Did You Know...
...that while attempting to develop a super strong glue, 3M employee Spencer Silver accidentally developed a glue that was so weak it would barely hold two pieces of paper together? However, his colleague Art Fry needed the glue. Fry sang with his church choir and marked the pages of his hymnal with small scraps of paper that often fell out. He used Silver's glue to hold the papers in place. Today we call this invention Post-it Notes.
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| Number | Title | Issue Date |
| 7926318 | Alignment device and methods of using the same An alignment device is located on a mandrel of an installation tool and is used to align a structural member in an opening of a workpiece while seating a radial flange of the structural member against a first surface of the workpiece. The alignment device comprises ... | 04/19/2011 |
| 7878041 | Dynamic verification method for a riveting process with blind rivets carried out with an automatic riveting apparatus, and verifying device for carrying out the verification A method and device are provided for verification of the quality of placing of blind rivets. The verification method involves successively carrying out, during the application of traction force to a stem, initial measurements in an initial state of the application o... | 02/01/2011 |
| 7617712 | Alignment device and methods of using the same An alignment device is located on a mandrel of an installation tool and is used to align a structural member in an opening of a workpiece while seating a radial flange of the structural member against a first surface of the workpiece. The alignment device comprises ... | 11/17/2009 |
| 7526939 | High performance jaw system for blind fastener installation A pulling head having jaws that have a conical angle of at least forty-five degrees, and preferably sixty degrees, relative to a longitudinal axis about which the jaws are arranged. Another pulling head includes an elastic collet that has a plurality of fingers. Eac... | 05/05/2009 |
| 7377017 | Slim-line hand operated rivet tool for setting plastic blind rivets in tight access spaces A hand-operated rivet setting tool for setting blind rivets in tight access spaces. The tool has a long and slender slim-line profile which allows a user installing a vehicle bumper to set blind rivets in the space between the tire and the vehicle's wheel well witho... | 05/27/2008 |
| 7347078 | Rivet holding container and rivet feed system for automatic feed blind rivet setting tool An elongated rivet bag holding a quantity of blind rivets ready for use in an automatic rivet setting tool. The rivets are connected along an elongated flexible rivet carrying strip by having a distal portion of each mandrel inserted or pierced through the carrying ... | 03/25/2008 |
| 7346971 | Blind rivet monitoring system supply pressure compensation A rivet set quality monitoring system is disclosed. A supply pressure sensor monitors the supply pressure to the tool. The tool has a second sensor which monitors strains or loads associated with a rivet set event. A processor evaluates outputs from the pressure sen... | 03/25/2008 |
| 7343764 | Placing tool with means for controlling placing processes A rivet setting tool is provided to provide improved monitoring of riveted connections during rivet setting. The rivet setting tool includes a head piece for holding a rivet, a device for gripping a rivet pin, a pulling apparatus connected to the device for gripping... | 03/18/2008 |
| 7331205 | Rivet monitoring system A rivet monitoring system is provided which has a micro-strain or micro fluid pressure sensor that measures strains or pressures within a tool component. These measured signals are compared to a number of tolerance bands formed about median strain or pressure versus... | 02/19/2008 |
| 7290317 | Blind rivet setting tool A blind rivet setting tool has a construction in which a tubular spring-biased handle gripped by an operator moves axially of the tool. An interlock between a trigger lever and the handle prevents operation of the tool until a rivet held by the tool is properly posi... | 11/06/2007 |
| 7263753 | Blind bolt installation tool A pulling head includes a sleeve which threadably engages a sleeve adapter. A collet is threadably engaged with a drawbar adapter, and the collet and drawbar adapter are disposed and slidable in the sleeve. A set of jaws is disposed in the collet, and a jaw follower... | 09/04/2007 |
| 7243525 | Multi-angle hand rivet squeezer A hand rivet squeezer with adjustable handles includes a riveting head body, and C-shaped anvil yoke and stationary and lever swing-arm handles attached to the body. A mechanical linkage inside the body converts pivoting forces applied to the lever swing-arm into ax... | 07/17/2007 |
