Fastener

Abstract: A faying plate (30) having a clearance hole (32) is fastened to a tapping plate (40) having a tapping hole (42) by a fastener (10) having a shank (12) with a tapered tip (22,24) and with a self-tapping thread (14). The shank (12), which defines an axis, is adapted to tap a complementary thread (44) around the tapping hole (42), via the selftapping thread (14), when the fastener (10) is driven rotatably. The fastener (10) has a unitary head (20) with a bearing portion (70) having a peripheral edge (72) and having a clamping surface (74) facing the shank (12), flaring outwardly toward the shank (12), and frusto-conical at a conical angle of about 5° relative to a plane perpendicular to the axis. Eight torque-absorbing ribs (80) project from the clamping surface (74), are spaced at regular intervals about the axis, and have ridges (86) that lie on an imaginary, frusto-conical surface flaring outwardly toward the shank (12) at a conical angle of about 1 ° relative to a plane perpendicular to the axis and at a conical angle of about 4° relative to the clamping surface (74). Each rib (80) has a depth from not less than 0.0001 inch to about 0.0054 inch (2.5µm to 0.14mm) at the peripheral edge (72) of the bearing portion (70).

Description: This invention pertains to a fastener of a type employed to fasten two sheet-metal plates to each other. The fastener has a shank, which has a thread, and a head, which is unitary with the shank. The shank may include a shoulder. The head has a bearing portion having a clamping surface with an arrangement of torque-absorbing ribs projecting from the clamping surface of the head. A fastener of the type noted above is used for fastening a sheet-metal plate, which may be conveniently called a faying plate, to another sheet-metal plate, which may be conveniently called a tapping plate. Commonly, the faying plate is pre-punched with a hole that may be conveniently called a clearance hole and the tapping plate is pre-punched with a hole that may be conveniently called a tapping hole, the tapping hole being smaller than the clearance hole. Commonly, the shank is adapted to pass freely through the clearance hole, to enter the tapping hole at a tapered tip, and to tap a complementary thread around the tapping hole, via the self-tapping thread, when the fastener is driven. Among other data characterizing a fastener of the type noted above, it is convenient to refer to a tapping torque, which is the torque required for the self-tapping thread to tap the complementary thread when the fastener is driven rotatably. Moreover, it is convenient to refer to a stripping torque, which is the torque required for the self-tapping thread to strip the complementary thread so that the shank rotates freely within the tapping hole. Commonly, fasteners of the type noted above are produced in large quantities, from which statistically meaningful samples are drawn for testing. Among other data obtainable from testing of any given sample, it is convenient to refer to a statistical maximum tapping torque, which is the maximum torque required for the self-tapping thread of any of the tested fasteners of the sample to tap such a complementary thread. Moreover, it is convenient to refer to a statistical minimum stripping torque, which is the torque required for the self-tapping thread of any of the tested fasteners of the sample to strip the complementary thread so that the shank rotates freely within the tapping hole. In many applications, such fasteners are driven via pneumatically or electrically powered driving tools, each of which is arranged to apply a driving torque to a fastener head. Desirably, each such tool is adjusted so as to stall or so as to stop driving when a nominal maximum driving torque is applied, which is higher than the statistical maximum tapping torque for such fasteners and lower than the statistical minimum stripping torque for such fasteners. Since such tools tend to be imprecisely adjustable, it is desirable for the statistical minimum stripping torque to be substantially higher than the statistical maximum tapping torque for any given quantity of threaded fasteners of the type noted above. As exemplified in U.S-A-5,183,359, it is known to provide a fastener of the type noted above with anti strip-out ribs projecting from a clamping surface of the head and spaced regularly about an axis defined by the shank. The ribs exemplified in this patent tend to cut aggressively into the underlying surfaces of the faying plates underlying the heads. Consequently, fasteners similar to the fastener exemplified in the patent are unsatisfactory for some applications, particularly but not exclusively for some applications wherein the faying plates underlying the heads are pre-finished and wherein visible signs