There is provided an automated rivet apparatus for installing a semi-tubular fastener rivet. The apparatus includes a numerical control (NC) drilling and riveting machine and a controller. The NC drilling and riveting machine includes a lower head having a lower pressure bushing, a lower drill spindle, and a lower anvil to apply an upset force to a tail portion of the semi-tubular fastener rivet. The NC drilling and riveting machine further includes an upper head having an upper pressure bushing, an upper drill spindle, and an upper anvil that holds the semi-tubular fastener rivet to insert the semi-tubular fastener rivet in a rivet-receiving hole. The lower drill spindle countersinks the rivet-receiving hole from a lower side of a workpiece. The controller directs movement of a nose of the lower anvil to apply the upset force and form a predetermined flare contour in the tail portion within a lower countersink.

A method for connecting a first component to at least one second component by at least one joining element which is introduced into the components at a joining point. The joining element is pushed into the components by an industrial robot at a speed of less than five meters per second.

Methods and devices for controlling a mechanical joining or forming process, in particular friction drilling in thin-walled materials, apply several reverse pulses acting on a process parameter to bring the course of an actual curve of the parameter more into line with the course of a predetermined nominal curve of the process parameter. The number and length of the reverse pulses and the length of the intervals between the pulses are determined as a function of at least one immediately detectable variable associated with the process parameter.

A fastening tool includes a housing, a handle, an anvil, a pin-gripping part, a motor, and a driving mechanism. The driving mechanism is configured to move the pin-gripping part along a first axis defining a front-rear direction, relative to the anvil. The driving mechanism includes a rotary member, a movable member, a driving gear and an idler gear. The rotary member has a driven gear formed on its outer periphery and is rotatable around the first axis. The movable member is connected to the pin-gripping part and configured to be linearly moved in the front-rear direction by rotation of the rotary member. The driving gear is configured to be rotated around a second axis extending in parallel to the first axis below the first axis. The idler gear is engaged with the driving gear and the driven gear.

A riveting method that includes riveting a first aircraft part to a second aircraft part. The method includes capturing a plenoptic image of the rivet and at least one of the first part and the second part in the vicinity of the rivet, by a plenoptic imaging device secured to a riveting head, after riveting the first part to the second part. The method includes detecting the positioning and the surface condition of the rivet, from the plenoptic image captured by the imaging device.

Systems and methods are provided for inspecting fastener installation. One embodiment is a method for inspecting installation of a fastener. The method includes determining an initial distance between a nose of a swage tool and an Inner Mold Line (IML) of a part, operating the swage tool to swage a collar onto a fastener that protrudes through the IML of the part, determining a terminal distance of the nose to the IML during swaging, prior to a pintail of the fastener breaking, and arriving at a conclusion indicating a state of a fastener installation, based on the terminal distance.

Systems and methods are provided for inspecting fastener installation. One embodiment is a method for inspecting installation of a fastener. The method includes determining an initial distance between a nose of a swage tool and an Inner Mold Line (IML) of a part, operating the swage tool to swage a collar onto a fastener that protrudes through the IML of the part, determining a terminal distance of the nose to the IML during swaging, prior to a pintail of the fastener breaking, and arriving at a conclusion indicating a state of a fastener installation, based on the terminal distance.

A method of operating a riveting tool includes mounting a die in an installed position, determining an actual stroke distance of the riveting tool, comparing the actual stroke distance to a predetermined stroke distance that is based on a desired rivet location, and operating or not operating the riveting tool to install a rivet into workpieces, based on the result of the comparison.

A method of installing a self-piercing rivet (SPR) is provided that includes providing an SPR installation tool with stack-up parameters prior to, during, and/or after insertion of the SPR into at least two adjacent workpieces, adjusting at least one insertion parameter of the SPR installation tool based on the stack-up parameters, and adaptively installing the SPR into the adjacent workpieces.

A method of bonding a connector to a first object includes providing the first object and the connector, the connector extending between a proximal end and a distal end and has a connector body that forms a distally facing punching edge. At least one of the connector and of the first object includes a thermoplastic material in a solid state. The method further includes driving the connector into the first object and coupling mechanical vibration into the connector until the connector extends through a portion of the first object from a proximal side to a distal side thereof and material of the first object is punched out by the connector body, and until at least a flow portion of the thermoplastic material becomes flowable and flows relative to the first object and the connector body while the connector body remains solid. Thereafter, the thermoplastic material is allowed to re-solidify.