JP7487015B2 - Blind Nut - Google Patents

Description

This disclosure relates to blind nuts for one-sided installation, and in particular to floating blind nuts.

Conventionally, there are floating nut sheet metal products. However, they are not necessarily easy to install, and the installation of the floating nut requires a lot of labor. On the other hand, as in Patent Document 1, there are blind nuts that can be attached to a workpiece by plastically deforming the tubular portion so as to sufficiently expand the diameter.
However, such blind nuts do not necessarily have a high yield.

Patent Publication 2013-160321

Therefore, the object of the present invention is to provide a nut that is easy to install and has a high yield.

To this end, one aspect of the present invention comprises:
1. A blind nut configured to be retained by a sheath, comprising:
A plastically processed portion having a plastically deformable tubular portion and a flange with an opening formed and connected to the tubular portion;
A nut portion having a female thread and disposed on an opposite side of the flange of the plastic processing portion;
a column-shaped exterior portion that houses the nut portion and the plastically processed portion and has an opening portion through which a male screw can be inserted from the flange side of the plastically processed portion;
The blind nut is configured so that a male thread inserted from the flange side of the plastically processed portion engages with the female thread of the nut portion, and with the nut portion and the tubular portion in abutment, the attached member is clamped and attached between the flange and an enlarged portion created by plastically deforming a portion of the tubular portion to expand its diameter.

In the blind nut, preferably, the nut portion and the portion of the exterior portion that covers the nut portion have the same rectangular column shape, and are configured so that the nut portion does not rotate when the male thread rotates to engage with the female thread of the nut portion.

In the blind nut, the outer diameter of the nut portion is preferably smaller than the outer diameter of the tubular portion of the plastically processed portion.

In the blind nut, preferably, the inner surface of the exterior portion is configured to follow the outer surface of the tubular portion of the plastically processed portion and have a gap between the inner surface and the side surface of the nut portion.

In the blind nut, preferably, a diameter of the female thread of the nut portion is smaller than an inner diameter of the tubular portion of the plastic processing portion,
With the male thread engaged with the female thread of the nut portion, the male thread is movable within the tubular portion in a direction perpendicular to the axis of the male thread.

In the blind nut, the thickness of the plastically processed portion is preferably thicker on the nut side than on the flange side.

In the blind nut, the inner diameter of the plastically processed portion is preferably smaller on the nut portion side than on the flange side.

The present invention provides a blind nut that is easy to install and has a high yield.

1A is a perspective view of a blind nut according to a first embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 1B is a cross-sectional view taken along line A-A'. FIG. 2 is a perspective view of an exterior part of the blind nut of FIG. 1 . FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a nut portion of the blind nut of FIG. 1 . FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a plastically processed portion of the blind nut of FIG. 1 . FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the blind nut of FIG. 1 in a state before being fastened. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing the state after the blind nut in FIG. 1 has been fastened. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a state in which the blind nut of FIG. 1 is used. FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a state in which the blind nut of FIG. 1 is used. FIG. 11 is a perspective view of a blind nut according to a second embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 11 is a perspective view of a blind nut according to a third embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 10 is a perspective view of a blind nut according to a fourth embodiment of the present invention.

[Blind nut configuration]
Fig. 1(a) is a perspective view of a blind nut 100 according to one embodiment of the present invention. Fig. 1(b) is a cross-sectional view taken along line AA' of Fig. 1(a). The blind nut 100 is composed of an exterior part 200, and a nut part 300 and a plastically processed part 400 that are housed in the exterior part 200 and are arranged consecutively in the axial direction of the male thread.

Figure 2 shows a perspective view of the exterior part 200 of the blind nut 100. Figure 3 shows a perspective view of the nut part 300 of the blind nut 100. Figure 4 shows a perspective view of the plastically processed part 400 of the blind nut 100.

The exterior part 200 is made of resin or metal, and in this embodiment, it is transparent plastic. As shown in FIG. 2, the exterior part 200 has a columnar part 220 and a flange 240 with an opening, and is configured to accommodate the nut part 300 and the plastic processing part 400 from the flange 240 side. As shown in FIG. 1(b), the exterior part 200 is configured to cover the plastic processing part 400 along the side of the columnar plastic processing part 400, and is configured to accommodate the plastic processing part 400 inside with a gap 120 from the side of the nut part 300 arranged in series in the height direction of the columnar shape of the plastic processing part 400. The plastic processing part 400 has a hollow columnar shape, and may be a rectangular column shape such as a square column or a hexagonal column, or may be a cylindrical shape. In this embodiment, since the plastic processing part 400 is a hexagonal column, the exterior part 200 is also a hexagonal column so as to cover the plastic processing part 400 along the side of the plastic processing part 400.

