Easily removable rivet with tab

An easily removable blind rivet of the type having an open rivet body with a flange on one end and a mandrel positioned within the opening in the rivet body, the mandrel having an enlarged head at one end adapted to upset the rivet body when the mandrel is pulled. The rivet is assembled with a separate strip of material surrounding the rivet body below the flange, the strip of material is adapted to be pulled so that the rivet flange can be removed from the rivet body enabling the rivet body to be passed through the opening in a workpiece.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
(1) Field of the Invention 
This invention relates to blind rivet assemblies and particularly blind 
rivets which can be easily removed from the workpiece or workpieces after 
being installed. 
(2) Summary of the Prior Art 
There are several different types of blind rivets on the market. These 
rivets generally comprise a hollow rivet body having a flanged head. A 
mandrel is passed through the body with a head on a mandrel stem 
positioned adjacent the open end of the rivet body opposite the flanged 
head. Another type of blind rivet has a rivet body which is closed at the 
end opposite the flanged head, and the mandrel head is enveloped in the 
closed end of the rivet body. These are called closed end rivets. With 
either type, the rivet body can then be inserted into the opening in a 
workpiece wherein the flange of the rivet lies flat against the surface of 
the workpiece. By placing the nosepiece of a rivet setting tool adjacent 
the rivet flange, and by pulling on the mandrel stem, the head of the 
mandrel upsets the rivet body on the opposite side of the workpiece to 
deform the rivet and secure it within the workpiece. This process is 
generally known in the art as "setting" the rivet. A continued pulling of 
the mandrel stem will break off the mandrel head with the removed mandrel 
stem passing through the rivet body. In this fashion, the rivet is secured 
in the opening of the workpiece between the rivet flange on one side of 
the workpiece and the deformed rivet body on the opposite side of the 
workpiece from the rivet flange. 
Examples of rivets of these types and tools for setting the rivets are 
illustrated in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,254,522; 3,302,444 and 3,324,700, and 
2,779,955. 
BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
In the aforementioned blind rivet devices and their application to 
workpieces, it is the major intention that the rivet and workpieces become 
permanently attached. 
There are, however, some applications for such blind rivets where it is 
desirable to merely provide a temporary attachment between the workpieces. 
Therefore, it would be desirable to have an easily removable blind rivet. 
For example, as illustrated and discussed herein, it may be desirable to 
secure two metal workpieces together in a proper predetermined relation so 
that the workpieces could be permanently welded together. Thereafter it 
may be desirable to remove the temporary securing means. 
It is therefore an object of this invention to provide an easily removable 
blind rivet. 
It is a further object of this invention to locate in a blind assembly a 
thin metal sheet of material between the rivet flange and the workpiece 
that can be used to remove the rivet flange so the rivet can be passed 
through the opening in the workpiece. 
It is another object of this invention to provide a blind rivet with a 
relieved area between the rivet body and the flange which will localize an 
area of weakness facilitating the separation of the body from the flange. 
A thin strip of material surrounds the rivet body adjacent the flange 
which can be pulled to remove the flange from the rivet body. 
These and other objects of this invention will become more apparent from 
the accompanying description along with the drawing.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT 
Attention is now directed to FIG. 1 which illustrates the blind rivet 
assembly 10 with a mandrel 12. The rivet contains a cylindrical open body 
portion of 14 having an opening 16 on one end 18 and a flange 20 on the 
opposite end 22. 
The mandrel 12 contains an elongated stem 24 terminating in a head portion 
26. The elongated stem 24 is approximately the same diameter as the 
diameter of the opening 16 in rivet body portion 14. The stem 24 is 
adapted to pass through the opening 16 until the mandrel head portion 26 
abuts the end 18 of the rivet body 14, as illustrated. 
In the above described assembled condition the blind rivet 10 is adapted, 
for example, to be inserted into openings 28 and 30 of workpiece 32 and 
34. The openings 28 and 30 are the approximate diameter of the diameter of 
the body portion 14 of the rivet 10. 
