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.

An assembly module, an assembly apparatus, and a method of operating the assembly module are introduced. The assembly module includes a first assembly die, a second assembly die and at least one engagement die. The first assembly die has a plurality of first fitting portions. The second assembly die has a plurality of second fitting portions and corresponds in position to the first assembly die. The engagement die is removably disposed at a related point of at least one first fitting portion, at a related point of at least one second fitting portion or at related points of at least one first fitting portion and at least one second fitting portion. Therefore, the assembly module is effective in fitting a component and an assembly target together, easy to operate, and conducive to quick assembly.

To solve a problem about warpage of a steel sheet due to a difference in temperature raising rate between an overlapped part and a one-sheet part. This manufacturing method includes: a step of heating an overlapped blank; a step of transferring the heated overlapped blank; and a step of performing presswork on the heated overlapped blank by using a die, in which in the heating step, when sheet thicknesses of the first and second steel sheets are set to t1 and t2, respectively, and an average heating rate at a sheet temperature from 20 to 800° C. of a portion with a total sheet thickness (t1+t2) of an overlapped portion, and that of a non-overlapped portion are set to V and v1, respectively, the total sheet thickness (t1+t2) is 2.5 to 5.0 mm, a maximum length L of the overlapped portion is 100 to 1100 mm, an area S1 of the first steel sheet, an area S2 of a portion, of the second steel sheet, which is overlapped with the first steel sheet, and the average heating rates V and v1 satisfy Expressions (1) to (3), and the heating is performed at a heating temperature and for a heating time within a specific range on a plane of coordinates defined by the heating time and the heating temperature.

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 joint structure comprises a first panel and a second panel joined together by mechanical clinching. The joint structure includes a join region that is formed so as to extend in an elongated shape by forming plural clinched portions in a given arrangement by mechanical clinching. At least one clinched portion of the plural clinched portions is clinched from an opposite panel side from other clinched portions of the plurality of clinched portions.

A method for mechanically joining steel applies a variable clamp force to a stack of sheet metal portions, which include at least one portion of advanced high strength steel (AHSS). The stack is heated to an optimal mechanical joining temperature to preserve the strength and material properties of the stack and to form a mechanical joint with the advanced high strength steel. A tool and system for performing the method, and a joint assembly formed by the method are provided.

The press-fitting method for press-fitting a plurality of clinching fasteners into a workpiece. The method includes: a drilling step S1 of drilling press-fit holes at press-fitting positions of the workpiece to press-fit first clinching fasteners that are press-fitted from a punch side of a turret punch press by NC control using the turret punch press; a workpiece mounting step S2 of mounting the workpiece so that the workpiece is superposed on a fastening jig that guides the first clinching fasteners; a fastener insertion step S3 of inserting a predetermined number of the first clinching fasteners taken out from a screw feeder into the press-fit holes of the workpiece; a fastener press-fitting step S4 of press-fitting the first clinching fasteners into the press-fit holes of the workpiece by NC control using the turret punch press; and a workpiece removal step S5 of removing the workpiece from the fastening jig.

The present invention discloses a method for ultra-low temperature forming an ultra-thin curved part of a high-strength aluminum alloy. The method includes the following steps: step 1: selecting a cladding with a suitable thickness according to a wrinkle limit of a sheet; step 2: stacking the sheet and the cladding, then putting into a die, and closing a blank holder; step 3: filling a cavity of a female die with an ultra-low temperature medium to cool the sheet to below −160° C.; step 4: applying a set blank holding force by the blank holder, and enabling a male die to go down to form a thin-walled curved part; and step 5: opening the die and taking out the formed thin-walled curved part. The present invention utilizes the favorable formability of the high-strength aluminum alloy at the ultra-low temperature and the instability resistance of the thick sheet.

An apparatus and method for manufacturing a container upper plate including a handle coupled thereto are disclosed. The apparatus includes a steel-plate-shaping unit for forming at least one projection on an upper surface of a steel plate, a holding-plate-supply unit for supplying a holding plate including a reception portion, and a mounting portion bilaterally extending from the reception portion and coupled to the steel plate, the mounting portion having at least one groove or at least one hole formed therein, to the steel-plate-shaping unit, a loading unit for loading the holding plate onto the steel plate such that the at least one projection on the steel plate is fitted into the at least one groove or the at least one hole, and a coupling unit for coupling the holding plate to the steel plate by pressing a fitted portion by means of a press plate.

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.