Unimation, Inc.

The Fastron Company

The Fastron Corporation

James Medal

A hollow container is formed with a thin-walled, plastic body; and a discrete plastic handle is attached by ultrasonic energy to the plastic body. The handle has a pair of spaced bosses at each end of the handle with a central opening therein to receive an ultrasonic horn. A plurality of integral, energy-directing protrusions are spaced from one another on the bosses to be melted and mixed with the plastic of the container. The energy directors melt first and mix with the plastic of thin-walled bottle to provide a secure attachment. The preferred container and preferred handle are each made of PET plastic.

Method and apparatus for securing one plastic member to another plastic

Two plastic pieces such as a handle and a container are welded together using an ultrasonic horn. Protrusions serving as energy directors are arranged on one piece in a substantially circular array, in a starburst design. A hole or cavity is formed at a central axis of the circular array so that the amount of energy concentrating at inner ends of the energy directors will not create a burned spot or a hole in the container. The ultrasonic energy at the inner ends of the protrusions is concentrated at the smaller inner area defined by the inner ends of the protrusions to first melt inner ends of the protrusions and then the entire protrusions.

Ultrasonic energy directing attachment of plastic parts to one another

A fastener and method of manufacturing a threaded fastener with a tool-receiving recess in the fastener head are provided including a gauging indicator for indicating whether the recess is properly formed to meet standards. The gauging indicator is preferably in the form of a protrusion of a predetermined size on the fastener head which changes when the punch forming the recess becomes worn or broken. In this instance, the protrusion will be reduced in size as the material of the protrusion is displaced into the fastener head and other material of the fastener head is pushed into the areas of wear or breakage on the punch. Accordingly, the size of the gauging indicator provides an indication of whether the recess is meeting standards.

Device for detecting faulty recesses

A method and apparatus are disclosed for joining a plastic insert or component to a plastic base having a recess therein. The component is provided with integral projections thereon that are in a circular array with the projections being separated circumferentially from one another by spaces. The projections are force-fitted against the plastic base. The plastic of projections is caused to flow circumferentially into the spaces, and the plastic of the base is caused to flow into the spaces where the plastics are melded together. Then the flowed, melded plastics are brought to a solid condition with spaces now filled with solid, melded plastics that interlock the components to the base against rotation relative to one another and to prevent them from being pulled apart. The preferred component is a boss. The boss may be inserted into a recess in the plastic base, and a shoulder on the boss may abut the plastic base and limit the insertion of the boss into the base.

Method and insert for connecting components to plastic members

A method and apparatus are disclosed for joining a plastic insert or component to a plastic base having a recess therein. The component is provided with integral projections thereon that are separated from one another by spaces. The component is inserted into the recess with the projections force-fitted against the plastic base. The plastic of projections is caused to flow into the spaces, and the plastic of the base is caused to flow into the spaces where the plastics are intermixed. Then, the flowed, intermixed plastics are brought back into a solid condition with spaces now filled with solid, intermixed plastics that interlock the components to the base against rotation relative to one another and to prevent them from being pulled apart. The preferred projections are spaced in rows and have inclined sidewalls extending outwardly to small, cross-sectional, free ends for rapidly melting and flowing into the spaces. The projections lose their shape and identity, and there is preferably no line of demarcation at the location of the former spaces between the component and plastic base.

A bolt and nut formed from a plastic material are provided with the bolt having proximate and distal ends and the nut having an interior surface defining a bore. Raised projection members are formed integrally extending from the nut interior surface into the bore and together define a diameter slightly smaller than the shank diameter. In this manner, an interference fit is provided between the shank and projection members. With the bolt shank inserted through aligned holes in parts to be fastened, the nut can be mounted on the distal end of the bolt shank, as by a force fit, and slid thereon by exerting an axial force on the nut until the parts are clamped between the bolt head and nut. At the interface formed by the engaged projection members and the bolt shank at the areas engaged with a force fit, intermixing of the respective plastic materials of the shank and projections can occur which, when solidified, forms a bond at the interface to secure the nut in place on the shank and thereby provide a good and secure clamping force to the fastened parts. To separate the parts, a torque force sufficient to break the bond formed between the projections and shank is applied to the nut. The nut can then be removed from the shank and the shank withdrawn from the aligned part holes, thus allowing the parts to be separated in their original state without any damage thereto.