The nut part 300 has a female thread 320 that engages with the male thread, and is, for example, a rectangular prism shape such as a square prism or a hexagonal prism. As described above, the nut part 300 has a gap 120 in the exterior part 200 in a direction perpendicular to the axis of the female thread 320. Therefore, the nut part 300 is movable in the exterior part 200 in a direction perpendicular to the axis of the female thread 320, but the gap 120 shown in FIG. 1(b) is configured with a width such that the nut part 300 does not rotate in the exterior part 200 even if the male thread is rotated when the male thread is engaged with the female thread 320 of the nut part 300.

As shown in FIG. 1(b), the nut part 300 has a gap 140 in the axial direction of the female thread 320 within the exterior part 200. This configuration allows the nut part 300 to move in the axial direction of the female thread 320 within the exterior part 200, and also allows the male thread to come out of the female thread 320 when the male thread of the nut part 300 is engaged with the female thread 320.

As shown in FIG. 4, the plastically processed part 400 is formed as a separate part from the nut part 300. The plastically processed part 400 has a hollow, plastically deformable tubular part 420 that is axially connected to the nut part 300, and a flange 440 with an opening that is connected to the tubular part 420. As described below, when fastening the member to be attached, the plastically processed part 400 is designed to clamp the member to be attached between the flange 440 and an enlarged diameter part formed by plastically deforming the tubular part 420.

As described above, the nut part 300 has a gap 120 with respect to the exterior part 200 in a direction perpendicular to the axis of the female thread 320, while the plastic processing part 400 is arranged along the inner surface of the plastic processing part 400 without having a gap with respect to the exterior part 200. Therefore, the outer diameter of the nut part 300 is formed smaller than the outer diameter of the tubular part 420 of the plastic processing part 400. By being configured in this manner, the nut part 300 is movable in a direction perpendicular to the axis of the female thread within the exterior part 200 as described above, and in addition, the position of the nut part 300 can be adjusted so that pressure is appropriately applied to the plastic processing part 400 during fastening, making it possible to perform plastic deformation of the plastic processing part 400 with a good yield.

[Installation operation 1]
The operation of attaching the blind nut according to the present invention to a member to be attached will be described with reference to FIGS.

<Before the conclusion>
5 is a diagram showing the state before fastening in which the blind nut 100 and fastening tool 580 are set on a plate-shaped attached member 500. First, the blind nut 100 is inserted into the mounting hole of the attached member 500 from the nut portion 300 side, and the lower surface of the flange 440 of the plastically processed portion 400 abuts on the upper surface of the attached member 500 via the exterior portion 200. Next, from this state, the male thread portion 570 of the fastening tool 580 is inserted into the tubular portion 420 of the plastically processed portion 400, and then rotated so as to engage with the female thread 320 of the nut portion 300.

In the state shown in FIG. 5, the male thread portion 570 of the fastening tool 580 engages with the female thread 320 of the nut portion 300, and the tip of the male thread portion 570 of the fastening tool 580 passes through the nut portion 300. Here, when the male thread portion 570 of the fastening tool 580 passes through the nut portion 300 while engaging with the female thread 320 of the nut portion 300, a gap 540 is provided in the axial direction between the nut portion 300 and the exterior portion 200 so that the tip of the male thread portion 570 of the fastening tool 580 does not come into contact with the exterior portion 200.

In addition, within the exterior part 200, a gap 520 exists in a direction perpendicular to the axis of the female thread 320 of the nut part 300. In addition, a gap 560 exists between the male thread part 570 of the fastening tool 580 and the inner diameter of the plastic processing part 400.

The plastically processed portion 400 may be configured so that the inner diameter on the nut portion 300 side is smaller than the inner diameter on the flange 440 side. The plastically processed portion 400 may be configured so that the thickness 530 on the nut portion 300 side is thicker than the thickness 510 on the flange 440 side. By configuring it in this way, it becomes possible to perform the plastic deformation and the diameter expansion well when pressure is applied from the nut portion 300 to the plastically processed portion 400 during fastening.

