# Patent

## Title
Functional element for fixing to a piece of sheet metal, component assembled from the above and method for fixing the functional element to a piece of sheet metal

## Abstract

A functional element (10), for fixing to a piece of sheet metal (40), such as for example, a nut element or a bolt element with a body section or head section, comprising an annular flange (14) which transforms into a cylindrical rivet section, is characterised in that the transformation from annular flange into the rivet section is formed by an at least essentially conical surface, forming a contact surface for a corresponding conical region of a piece of sheet metal, which, on fixing the functional element to a piece of sheet metal, is clamped between the side of the annular flange facing the rivet section and an annular bead (50) formed from the rivet section. An assembled component and a method for the fixing of a functional element are also disclosed.

## Background
The present invention relates to a functional element for the attachment to a sheet metal part, such as for example a nut element or bolt element with a body portion or head portion which has a ring flange and also a component assembly manufactured from the functional element and a sheet metal part and a method of attachment of the functional element to a sheet metal part.
A functional element of the initially named kind is offered by Profil Verbindungstechnik GmbH & Co. KG, Friedrichsdorf, Germany under the designation EMF in the form of a nut element. This element permits a component to be attached to the side of the sheet metal part remote from the ring flange and indeed by means of a threaded bolt which engages into the thread of the nut element and clamps the component and the sheet metal part against one another. The element is attached to a sheet metal part by means of the method which is described in EP-A-0 713 982 in conjunction with its FIGS. 16 and 17, with this method being claimed per se in the corresponding European Divisional Application EP-A-0 922 866. A functional element of the initially named kind in the form of a bolt element is likewise known and indeed in the form of the so-called SBF bolt element of the company Profil Verbindungstechnik GmbH & Co. KG which, amongst other things, is described in the German patent 34 47 006 together with the associated attachment process. Both the EMF element and also the SBF element have proved themselves in practice. With the EMF element the sheet metal part is only insignificantly deformed and remains at least substantially in the same plane as the surrounding sheet metal material in the region of attachment of the functional element.
In contrast, with the SBF bolt, a rounded recess is produced in the sheet metal part and this leads to a relatively stiff connection of the bolt element to the sheet metal part.
The object of the present invention is to provide a functional element which ensures a particularly stiff attachment of the sheet metal part, so that not only tension and compression forces can be transmitted via the element of the sheet metal part but rather also transverse and shear forces, with the attachment also being intended to have a long working life even with alternating loading and not to have a tendency to the formation of the fatigue cracks. Furthermore, the invention intends to provide a component assembly comprising the functional element and the sheet metal part which has corresponding characteristics and to make available a method for the attachment of the functional element which ensures a high quality attachment of the functional element to the sheet metal part, without being particularly complicated in its realization.
In this application the designation “functional element” has its normal meaning, the examples for such functional elements are fastener elements such as nut elements or bolt elements which enable the attachment of a further component to a sheet metal part. The designation however also includes all types of hollow elements which serve for example for the reception of inserted parts or as a rotatable mounting for a shaft, as well as all elements which are provided with a shaft part, for example for reception of a clip or for the rotatable mounting of a hollow part.
In order to satisfy the object a functional element of the initially named kind is provided in accordance with the invention which is characterized in that the transition from the ring flange into the rivet section is formed by an at least substantially conical surface, which forms a contact surface for a corresponding conical region of a sheet metal part, which on attachment of the functional element to a sheet metal part is trapped between the side of the ring flange adjacent the rivet section and a ring bead formed from the rivet section.
A corresponding component assembly is characterized in that the transition from the ring flange into the rivet section is formed by an at least substantially conical surface which forms a contact surface for the sheet metal part, in that the sheet metal part has a conical region which contacts the conical contact surface of the functional element, with the conical region of the sheet metal part being clamped between the side of the ring flange adjacent the rivet section and a ring bead formed from the rivet section.
This embodiment of the functional element or of the component assembly formed with the functional element thus leads to a construction in which the conical region of the sheet metal part is clamped between the side of the ring flange adjacent the rivet section and a ring bead formed out of the rivet section. This construction provides a particularly stiff and firm attachment of the functional element to the sheet metal part and thus satisfies the above recited statement of the underlying object.
It is particularly favourable when the conical region of the sheet metal part moreover contacts the conical contact surface of the functional element since this contact and the clamped reception of the conical region of the sheet metal part between the ring flange and the ring bead leads to the element so to say supporting the sheet metal part over its full area, so that relative movements between the sheet metal part and the element are extensively precluded. This also increases the stiffness of the connection and helps to avoid the formation of fatigue cracks.
It is particularly favourable when features providing security against rotation are provided in the region of the conical surface, since the sheet metal material can be brought into engagement with these features providing security against rotation, whereby the security against rotation is achieved without reducing the stiffness of the connection. Moreover, in the region of the features providing security against rotation no fatigue cracks of the sheet metal part need be feared because the sheet metal material which is clampingly received by the contact surface of the functional element and the ring bead stands under a compressive pressure and is thus particularly protected against fatigue cracks. Even with alternating loadings the compressive stress in the sheet metal part is sufficient to suppress the formation of fatigue cracks. The features providing security against rotation can, for example, advantageously have the form of noses and/or recesses.
The axial length of the conical surface should preferably correspond at least approximately to the sheet metal thickness. A dimension of this kind ensures that the conical region is sufficiently long to achieve the desired stiffness.
The enclosed cone angle of the conical surface preferably lies in the range between 80° and 120° and amounts in particular to 90°.
It is particularly favourable when the conical surface merges via a cylindrical throat part into the rivet section. This throat part is essentially not deformed during the reforming of the material of the functional element in the region of the rivet section and forms a part of the clamping recess for the sheet material in the region of the rim of the hole provided in it. The throat part can with advantage have an axial length which corresponds approximately to the sheet metal thickness and is preferably somewhat larger than this.
The axial thickness of the ring flange can be made smaller than the thickness of the sheet metal part to which the element is to be secured. This is for example favourable with relatively thick sheet metal parts because the ring flange can be so pressed into the sheet metal material during the attachment to the sheet metal part that the side of the ring flange remote from the sheet metal part is flush with the plane of the sheet metal part or slightly recessed relatively to the latter.
The possibility however also exists of making the axial thickness of the ring flange substantially larger than the thickness of the sheet metal part to which the element is to be secured. In this case the side of the ring flange remote from the sheet metal part stands considerably in front of the corresponding side of the sheet metal part and can for example be exploited to realize a spacer function. In both cases the ring flange can be made with a relatively large diameter so that in total a large support surface is present between the functional element and the sheet metal part, whereby a favourable surface pressure is achieved and the transmission of forces into the sheet metal part via the functional element can be favoured. Particularly preferred embodiments of the functional elements and also of the component assembly can be found in the subordinate claims.
A particularly preferred embodiment of the method for the attachment of the functional element to a component assembly can be found in claim 38 and further variants of the method can be found in the further claims 39 to 40. As an alternative, the attachment can take place with a method which is essentially known per se from the German patent 34 47 006, with the shape of the die being adapted to the special shape of the sheet metal part and of the functional element respectively.



