Patent ID: 6889435

Claim:
A method of securing a metal cup-shaped component holder to an external surface of a hollow tubular metal fuel rail for an internal combustion engine, and wherein said holder has a generally cylindrical side wall open at one end and joined at its axially opposite end to a radially extending initially imperforate base wall, which comprises the steps of: (a) locating said component holder such that the base wall of said holder is in external surface contact with said fuel rail and tangential to said external surface, (b) forming an opening through said base wall and said fuel rail where said base wall is in surface contact with said fuel rail by a thermal drilling process to secure said holder to said fuel rail by thermal flow of material from said wall and said rail into said holder and said fuel rail around said opening to thereby form an annular collar around said opening that extends through said contacting portions of said base wall and said rail, and (c) utilizing a rapidly rotating piercing tool to perform such thermal drilling of step (b), the tool having a conically shaped piercing end portion that merges at its widest diameter into a constant diameter cylindrical shank portion of the tool that in turn terminates at its end axially remote from said piercing end portion at a radially extending flat abutment undersurface of a diametrically enlarged follower shoulder portion of the tool such that the thermal flow of material into said component is formed into an annular flange radially overlapping said component base wall caused by abutment of the abutment surface of the diametrically enlarged follower shoulder portion causing metal flow radially outwardly between the abutment surface and the base wall such that the major dimension of said flange extends generally radially of the holder cylindrical side wall such that, upon hardening, said flange major dimension extends parallel to the base wall such that said flange is in snug overlapping clamping relation therewith and thereby firmly holds said component against said body wall.