of surface damage due to scraping of the underlying surface of the faying plate or to corrosion of the scored surface are unacceptable. According to this invention a fastener for fastening a faying plate to a tapping plate, the fastener being adapted to be rotatably driven, the fastener having a shank including a tapered tip, the shank defining an axis of the fastener and having a thread extending along and around the shank, the fastener having a head unitary with the shank, the head having a driving portion and a bearing portion adjoining the shank, the driving portion being adapted to be rotatably driven so as to drive the fastener rotatably about the axis defined by the shank, the bearing portion having a peripheral edge and a clamping surface facing the shank, the peripheral edge being annular, the clamping surface flaring outwardly from the shank, toward the tapered tip, the clamping surface being frusto-conical and defining a conical angle of about 5° relative to a plane perpendicular to the axis defined by the shank, and the head having torque-absorbing ribs projecting from the clamping surface of the bearing portion and spaced at regular intervals about the axis defined by the shank, each rib having a leading flank and a trailing flank with the leading and trailing flanks defining a flank angle of about 90° and with the leading and trailing flanks defining a ridge, is characterised in that the ridges of the ribs lie on an imaginary, frusto-conical surface flaring outwardly toward the shank at a conical angle of about 1 ° relative to a plane perpendicular to the axis defined by the shank and at a conical angle of about 4° relative to the clamping surface of the bearing portion. Preferably each rib has a depth not less than about 0.0001 inch (2.5 µ m) when measured from the clamping surface of the bearing portion to the ridge of said rib, in a plane comprising the axis defined by the shank, at the peripheral edge of the bearing portion. This invention provides a unique arrangement of torque-absorbing ribs in a fastener which can be used for fastening a faying plate, which may be prepared with a clearance hole to a tapping plate, which may be prepared with a tapping hole smaller than the clearance hole. The faying plate has a faying surface and an opposite surface, which faces the tapping plate. Advantageously, for any given quantity of fasteners embodying this invention, the statistical minimum stripping torque proves to be substantially higher than the statistical maximum tapping torque. A particular embodiment of a fastener in accordance with this invention will now be described and contrasted with the prior art with reference to the accompanying drawings; in which:- Figure 1 is a partly broken away, side elevation; Figure 2 is an axial view of the fastener shown in Figure 1, as seen from its pointed end; Figure 3 is a partly fragmentary, exploded, perspective view of the fastener shown in Figures 1 and 2, along with a faying plate and a tapping plate, as seen with the fastener removed after having been driven so as to fasten the faying plate and the tapping plate to each other and with the faying plate lifted from the tapping plate; Figure 4 is a graphical representation of various types of torque versus time for a quantity of fasteners similar to the fastener shown in Figures 1, 2, and 3 and for a pneumatically powered driving tool; Figure 5 is a fragmentary view analogous to Figure 1 but showing a fastener admitted to constitute prior art. As shown in Figures 1, 2, and 3, a fastener 10 of the type noted above constitutes a preferred embodiment of this invention. The fastener 10 has a shank 12, which has a self-tapping thread 14, and a head 20, which is unitary with the shank 12. The shank 12, which defines an axis of the fastener 10, has a tapered tip 22, which has a rounded end 24. In other embodiments (not shown) contemplated by this invention, the shank of the fastener may have a different thread, such as a drilling thread or a machine thread and may have other features such as an unthreaded shoulder. The precise shape of the shank and the precise shape of the thread are immaterial. As shown in Figure 3, the fastener 10 is employed for fastening a faying plate 30, which is prepared, as by punching, with a clearance hole 32, to a tapping plate 40, which is prepared, as by punching, with a tapping hole 42. Before the fastener 10 is driven, the clearance hole 32 and the tapping hole 42 are circular, the clearance hole 32 having a comparatively larger diameter and the tapping hole 42 having a comparatively smaller diameter. When the fastener 10 is driven rotatably, the shank 12 is adapted to pass freely through the clearance hole 32, to enter the tapping hole 42 at the tapered tip 22, and to tap a complementary thread 44 