The invention will now be explained in more detail in the following with reference to the embodiments and to the drawings which show:
FIG. 1 a functional element in the form of a nut element partly sectioned in the axial direction,
FIG. 2 a schematic representation of a sheet metal part which has been prepared to receive the functional element of FIG. 1,
FIG. 3 a component assembly which is formed from the functional element of FIG. 1 and the sheet metal part of FIG. 2,
FIG. 4 a side view of a functional element in the form of a bolt element which is partly sectioned in the longitudinal direction,
FIG. 5 an end view of the bolt element of FIG. 4 in accordance with the arrow direction V of FIG. 4,
FIG. 6 a perspective representation of the bolt element of FIGS. 4 and 5,
FIG. 7 a partly sectioned representation of a component assembly which is formed from the bolt element of FIGS. 4 to 6 and a sheet metal part in accordance with FIG. 2,
FIG. 8 a view of a further functional element in accordance with the invention seen from the underside,
FIG. 9 a side view of the functional element of FIG. 8 with the left half of the representation being sectioned in the axial direction and with the element being shown above the sheet metal part which is pierced by the element,
FIG. 10 the assembly situation after the attachment of the functional element of FIG. 9 to the sheet metal part shown there and
FIG. 11 a perspective representation of the functional element of FIG. 8,
FIG. 12 shows a functional element having a ring flange.



