A method of fitting a fastener to an object is introduced. The fastener has a weldable surface and an engaging portion or a hole portion. One end of the hole portion or one end of the engaging portion has a holding portion. During a welding heating process, solder flows into or enters the holding portion and then cools down and solidifies therein so as to be held therein. Therefore, the weldable surface and the holding portion together enable the fastener to be firmly coupled to an object. The engaging portion and the hole portion together enable an object to be coupled to or removed from another object, so as to couple together and separate at least two objects repeatedly and quickly.

A blind rivet nut for incorporating a thread in a clearance of a workpiece and/or for connecting two workpieces. The blind rivet nut includes a setting region, a thread region having an internal thread in portions of the thread region, and a compression region arranged between the thread region and the setting region. The compression region forms a closing bead when a first force acting on the compression region is exceeded. The setting region has an axial portion which faces the compression region and a free axial portion which faces away from the compression region and from the thread region. When a second force acting on the setting region is exceeded, the free axial portion which faces away from the thread region is enlarged at least in a radial direction with respect to an external dimension of the setting region.

Presented are protective covers for weldable fasteners, methods for making/using such cover-protected weldable fasteners, and motor vehicles with such covered fasteners welded to load-bearing structural members. A weldable fastener assembly includes a fastener, such as a weld-on nut or clip retainer, that is fabricated with a shank and a flange. One end of the shank has a fastener hole that receives therethrough a mating fastener, such as a bolt, screw, stud, or clip. The flange is formed, in whole or in part, from a weldable material for welding to a load-bearing panel or other structural support member. The flange may be integrally formed with and project radially outward from the shank. A protective cover is attached to the flange and covers the fastener hole. The protective cover is frangible and formed, in whole or in part, from a material designed to withstand the temperature at which the weldable material melts.

A welding element is operable for being connected to a workpiece using a welding method. The welding element comprises: a head and a shaft like anchor portion. The head includes a welding surface, a stop surface that is remote from the welding surface, and a plurality of pointed projections evenly and uniformly distributed over the entire welding surface. The shaft-like anchor portion extends along a longitudinal axis between a first end region and a second end region, with the first end region connected to the stop surface.

A blind rivet insert having a head forming an annular flange and a shank extending from an underside of the head, and having a head end, a foot end and a bore extending from the head end to the foot end. The insert has a first bore segment near the foot end, provided with an internal thread, and a second bore segment near the head end whose diameter is greater than that of the first bore segment. The underside of the head includes an annular groove adapted for receiving a sealing ring in a mounted condition of the blind rivet insert. An annular retaining shank groove extends circumferentially around the shank, is arranged adjacent to the underside of the head, and retains the sealing ring in a preloaded position before mounting the blind rivet insert.

A bolt is provided for fastening a component or a ground connection of electrical or electronic components to a vehicle body. The bolt has a head portion with an external thread, the head portion being formed from a steel material, and a foot portion. The foot portion is formed from an aluminum alloy and is connected integrally to the head portion by a friction-weld connection. The bolt is configured in the form of a welding stud for drawn arc stud welding, for which purpose it has an ignition tip on its end side, which delimits the foot portion.

A clinch-in fastener with a cylindrical body having a top, a bottom, sides and an axial internal bore. The fastener has a single shank at the bottom end of the body having a top surface orthogonal to the bore and a chamfer tapering to the bottom of the body. The top surface of the shank is adapted for receiving the cold flow of material surrounding a receiving hole of a workpiece. The shank may have a plurality of notches in its outermost edge that extend through both the top surface of the shank and the chamfer. The bore of the fastener extends completely through the fastener body from top to bottom and may be threaded. A fastener installation system having a tool with means for affixation to a rotary and vertically reciprocal element of an industrial machine. The tip of the tool has a distal end face with at least one arcuate displacer adapted for deforming a workpiece as the tool rotates and is pressed against the workpiece. A bore within the tip holds a fastener installed by the tool. The displacer is vertically and radially tapered along an arcuate ridge centered about the axial bore. The width of the displacer is also tapered to a point.

A structure for fastening vehicle components with adjustable steps includes a weld nut configured to be fixed to a vehicle floor panel, an inner bolt positioned above and fixedly inserted into the weld nut, and an assembly bolt inserted through the inner bolt and fastened to one end of the weld nut, wherein the inner bolt is configured to move in a height direction for step adjustment.

The present disclosure is related to pierce nuts and, more particularly, to pierce nuts for thin and ultra-thin metal sheets. Exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure describe lightweight, high strength, structural nuts designed to pierce and clinch in ultra-high strength thin gage materials and ultra-thin metals. The pierce nuts include cavities radially disposed on a bottom surface having a teardrop radial form which allows for usage in thin ultra-high strength metals.

A clinch fastener that includes a plurality of ribs disposed under a head of the clinch fastener, wherein the ribs are specifically configured to displace host material more evenly than conventional clinch fasteners. To that end, in cross section, along a line, arc, or combination, going from a central axis of the clinch fastener to an outer periphery of the head of the clinch fastener, each rib preferably provides a curved surface that is formed of multiple sections, wherein different radii define at least two of the sections. The configuration of the ribs allows for a vented escape of host material beyond the rib outside diameter and provides for radially focused material displacement, thereby releasing stress within the host material and reducing warping during clinching.