Patent ID: 7866931

Claim:
An apparatus and a sheet-shaped material, the apparatus for use with a fastener for attaching the material to a structural member, comprising: a flared-shaped spacer having first and second ends and having a throughbore therein, wherein said throughbore is axially disposed to receive the fastener therein so that the fastener can rotate freely therein, a length from the first end to the second end of the spacer is smaller than a thickness of the material, the material including a face paper disposed on a front surface thereof, said first end having a countersunk annular flat surface to receive a head of the fastener thereon, an external surface of the spacer having an annular shape around the countersunk portion at said first end and being outwardly tapered from the second end till the annular shape at the first end, and when the fastener passes through the material into the structural member, the second end of the spacer is drawn into the material after the tip of the fastener passes through the material into the structural member until the entire spacer is embedded into the material and the second end of the spacer contacts the structural member so that the first end of the spacer forms a countersunk void on the front surface of the material, and when the fastener passes through the material into the structural member, a first portion of the face paper of the material is pulled and tucked into the countersunk void without shearing, and a second portion of the face paper is tucked between the spacer and the material.