FIG. 1 shows a functional element 10 with a one-piece body portion 12 which has a ring flange 14 which merges via a conical surface 16 and a throat part 18 into a rivet section 20. The boundary between the throat part 18 and the rivet section 20 lies at 22. The body 16 of the functional element 10 has moreover a bore 26 arranged concentric to the longitudinal axis 24 with a thread cylinder 28. At the lower end of the rivet section 20 in FIG. 1 the latter merges into a cylindrical extension 30 which can be considered as belonging to the rivet section 20. The bore 28 of the nut element 10 has a region 42 in the region of the cylindrical extension 30 with a diameter which is fractionally larger than the base diameter of the thread cylinder 28.
The conical surface 16 extends specifically between a ring-like underside 34 of the ring flange 14 which belongs to the support surface of the functional element up to the boundary 36 to the throat part 18 and has a cone angle α in this example of 90°. Features providing security against rotation, which here have the shape of noses, are uniformly distributed around the conical surface and extend respectively in axial planes of the element. Here eight such noses 38 providing security against rotation are provided, there could however be more or fewer of them. The noses providing security against rotation could also have the form of recesses.
FIG. 2 shows a sheet metal part 40 which has been prepared to receive the functional element 10 of FIG. 1. Specifically, the sheet metal part 40 has a conical recess 42 with a hole 44 in the base region of the conical recess. The cone angle of the conical region 42 of the sheet metal part 40 corresponds to the cone angle α of the conical surface 16 of the functional element 10. The hole 44 has a diameter which corresponds to the diameter of the throat part 18 of the functional element 10 of FIG. 1. The hole 44 can also have a somewhat larger diameter, for example in the range of 0.2 mm larger, in order to enable an easy introduction of the functional element into the hole. It would also be conceivable to make the hole 44 slightly smaller than the diameter of the throat part 18, whereby the hole 44 is slightly dilated on introducing the throat part 18 through it. The conical shape of the recess 42 in any event facilitates the alignment of the functional element 10 with the sheet metal part during the introduction of the functional element. The axis 46 of the hole 44 is thereby aligned with the longitudinal axis 24 of the functional element 10.
The sheet metal preparation normally takes place in a press or in a station of progressive tooling. In a further press, or in the same press, or in a further station of progressive tooling the functional element 10 is then introduced into the sheet metal part 40 using a setting head and attached to the sheet metal part, with the resulting component assembly being shown in FIG. 3 and subsequently being explained in more detail. It should briefly be brought out, that the attachment of the functional elements to sheet metal parts in presses and in progressive tooling or using robots or special frame devices is well known per se and is not explained in detail here.
The component assembly situation in accordance with FIG. 3 allows it to be seen that a ring bead 50 is formed from the rivet section 20 of a functional element by the displacement of material of the rivet section in the direction towards the ring flange 14. This ring bead 50 forms, together with the throat part 18, which is only slightly deformed during the displacement of the material of the rivet section for the formation of the ring bead 50, a clamping recess for the rim region 48 of the hole 44 of the sheet metal part 40 and leads in other respects to the sheet metal material being set under a compressive pressure in the conical region 42, in the region between the ring-like support surface 43 of the functional element and the clamping recess for the rim region 48 of the hole of the sheet metal material formed between the ring bead 50 and the throat part 18. Although not shown here the displacement of the material of the rivet section in the direction towards the ring flange 14 takes place in a die which has a conical recess which enters into contact with the outer side of the conical region 42 of the sheet metal part, so that the sheet material is simultaneously pressed radially inwardly, whereby a form-fitted engagement arises between the sheet material in the conical region 42 and the features 38 providing security against rotation.
During the displacement of the material out of the region of the rivet section towards the ring flange a pressure is exerted from above in the arrow direction 47 onto the end face 39 of the functional element 10. As relatively much material is present in the body portion 12 of the functional element between the end face 39 and the rivet section, this region of the functional element is not deformed, so that a deformation of the thread cylinder 28 is not to be feared. The cylindrical extension 30 of the rivet section is also not deformed during the attachment of the functional element but rather is simply guided in a bore of the (not shown) die.