around the tapping hole, via the self-tapping thread 14. In an embodiment (not shown) in which the shank of the fastener has a drilling thread, as mentioned above, the faying plate may not be not prepared with a clearance hole and the tapping plate may not be prepared with a tapping hole. As shown, the head 20 has a driving portion 60 with a hexagonal shape defining tool-engaging flats 62 and with a hexagonal socket 64 whereby the driving portion 60 is adapted to be rotatably driven by a pneumatically powered driving tool (not shown) of a conventional type having a driving head coacting with the tool-engaging flats 62 or with the hexagonal socket 64 so as to drive the fastener 10 rotatably about the axis defined by the shank 12. In other embodiments (not shown) contemplated by this invention, the head of the fastener may have a different shape, such as a truss or dome shape. Except as explained herein, the precise shape of the head is immaterial. The head 20 has a bearing portion 70 adjoining the shank 12, having an annular, peripheral edge 72, and having a clamping surface 74 facing the tapered tip 22 of the shank 12. The clamping surface 74, which flares outwardly toward the tapered tip 22 of the shank 12, is frusto-conical and defines a conical angle of about 5° relative to a plane perpendicular to the axis defined by the shank 12. The clamping surface 74 has eight essentially identical, torque absorbing ribs 80, which project from the clamping surface 74, toward the shank 12, and which are spaced at regular intervals about the axis defined by the shank 12. Each rib 80 narrows progressively as such rib 80 extends from the shank 12 to the peripheral edge 72 of the bearing portion 70. Each rib 80 has a leading flank 82 and a trailing flank 84, which trails the leading flank 82 when the fastener 10 is driven for fastening the faying plate 30 and the tapping plate 40 to each other. The leading flank 82 and the trailing flank 84 define a flank angle of about 90° and define a ridge 86 extending in a radial plane. In other embodiments (not shown) contemplated by this invention, a different number of such ribs may project from the clamping surface. The ridges 86 lie on an imaginary, frusto-conical surface flaring outwardly from the shank 12, toward the tapered tip 22 of the shank 12, defining a conical angle of about 1 ° relative to a plane perpendicular to the axis defined by the shank 12, and defining a conical angle of about 4° relative to the clamping surface 74. The fastener 10 is manufactured so that each rib 80 extends from the shank 12 fully to the peripheral edge 72 of the bearing portion 70 and so that each rib 80 has a depth not less than about 0.0001 inch (0.0025mm) to about 0.0054 inches (0.14mm) when measured from the clamping surface 74 to the ridge 86 of such rib 80, in a plane comprising the axis defined by the shank 12, at the peripheral edge 72 of the bearing portion 70. With reference to Figure 1, the diameter of the bearing portion 70 may be conveniently called the nominal bearing diameter H of the fastener 10, and the diameter of an imaginary cylinder C comprising the crest of the thread 14 (except at the tapered tip 22) may be conveniently called the basic screw diameter D of the fastener 10. For the conical angles indicated in Figure 1 and described above, and when measured at the same cylinder C, the minimum depth of the clamping surface 74 is given by the formula 0.5 (H - D) tan 5° and the minimum depth of each rib 80 is given by the formula 0.5 (H - D) (tan 5° - tan 1 °). As a practical example, for H being about 0.384 inch (9.75mm) and D being about 0.190 inch (4.8mm), the depth of the clamping surface 74 when measured thereat is about 0.0085 (0.22mm) inch and the minimum depth of each rib 80 when measured thereat is about 0.0068 (0.17mm). Advantageously, when the fastener 10 is driven so as to fasten the faying plate 30 and the tapping plate 40 to each other, the ribs 80 do not tend to cut aggressively into the underlying surface of the faying plate 30. Rather, as shown in Figure 3 with the fastener 10 removed after having been so driven and with the faying plate 30 lifted from the tapping plate 40, the ribs 80 tend to work the surface metal of the faying plate 30 so as to form a generally annular depression 90 similar to a counterbore but having eight depressed, radially extending grooves 92, eight raised, radially extending ridges 94, with a raised, circumferential ridge 96. Each ridge 94 closely precedes a respective one of the grooves 92 in a rotational sense corresponding to rotation of the fastener 10 when so driven. As represented graphically in Figure 4, when fasteners in a sample drawn from a production quantity of fasteners similar to the fastener 10 are tested, a wide range R is found to exist between