Abstract: 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.

Abstract: 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.

Abstract: A circuit board fastening system consists of a two-piece assembly including an electrically conductive circuit board retainer for surface mounting and a flexible clip for retaining a daughter-card to the retainer. The clip is preferably made of a flexible polymer so that a band portion in the middle of the clip can be comfortably folded 180 degrees at a u-shaped bend. During assembly, an arrow-shaped barb at one end of the clip is inserted into a retain bore thereby resiliently securing the daughter-card to a retainer flange upon which the card is seated. At the opposite end of the clip, a notched aperture in the clip is affixed around a groove in the retainer flange. The resilience of the barb provides a residual clamping effect to the daughter-card that is tightly sandwiched between a broad planar portion of the clip and a top surface of the retainer flange.

Abstract: 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.

Abstract: 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.

Abstract: A two-part fastener with an insert and a compression sleeve. The insert is an internally-threaded fastener intended to be installed into a hole of a very hard panel. The insert itself is relatively hard with a knurled outer barrel portion and a flange at the bottom. A compression sleeve is made of relatively soft material and is preassembled around the barrel of the insert by friction fit. Upon installation into a panel with a blind hole having parallel sides, the compression sleeve is pressed into the panel and deforms outwardly between the insert and the side wall of the hole. Friction between the compression sleeve and the wall of the hole prevents torque out and pull out of the fastener from the panel.

Abstract: A press-in fastener incorporates a compound wave pattern into the shank knurl. The knurl is generally aligned vertically but instead of a straight uniform knurl pattern, the rows of knurls have an undulating curved shape that alternates from a narrow to a wider cross-section as they transverse axially along the length of the pin shank. The knurls are arranged in straight or serpentine longitudinal rows equally spaced around a circumference of the shank. At least one of the rows has a wavy cross-sectional profile in a radial plane containing the longitudinal axis wherein said profile consists of a series of contiguous alternating crests and valleys. The compound wavy configuration of the knurls yields a number of benefits without adversely affecting the manufacturing process. The knurl configuration also reduces the installation force and disruption of the host material while maintaining a better lock on the host material.

Abstract: 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.

Abstract: A fastener is installed by applying an axial pressing force onto a mating component such as a round pin or a square tab. The fastener includes spring arms formed by bent tabs which deflect when pressed onto and grip the pin or other mating component between jaws of the arms making the fastener resistant to being pulled off. Downward facing fingers located around the periphery of the fastener flex when they come into contact with another portion of the mating component. This creates a residual clamp load between the fastener and the component. The fastener can easily be removed using a tool similar to snap ring pliers or needle nose pliers. Two holes on opposite sides of the fastener allow the part to be squeezed and deformed into an oval shape. This action disengages the arms and allows the fastener to slide off the mating component without resistance.

Abstract: A press-in fastener incorporates a compound wave pattern into the shank knurl. The knurl is generally aligned vertically but instead of a straight uniform knurl pattern, the rows of knurls have an undulating curved shape that alternates from a narrow to a wider cross-section as they transverse axially along the length of the pin shank. The knurls are arranged in straight or serpentine longitudinal rows equally spaced around a circumference of the shank. At least one of the rows has a wavy cross-sectional profile in a radial plane containing the longitudinal axis wherein said profile consists of a series of contiguous alternating crests and valleys. The compound wavy configuration of the knurls yields a number of benefits without adversely affecting the manufacturing process. The knurl configuration also reduces the installation force and disruption of the host material while maintaining a better lock on the host material.

Abstract: A two-part fastener with an insert and a compression sleeve. The insert is an internally-threaded fastener intended to be installed into a hole of a very hard panel. The insert itself is relatively hard with a knurled outer barrel portion and a flange at the bottom. A compression sleeve is made of relatively soft material and is preassembled around the barrel of the insert by friction fit. Upon installation into a panel with a blind hole having parallel sides, the compression sleeve is pressed into the panel and deforms outwardly between the insert and the side wall of the hole. Friction between the compression sleeve and the wall of the hole prevents torque out and pull out of the fastener from the panel.

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 rotatably captive clinch nut includes a body having an axial threaded bore and a flange forming a base of the nut body. The flange includes a surface on a bottom side thereof preferably unitary therewith for providing a bearing surface of reduced friction. A displacer unitary with the nut body is located directly below the flange and has an outside diameter less than an outside diameter of the flange. A tubular flared shank unitary with the nut body extends coaxially from the displacer and includes a neck immediately adjacent the displacer, forming an undercut area between the outside of the shank and an underside of the displacer. The neck may include an axially extending cylindrical portion so that the thickness of the displaced material in the region of the undercut is substantially less than the axial length of the nut.

