An expandable head rivet for sealing applications and the like having improved inspectability after setting. The rivet has an axially extending shank, a first substantially cylindrical section and a second tapered section between the first section and the shank, all generally conforming to the hole and counterbores in the workpiece. The face of the rivet head has a raised central section having a substantially flat surface perpendicular to the axis of the rivet of a cross sectional area between ...

A temporary fastener that fastens two adjacent workpieces. The fastener includes a shank that extends through a hole of the workpieces. Extending from one end of the shank is a conical shaped head. The fastener also contains a pull stem which has a head located adjacent to the blind end of the shank. The stem head is pulled through the shank to expand and tightly fasten the shank to the workpieces. The fastener is removed by drilling through the head and the shank. The diameter of the conical sh...

Various coatings and methods of coating fasteners are disclosed. In one embodiment, a method of coating includes applying a chromate coating to a fastener. In other embodiments, the method may include deoxidizing an aluminum fastener, etching the fastener, deoxidizing the fastener a second time, applying a chromate coating to the fastener, and dying the fastener.

The present invention comprises aluminum solid rivets and methods of manufacturing aluminum solid rivets for aircraft and other demanding applications to provide rivets with high strength and excellent driveabiltity while improving the rivets resistance to fatigue and stress corrosion cracking. In accordance with the method, an aluminum rivet blank approximately the same diameter as the head of the finished rivet is used. This rivet blank is forced into a die to extrude the tapered region and th...

An expandable head rivet for sealing applications and the like having improved inspectability after setting. The rivet has an axially extending shank, a first substantially cylindrical section and a second tapered section between the first section and the shank, all generally conforming to the hole and counterbores in the workpiece. The face of the rivet head has a raised central section having a substantially flat surface perpendicular to the axis of the rivet of a cross sectional area of at le...

A method including forming a first layer comprising a chemical conversion coating on a metal surface; and forming a second layer on the first layer through a sol gel process. An apparatus including a metal component having at least one surface; a first layer comprising a chemical conversion coating on the at least one surface; and a second layer derived from a sol gel composition on the first layer.

Automatic feeding blind rivet guns and method facilitating rapid installation of blind rivets with good freedom of movement of the operator. The blind rivet guns receive a carrier holding a substantial plurality of blind rivets in close side by side proximity and automatically sequentially loads and sets the blind rivets in response to operator control. The blind rivets are preferably supplied on an inexpensive disposable plastic carrier ready for use with the rivet installation gun. The install...

A locking apparatus for blind fasteners providing improved yield and fatigue performance of the blind fasteners is disclosed. The locking apparatus utilizes a locking collar which will slide over the fastener stem and within the tubular rivet sleeve of the fastener without preforming into the locking groove on the stem. The locking collar is formed so that upon the pulling of the stem during installation of the blind fastener, specially formed tapered regions in the locking collar then adjacent ...

A blind rivet fastener which has a bulb forming collar that is assembled by sliding the collar down the shank of the fastener stem. The bulb collar is seated adjacent to the head of the stem. The stem has a shoulder and a pull portion that extend through the inner channel of a sleeve. The sleeve, shoulder and stem head are typically inserted into the matching holes of two workpieces. The sleeve has a head located at an accessible side of the workpieces and an opposite chamfered end located at an...

A rivet which has a flat crown that extends from the head of a rivet. The rivet is typically installed into a workpiece hole which has a countersink. The head has a frusto-conical section that extends from a rivet shank and a cylindrical section that extends from the frusto-conical section. The frusto-conical section sits within a countersink of the workpiece hole. Extending from a top surface of the head is a crown which has a flat end face and a tapered portion that extends from the end face t...