The component assembly in accordance with FIG. 3 has amongst other things the advantage that a further component can be attached to the one or other side. For example a component can be secured to the end face 39, in this case by means of a bolt which is screwed into the thread cylinder 28 coming from the top in FIG. 3. Through the conical form of the region 42 of the sheet metal part and the formation of the ring bead 50 the attachment of the functional element of the sheet metal part is so firm or stiff that the attachment of a component to this end face 39 is straight-forwardly permissible. In this connection the height of the ring flange 14, i.e. the axial thickness of the ring flange 14 can be selected in order to ensure a spacer function between the further component and the sheet metal part 40.
The possibility however also exists of attaching a component to the lower side of the sheet metal part 40 in FIG. 3. In this case the bolt should be introduced into the thread cylinder 28 from below. The component could be supported on the underside of the sheet metal part opposite to the ring flange 14 or at the lower side of the ring bead 50 or, with suitable dimensioning of the cylindrical projection 30, at the free end face of this projection. The cylindrical projection 30 could also serve as a bearing surface for a rotatable part, which is likewise secured with a bolt which is introduced into the thread cylinder 28 coming from below.
The FIGS. 4 to 7 show a further example of a functional element in accordance with the invention, here in the form of a bolt element.
For the following description the same reference numerals will be used for parts which have the same form or function as in the nut element of FIGS. 1 to 3, but are increased by the basic number 100. It can be assumed that the previous description also applies for the correspondingly characterized parts of the embodiment of FIGS. 4 to 7, unless something is stated to the contrary.
The bolt element 110 has a head part 112 which corresponds at least substantially to the body portion 12 of the nut element of FIG. 1 and the bolt element has moreover a shaft part 113 which extends away from the upper side 139 of the ring flange 114. The shaft part 113 carries a thread cylinder 128.
In this example the ring flange 114 merges via a ring-like support surface 134 into a conical contact surface 116 which merges directly into a rivet section 120, which is here equipped with piercing and riveting features at its lower end 121, which are in principle identical to the piercing and riveting features in a customary SBF bolt. I.e. one can image the bolt element of FIGS. 4 to 7 in such a way that now no throat part is provided, which is basically also possible in the design of the functional element in accordance with FIGS. 1 to 3. On the other hand, the upper region 118 of the piercing and riveting section 120 is here at least substantially not deformed, as can be seen from FIG. 7, so that this region can optionally be termed a throat part.
In similar manner to the embodiment of FIGS. 1 to 3 features 138 providing security against rotation are provided here which here have the shape of noses. In distinction to the design of the nut element of FIGS. 1 to 3 the noses 138 extend over the entire axial length of the conical surface 116 and run out into the lower side 134 of the ring flange 114 and also into the throat region 118. A corresponding design of the noses 38 providing security against rotation in the embodiment of FIGS. 1 to 3 would also be possible. It would also be possible to replace the noses 138 providing security against rotation in accordance with FIGS. 4 to 7 with recesses providing security against rotation which should then be correspondingly designed, as in the embodiment of FIGS. 1 to 3. One notes in this example that the axial thickness of the ring flange 114 is here made substantially smaller than in the embodiment of FIGS. 1 to 3 and that, after the attachment of the bolt element to the sheet metal part 140 in accordance with FIG. 7, the upper end face 139 of the head part 112 of the bolt element is slightly set back relative to the plane of the top side of the sheet metal part 140 in the illustration according to FIG. 7. One notes also from FIG. 7 that the axial thickness of the ring flange 114 is substantially smaller than the thickness of the sheet metal part 140. This is however in no way compulsory, but rather the ring flange 114 can be made thicker in the embodiment of FIG. 7 than the thickness of the sheet metal part 140 and the bolt element can thus be attached to the sheet metal part 140 in such a way that the ring surface 134 comes to lie approximately in the plane of the upper side of the sheet metal part 140, so that the end face 139 of the head part 112 is arranged significantly above the sheet metal part 140 and also realizes a spacer function here. The possibility also exists of realizing the ring flange 14 of the embodiment of FIGS. 1 to 3 in the way shown in FIG. 7.