<Fixing process>
FIG. 6 is a diagram showing the blind nut 100 in the state shown in FIG. 5 after being fastened to a workpiece 500. As shown in FIG.

First, the male thread portion 570 of the fastening tool 580 engages with the female thread 320 of the nut portion 300, and the upper surface of the nut portion 300 and the lower surface of the plastic processing portion 400 are brought into contact with each other.

Next, when the male threaded portion 570 is pulled upward from this state by the fastening tool 580, the nut portion 300 pushes the plastically processed portion 400 upward, and a part of the tubular portion 420 of the plastically processed portion 400 undergoes plastic deformation so as to buckle and expand, forming the buckled portion 460. At this time, since the exterior portion 200 is made of a resin such as plastic or a relatively soft metal, when a part of the tubular portion 420 buckles and expands, the exterior portion 200 on the outside of the buckled portion 460 of the tubular portion 420 also cooperates to form the buckled portion 260. As a result, the blind rivet 100 is fixed by sandwiching the attached member 500 between the flange 440 and the buckled portion 460 of the plastically processed portion 400.

[Installation operation 2]
FIG. 7 is a diagram showing a state in which another plate-shaped attached workpiece 700 is attached by a bolt 600 to the blind nut 100 attached to the attached workpiece 500 shown in FIG.

The male thread of the bolt 600 can engage with the female thread 320 of the nut portion 300. The opening of the flange 440 of the plastic processing portion 400 is aligned with the mounting hole of the other member to be attached 700, and the other member to be attached 700 is placed on the flange 440 of the plastic processing portion 400. The shaft portion of the bolt 600 is passed through the mounting hole of the other member to be attached 700 and inserted into the tubular portion 420 of the plastic processing portion 400. The male thread of the bolt 600 is then rotated to engage with the female thread 320 of the nut portion 300, and the other member to be attached 700 is attached to the blind nut 100.

In this case, the outer diameter of the nut part 300 is a rectangular column shape, the same as the outer diameter of the exterior part 200, so that even if the male thread of the bolt 600 rotates, the nut part 300 that engages with it cannot rotate, and the male thread of the bolt 600 engages with the female thread 320 of the nut part 300, and the tip of the male thread of the bolt 600 can pass through the nut part 300.

The diameter of the female thread 320 of the nut portion 300 is smaller than the inner diameter of the tubular portion 420 of the plastic processing portion 400, so that when the male thread of the bolt 600 is engaged with the nut portion 300, a gap 760 is formed between the male thread of the bolt 600 and the inner diameter of the plastic processing portion 400. In addition, a gap 720 exists between the inner surface of the exterior portion 200 and the outer surface of the nut portion 300 in a direction perpendicular to the axis of the bolt 600. By configuring in this way, the position of the other attached member 700 can be shifted in the horizontal direction in the figure, and the male thread of the bolt 600 and the nut portion 300 can be shifted to match the positional shift between the attached member 500 and the other attached member 700.

Figure 8 shows the state in which the bolt 600 and the other member to be attached 700 have been removed from the state shown in Figure 7. The bolt 600 and the other member to be attached 700 can be removed from the blind nut 100 by rotating the bolt 600 in the opposite direction to when the male thread of the bolt 600 was engaged with the nut part 300 and removing the bolt 600 from the nut part 300. As shown in Figure 8, even if the bolt 600 and the other member to be attached 700 are removed from the blind nut 100, the fastening between the blind nut 100 and the member to be attached 500 is maintained, and the member to be attached 500 does not fall off the blind nut 100. At this time, the nut part 300 is covered by the exterior part 200 and is therefore held within the exterior part 200.

[Variations]
Figures 9, 10, and 11 show modified examples of the blind nut 100 in Figure 1. However, the modified examples of the blind nut in Figure 1 are not limited to those shown in Figures 9, 10, and 11 below, and other configurations are also possible for the plastic processing portion 400, the nut portion 300, and the exterior portion 200.

