attached to, connected to, coupled with or contacting the other element or intervening elements may also be present. In contrast, when an element is referred to as being, for example, "directly on", "directly attached" to, "directly connected" to, "directly coupled" with or "directly contacting" another element, there are no intervening elements present. It will also be appreciated by those of skill in the art that references to a structure or feature that is disposed "adjacent" another feature may have portions that overlap or underlie the adjacent feature.

[006] Spatially relative terms, such as "under", "below", "lower", "over", "upper",

"lateral", "left", "right" and the like, may be used herein for ease of description to describe one element or feature's relationship to another element(s) or feature(s) as illustrated in the figures. It will be understood that the spatially relative terms are intended to encompass different orientations of the device in use or operation in addition to the orientation depicted in the figures. For example, if the device in the figures is inverted, elements described as "under" or "beneath" other elements or features would then be oriented "over" the other elements or features. The device may be otherwise oriented (rotated 90 degrees or at other orientations) and the descriptors of relative spatial relationships used herein interpreted accordingly. [0015] Referring now to the drawings, an assembly for pneumatically installing rivets, designated broadly at 10, is shown in FIG. 2. The assembly 10 includes an insertion tool 12, a rivet feeder 14, an air source 16, and a controller 18. These components are described in more detail below.

[0016] Referring now to FIGS. 3-7, the insertion tool 12 includes a generally cylindrical housing 20. The rear end of the housing 20 is attached to a pneumatic cylinder 22 that includes a rod 24. A fitting 26 is also mounted to the end of the housing 20 and is adapted to be connected to the air source 16 (which may be of conventional construction). The rivet feeder 14 is attached at the front end of the housing 20. The rivet feeder 14 , which can be of convention construction, is connected via a tube 30 to a rivet source 32, which provides rivets in a predetermined orientation.

[0017] Referring to FIGS. 4-7, within the housing 20, the forward end of the rod 24 is attached to a cam block 34 with a sloped rear surface 36. The forward end of the cam block 34 is attached to a flexible pusher strip 38. A capture block 40 is mounted to the forward end of the pusher strip 38.

[0018] The pusher strip 38 may be formed of any material that is sufficiently rigid to avoid buckling and maintain its shape when pushed at one end, but that is also sufficiently flexible to bend over a significant angle (e.g., 60 to 120 degrees). An exemplary material for the pusher 38 is medium density polyethylene.

[0019] Two parallel rails 42 originate within and extend forwardly from the housing 20. At their forward free ends, the rails 42 gently curve 90 degrees. Each rail 42 has a ridge 44 that extends inwardly toward the other rail 42, thereby forming a slot or path between the ridges 44. The rear ends of the ridges 44 capture the cam block 34 and enable the cam block 34 to slide thereon. Further inwardly facing ridges capture and engage the pusher 38 and also both contain and maintain the orientation of the rivet R.

[0020] A striker 46 with a contact surface 48 is located above the rails 42 and generally follows the curved profile of the rails 42. A cover 50 is mounted to the outer edges of the rails 42 and fits over and captures the striker 46. More specifically, pins 47 maintain the striker 46 under the cover 50 but enable the striker 46 to slide relative to the cover 50. Also, a recess 49 in the underside of the striker 46 receives a stop on the cover to limit the range of striker movement. [0021] A cam 52 is rotatably mounted below the rear end of the cover SO. The cam 52 is biased (via a spring 54 located outside of the cover 50) toward an orientation shown in FIG. 6, in which the lower end of the cam 52 is generally below the upper end.

[0022] In operation, a rivet R is fed from the rivet source 32 through the tube 30 of the rivet feeder 14 to a recess 53 in the ridges 44 of the rails 42 (see FIG. 5). The rivet R is oriented so that the male piece Rl is above the female piece R2 (from the vantage point of FIG. 4). To move the rivet R to the end of the rails 42, the pneumatic cylinder 22 is supplied with air from the air source 16 through the fitting 26 to force the rod 24 forward. Forward movement of the rod 24 drives the cam block 34, the pusher strip 38 and the capture block 40 forward on the rails 42, the pusher strip 38 having sufficient rigidity to avoid buckling as it moves. The capture block 40 is sized to fit between the heads of the rivet pieces Rl, R2; also, the ridges 44 fit within the heads of the rivet pieces Rl, R2. As such, the rivet R is maintained in the desired orientation as it travels along the rails 42 within the slot formed by the ridges 44. As the rivet R reaches the curved portion of the rails 42, the flexible nature of the pusher strip 38 enables the pusher strip 38 to bend and continue pushing the rivet R to the end of the rails 42. Once there, the rivet R seats in a recess 56. As the rivet is pushed to the recess 56, the striker 46 moves upwardly from a prior spring-biased position by the action of the rivet traversing underneath the striker 46. This movement of the striker 46 then rotates cam 52 into a position of interference with cam block 34 in preparation for a subsequent setting action (see FIG. 6).

[0023] Once the rivet R is seated in the recess 56, the air supply to the pneumatic cylinder 22 is modified to cause it to reverse direction and retract the rod 24. This action draws the cam block 34, the pusher strip 38 and the capture block 40 rearwardly. As the cam block 34 reaches the cam 52 while moving rearwardly, the sloped surface 36 of the cam block 34 contacts the lower end of the cam 52 and causes it to rotate (counterclockwise from the vantage point of FIG. 4). The rotation of the cam 52 induces the upper end of the cam 52 to contact the rear end of the striker 46, thereby forcing it forwardly relative to the rails 42, The forward movement of the striker 46 to a striking position drives the contact surface 48 of the striker 46 into the head of the rivet piece Rl , forcing it toward the head of the rivet piece R2 and thus setting the rivet R (see FIG. 7).

