PANEL SCREW CLINCHING ANVIL
An anvil for clinching a screw with a panel. The anvil includes an opening, a recess communicating with the opening, and raised ridges formed near the opening. When the threads of the screw are inserted through the panel and into the opening and recess of the anvil, and then a head of the screw is pressed against the panel, the ridges on the anvil deform the underside of the panel, thereby captivating the screw with the panel.
Panel screws are typically used to attach metallic sheets or panels to larger assemblies. These screws are typically inserted through holes in the panels and threaded into some sort of threaded female fastener. Sometimes it is desirable to affix the screw to the panel to improve efficiency during assembly or to prevent loss during disassembly.
One such product is the SCB Spinning Clinch Bolt, made and sold by Penn Engineering. This is a one-piece fastener that has a circular shoulder under the screw head that, when pressed into a hole in the metallic sheet, deforms the material around the hole thereby causing the hole diameter to decrease in size to smaller than the screw thread outside diameter, thus preventing the screw from being removed.
However, the SCB fastener has a specialized head configuration and is made from heat-treated steel specific for this application. Thus, the SCB fastener is not suitable for the wide variety of panel screws commonly available in the trade utilizing different head configurations and materials. Further, after installation, the SCB fastener creates an unsightly dent on the visible side of the sheet.
It would be desirable to have a system for clinching a panel screw to a panel that will work with any style screw head or material similar in hardness to the panel sheet material. Further, it would be desirable to hide any material deformation caused by such a fastener.
Several embodiments of a clinching anvil are described. The clinching anvil is used to provide a rigid base against which a punch may be pressed. In this case, the punch is used to apply pressure to a fastener inserted into an opening in a panel against the rigid anvil. The anvil includes an opening and a recess into which the fastener moves, but also includes one or more raised ridges near the opening. When the punch is pressed down thereby forcing the fastener into the anvil recess, the ridges on the anvil deform the underside of the panel, thereby captivating the screw with the panel.
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In one embodiment, a c-shaped press 50 (see
The press 50 is operated by moving the top chuck 52 downward in the direction shown by arrow 53, thereby exerting pressure from the punch 54 against the head 23 of screw 20 and forcing the screw and panel 30 against the anvil 10 held in the stationary bottom chuck 51, as shown in
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In general, those skilled in the art to which this disclosure relates will recognize that changes in construction and materials will suggest themselves without departing from the spirit and essential characteristics of this disclosure. Accordingly, the disclosures and descriptions herein are intended to be illustrative, and not limiting, of the scope of the invention, which is set forth in the claims.
Claims
1. An anvil for use in captivating a screw to a panel, comprising:
- a solid body having an opening on one end thereof communicating with a recess, and at least one raised ridge on the one end, wherein the opening and recess are formed to be slightly larger than a diameter of the screw.
2. The anvil of claim 1, wherein the raised ridge is formed immediately adjacent the opening.
3. The anvil of claim 1, further comprising a transition portion formed between the raised ridge and the one end of the body.
4. The anvil of claim 3, wherein the transition portion is formed between the raised ridge and the opening on the body.
5. The anvil of claim 1, wherein the raised ridge is an annular ridge.
6. The anvil of claim 1, wherein the raised ridge is a series of discrete ridges.
7. An anvil for clinching a screw to a panel, the panel having a hole of a first diameter for receiving the screw, wherein the first diameter is slightly larger than threads of the screw, comprising:
- a body having a recessed portion within the body, an opening at one end of the body communicating with the recessed portion, and a raised portion on the one end of the body, wherein the opening and recessed portion are formed to have the first diameter;
- whereupon inserting threads of the screws through the panel and into the recessed portion of the body and then pressing a head of the screw against the panel, the raised portion of the body deforms the panel adjacent the opening thereby captivating the screw with the panel.
8. The anvil of claim 7, wherein the body is cylindrical in shape, the recessed portion is formed coaxially within the body, and the opening is circular.
9. The anvil of claim 7, wherein the raised portion is formed as one or more ridges.
10. The anvil of claim 9, wherein the ridges are formed as linear structures.
11. The anvil of claim 9, wherein the ridges are formed as annular structures surrounding a circular opening.
Type: Application
Filed: Aug 20, 2010
Publication Date: Feb 23, 2012
Inventor: Gregg Vincent Summers (Scottsdale, AZ)
Application Number: 12/860,627
International Classification: B21D 37/00 (20060101);