Abstract: A fastener with a tapered head that frictionally mates with a tapered hole in a punched sheet. Frictional attachment is achieved with the fastener head remaining flush with the top of the panel. If a second panel of softer material is placed underneath against the backside of the first panel, in the same pressing step clinch features on the shank of the fastener attach to the second panel and attach the two sheets face-to-face. Attachment of the tapered head with the top panel exploits two different attachment phenomena: a locking taper and, depending on the choice of materials such as stainless steel, attachment by galling.

Abstract: An automated press feeds a string of tack pins loaded on a reel. The press shears the part from the string of fasteners and delivers each part individually to a punch for installation. The string of fasteners is pulled from the reel by a sprocket which includes peripheral teeth for engaging the fasteners and for feeding them in a vertical column to a shear station. A horizontally reciprocal shear block severs individual fasteners one-at-a-time from the end of the fastener string at the shear station, each fastener being indexed to the next shear position by incremental rotation of the sprocket. The punch includes vacuum retaining means for lifting each fastener from the shear block.

Abstract: A two-stage punch accomplishes the two-step process of sheet deformation and nut flaring to attach the nut to the sheet in a single stroke of an assembly press. The punch comprises an outer cylindrical sleeve which captivates a resiliently biased center punch. When the punch is moved downward into contact with the sheet, an embossing ring on the sleeve deforms the sheet material around an aperture in the sheet. When the punch is moved farther downward, a pointed end of the center punch extends beyond the embossing ring and into forcible contact with the nut. The nut is thereby flared capturing the sheet between flared edges of the nut and a nut flange.

Abstract: A fastener pin has a head at a topmost end that is the greatest diameter of the fastener. A shoulder extends downward from the head and includes a bottom surface for displacing material of a host object. A broaching section of rectangular lateral cross-section is located immediately below the displacer by cutting a rectangular profile into a round installation hole in the host object. Immediately below the broaching section is a tapered tip at a bottommost end which may be in the shape of a rectangular pyramid rotated radially out of alignment with the remainder of the other fastener features which all have parallel side edges. This individual fastener is one of a series of substantially identical pins attached toe-to-head at severable joints in a continuous string of fasteners.

Abstract: A dynamic mounting system couples a first object to a second object by the attachment of a threaded member to a threaded receiving member on the second object to a predetermined depth to cause a biased compression member to exert a predetermined clamping force holding the first object to the second. The first object may be a heat sink in communication with a heat-generating component such as a processor mounted on the second object such as a circuit board. The predetermined depth is reached by advancing the threaded member until its threads pass beyond threads on the receiving member. The predetermined depth of threaded member biases the compression member to maintain a clamping force between the first and second objects within a desired range of temperature.

Abstract: A panel fastener is comprised of two separately formed interacting parts: a panel retainer and an actuator pin. The retainer is fashioned from sheet metal using progressive stamping technology. The retainer and pin work together to create a fastener for securing two panels together that can semi-permanently snap into the first panel and then be clamped onto and then selectively removed from the second panel. Attachment to the second panel is obtained by expanding and later released by contracting the legs of the retainer by rotating a cammed expander pin between self-locking positions. A head of the expander pin can be configured for hand actuation, tool-only actuation, or both. The retainer is fashioned from sheet metal using progressive stamping technology.

Abstract: A retractable panel fastener includes a hold down mechanism that holds the screw in an extended position. A deformable ring around the outside of the retainer engages an inward facing lip at the bottom of a cap which is rigidly attached to the head of the screw. The ring is held in a groove on the retainer adjacent the bottommost travel of the cap. The ring may be composed of silicone.

Abstract: A retractable panel fastener includes a hold down mechanism that holds the screw in an extended position. A deformable ring around the outside of the retainer engages an inward facing lip at the bottom of a cap which is rigidly attached to the head of the screw. The ring is held in a groove on the retainer adjacent the bottommost travel of the cap. The ring may be composed of silicone.

Abstract: A clinch-type fastener is formed by simultaneously creating an undercut during the same forging that creates the head and displacer of the fastener. A fastener blank is compressed end-to-end between top and bottom dies whereby the axial compression of a blank causes the outward bulging of the shank at its midline. Simultaneously, a tapered end point and a tangential interference band are formed provided by a curvilinear-shaped bulge in the shank. As the bulge is formed an undercut is created between the bulge and a shoulder which extends downwardly from a head of the fastener. This method of formation and the fastener produced thereby are particularly suited to the manufacture of small clinch pins having a diameter in the range of 1.0 mm.

