Blind Rivet Element

Abstract

A blind rivet element for fastening to a workpiece which has a hole, which is in particular preshaped, comprises a sleeve body and a bolt element led through the sleeve body, wherein the blind rivet element can be introduced into the hole of the workpiece and the sleeve body can be sectionally deformed by an axial movement of the bolt element relative to the sleeve body to fasten the blind rivet element to the workpiece. The sleeve body has at least one contact section which is arranged and configured such that the contact section cuts into a wall of the hole and/or into a region around the hole and/or effects a deformation of the wall of the hole and/or of the region around the hole, in particular to establish an electrical contract between the workpiece and the blind rivet element.

Claims

1. A blind rivet element for fastening to a workpiece, the workpiece having a hole, the blind rivet element comprising a sleeve body and a bolt element led through the sleeve body; wherein the blind rivet element is configured to be introduced into the hole of the workpiece and the sleeve body is configured to be sectionally deformed by an axial movement of the bolt element relative to the sleeve body to fasten the blind rivet element to the workpiece; and wherein the sleeve body has at least one contact section which is arranged and configured such that the at least one contact section cuts into at least one of a wall of the hole and a region around the hole and/or such that the at least one contact section effects a deformation of at least one of the wall of the hole and of the region around the hole.

2. The blind rivet element in accordance with claim 1, wherein the at least one contact section is arranged and configured to establish an electrical contact between the workpiece and the blind rivet element.

3. The blind rivet element in accordance with claim 1, wherein the at least one contact section is set off from the sleeve body.

4. The blind rivet element in accordance with claim 1, wherein the at least one contact section comprises at least one peripheral edge.

5. The blind rivet element in accordance with claim 1, wherein the at least one contact section comprises at least one rib which extends in at least one of an axial and a peripheral direction.

6. The blind rivet element in accordance with claim 1, wherein the sleeve body has a flange section having a contact surface for the workpiece.

7. The blind rivet element in accordance with claim 1, wherein at least one of the bolt element and the sleeve body has at least one coupling section which couples the sleeve body and the bolt element to one another, at least in a rotationally fixed manner.

8. The blind rivet element in accordance with claim 7, wherein the at least one the coupling section comprises a plurality of ribs extending in an axial direction.

9. The blind rivet element in accordance with claim 7, wherein the at least one coupling section is configured such that the sleeve body and the bolt element are coupled to one another up to a reaching of a threshold value of a force acting between the sleeve body and the bolt element.

10. The blind rivet element in accordance with claim 1, wherein the bolt element comprises a thread.

11. The blind rivet element in accordance with claim 1, wherein the blind rivet element comprises a fastening element associated with the bolt element.

12. The blind rivet element in accordance with claim 10, wherein the blind rivet element comprises a nut which cooperates with the thread of the bolt element and with a flange section of the sleeve body.

13. The blind rivet element in accordance with claim 11, wherein the bolt element comprises a thread and wherein the blind rivet element comprises a nut which cooperates with a thread of the bolt element and with a flange section of the sleeve body.

14. The blind rivet element in accordance with claim 12, wherein the nut cooperates with the thread of the bolt element and with the flange section of the sleeve body to move the bolt element in the axial direction.

15. A component assembly comprising a workpiece and a blind rivet element, wherein the blind rivet element comprises a sleeve body and a bolt element led through the sleeve body; wherein the blind rivet element is introduced into a hole of the workpiece; wherein the blind rivet element is fastened to the workpiece; and wherein at least one contact section of the sleeve body engages and/or taps into a wall of the hole and/or into a region around the hole.

16. The component assembly in accordance with claim 15, wherein the at least one contact section of the sleeve body engages and/or taps into the wall of the hole and/or into the region around the hole, so that an electrical contact is established between the workpiece and the blind rivet element.

17. The component assembly in accordance with claim 15, wherein the blind rivet element is fastened to the workpiece by a form fit of the sleeve body.

18. A method of fastening a blind rivet element to a workpiece which has a hole, wherein the blind rivet element comprises a sleeve body and a bolt element led through the sleeve body, the method comprising the steps of: introducing the blind rivet element into the hole of the workpiece, sectionally deforming the sleeve body by an axial movement of the bolt element relative to the sleeve body to fasten the blind rivet element to the workpiece; and wherein, as part of the step of introducing the blind rivet element and/or as part of the fastening procedure, at least one contact section of the sleeve body is brought into engagement with a wall of the hole and/or with a region around the hole.

19. The method in accordance with claim 18, wherein the at least one contact section of the sleeve body is brought into engagement with the wall of the hole and/or with the region around the hole in order to establish an electrical contact between the workpiece and the blind rivet element.

20. The method in accordance with claim 18, wherein the sleeve body is introduced into the hole of the workpiece by a first rotational and/or axial movement, with the at least one contact section cutting into the wall of the hole and/or into the region around the hole and/or deforming the wall of the hole and/or the region around the hole in a first installation step by the first rotational and/or axial movement.

21. The method in accordance with claim 20, wherein the bolt element and the sleeve body are rotationally fixedly connected to one another during the first installation step.