| 7222405 | Device for determining axial alignment or misalignment of a punch with respect to a die In an apparatus in which workpieces are joined by self-piercing rivets, for example, a jig is used to determine whether axial alignment of a punch and a die is within an acceptable range. The jig substitutes for a die and has a shank and a head, the shank fitting wi... | 05/29/2007 |
| 7178213 | Rivet driving anvil retention system and method A driving anvil washer retaining apparatus (12) for a rivet gun (14) includes a magnetized element (21). The magnetized element (21) is coupled to the rivet gun (14) and retains an anvil washer (52) during installation of a ... | 02/20/2007 |
| 7155953 | Anvil driving assembly An anvil driving assembly, anvil driving tool, and method for installing rivetless floating nut plates in workpieces. The tool and method are capable of pulling a rivetless nut plate sleeve into a countersunk hole in the workpiece simultaneously with flaring the ope... | 01/02/2007 |
| 7146698 | Hand-held riveting tool A hand-held riveting tool includes a body, a tube passing through the body, a drive shaft passing through the inside of the tube, a clamping connection between an interchangeable mandrel and the drive shaft, and a hand operated pressure mechanism. The pressure mecha... | 12/12/2006 |
| 7107814 | Pneumatic precision pliers The invention relates to a device for pneumatically operating a tool which can be driven by means of pressure, such especially, pneumatic pliers. The device has a cylinder comprising one or more pneumatically operated, nonpositively fitted pistons arranged in a row,... | 09/19/2006 |
| 7082658 | Intake control valve assembly of a rivet-nut gun An intake control valve assembly of a rivet-nut gun comprises mainly a handle and a pressure accumulator; the top of the pressure accumulator is furnished with a valve cylinder, in which an intake control valve assembly is loaded; by means of a trigger, the pressure... | 08/01/2006 |
| 7082657 | Automatic suction and repelling device for rivet gun An automatic suction and repelling device for rivet gun, which comprises a body and a handle, and the intake passages thereof are in communication each other; the rear center of the body is furnished with a regulation ring and a used-nail cylinder; the regulation ri... | 08/01/2006 |
| 7065855 | Installation tool for setting anchors The invention provides an installation tool for use with a battery operated drill or a corded electric drill for repetitive installation of caulk-in anchors. The installation tool utilizes the mechanical advantage of a threaded shaft to improve consistency of the ho... | 06/27/2006 |
| 7062843 | Straight type riveting gun The present invention relates to a straight type riveting gun, which comprises a gun body having a pipe body and a tube body, a front gun pipe, and a back cover, wherein the front gun pipe is locked to front end of the pipe body and the back cover is locked to the t... | 06/20/2006 |
| 7051411 | Apparatus for riveter A riveter apparatus includes a body, a handle part and a pulling part. The body further includes a base and a front tube. The base interior has a column with an adjustable groove that has a greater diameter in the front end than the back end. The base also has a slo... | 05/30/2006 |
| 7024746 | Method and apparatus for monitoring blind fastener setting A method of monitoring the setting operation for a blind fastener comprising the step of measuring, as a function of time, an electronic signal indicative of the load being applied to the fastener during the setting operation and, from which, determining a mandrel e... | 04/11/2006 |
| 7024741 | Fastening structure with a rivet A fastening tool draws a mandrel (5) to allow a caulking portion of the mandrel to deform a stem of a rivet (2) so that workpieces are fastened together. The fastening tool used in this process includes a nosepiece having a protrusion. During caulking,... | 04/11/2006 |
| 6990722 | Method and apparatus for connecting a fastener element to a wall A tubular fastener element is inserted into an opening in a wall until a flange at the trailing end of the fastener element is in contact with the wall. Then, an externally threaded end of a rod is inserted into a center opening in the fastener element from the flan... | 01/31/2006 |
| 6978526 | Structure of a rivet nut gun A structure of rivet nut gun having a body, a handle and a pressure cylinder. The top of the handle is furnished with a mounting base having a through cylindrical hole. The lower end of the handle is furnished with a base surface for mounting the fastening disk. The... | 12/27/2005 |
