Patent ID: 7306418

Claim:
An interim assembly of a workpiece with at least one loosely retained fastener adapted for subsequent mounting of the assembly to a separate component by attachment of the fastener, the assembly comprising: a workpiece having an outer surface and at least one fastener opening through the workpiece and partially defined by a malleable edge portion of the workpiece; a fastener centered on an axis and having a head at one end, a fastening portion on another end, and a reduced diameter portion between the ends, the fastening and reduced diameter portions being received in the fastener opening; and a radial clamping surface associated with the head and surrounding the reduced diameter portion, the clamping surface having a wedge-shaped deforming element with a deforming face which extends radially and axially outward at an acute angle from the axis to adjoin a radially outer face, which extends axially a fixed distance outward from the clamping surface, the outer face forming an acute angle with the deforming face not greater than the acute angle of the deforming face relative to the axis; the workpiece including a stop made by inwardly deforming, with the deforming element, part of the malleable edge portion of the workpiece into the fastener opening sufficiently to block removal of the fastening portion of the fastener from the fastener opening while loosely retaining the fastener in the fastener opening to permit subsequent attachment of the fastener to said separate component; wherein an area of the outer surface of the workpiece, extending outward from and adjacent to the fastener opening, is generally flat for engagement by the radial clamping surface and the wedge shaped deforming element, to limit inward deformation of the malleable edge portion of the workpiece to a predetermined amount while avoiding any substantial outward deformation of the workpiece by the deforming element; the radial clamping surface and the deforming element comprise a deforming member having an outer surface generally parallel with the clamping surface and engagable by the force transmitting device for deforming the edge portion of the workpiece; and wherein the deforming member is a washer with a fastener receiving opening therethrough and centered on the axis.