Patent ID: 8141229

Claim:
A method for the attachment of a centering element to a sheet metal part ( 10 ) for the formation of a component assembly, said centering element ( 12 ) having a shaft part ( 14 ), a tubular rivet section ( 22 ) surrounding said shaft part and a head part ( 16 ), said head part having a cylinder section ( 21 ), a side ( 18 ) confronting said sheet metal part, a recess ( 20 ) at least approximately in the shape of a ring in said side and an annular sheet metal contact surface ( 24 ; 24 ′) surrounding said recess, said recess merging at a radially inner side into said cylinder section ( 21 ) of said head part ( 16 ) and said cylinder section ( 21 ) in turn merging into said shaft part ( 14 ) and said cylinder section also merging into said tubular rivet section ( 22 ) which surrounds said shaft part ( 14 ) in a region of said head part ( 16 ) and being disposed within said annular contact surface ( 24 ; 24 ′) and said recess merging at a radially outer side via an at least approximately conical wall ( 23 ) into said annular contact surface, there being a plurality of local recesses ( 32 ) provided in at least one of said conical wall ( 23 ) of said recess and in a base surface ( 26 ) of the ring shaped recess, and wherein a region of said shaft part ( 14 ) forms a centering section ( 40 ) radially within said tubular rivet section ( 22 ) adjacent said cylinder section ( 21 ), the method comprising the steps of inserting said region of said shaft part forming a centering section ( 40 ) into a pre-formed hole of said sheet metal part ( 10 ), forming material of said sheet metal part surrounding said tubular rivet section ( 22 ) into the local recesses ( 32 ) by means of a die button having a central recess which receives said shaft part and a raised portion in the form of a ring which surrounds said central recess and pressing said rivet section ( 22 ) into a ring recess ( 20 ) formed in the underside of the sheet metal part during formation of a rivet bead ( 42 ) from said tubular rivet section ( 22 ).