| 6962068 | Nut insert installation system and method of use A system is disclosed for installing an insert within an aperture in a workpiece, the workpiece having a first side and a second side. The insert is the type in which a portion of the insert plastically deforms on the second side of the workpiece upon application of... | 11/08/2005 |
| 6918279 | Blind riveting device A blind riveting device for placing blind rivets includes a device head, wherein an opening for receiving a rivet bolt and a suction device for producing a negative pressure for holding the rivet bolt in the opening are arranged in the head. A control unit for switc... | 07/19/2005 |
| 6912763 | Clamping connection for interchangeable mandrel and drive shaft of riveting tool and use of that clamping connection for hand held riveting tools The invention concerns a clamping connection for an interchangeable mandrel (1) and drive shaft (13) of a riveting tool. The connection comprises a connecting casing (15) to which the end of the drive shaft (13) is fastened on one side, w... | 07/05/2005 |
| 6904831 | Rivet setting device for setting self-tapping rivets A rivet setting device for setting a self-tapping rivet in a work piece includes a rotatable head for rotating a self-tapping rivet to form a hole in the work piece and a shank retracting assembly for compressing and spreading the hollow body of the self-tapping riv... | 06/14/2005 |
| 6840075 | Quick release/eject drive assembly A quick release drive assembly intercouples a reversible hand held motor and a drive screw for mounting blind fasteners in place. A replaceable adaption assembly includes the drive screw, the nosepiece of the unit and a drive adaptor for supplying torque from the mo... | 01/11/2005 |
| 6792657 | Method and apparatus for connecting a fastener element to a wall A tubular fastener element (34) is inserted into an opening (44) in a wall (W) until a flange (40) at the trailing end of the fastener element (34) is in contact with the wall (W). Then, an externally threaded end (32) of a rod ( | 09/21/2004 |
| 6704986 | Air over oil riveter with rotatable head piece An air over oil riveter with a rotatable head piece includes a head piece, a handle, two rotatable members, a connecting sleeve with a hollow body, an oil sleeve, and a main body. The head piece includes an bore for receiving an outer sleeve and a driving sleeve hou... | 03/16/2004 |
| 6705149 | Universal backup mandrel with retractable sleeve and shock absorbing means A backup mandrel for attaching a grommet to a washer in an aircraft panel opening having a housing and a nose piece attached to the housing, the nose piece having an opening. A stem is attached to the housing and has a first and a second portion, such that the first... | 03/16/2004 |
| 6691546 | Rivet nut setting tool The present invention includes both the device and the method for utilizing two wedge shaped halves to retract a stud used to deform rivet nut material, thereby setting the rivet nut. The tool consists of two wedge shaped halves and a stud passing through... | 02/17/2004 |
| 6622363 | Rivet setting tool with nose housing quick connect A rivet setting tool is provided with a quick connect nose housing. The quick connect feature allows for quicker easier disassembly and assembly of the nose housing for cleaning and general maintenance.... | 09/23/2003 |
| 6612013 | Method of loosely attaching blind rivet A method and apparatus are provided for loosely attaching blind rivets to components of an assembly. The method includes attaching a rivet to an assembly while positioning the head at a predetermined clearance away from the adjacent one of the assembly co... | 09/02/2003 |
| 6588246 | Finely adjustable swivel head of a rivet tool with clicking sound A rivet tool/rivet nut tool/rivet bolt tool with a freely-rotatable and finely-adjustable head has a handle pivotally connected to a lever and a swivel head rotatably connected to the handle. The swivel head can be finely-adjusted by use of a [steering] g... | 07/08/2003 |
| 6532635 | Installation tool for pull type fasteners A manually applied installation tool, for setting fasteners by applying a relative axial pulling force thereto and including a first hydraulic piston in a first hydraulic cylinder for reciprocation in response to a preselected high hydraulic pressure for ... | 03/18/2003 |
| 6449822 | Riveting tool A riveting tool (11) for placing a blind breakstem rivet (28), which tool comprises: a body (12, 13, 14), a nosepiece (18) removably and replaceably securable to the body (14); a drawbar (17) reciprocable with respect to the body (14) and the nose-piece (... | 09/17/2002 |