Abstract: A rotatably captive clinch nut includes a body having an axial threaded bore and a flange forming a base of the nut body. The flange includes a surface on a bottom side thereof preferably unitary therewith for providing a bearing surface of reduced friction. A displacer unitary with the nut body is located directly below the flange and has an outside diameter less than an outside diameter of the flange. A tubular flared shank unitary with the nut body extends coaxially from the displacer and includes a neck immediately adjacent the displacer, forming an undercut area between the outside of the shank and an underside of the displacer. The neck may include an axially extending cylindrical portion so that the thickness of the displaced material in the region of the undercut is substantially less than the axial length of the nut.

Abstract: A captive clinch nut may be rotatably attached to an apertured sheet. The nut includes a body having an axial threaded bore and a flange forming a base of the nut body. The flange includes a surface on a bottom side thereof preferably unitary therewith for providing a bearing surface of reduced friction against the sheet. A displacer unitary with the nut body is located directly below the flange and has an outside diameter less than an outside diameter of the flange. A tubular flared shank unitary with the nut body extends coaxially from the displacer, and includes a neck immediately adjacent the displacer with an outside diameter less than the outside diameter of the displacer forming an undercut area between the outside of the shank and an underside of the displacer for receiving the cold flow of metal of the sheet.

Abstract: A fastener for attaching two panels and having aligned apertures consists of a fastener which utilizes a retainer, a through-shaft, a rubber sleeve, and an end cap. The shaft extends through the retainer and a rubber sleeve is fitted around the shaft being retained axially by cap which is attached to the end of the shaft. The pre-assembled fastener is attached to a first panel preferably by clinch-type attachment. Cam surfaces on the underside of a head of the shaft and inside the retainer cooperate such that when the head of the shaft is turned, the shaft is withdrawn from the retainer compressing the rubber sleeve between the end cap and a base of the retainer. This causes the rubber sleeve to bulge and apply a clamp load against the backside of the second panel. Thus the two panels are captured between the expanded area of the rubber sleeve and the base of the retainer.

Abstract: A self-contained assembled fastener (11) includes a retainer (15), a through-pin (24) assembled to an over-molded knob (13), a rubber sleeve (17), and an end cap (19). The retainer (15) includes a radially disposed upward-facing cam ramp (26) that cooperates with a like cam ramp (29) on the knob (13) affixed to the pin (24). To secure two panels (12, 14) the retainer base is first fastened to a first panel preferably by clinch-type attachment (16) with the center pin extending through the retainer and through the two panels to be attached to the opposite side of the second panel. The rubber sleeve (17) is slidably fitted around the end of the pin (24) and is retained axially by an end cap (19). When the pin is turned, the cam-action between the pin ramp and the retainer ramp withdraws the pin axially upward from the retainer compressing the rubber sleeve and causing it to bulge against the backside of the second panel.

Abstract: A two-piece fastening system utilizes separate parts, a nut and a retainer, which are securely united from opposite sides of the captivating element such as a sheet or panel. The nut body which has an axial threaded bore includes an integral collar located on one side of the nut having an outside diameter less than the outside diameter of the nut body. A tubular shank unitary with the nut body extends coaxially from the collar, the outside diameter of the shank being less than the outside diameter of the collar. The shank includes an expandable portion near its end which is deformable to provide attachment to the second part, a retainer, which has a bore that receives the expandable portion of the shank. The retainer bore includes an inside wall against which the expandable portion of the shank is forced to achieve attachment of the parts. The width of the retainer is preferably greater than the length of the shank so that once attached, the end of the shank is below the endface of the retainer.

Abstract: A two-piece fastening system utilizes separate parts, a nut and a retainer, which are securely united from opposite sides of the captivating element such as a sheet or panel. The nut body which has an axial threaded bore includes an integral collar located on one side of the nut having an outside diameter less than the outside diameter of the nut body. A tubular shank unitary with the nut body extends coaxially from the collar, the outside diameter of the shank being less than the outside diameter of the collar. The shank includes an expandable portion near its end which is deformable to provide attachment to the second part, a retainer, which has a bore that receives the expandable portion of the shank. The retainer bore includes an inside wall against which the expandable portion of the shank is forced to achieve attachment of the parts. The width of the retainer is preferably greater than the length of the shank so that once attached, the end of the shank is below the endface of the retainer.