22. The method in accordance with claim 18, wherein the sleeve body is deformed and is thereby fastened to the workpiece in a second installation step by a second rotational and/or axial movement.

23. The method in accordance with claim 18, wherein the second installation step comprises an axial movement of the bolt element relative to the sleeve body which is effected by a rotational movement of the bolt element and/or which is effected by the nut associated with the bolt element, with the nut cooperating with a flange section of the sleeve body which contacts the workpiece at a contact surface in a region around the hole.

24. The method in accordance with claim 18, wherein rotational movements having the same direction of rotation are carried out in the first installation step and in the second installation step.

25. The method in accordance with claim 24, wherein a first rotational movement of the sleeve body and/or of a nut associated with the bolt element and a second rotational movement of the nut being carried out in the same direction of rotation.

Description

[0030] The invention will be explained only by way of example with reference to an advantageous embodiment and to the enclosed drawings. There are shown:

[0031] FIG. 1 an embodiment of the blind rivet element in accordance with the invention;

[0032] FIG. 2 a plan view of the blind rivet element of FIG. 1; and

[0033] FIGS. 3 to 5 an embodiment of the method in accordance with the invention for fastening the blind rivet element of FIGS. 1 to 2 to a sheet metal part.

[0034] FIG. 1 shows a rotationally symmetrically configured blind rivet element 10 which comprises a sleeve body 12, a bolt element 14 led through the sleeve body 12 as well as a nut 16. The bolt element 14 has a bolt head 18 on whose shoulder 19 the sleeve body 12 is seated. The bolt element 14 furthermore has a thread 20 which cooperates with an internal thread of the nut 16, i.e. the nut 16 is screwed onto the bolt element 14 in the region of the thread 20.

[0035] The view of FIG. 1 is divided with respect to an axis of symmetry S into a left-hand sectional view and into a right-hand side view. The sectional plane I with respect to the left-hand sectional view in entered in FIG. 2. It must be noted in this respect that the sectional plane I extends sectionally linearly through the sleeve body 12 and the nut 16. The sectional plane I furthermore extends in a curved manner along the outer periphery of the bolt element 14 so that the bolt element 14 is effectively shown in a side view in the left-hand sectional view of FIG. 1.

[0036] The blind rivet element of FIG. 1 will be explained in more detail in the following.

[0037] The sleeve body 12 is hollow cylindrical and has a radially outwardly facing flange section 22. A peripheral, self-tapping thread 24 is provided beneath the flange section 22 at the sleeve body 12 and acts as a contact section of the blind rivet element 10. The sleeve body 12 cooperates at an end 26 remote from the flange section 22 with the bolt element 14, with a rotationally fixed coupling being established between the sleeve body 12 and the bolt element 14 in this region. For this purpose, the bolt element 14 has a coupling section 28 which is formed peripherally by a plurality of ribs 30 extending in the axial direction. The ribs 30 are uniformly spaced apart from one another along the periphery of the bolt element 14. The sleeve body 12 has a peripheral coupling section 32 at the inner side at the end 26; it is configured in rib-like form analog to the coupling section 28, with the respective ribs of the coupling section 32 each engaging between the ribs 30 of the coupling section 28 (and vice versa). The sleeve body 12 can additionally be pressed toward the coupling section 28 of the bolt element 14 in the region of the end 26 so that a corresponding axial coupling is also present between the bolt element 14 and the sleeve body 12. The end 26 and the shoulder 19 additionally provide a coupling of the components 12, 14 in the axial direction.

[0038] The nut 16 is configured as a commercial nut which has a polygonal section 34 (peripheral contour of a regular hexagon) and a flange section 36 having a circular cross-section (cf. FIGS. 1 and 2).

[0039] It will now be described with reference to FIGS. 3 to 5 how the blind rivet element 10 of FIG. 1 is fastened to a sheet metal part 38 by means of the method in accordance with the invention.

[0040] The sheet metal part 38 has a circular hole 40 with respect to the axis of symmetry S and its diameter is adapted such that the blind rivet element 10 can be introduced into the hole 40 (cf. FIG. 3 and FIG. 4). For this purpose, the blind rivet element 10 is led by the bolt head 18 and the end 26 of the sleeve body 12 through the hole 10 until the thread 24 of the sleeve body 12 contacts a wall 42 of the hole 40. The nut 16 is then rotated clockwise with respect to the perspective of FIG. 2 using a tool wrench, not shown.

[0041] The nut 16 is generally displaced relative to the bolt element 14 by a rotation clockwise in the axial direction of the bolt head 18 or of the sleeve body 12 (screwing of the nut 16 onto the bolt element 14 into the position shown in FIG. 3). A rotation and an axial displacement of the nut 16 relative to the bolt element 14 effected hereby is naturally only possible, however, when neither an axial movement of the nut 16 nor an axial movement of the bolt element 14 is blocked.

