Blind fasteners
Page 69
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A versatile and reliable blind fastener, suitable for attaching metal to metal or wood, wood to wood or plastics and metal to plastics, has been introduced to the UK by Avdel. Known as the Cherry Drive high-clench rivet, it has applications in a wide variety of trades and industries including vehicle bodywork and freight containers, and on all types of cladding and panelling.
A particular advantage claimed for the Cherry Drive rivet is that no special fixing tools are needed, but merely a drill and a hammer or mallet.
The rivet is a two-piece fastener, comprising an aluminium alloy rivet shell together with a positively retained stainless steel central driving pin. After placing a rivet of the appropriate diameter and grip length into a pre-drilled hole, the fixing Is made by driving the headed central pin into the body of the rivet until it is flush with the rivet head. The central pin causes the split shank of the rivet to expand and thus provide positive high-strength retention. With most materials, the grip length of the rivet is equal to the thickness of the sheets being fastened, the split shank expanding on the blind side of the panel.
When fixing into wood, however, the overall length of both the rivet and the pre-drilled hole can be less than the total thickness of the sheet materials. The split shank then expands into the wood, and no part of the fixing is visible from the blind side.
Rivets are available in
diameters of 4in. and tin. in a full range of grip lengths up to 0.975in. They are offered in a choice of head styles in standard and tamperproof versions. The latter is TiR-approved and has special applications in the freight container industry.
Available from: Avdei Ltd., Welwyn Garden City, Herts.