Patent ID: 7716805

Claim:
A method for sealingly connecting at least a first component and a second component of a housing, wherein said housing is selected from the group consisting of gear housings and crankshaft housings, using a plurality of thread screws formed from a material having a hardness greater than that of said housing components, each said screw comprising a bolt head and a screw shank connected to the bolt head and having a screw thread on a first shank portion, the first and second housing components having screw bores formed therein to permit passage of the thread screws therethrough, the method comprising the steps of: providing each of the thread screws with a cone frustum or cone shape having a linear or curved conical outline in a neck area between the screw shank and the bolt head, with at least a substantial length of the cone frustum or cone shape having a diameter greater than a diameter of the screw bore into which the thread screw is configured for insertion therethrough; projecting each thread screw with its screw shank through a screw bore of a first housing component without a washer and screwing the shank with threads into a matching female thread of a second housing component, so that the thread screws shore up at the first component of the housing and connect the first component with the second component of the housing; tightening the threads into the female thread of the second housing component to wedgingly force the cone frustum or cone shape in the neck area of the thread screw into the screw bore, with the wedging force being sufficient to radially expand the diameter of the screw bore adjacent the cone frustum or cone shape to create a counter sealing surface of walls of the screw bore against the cone frustum or cone shape, with the counter sealing surface being formed in a counter cone configuration relative to the cone frustum or cone shape, the neck area having been configured to preclude material at an upper rim section of the screw bore from collapsing into a cavity of the screw bore upon the tightening.