In the operation of setting the conventional rivet thus far described, the 
nosepiece (not shown) of a rivet setting tool of the type described in 
U.S. Pat. No. 3,254,522 is placed adjacent the flange 20 of the rivet. The 
mandrel stem 24 is then pulled so that the mandrel head portion 26 is 
forced against the end 18 of the rivet body 14 to upset the rivet body 14 
in the conventional manner, as illustrated in FIG. 3. Normally there is a 
reduced neck area 36 between the mandrel stem 24 and head portion 26. As 
the stem 24 is pulled, the mandrel breaks at the neck area 36 so that the 
stem 24 is removed and the head portion 26 is retained in the deformed end 
18 of the rivet body 14. 
In U.S. patent application Ser. No. 535,436 filed Sept. 26, 1983 there is 
disclosed a blind rivet having a flange with a portion formed out of the 
surface of the flange which can be gripped so that the flange can be 
removed from the rivet body. This is one novel manner of providing an 
easily removable blind rivet. 
The improved novel manner of providing an easily removable rivet assembly 
disclosed herein is by providing a thin strip of material surrounding the 
rivet body adjacent the rivet flange which can be pulled to strip the 
flange from the rivet body. 
The thin strip of sheet material 38 has an opening 40 surrounding the body 
portion 14 of the rivet and is adapted to be placed adjacent the flange 
20. As illustrated in the drawing, the material 38 is positioned between 
the flange 20 and the workpiece and when the rivet is set the material 38 
will be securely retained between the flange and the workpiece. Attention 
is also directed to the undercut or relieved area 42 in the flange 20 
between the flange 20 and the body portion 14 of the rivet. 
When the rivet is formed or set as illustrated in FIG. 3, the flange 20 of 
the rivet can be removed by pulling the tab 46 extending upwardly from the 
strip of material 38 by means of any conventional gripping tool such as 
pliers 48 (see FIG. 4). In this fashion, the rivet flange 20 can be 
removed from the rivet body portion 14 so that the rivet can be passed 
through the openings 28 and 30 of the workpieces 32, 34. The relieved area 
42 between the flange 20 and the rivet body 14 provides a localized area 
of weakness at which the separation of the flange 20 and body 14 occurs as 
shown at 46' (see FIGS. 4 and 5). Since the flange 20 is removed from the 
body 14 at the area 42, a portion of the body 14 extends beyond the 
surface of the workpiece. Thereafter, the exposed end of the rivet body 14 
can be struck to free the rivet body 14 from the openings 28, 30 to remove 
the rivet body from the workpiece. 
An application of the rivet assembly of this invention is illustrated in 
the drawing wherein the workpieces 32, 34 are temporarily secured together 
by the rivet assembly. Thereafter, the workpieces can be permanently 
secured by a weld 44. Thus, it can be seen that the rivet assembly can be 
utilized to temporarily secure two workpieces in a predetermined 
relationship for permanently securing them together. Thereafter, the rivet 
assembly can be removed in the manner described so as not to be a 
hindrance to the assembled workpieces or the surfaces of the workpieces 
against which additional operations may have to be performed. 
Additionally, it may be desirable to utilize the free openings 28, 30 for 
securing other members to the workpieces. 
Another application for the above described invention is an environment 
wherein it is desirable to periodically replace a worn working member 
secured to the workpiece. An illustration of this application of the rivet 
is to secure a transformer to a printed circuit board. Periodically the 
transformer becomes inefficient or inoperative. Once the transformer is 
secured to the printed circuit board or other support wherein it is being 
used, and the transformer becomes non-functional, it can be easily removed 
from the board by removing the flange 20 from the rivet 10 by removing 
pull tab 46 attached to strip 38. Thereafter, a replacement transformer 
can be attached to the board by another set of rivets of the type of the 
invention described herein. 
An additional application of the blind rivet of this invention is to hold 
glued workpieces together while an adhesive cures.