Abstract: A piercing fastener is attachable to a panel without a hole by penetrating its surface. The fastener further includes means for attachment of a device to it so that the fastener acts as an intermediate component attaching the device to the panel. The fastener has either male or female attachment means and further includes an outside surface extending from a top end to a bottom end. Near the bottom end, a reinforcement collar includes an annular top surface for receiving a downward pressing force to install the fastener into the panel. A displacer and undercut are located immediately below the collar to effect and receive a cold flow of deformed panel material to secure the fastener to the panel. A plurality of axially extending circumferential teeth are located immediately below the undercut and comprise triangular knurls with sharp edges which penetrate the sheet as the fastener is applied. The bottom of the fastener terminates in a sharp circular cutting edge for penetrating the panel.

Abstract: A clinch-type fastener is formed by simultaneously creating an undercut during the same forging that creates the head and displacer of the fastener. A fastener blank is compressed end-to-end between top and bottom dies whereby the axial compression of a blank causes the outward bulging of the shank at its midline. Simultaneously, a tapered end point and a tangential interference band are formed provided by a curvilinear-shaped bulge in the shank. As the bulge is formed an undercut is created between the bulge and a shoulder which extends downwardly from a head of the fastener. This method of formation and the fastener produced thereby are particularly suited to the manufacture of small clinch pins having a diameter in the range of 1.0 mm.

Abstract: A two-stage punch accomplishes the two-step process of sheet deformation and nut flaring to attach the nut to the sheet in a single stroke of an assembly press. The punch comprises an outer cylindrical sleeve which captivates a resiliently biased center punch. When the punch is moved downward into contact with the sheet, an embossing ring on the sleeve deforms the sheet material around an aperture in the sheet. When the punch is moved farther downward, a pointed end of the center punch extends beyond the embossing ring and into forcible contact with the nut. The nut is thereby flared capturing the sheet between flared edges of the nut and a nut flange.

Abstract: A captive panel fastener is manufactured by first overmolding a plastic cap around the head of a screw, the cap having a cylindrical plastic skirt extending downwardly beyond the base of the screw head and formed with a circular opening at the bottom. After a compression spring is placed around the shank of the screw, the screw is pressed against a top surface of a ferrule to a point where the capped-skirt extends downwardly below a ferrule flange. At that point, heat and pressure are applied radially inwardly around the periphery of the plastic skirt along its bottom edge until it is permanently deformed to a point where the bottom of the skirt is smaller in diameter than the ferrule flange. The screw is thereby captivated to the ferrule between extended and retracted positions.

Abstract: A fastening system for a heat sink mounted on a circuit board utilizes a self-clinching stud assembly constructed by axially interfitting two flat sheet metal members. Each member has forked ends which when axially plugged together in criss-cross fashion create a unified fastener with side structures that can permanently clinch into a heat sink. After attachment to the heat sink, the stud presents two opposite attachment ends with tines which extend from the top and bottom of the heat sink. As finally assembled, a fan attaches to the top end of the studs above the heat sink while the opposite end of the stud which extends from the bottom of the heat sink passes through the circuit board to attach to a retaining leaf spring which presses against the back side of the board. Thus, all of the components are joined by a single stud.

Abstract: A universal joint employs snap-in press pins to rotatably secure the center knuckle with the surrounding drive shaft cup providing a simplified assembly process. The press pins install flush or sub-flush with the outside of the steering shaft cup. A snap-lock feature permits one-direction axial movement only. Each snap pin includes a barb-like tapered flange with a lead-in ramp to aid installation. Once installed, a radially extending base on the backside of the flange abuts the inside wall of the drive shaft cup. A locking clip may be employed to prevent removal of the snap pin. The locking clip includes two axially extending legs with barbs located at the end of each leg, said legs being resiliently biased outwardly and abutting an inside wall of said drive shaft cup when fully engaged with the pin.

Abstract: A hybrid clinch-type standoff consists of two component parts, a metal core base and a overmolded plastic barrel. The base has a through-bore and a displacer flange at the bottom. A first undercut is located immediately above the flange and extends upwardly along an outside surface of the base for providing clinch attachment of the base to a substrate. A frustoconical ramp convergent in the upward direction lies along the outer surface of the base is and is located directly above the first undercut. An axially extending segmented ring with circumferential teeth is located at the top of the base. The overmolded plastic tubular barrel composed of plastic fills the second undercut and surrounds the segmented ring. The barrel has an inner portion including a threaded inner wall which extends downardly inside the through-bore to a point flush with the bottom of the flange.