Weldable plastic fastener

Disclosed is an insert comprising a tubular plastic body having a hollow, axially extending threaded interior, and a plurality of interlocking portions preferably in the form of integrally formed plastic protrusions extending outward from the plastic body. The insert is maintained by force-fit engagement within a corresponding recess in a plastic base. Thereafter, the plastics of the body, protrusions and base are brought to a flowable condition at their interface to integrally bond the insert to the base and/or to interlock portions of the base and insert. The threaded interior of the insert remains intact during this insert bonding procedure to then accept and threadably engage with a threaded member, which may be metal or any other material. The metal threaded fastener may be already threaded into the insert at the time of bonding together of the plastics of the insert and base so that a driving of the metal fastener into the base is eliminated. A plastic fastener having protrusions thereon may be force fitted into bores in a first plastic body to be joined to the second plastic body; and a bonding agent liquifies the plastic of the protrusions and the plastic of the bore walls to cause an intermixing of the plastics which, when solidified, bond the fastener to respective plastic bodies and through the fastener to one another. The preferred plastic fastener has a force fit with the bores, and an ultrasonic device may be used to liquify the plastics and cause an intermixing thereof prior to solidification.

Disclosed is an insert comprising a tubular plastic body having a hollow, axially extending threaded interior, and a plurality of interlocking portions preferably in the form of integrally formed plastic protrusions extending outward from the plastic body. The insert is maintained by force-fit engagement within a corresponding recess in a plastic base. Thereafter, the plastics of the body, protrusions and base are brought to a flowable condition at their interface to integrally bond the insert to the base and/or to interlock portions of the base and insert. The threaded interior of the insert remains intact during this insert bonding procedure to then accept and threadably engage with a threaded member, which may be metal or any other material. The insert may include slots therethrough at its lower end through which the plastics migrate, when the plastics are in their flowable condition, into the threaded interior of the insert and into contact with a threaded member screwed in the insert to secure the threaded member and prevent its further rotation. The plastic insert may also include a filler material which is compatible with the plastics and interacts with the plastics when they are brought to a flowable state to increase the bonding strength between the insert and the base. The metal threaded fastener may be already threaded into the insert at the time of bonding together the plastics of the insert and base so that a driving of the metal fastener into the base is eliminated.

A threaded fastener is provided with a plastic head section that is interlocked with a metal head end of a metal body having an elongated shank with a thread thereon. The plastic head is polygonal with a higher concentration of a reinforcing filler material such as glass in the outer periphery of the polygon so that the plastic head can be turned with the usual wrenches at a normal turning torque without rounding off of the polygonal corners of the head. The inner section of the plastic head has a lesser concentration of filler material adjacent the juncture of plastic and the metal head end to provide greater ductility and strength resistance to fracture or separation of the plastic from the metal head end. The preferred fastener has a self-tapping, helical screw thread thereon and a plurality of metal washers for receiving and separating electrical conductors that will be attached to the fastener between adjacent washers. The edges of the washers are also coated with plastic having a lesser concentration of the filler material thereby providing greater ductility and more resistance to cracking or chipping of the plastic from the washer edges. The preferred plastic is nylon. A method of molding the plastic with the filler material in a plastics mold is disclosed.

Encapsulated fastener and washer

A method is disclosed of manufacturing a thread forming screw with a constant diameter helical screw thread and lead-in threads having a plurality of sharp crests and intermediate relief concave areas. The method includes the steps of forcing a cylindrical wire into a die to form on a distal end of the wire a plurality of longitudinally extending ribs spaced from each other by reduced diameter cylindrical portions. The distal end is rolled between tapered thread sections of a die set to taper the distal end and to form the lead-in threads with sharp crested lobes and intermediate relief areas while the constant diameter helical screw thread is also being formed by the die set.

Growing community of inventors

Cape Coral, FL, United States of America

James Medal