In the blind nut 900 in FIG. 9, the plastic processing part 400, the nut part 300, and the exterior part 200 are each hexagonal prism-shaped, as in FIG. 1, but the exterior part 200 has an opening 920 along the diameter of the female thread 320 of the nut part 300 as shown in FIG. 9, and the length of the exterior part 200 is configured to be shorter than the length of the exterior part 200 in FIG. 1. By being able to shorten the length of the exterior part 200, it is possible to deal with cases where the depth is not secured at the time of installation. In addition, the opening 920 is formed at a position corresponding to the diameter of the female thread 320 of the nut part 300, so that the male thread can come out of the female thread 320 of the nut part 300 when engaged. In addition, the exterior part 200 around the position of the opening 920 prevents the nut part 300 from falling out of the exterior part 200 even if the male thread is removed after fastening.

In the blind nut 1000 of FIG. 10, the plastic processing part 400, the nut part 300, and the exterior part 200 are each in a rectangular prism shape. According to the configuration of the present invention, it is necessary to prevent the nut part 300 from rotating within the exterior part 200 when the male screw that engages with it rotates. In this regard, by configuring it in a rectangular prism shape, it is possible to ensure a larger gap between the inner surface of the exterior part 200 and the outer surface of the nut part 300 than with other rectangular prism shapes, within the range in which the nut part 300 does not rotate within the exterior part 200.

The blind nut 1100 in FIG. 11 is an example in which the shapes of the nut portion 300 and the plastically processed portion 400 are different. In the embodiment in FIG. 11, the plastically processed portion 400 is cylindrical, the nut portion 300 is hexagonal prism-shaped, and the exterior portion 200 is cylindrical around the plastically processed portion 400 and hexagonal prism-shaped around the nut portion 300. In this way, the shapes of the nut portion 300 and the portion of the plastically processed portion 400 that covers the nut portion 300 are both configured to be the same prism shape so as not to rotate when the male screw rotates, but the shape of the plastically processed portion 400 can be changed to various shapes.

Although one embodiment and example of the blind nut according to the present invention have been described above, it is easily understood that the present invention is not limited to the above example, and various modifications can be made to it. As long as they fall within the scope of the matters set forth in the claims and equivalent matters, they are naturally included in the technical scope of the present invention. The above example was for a specific shape of the nut part and plastically processed part, but this is merely one example, and the present invention is not limited to this specific example.

100 Blind nut 200 Exterior part 220 Column-shaped part 240 Flange 300 Nut part 320 Female thread 400 Plastically processed part 420 Tubular part 440 Flange 500 Attached member 510 530 Wall thickness 520 540 560 Gap 570 Male thread part 580 Fastening tool 260 460 Buckling part 700 Attached member 720 760 Gap 900 Blind nut 920 Opening 1000 Blind nut 1100 Blind nut

Claims (7)

A blind nut configured such that a nut portion is held by an exterior portion ,
A plastically processed portion having a plastically deformable tubular portion and a flange with an opening formed and connected to the tubular portion;
A nut portion having a female thread and disposed on an opposite side of the flange of the plastic processing portion;
a column-shaped exterior portion that houses the nut portion and the plastically processed portion and has an opening portion through which a male screw can be inserted from the flange side of the plastically processed portion;
A blind nut is configured so that a male thread inserted from the flange side of the plastically processed portion engages with the female thread of the nut portion, and with the nut portion and the tubular portion in abutment, the blind nut is configured so that the member to be attached is clamped between the flange and an enlarged portion formed by plastically deforming a portion of the tubular portion to expand its diameter. The blind nut according to claim 1, wherein the nut portion and the portion of the exterior portion that covers the nut portion have the same rectangular column shape, and are configured so that the nut portion does not rotate when the male thread rotates to engage with the female thread of the nut portion. The blind nut according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the outer diameter of the nut portion is smaller than the outer diameter of the tubular portion of the plastically processed portion. A blind nut according to any one of claims 1 to 3, in which the inner surface of the exterior portion is configured to follow the outer surface of the tubular portion of the plastically processed portion and have a gap between the inner surface and the side surface of the nut portion. a diameter of the female thread of the nut portion is smaller than an inner diameter of the tubular portion of the plastic processing portion,
5. The blind nut according to claim 1, wherein the male thread is movable within the tubular portion in a direction perpendicular to the axis of the male thread when the male thread is engaged with the female thread of the nut portion. A blind nut according to any one of claims 1 to 5, in which the thickness of the plastically processed portion is greater on the nut portion side than on the flange side. The blind nut according to any one of claims 1 to 6, wherein the inner diameter of the plastically processed portion is smaller on the nut portion side than on the flange side.

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