The ring bead 150 of FIG. 7 is also differently designed from the ring bead 50 of the functional element of FIGS. 1 to 3. Since the bolt element of FIGS. 4 to 7 is introduced in a self-piercing manner into the sheet metal part using the method in accordance with the German patent 34 47 006, the rivet section 120 is turned over after piercing the sheet metal part 140 by means of a corresponding shaping surface of the die that is used so that it adopts the rounded shape 150 which is shown in FIG. 7. In this arrangement the sheet metal part is also so deformed, as can likewise be seen from FIG. 7. On piercing of the sheet metal part a piercing slug 160 arises which, as is described in the above-named German patent, is fixedly clamped within the cylindrical recess 132 in the rivet section 120, whereby, on the one hand, the problem of removal of the piercing slug 160 is avoided and, on the other hand, an increased stiffness is achieved in the region of the head part 112. Despite this different formation of the ring bead 50 the sheet material 148 from the rim region of the pierced opening is also clampingly received here in the turned-over rivet section 120 and a compressive stress also arises here in the conical region 142 between the support surface 134 of the ring flange 114 and the clamping recess for the rim region 148 of the pierced hole formed by the rivet section 120, optionally together with the “throat part” 118.
Although the design of the rivet section 120 of the bolt element of the FIGS. 1 to 7 was designed in accordance with the rivet section of the customary SBF bolt this is not essential. One could for example make the design of this region in accordance with the design of the rivet section 20 of the functional element of FIGS. 1 to 3 and attach the bolt element of FIGS. 1 to 4 to the sheet metal part 40 with the same method which was described in connection with FIGS. 1 to 3. The possibility likewise exists of providing the functional element of FIGS. 1 to 3 with a cylindrical rivet section corresponding to the rivet section 120 of the bolt element of FIGS. 1 to 4 and of attaching the nut element into the sheet metal part either in a self-piercing manner or using a leading hole punch in manner known per se.
In the embodiment of FIGS. 1 to 7 a situation is also achieved here in which the sheet material is set under compressive stress in the conical region 142 so that, on the one hand, a formation of fatigue cracks may not be feared and, on the other hand, a very stiff high quality attachment of the functional element to the sheet metal part is ensured.
The FIGS. 8 to 11 show a further embodiment of a functional element in accordance with the invention and also the assembly situation with the sheet metal part and have a strong similarity to the embodiment of FIGS. 1 to 3. For this reason the same reference numerals are used in the FIGS. 8 to 11 as in the embodiment of FIGS. 1 to 3 and the description of the embodiment of FIGS. 1 to 3 applies equally for the embodiment of FIGS. 8 to 11 unless something is stated in the contrary. In other words the description of the FIGS. 1 to 3 in connection with the reference numerals used there applies in precisely the same way for the embodiment of FIGS. 8 to 11.
As a first difference it is evident that the functional element 10 of FIGS. 8 to 11 has no ring flange but rather the conical surface 16 merges directly into the head part of the element. FIG. 12 shows the functional element of FIGS. 8 to 11 with a ring flange as shown at 34 in FIG. 1.
Furthermore it is evident from the Figures that the noses 38 providing security against rotation do not extend over the full length of the conical surface 16 in axial planes but rather extend further over the upper half (in FIG. 9) of the cylindrical section 20 where they end in rounded ends 38′.
In this embodiment the cylindrical section 20 is not provided with a throat part 18, although this would be possible if the functional element were not made self-piercing as is the case here.
In the embodiment of FIGS. 8 to 11 the free end face 41 is formed as a piercing section and enables the sheet metal part 40 to be pierced with the element itself. For this purpose the sheet metal part is supported above a die with a central bore which slidingly receives the cylindrical section 20 of the functional element 10, with this central passage merging via a ring shoulder extending perpendicular to the longitudinal axis 24 into a conical recess which corresponds to the shape of the outer surface of the conical formation of the conical collar of the sheet metal part. This conical recess of the die then merges into an end face of the die which in turn stands perpendicular to the longitudinal axis 24 of the die.
