Patent ID: 8920063

Claim:
A blind fastener for securing a workpiece to a workpiece holding fixture, comprising: a housing, a pusher member and translating elements, the housing having an inside wall and an outside wall, the housing presenting external threads extending from a lower end thereof suitable for registering with a threaded hole of the workpiece holding fixture, the housing slidably receiving the pusher member for movement between an extended position and a retracted position, the housing having channels extending between the inside wall and the outside wall thereof, the translating elements nested in the channels, and being able to move between an inboard position and an outboard position, an upper end of the pusher member also being able to urge the translating elements from the inboard position toward the outboard position when the pusher member moves from the extended position toward the retracted position, whereby when the blind fastener is able to be inserted through a workpiece tool hole which has a radially extending groove spaced from the lower surface of the workpiece, and when the blind fastener is threaded into the threaded hole of the workpiece holding fixture having a closed bottom and which is aligned with the workpiece tool hole, the pusher member contacts the closed bottom of the threaded hole and remains stationary as the housing continues to thread into threaded hole and translates down relative to pusher member which causes the upper end of the pusher member to contact the translating elements and thereby urge the translating elements toward the outboard position and into the radially extending groove of the workpiece tool hole, and, as the blind fastener is further threaded into the threaded hole, the translating elements contact the lower surface of the workpiece tool hole radially extending groove such that the workpiece is clamped to the workpiece holding fixture as additional torque is applied to the blind fastener.