the statistical maximum tapping torque of the tested fasteners and the statistical minimum stripping torque of the tested fasteners. The wide range R enables a pneumatically or electrically powered driving tool (not shown) of a conventional type to be readily adjusted so that its nominal maximum driving torque exceeds the statistical maximum tapping torque of the tested fasteners but does not exceed the statistical minimum stripping torque of the tested fasteners, even if such tool cannot be precisely adjusted, whereby it is predictable within a range of statistically determinable errors that such tool can drive all fasteners in the production quantity without stripping the complementary threads tapped by any fasteners in the production quantity. Superiority of the fastener 10 over prior fasteners is evident when the fastener 10 is compared to a fastener 10' shown in Figure 5, constituting prior art, and exemplifying certain fasteners sold heretofore by ITW-Shakeproof (a division of Illinois Tool Works Inc.) of Elgin, Illinois, USA. Reference numbers with primes are used in Figure 5 to refer to elements that are similar, except as shown and described, to elements referenced by similar numbers without primes in Figures 1, 2, and 3. The fastener 10' has a shank 12', which defines an axis of the fastener 10' and to which the shank 12 of the fastener 10 is similar, and a head 20', to which the head 20 of the fastener 10 is similar except that the torque-absorbing ribs 80 of the fastener 10 differ from the torque absorbing ribs 80' of the fastener 10'. The head 20' has a bearing portion 70', which has an annular, peripheral edge 72', and a clamping surface 74', which flares outwardly toward the tapered tip (not shown) of the shank 12'. The clamping surface 74' defines a conical angle of about 5° relative to a plane perpendicular to the axis defined by the shank 12'. Each rib 80' projects from the clamping surface 74' and defines a ridge 86' having a flank angle of about 90° and extending in a radial plane including the axis defined by the shank 12'. As significant differences between the ribs 80 and the ribs 80', the ridges 86' of the ribs 80' lie on an imaginary, frusto-conical surface flaring outwardly from the shank 12', toward the tapered tip (not shown) of the shank 12', defining a conical angle of about 4° relative to a plane perpendicular to the axis defined by the shank 12', and defining a conical angle of about 1 ° relative to the clamping surface 74. In sharp contrast, as described above, the ridges 86 of the ribs 80 lie on an imaginary, frusto-conical surface flaring outwardly from the shank 12, toward the tapered tip 22, defining a conical angle of about 1° relative to a plane perpendicular to the axis defined by the shank 12, and defining a conical angle of about 4° relative to the clamping surface 74. Furthermore, the fastener 10' is manufactured so that each rib 80' of the fastener 10' extends from the shank 12' toward the peripheral edge 72' of the bearing portion 70' but does not necessarily extend fully to the peripheral edge 72'. As a practical matter, an imaginary circle including the distal ends of the ribs 80' may have a diameter of about ninety-five percent of the diameter of the peripheral edge 72'. In sharp contrast, as described above, each rib 80 of the fastener 10 extends from the shank 12 fully to the peripheral edge 72 of the bearing portion 70. The ribs 80' of the fastener 10' tend to scrape the underlaying surface of a faying plate (not shown) and to leave a nonuniform pattern of depressed grooves and raised ribs. In actual tests of otherwise similar fasteners from one or more samples of fasteners similar to the fastener 10' and from one or more samples of fasteners similar to the fastener 10, it was found that the tested fasteners similar to the fastener 10' and the tested fasteners similar to the fastener 10 exhibited similar values of statistical maximum tapping torque. However, it was found that the tested fasteners similar to the fastener 10' exhibited an average (mean) stripping torque of 49.80 lb.-in. (5.63N.m) and a statistical minimum stripping torque of 39.40 lb.-in. (4.45N.m), whereas it was found that the tested fasteners similar to the fastener 10 exhibited an average (mean) stripping torque of 52.80 lb.-in. (5.97N.m) and a statistical minimum stripping torque of 44.87 lb.-in. (5.07N.m). Thus, as contrasted with the tested fasteners similar to the fastener 10', it was found that the tested fasteners similar to the fastener 10 exhibited about a six percent increase in average (mean) stripping torque and about a fourteen percent increase in statistical minimum stripping torque. These data demonstrate that fasteners similar to the fastener 10 are superior to fasteners similar to the fastener 10'.

