Patent ID: 7076864

Claim:
A riveting tool for forming a head on a rivet having a preformed rivet head and an elongated rivet shaft which extends longitudinally from the preformed head to a distal end, the tool comprising: a support sleeve having a bore extending axially at least partway therethrough, a riveter die slidably disposed in the bore, the riveter die extending axially from a forward end spaced proximate the rivet to a rearward end remote therefrom and including, a secondary bore extending longitudinally substantially through the riveter die from the rearward end, the secondary bore having a lateral cross-sectional profile generally corresponding to that of the rivet shaft, a head cavity formed in the forward end, the secondary bore being open into a rearward portion of the cavity, the head cavity having a shape generally corresponding to a shape of a preferred formed rivet head and having a size selected such that upon initial engagement of the riveter die with the rivet at least a portion of the rivet shaft locates within the secondary bore so as to be partially constrained against lateral deformation thereby, a strike rod slidably received in the secondary bore, the strike rod being movable relative to the riveter die between a first position wherein a forwardmost face of said rod is located rearwardly from said cavity to a second position located forwardly therefrom, wherein the movement of the rod from the first to the second position engages the distal end of the rivet to compress and laterally deform a portion of the rivet shaft in the head cavity, and a ram being selectively operable to move the strike rod from said first position to said second position.