On piercing of the sheet metal part the sheet metal part is first conically dented by the end face 41 of the functional element and then a piercing slug is cut out of the base region of the conical dent and pressed by the free end face 41 of the cylindrical section 20 of the functional element 10 through the central passage of the die up to and into a free space from which the piercing slug can be removed.
During this further movement of the functional element into the die the ring shoulder which extends perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the die serves to so deform the material of the noses 38 providing security against rotation in the region of the cylinder section 20 that this material is reformed into radial projections at the positions of the previous noses providing security against rotation, with these material projections coming to lie over the rim region of the opening of the conical formation of the sheet metal part as indicated at 50′ in FIG. 10 and preferably engaging in form-fitted manner into this rim region so that a security against rotation is not only present in the region of the conical surface of the functional element but rather also in the rim region of the opening of the conical formation of the sheet metal part.
One notes that the connection between the sheet metal part and the functional element is essentially present, as in the further embodiments, only in the region of the conical surface of the functional element.
Through the radial projections 50′ one succeeds in achieving a very high pull-out or press-out resistance, i.e. against forces which act in the direction F of FIG. 10, in other words against forces which act in the axial direction of the functional element from the cylindrical section 20 in the direction of the body portion 12. Here the advantage also arises that when such pull-out forces act they attempt to press the conical formation of the sheet metal part flatter and the sheet metal part has a very high resistance to such forces, amongst other things because it is supported even more firmly against the element so that a very stable connection is present. Such forces can for example arise when a further component is to be screwed onto the upper end face 39 of the functional element 10 or exert corresponding forces onto the functional element after being screwed into place. In this embodiment there is also the possibility of screwing a further component onto the lower side of the sheet metal part 40 in FIG. 10, with the cylindrical section then serving as a guide or for centring. A further component to be screwed on must then normally have a shape which ensures good area contact with the sheet metal part 40 in the region of the conical formation. A further component of this kind can then be secured by a screw which is introduced into the thread cylinder 20 coming from below in FIG. 10, with measures normally being taken, for example via a spacer, to ensure that the further component contacts the sheet metal part 40 over a good area as a result of the screwing on forces.
The cylinder section 20 could also serve as a bearing spigot for a component which is to be rotatably secured to the element 10, wherein a component of this kind which is rotatably mounted is secured in the axial direction by the screw which is screwed axially into the thread 28.
The rounded ends 38′ of the noses 38 providing security against rotation ensure that the sheet metal part is not impermissibly torn during the piercing process so that fatigue cracks are not to be feared in the sheet metal part of the positions of the noses providing security against rotation, i.e. at the positions of the radial projections 50′.
Although the functional element 10 of the FIGS. 8 to 11 is introduced into a self-piercing manner, the element can equally be inserted into a pre-holed component if this is desired.
An advantage of the functional element of the invention lies in the fact that with one element a wide range of sheet metal part thicknesses can be covered so that, for example, the functional element of FIGS. 8 to 11 can be used with sheet metal parts with thicknesses in the range 0.6 mm to 4 mm. These thickness particulars are not to be understood restrictively and are also not restricted to the embodiment of FIGS. 8 to 11.
The functional elements described here can for example be manufactured of all materials which reach the strength class 5.6 or higher. Such metal materials are normally carbon steels with 0.15 to 0.55% carbon content.
In all embodiments all materials can be named as an example for the material of functional elements which reach the strength values of class 8 in accordance with the Iso standard in the context of cold deformation, for example a 35B2 alloy in accordance with DIN 1654. The so-formed fastener elements are suitable, amongst other things, for all commercial steel materials for drawing quality sheet metal parts and also for aluminium or its alloys. Also aluminium alloys, in particularly those with higher strength can be used for the functional elements, for example AlMg5. Functional elements of higher strength magnesium alloys such, for example, AM50 can also be considered.

