It is known to connect material to a carrier plate using a clamp-type sheet metal nut which is slipped onto a carrier plate. The sheet metal nut consists of two legs, connected to each other, with a pretapped plunged boss in one leg and a through-bore for a screw in the other leg. An annular centering strip is formed around at least three-fourths of the circumference of the through-bore; the rear region of the centering strip bends diagonally upward towards the threaded leg.
This type of slip-on nut is used for connecting a carrier plate, such as an auto body of a motor vehicle, to another component or sheet. The centering strip offers the advantage that the threaded portion of the sheet metal nut, when the former is being slipped on, is fixed precisely over the fastening hole of the carrier plate. When driving in the screw, the sheet metal nut no longer must be held, which means that assembly is greatly facilitated, particularly when the fastening hole is difficult to access.
If the sheet metal of the carrier plate is coated with a protective coating, e.g., a lacquer coating, then it should not be damaged by the fastening process. Therefore it is important that, as the sheet metal nut is being slipped on, the centering strip be able to spring back softly and, in this connection, without spring into the hole of the clamping leg from which the centering strip has been cut without damage. In order to fulfill said requirement, the centering strip in the prior art of the invention, in accordance with DE 2,828,078 C2, is cut such that it is surrounded by a region which has been cut free. However, the clamping leg must be of a wider design for the free punch, and requires a correspondingly wider sheet metal strip as starting material. In addition, the increased leg width may become an obstacle for narrow spatial conditions.
USPTO Backgrounds
USPTO Backgrounds