Patent ID: 8136235

Claim:
A pierce nut installation apparatus for installing pierce nuts into a panel, each pierce nut having a bore disposed therethrough, comprising: a pierce nut installation head having a plunger passage for receiving a pierce nut for installation into the panel; a plunger reciprocating in said plunger passage having a proximal end driving the pierce nuts through said plunger passage into the panel piercing a slug from the panel thereby forming an opening in the panel and installing the pierce nut into the opening in the panel left by the slug; said plunger having an axial opening telescopically receiving a slug probe rod resiliently biased toward said proximal end of said plunger and extending beyond said proximal end of said plunger through the bore disposed in said pierce nut thereby ensuring the slug is pierced from the panel wherein said slug probe rod is resiliently biased toward said proximal end by a coil spring coaxial with said slug probe rod or by pneumatic pressure acting on said slug probe rod; and a slug sensor located beneath the panel for sensing if the slug has been pierced from the panel and has been ejected from said pierce nut installation apparatus.