## Claims

1. Functional element (10; 110) for attachment to a sheet metal part and having a body portion (12; 112) defining a ring flange (14; 114) and a cylindrical rivet section (20; 120), said ring flange having an annular support surface (34; 134) facing said rivet section, said annular support surface having an outer diameter and an inner diameter, there being a transition from said ring flange (14; 114) into said rivet section (20; 120), said transition starting from said inner diameter of said annular support surface and being formed by an at least substantially conical surface (16; 116), which forms a contact surface for a corresponding conical region (42; 142) of a sheet metal part (40, 140) which, on attachment of the functional element (10; 110) to a sheet metal part, is trapped between said annular support surface (34; 134) facing said rivet section (20; 120) and a ring bead (50; 150) formed from the rivet section; and said conical surface (16; 116) extending directly from said annular support surface (34; 134) of said ring flange (14; 114) facing said rivet section up to one of said rivet section (20; 120) and a boundary (36) of a throat part (18) provided between said conical surface (16; 116) and said rivet section.

2. Functional element in accordance with claim 1, wherein features (38; 138) providing security against rotation are provided in the region of a conical surface (16; 116).

3. Functional element in accordance with claim 2, wherein said features (38; 138) providing security against rotation are noses which are provided at the conical surface (16; 116).

4. Functional element in accordance with claim 3, wherein said noses (38; 138) providing security against rotation extend in axial planes.

5. Functional element in accordance with claim 3, wherein said noses (38; 138) providing security against rotation extend from the ring flange (14; 114) up to the rivet section (20; 120) or up to the throat portion (18; 118).

6. Functional element in accordance with claim 3, wherein said functional element has a central longitudinal axis and said noses providing security against rotation extend over the full length of the conical surface and are uniformly distributed around said central longitudinal axis.

7. Functional element in accordance with claim 2, wherein said features providing security against rotation are recesses provided in the conical surface.

8. Functional element in accordance with claim 7, wherein said recesses are arranged in axial planes of the functional element.

9. Functional element in accordance with claim 1, wherein said conical surface has an included cone angle (α) lying in the range between 80° and 120°.

10. Functional element in accordance with claim 1, wherein said included cone angle (α) is approximately 90°.

11. Functional element in accordance with claim 1, wherein said conical surface (16; 116) merges via a cylindrical throat part (18; 118) into the rivet section (20; 120).

12. Functional element in accordance with claim 1, wherein said ring flange (14; 114) has a component side (39; 139) remote from said conical surface, said component side forming a support surface for a component which is to be secured by means of the functional element (10; 110) to said sheet metal component (40; 140).

13. Functional element in accordance with claim 12, wherein said ring flange (14) has an axial thickness selected to act as a spacer element.

14. Functional element in accordance with claim 1 being a nut element (10) in which said body portion (12) is provided with a central bore (26).

15. Functional element in accordance with claim 1, wherein said ring flange (114) has a component side, said functional element being a bolt element (110) having a shaft part (113) which is arranged at said component side (134) of the ring flange (114) remote from said rivet section (120).

16. Functional element in accordance with claim 1, wherein said conical surface (16, 116) of said body portion (12; 112) has an axial length which corresponds to at least substantially twice a thickness of said sheet metal part.

17. Functional element (10; 110) for attachment to a sheet metal part and having a body portion (12; 112) defining a ring flange (14; 114) and a cylindrical piercing section (20; 120) having an axial length, said ring flange having an annular support surface (34; 134) facing said piercing section, said annular support surface having an outer diameter and an inner diameter, there being a transition from said ring flange (14; 114) into said piercing section (20; 120), said transition starting from said inner diameter of said annular support surface and being formed by an at least substantially conical surface (16; 116), which forms a contact surface for a corresponding conical region (42; 142) of a sheet metal part (40, 140), said conical surface (16; 116) extending directly from said annular support surface (34; 134) of said ring flange (14; 114) facing said cylindrical piercing section up to said cylindrical piercing section (20; 120), wherein noses providing security against rotation extend in axial planes along said conical surface and over at least a part of said axial length of said cylindrical piercing section.

18. Functional element in accordance with claim 17, wherein said conical surface (16, 116) of said body portion (12; 112) has an axial length which corresponds to at least substantially twice a thickness of said sheet metal part.

