Patent ID: 7156596

Claim:
A blind rivet configured to connect a first sheet defining a first mounting hole and a second sheet defining a second mounting hole comprising: a hollow tubular rivet body having a rivet body flange formed at one of the ends thereof and adapted to be disposed in the second mounting hole of the second sheet, said rivet body having a first portion having a first thickness and a second portion having a second thickness which is greater than the first thickness, said first portion adapted to pass through the first mounting hole of the first sheet and having an outer diameter; and a mandrel having a shank passing through said rivet body and protruding from said rivet body flange and a large diameter head adjacent to the other end of said rivet body and opposite to said rivet body flange, wherein an end portion of said mandrel protruding from said rivet body flange can be pulled out from said rivet body to allow said head to deform and expand the first portion of said rivet body so that said blind rivet is attached to said first sheet by means of said expandedly deformed first portion and said rivet body flange, and wherein said mandrel has an external thread portion provided at least in such a region that after said blind rivet is attached, said mandrel protrudes from said rivet body flange and adjacent to said rivet body flange; and said blind rivet further comprises a tubular sleeve disposed adjacent to said rivet body flange to surround said mandrel protruding from said rivet body flange, said sleeve being formed separately from both said mandrel and said rivet body, said sleeve including a sleeve flange for sandwiching said second sheet between said first sheet and said sleeve flange, and a deformable swageable portion to be deformed radially in a region facing to said external thread portion of said mandrel, so as to form an internal thread in the inner surface thereof, the sleeve flange having an outer diameter, wherein said rivet body flange has an outer diameter larger than the inner diameter of said first mounting hole and smaller than the inner diameter of said second mounting hole and is adapted to abut a side of the first sheet adjacent to the second sheet before the first portion of the rivet body is deformed and expanded, the outer diameter of said sleeve flange being larger than the outer diameter of said rivet body flange, the outer diameter of said rivet body flange being larger than the outer diameter of said first portion of said rivet body.