Claims: A fastener for fastening a faying plate (30) to a tapping plate (40), the fastener being adapted to be rotatably driven, the fastener having a shank (12) including a tapered tip (22,24), the shank (12) defining an axis of the fastener and having a thread (14) extending along and around the shank (12), the fastener having a head (20) unitary with the shank (12), the head (20) having a driving portion (62) and a bearing portion (70) adjoining the shank, the driving portion (62) being adapted to be rotatably driven so as to drive the fastener rotatably about the axis defined by the shank (12), the bearing portion (70) having a peripheral edge (72) and a clamping surface (74) facing the shank (12), the peripheral edge (72) being annular, the clamping surface (74) flaring outwardly from the shank (12), toward the tapered tip (22,24), the clamping surface (74) being frusto-conical and defining a conical angle of about 5° relative to a plane perpendicular to the axis defined by the shank, and the head (20) having torque-absorbing ribs (80) projecting from the clamping surface (74) of the bearing portion (70) and spaced at regular intervals about the axis defined by the shank (12), each rib having a leading flank (82) and a trailing flank (84) with the leading and trailing flanks (82,84) defining a flank angle of about 90° and with the leading and trailing flanks defining a ridge (86), characterised in that the ridges (86) of the ribs lie on an imaginary, frusto-conical surface flaring outwardly toward the shank (12) at a conical angle of about 1 ° relative to a plane perpendicular to the axis defined by the shank (12) and at a conical angle of about 4° relative to the clamping surface (74) of the bearing portion (70). A fastener according to claim 1, wherein each rib (80) has a depth not less than about 0.0001 inch (2.5 µ m) when measured from the clamping surface (74) of the bearing portion to the ridge (86) of said rib (80), in a plane comprising the axis defined by the shank, at the peripheral edge (72) of the bearing portion (70). A fastener as claimed in claim 1 or 2 for fastening a faying plate (30) to a tapping plate (40), wherein the faying plate is pre-punched with a clearance hole (32) and has a faying surface and an opposite surface facing the tapping plate (40) and the tapping plate (40) is pre-punched with a tapping hole (42) smaller than the clearance hole (32), wherein the shank (12) is adapted to pass freely through the clearance hole (32), to enter the tapping hole (42) at the tapered tip (22, 24), and to tap a complementary thread (44) around the tapping hole (42), via the self-tapping thread (14), when the fastener is driven rotably, and wherein each rib (80) has a depth not less than about 0.0001 inch (2.5 µ m) when measured from the clamping surface (74) of the bearing portion (70) to the ridge (86) of said rib (80), in a plane comprising the axis defined by the shank (12), at the peripheral edge (72) of the bearing portion (70). A fastener according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the ridge (86) of each rib (80) extends radially outwards from the shank and lies in a plane including the axis defined by the shank (12). A fastener according to any one of the preceding claims, wherein the head (20) has eight said ribs (80) projecting from the clamping surface (74) of the bearing portion (70). A fastener in accordance with any one of the preceding claims in combination with a faying plate (30) and a tapping plate (40), the faying plate (30) being pre-punched with a clearance hole (32) and having a faying surface and an opposite surface facing the tapping plate (40) and the tapping plate (40) being pre-punched with a tapping hole (42) smaller than the clearance hole, the shank (12) of the fastener having a self-tapping thread (14) extending along and around it and being adapted to pass freely through the clearance hole (32), to enter the tapping hole (42) at the tapered tip (22,24), and to tap a complementary thread (44) around the tapping hole (42), via the selftapping thread (14), when the fastener is driven rotatably.

Inventors: BARTH GERALD D, BECHTEL FRANK W, BARTH, GERALD D., BECHTEL, FRANK W.
Applicants: ILLINOIS TOOL WORKS, ILLINOIS TOOL WORKS INC.
Application year: 1998
Main classification: F16B39
IPC codes: F16B35