[0024] Further retraction of the rod 24 draws the cam block 34, the pusher strip 38 and the capture block 40 into their original positions, where they are ready to receive the next rivet to repeat the cycle. The cam 52 returns to its original position due to the absence of rivet R and force of the spring 54. This original position of the cam 52 clears the internal area of rails 42 to allow passage of the next rivet R and rivet-positioning elements comprising the capture block 40, pusher strip 38 and cam block 34.

[0025] The controller 18 may be configured to control the sequence of movements of the components of the tool 12. For example, the controller 18 may extend and retract the rod 24 of the cylinder based on a predetermined time delay between extension and retraction, may extend and retract the rod based on sensor data regarding the presence and position of the rivet R, may retract the rod 22 after the rod is extended manually, or may operate on one or more variations of these sequences.

[0026] Notably, the curvature of the rails 42 allows the rivet to be set at an angle

approximately parallel to the direction that the rod 24 of the pneumatic cylinder 22 moves (i.e., it can be set "in line" with the tool 12). Also, the curvature of the rails 42 offsets the location in which the rivet R is held for setting from the axis defined by the rod 24 (typically this offset is between about 15 and 30 millimeters). As a result, the rivet R can be set in a location that is offset from the housing 20 of the tool 12. This arrangement can be particularly helpful or useful when setting a rivet that is underneath a surface or component, within a closely spaced channel, or between closely adjacent vertical surfaces. Anticipated environments that may be suitable for the tool 12 include telecommunications antennas, circuit boards, automotive components, and the like.

[0027] Also, it is notable that a single extension and retraction cycle of the rod 24 both positions the rivet R for setting (on the forward stroke) and sets the rivet R (on the rearward stroke). As such, separate mechanisms are not needed for these two distinct operations.

[0028] Those of skill in this art will appreciate that the tool 12 may take other configurations. For example, the pneumatic cylinder 22 may be replaced with a linear cylinder or another component that reciprocally drives a rod or similar drive member (e.g., a solenoid-based cylinder). The rails 42 may have more or less curvature, and more or less offset. The cam 52 may be replaced by another striker drive element. The striker 46 may take a somewhat different profile than the rails 42. Other variations may also be suitable. [0029] In addition, in some embodiments the positioning and setting operations may be decoupled, such that one mechanism positions the rivet R, and a second, independent mechanism strikes the rivet R to set it.

[0030] Those skilled in this art will also understand that the assembly 10 may be controlled by the controller 18 to operate in a fully automated mode, wherein a robotic arm or similar mechanical device moves the tool 12 to a predetermined location and sets the rivet R in a specified position to connect two components. The controller 18 may also be configured with sensors to detect when a rivet is misfed, the stock of rivets is empty, maintenance is needed, and the like.

[0031] The foregoing is illustrative of the present invention and is not to be construed as limiting thereof. Although exemplary embodiments of this invention have been described, those skilled in the art will readily appreciate that many modifications are possible in the exemplary embodiments without materially departing from the novel teachings and advantages of this invention. Accordingly, all such modifications are intended to be included within the scope of this invention as defined in the claims. The invention is defined by the following claims, with equivalents of the claims to be included therein.

Claims

That Which is Claimed is:

1. An assembly for inserting a rivet, comprising:

a housing;

a rivet source attached to the housing and configured to supply rivets;

a drive member mounted to the housing and configured to reciprocate in opposed first and second directions relative to the housing;

a rail attached to the housing and positioned to receive rivets from the rivet source; a pusher attached to the drive member; and

a striker attached to the housing and moveable between retracted and striking positions;

wherein the rail includes a curved end section;

wherein the pusher is formed of a flexible material;

wherein in operation the drive member moves in the first direction and drives the pusher along the rail, the pusher capturing a rivet and pushing it to the end section of the rail; and wherein the striker is configured to move to the striking position when the rivet is positioned at the end section of the rail to set the rivet.

2. The assembly defined in Claim 1, further comprising a striker drive element, wherein the striker drive element is configured to induce the striker to move to the striking position as the drive member moves in the second direction.

3. The assembly defined in Claim 1 or Claim 2, wherein drive member comprises the rod of a linear cylinder.

4. The assembly defined in any of Claims 1-3, wherein the linear cylinder is a pneumatic cylinder.

5. The assembly defined in any of Claims 1-4, wherein the striker drive element is biased away from engagement with the striker.

6. The assembly defined in any of Claims 1-5, wherein the pusher is attached to a capture block that fits within a gap in the rivet.

7. The assembly defined in any of Claims 2-6, wherein the pusher is attached to a cam block that engages the striker drive element as the rod moves in the second direction.

8. An assembly for inserting a rivet, comprising:

a housing;

a rivet source attached to the housing and configured to supply rivets;

a rail attached to the housing and positioned to receive rivets from the rivet source; a pusher attached to the drive member;

a striker attached to the housing and moveable between retracted and striking positions; and

a striker drive element;

wherein in operation the drive member moves in the first direction and drives the pusher along the rail, the pusher capturing a rivet and pushing it to the end section of the rail; and wherein the striker drive element is configured to induce the striker to move to the striking position as the drive member moves in the second direction.

9. The assembly defined in Claim 8, wherein drive member comprises the rod of a linear cylinder.

10. The assembly defined in Claim 8 or Claim 9, wherein the linear cylinder is a pneumatic cylinder.

1 1. The assembly defined in any of Claims 8-10, wherein the striker drive element is biased away from engagement with the striker.

12. The assembly defined in any of Claims 8- 1 1 , wherein the pusher is attached to a capture block that fits within a gap in the rivet.

13. The assembly defined in Claim 12, wherein the pusher is attached to a cam block that engages the striker drive element as the rod moves in the second direction.