19. Component assembly comprising a functional element (10; 110) which is secured to a sheet metal part (40; 140), the functional element having a body portion (12) defining a ring flange (14; 114) and a cylindrical rivet section (20; 120), said ring flange having an annular support surface (34; 134) facing said rivet section, said annular support surface having an outer diameter and an inner diameter, there being a transition from said ring flange (14; 114) into said rivet section (20; 120), said transition starting from said inner diameter of said annular support surface and being formed by an at least substantially conical surface (16; 116) which forms a contact surface for said sheet metal part (40; 140), said conical surface (16; 116) extending directly from said annular support surface (34; 134) of the ring flange (14; 114) facing said rivet section in the direction of the rivet section up to the rivet section (20; 120) or up to the boundary (36) of a throat part (18) provided between said conical surface (16; 116) and the rivet section; wherein said sheet metal part has a conical region (42; 142) which contacts said conical contact surface of said functional element, with said conical region of the sheet metal part being clamped between said annular support surface (34; 134) of the ring flange (14; 114) facing the rivet section and a ring bead (50; 150) formed from said rivet section.

20. Component assembly in accordance with claim 19, wherein features (38; 138) providing security against rotation are provided in the region of the conical surface of said functional element and said sheet metal part (40; 140) is in engagement with the features providing security against rotation in the conical region (42; 142).

21. Component assembly in accordance with claims 20, wherein said features (38; 138) providing security against rotation are noses which are provided at said conical surface (16; 116).

22. Component assembly in accordance with claim 21, wherein said noses (38; 138) providing security against rotation extend in axial planes.

23. Component assembly in accordance with claim 21, wherein said noses (38; 138) providing security against rotation extend from said ring flange (14; 114) up to said rivet section (20; 120) or up to said throat part (18; 118).

24. Component assembly in accordance with claim 20, wherein said features providing security against rotation are recesses provided in said conical surface.

25. Component assembly in accordance with claim 24, wherein said recesses are arranged in axial planes of the functional element.

26. Component assembly in accordance with claim 19, wherein said sheet metal part has a thickness and wherein said axial length of the conical surface (16; 116) corresponds to at least substantially twice said sheet metal thickness.

27. Component assembly in accordance with claim 19, wherein said conical surface (16; 116) has an included cone angle (α) lying in the range between 80° and 120°.

28. Component assembly in accordance with claim 27, wherein said included cone angle (α) is approximately 90°.

29. Component assembly in accordance with claim 19, wherein said conical surface (16; 116) merges via a substantially cylindrical throat part (18; 118) into said rivet section (20; 120).

30. Component assembly in accordance with claim 29, wherein said sheet metal part has a thickness and wherein said throat part (18; 118) has an axial length which corresponds at least approximately to the sheet metal thickness.

31. Component assembly in accordance with claim 19, wherein said sheet metal part has a thickness and wherein said ring flange has an axial thickness and said axial thickness of the ring flange (114) is smaller than said thickness of said sheet metal part (140).

32. Component assembly in accordance with claim 19, wherein said sheet metal part has a thickness and said ring flange (14) has an axial thickness significantly larger than said thickness of said sheet metal part (40).

33. Component assembly in accordance with claim 19, wherein said ring flange has a component side remote from the conical surface (16; 116) and forming a support surface for a component which is to be secured by means of the functional element (10; 110) to said sheet metal part (40; 140).

34. Component assembly in accordance with claim 33, wherein said ring flange (14) has an axial thickness selected to act as a spacer element between said sheet metal part (40) and said component attached to the sheet metal part by means of the functional element (10).

35. Component assembly in accordance with claim 19, said functional element being a nut element in which the body portion (12) is provided with a central bore (26).

36. Component assembly in accordance with claim 19, wherein said the ring bead (50) is formed by a displacement of material of the rivet section (20).

37. Component assembly in accordance with claim 36, wherein said conical region of said sheet metal part has an opening with a rim remote from said ring flange and wherein said ring bead (50) together with said throat part (18) of said functional element (10) forms a clamping recess for said rim (48) of the opening (44) of the conical region (42) of the sheet metal part (40), said ring bead (50) being located on the side of the conical region (42) of the sheet metal part remote from said ring flange (14).

38. Component assembly in accordance with claim 36, wherein said rivet section (20) has a cylindrical region 30 extending in an axial direction of the functional element (10) away from said ring bead (50) at a side remote from the ring flange.