Patent ID: 8371785

Claim:
A combination of a rivet nut ( 10 ) with a sheet metal part ( 60 ) having a thickness selected from a range of thicknesses, the rivet nut having a body part ( 12 ) and a cylindrical rivet portion ( 14 ), with the body part having a centrally arranged thread cylinder ( 16 ), a ring-shaped support surface ( 16 ) coaxial to the thread cylinder in a plane ( 20 ) perpendicular to the longitudinal axis ( 22 ) of the thread cylinder and an axially aligned ring groove ( 24 ) which is arranged radially inside the ring-shaped support surface ( 18 ) and radially outside the cylindrical rivet portion ( 14 ) and which merges on the radially inner side into the outer surface of the cylindrical rivet portion, wherein the ring groove ( 24 ) has, seen in an axial sectional plane, a U-shaped cross-section, wherein the volume of the ring groove is selected such that when used with the sheet metal part, irrespective of its thickness within the range, the said sheet metal part is formed into the ring groove ( 24 ) and a respective ring recess ( 80 ) is formed in the sheet metal part having a respective volume, the volume of a rivet bead formed by a respective folded over region of the rivet portion is accommodated within the ring recess ( 80 ), the ring recess varying in volume as a fraction of the sheet metal thickness, but for any thickness within said range, the rivet bead formed by beading over a portion of said cylindrical rivet portion into the ring recess, is such that the volume of the rivet bead substantially fills the volume of said ring recess; wherein the volume of the U-shaped groove axially within the ring-shaped recess ( 80 ) corresponds at least substantially to the volume of the beaded over rivet portion ( 14 ′).