[0042] In the present embodiment, a rotation of the nut 16 clockwise as well as an axial movement relative to the bolt element 14 effected hereby is blocked when the nut 16 lies on the flange section 22 of the sleeve body 12 and the sleeve body 12 is seated on the bolt head 18 of the bolt element 14 (FIG. 3). This is due to the fact that, on the one hand, an axial displacement of the nut 16 in the direction of the sleeve body 12 and, on the other hand, an opposed axial displacement of the bolt element 14 in the direction away from the sleeve body 12 (upward in FIG. 3) is in particular directly blocked by the sleeve body 12 in the state shown in FIG. 3. The sleeve body 12 is therefore ultimately clamped between the nut 16 and the bolt head 18. For this reason, the bolt element 14 is also moved in a compulsory manner on a rotation of the nut 16 clockwise from the occurrence of the above-described blocking onward. As part of this rotation, the sleeve body 12 is also in particular also rotated by the mutually engaging coupling sections 28, 32 (FIG. 1). In other words, a corresponding rotation of the total bind rivet element 10 is effected by the rotation of the nut 16.

[0043] It becomes clear from the above description that the sleeve body 12 is screwed into the hole 40 by a rotation of the nut 16 clockwise, with the thread 24 cutting into the wall 42 of the hole 40 and establishing a reliable electrical contact between the sheet metal part 38 and the sleeve body 12. At the same time, due to their mechanical contact, the nut 16 and the bolt element 14 are likewise electrically connected to the sleeve body 12 or to the sheet metal part 38 so that a line, not shown, for the electrical grounding of the sheet metal part 38 can be connected to the bolt element 14. The sleeve body 12 is rotated clockwise (by the corresponding rotation of the nut 16) until the flange section 22 of the sleeve body 12 contacts the sheet metal part 38 (FIG. 4) with a contact surface 44 facing the sheet metal part 38. The blind rivet element 10 is now prefixed to the sheet metal part 38.

[0044] Starting from the state shown in FIG. 4, the nut 16 is now rotated further clockwise. A further rotation of the sleeve body 12 is now blocked, however, since the flange section 22 of the sleeve body 12 contacts the sheet metal part 38 with the contact surface 44. An axial movement of the bolt element 14 relative to the nut 16 and the sleeve body 12 is now caused by a further rotation of the nut 16, with the bolt head 18 exerting an axial force onto the sleeve body 12. During the further rotation of the nut 16, the bolt element 14 is therefore moved in a compulsory manner upwardly in the axial direction (FIG. 4), whereby the sleeve body 12 is deformed. Specifically, a section 46 of the sleeve body 12 disposed between the end 26 and the thread 24 is radially outwardly deformed so that the section 46 engages behind the sheet metal part 38 in the region around the hole 40 in the sense of a form-fitted rivet connection (FIG. 5). The blind rivet element 10 is now securely fastened to the sheet metal part 38.

[0045] During the total rotation of the nut 16that is during the screwing in of the sleeve body 12 and during the pulling out of the bolt element 14the rotationally fixed coupling remains between the sleeve body 12 and the bolt element 14. There would otherwise be the danger that the bolt element 14 also rotates with the nut 16 and does not move in the desired manner axially away from the sheet metal part 38 to shape the sleeve body 12 as described above.

[0046] The pitch of the thread 20 of the bolt element 14 corresponds to a pitch of the internal thread of the nut 16 and is adapted such that the required torque for the rotation of the nut 16 or for the resulting axial movement of the bolt element 14 relative to the nut 16 is below a predefined threshold value. Provision can be made for this purpose that the pitch of the thread 20 should not exceed a predefined value.

[0047] Instead of introducing the blind rivet element 10 into the preshaped hole 40 as described, it is also conceivable to stamp the blind rivet element 10 into the sheet metal part 38. The separate production of the hole 40 could then be omitted.

[0048] The screwing of the sleeve body 12 into the hole 40 does not necessarily have to be carried out indirectly by the rotation of the nut 16. It is rather also possible to rotate the sleeve body 12 directly itself, for example using pliers which engage at the flange section 22 of the sleeve body 12 and is correspondingly rotated for screwing in the sleeve body 12.

[0049] It is equally understood that the bolt element 14 does not necessarily have to be pulled out by rotating the nut 16. It is thus conceivable to engage directly at the bolt element 14 by means of suitable tools, e.g. a lever, to move it axially. It would alternatively also be possible to use a tool with which the bolt element 14 is rotated counter-clockwise and the nut 16 is simultaneously held in a rest position. During the shaping of the sleeve body 12, the coupling between the sleeve body 12 and the bolt element 14 is released in this respect so that the bolt element 14 is unscrewed from the sheet metal part 38 and is moved in the axial direction relative to the sleeve body 12.

REFERENCE NUMERAL LIST

[0050] 10 blind rivet element

[0051] 12 sleeve body

[0052] 14 bolt element

[0053] 16 nut

[0054] 18 bolt head

[0055] 20 thread

[0056] 22 flange section

[0057] 24 thread

[0058] 26 end

[0059] 28 coupling section

[0060] 30 rib

[0061] 32 coupling section

[0062] 34 polygonal section

[0063] 36 flange section

[0064] 38 sheet metal part

[0065] 40 hole

[0066] 42 wall

[0067] 44 contact surface

[0068] 46 section

[0069] S axis

[0070] I sectional plane