Patent ID: 11867215
Assignee: AMI CHEN
Field: Mechanical elements (Mechanical engineering)
Classification: CPC F | IPC F

Claim 0:
1. A self-drilling bolt-and-nut assembly for attaching rigid panels, comprising:
a self-drilling bolt comprising:
a bolt-head configured to operatively interface with a driver tool;
a cylindrical screw-thread section having a bolt-rotating-axis, an external thread-diameter, and an internal thread-diameter;
a drill-bit section; and
a thread-less section interconnecting said screw-thread section, having a thread-less section width, and said drill-bit section; and

a grooved nut having a through cylindrical opening formed at the center of said grooved nut, said cylindrical opening having a nut-rotating-axis, wherein the cylindrical wall of said cylindrical opening of said grooved nut is threaded with threads that are operatively compatible with the threads of said screw-thread section of said self-drilling bolt, and wherein said threads of said grooved nut form said through cylindrical opening;
wherein said bolt-rotating-axis operatively coincides with said nut having a nut-rotating-axis;
wherein said drill-bit section includes at least two cutting-blades, wherein said at least two cutting-blades are spaced apart, and wherein said drill-bit section has a width that is twice the distance of said cutting-blades from said bolt-rotating-axis;
wherein said width of said cutting-blades is equal to or slightly larger than said external thread-diameter of said screw-thread section;
wherein said thread-less section width is equal to or smaller than said internal diameter of said cylindrical screw-thread section; and
wherein at least two grooves, each having a groove-depth, are formed in said wall of said through cylindrical opening, wherein said grooves are parallel to said nut-rotating-axis;
wherein said grooves are spaced apart according to a peripheral distance between said cutting-blades of said drill-bit section;
wherein said grooves locally widen said through cylindrical opening by twice the depth of said groove-depth to thereby form a local-maximum-cylindrical-opening; and
wherein said local-maximum-cylindrical-opening is equal to or slightly wider than said width of said drill-bit section to thereby enable said grooved nut to pass through said drill-bit section of said self-drilling bolt and reach said thread-less section of said self-drilling bolt and then to said cylindrical screw-thread of said self-drilling bolt.