Screwdriving and Riveting Assembly

Web Extra: Plastic Fasteners for Assembly

Durable plastic fasteners are recommended for assemblies where metal fasteners would be either too heavy for the component or too abrasive for the component material. Printed circuit boards are a common application.

An assembler uses a pneumatic hand tool to insert lightweight but durable plastic fasteners into a printed circuit board. Photo courtesy Micro Plastics Inc.

Made of corrosion-resistant Nylon 6/6, plastic fasteners are recommended for assemblies where metal fasteners would be either too heavy for the component or too abrasive for the component material. Printed circuit boards are a common application.

“Plastic fasteners are less conductive than metal and resist vibration better,” says Bruce Sanders, sales manager for Micro Plastics Inc. “These and other benefits are the reasons many manufacturers are using plastic fasteners more often.”

Micro Plastics makes several types of one-piece plastic fasteners, most notably push-in fasteners, which are reusable, and poly drive rivets, which are not. The fasteners are pushed into a prepunched hole by hand or with a mallet. Poly drive rivets may be inserted by hand or with a pneumatic hand tool, also made by Micro Plastics, that delivers 50 to 60 psi of force. The tool’s mandrel opening accepts rivets with an OD from 0.075 to 0.093 inch.

Sanders says push-in fasteners let assemblers quickly and easily join sheets of plastic or any other thin, lightweight material. Standard head diameters range from 0.2 to 0.75 inch; lock lengths are 0.18 to 1.016 inches.

The fasteners have short legs that are compressed before insertion but expand afterwards, locking the fastener into place. The fasteners resist vibration, abrasion and corrosion, and also can be used as glides or bumpers.

Besides plastic sheets, Poly Rivets can be used in sheet metal, fiberglass, circuit boards and composite materials. The rivet’s legs are longer than those of the fastener, but, likewise, are compressed before insertion in the hole and expand afterward to secure the rivet.

The rivets can withstand extreme vibration conditions and resist corrosion and cathodic transfer. Standard head diameters range from 0.2 to 0.75 inch; lock lengths are 0.437 to 1.016 inches. However, rivet head styles, diameters and lengths can be customized.

“These rivets can join a material stack up to 1-inch thick,” says Sanders. “They’ve been used to fasten liners in things as diverse as trucks and luggage racks.”

The company also makes blind rivets, anchor rivets, dome and tack fasteners, clips and grommet nuts.
Jim Camillo is a senior editor on Assembly magazine.

Recent Articles by Jim Camillo

You must register or login in order to post comments.

Multimedia

Videos

Image Galleries

Wire Harness

AssemTech Inc. is a busy and growing harness assembly shop in West Chicago, IL. The company has a 12,000-square-foot assembly area and employs 20 full-time harness assemblers - far cry from its early days back in 1986, when founder Chuck Hall and various family members assembled harnesses in his garage.

Podcasts

A Plan to Revive U.S. Manufacturing
In December, the nonpartisan Council on Competitiveness issued a landmark report, Make: An American Manufacturing Movement, that provides dozens of recommendations for addressing the many challenges facing U.S. manufacturers. In this podcast, Jack McDougle, the council’s senior vice president for manufacturing, discusses the council’s vision for reviving U.S. manufacturing. Check out this sneak preview of McDougle’s May 2 keynote address to start Tech ManufactureXPO.

More Podcasts

THE MAGAZINE

Assembly Magazine

may 2012 cover

2012 May

Check out Assembly's May issue!!

TABLE OF CONTENTS SUBSCRIBE

Lean Hang-Ups

By now, most assembly plants have at least tried lean manufacturing. But, some aspects of lean have been easier to implement than others. What tenet of lean has your assembly plant had the most trouble with?
See Poll Results Poll Archive

THE ASSEMBLY MAGAZINE STORE

welding.gif
Welding: Principles & Practices

This text introduces students to a solid background in the basic principles and practices of welding.

More Products

Clear Seas Research

Clear Seas ResearchWith access to over one million professionals and more than 60 industry-specific publications,Clear Seas Research offers relevant insights from those who know your industry best. Let us customize a market research solution that exceeds your marketing goals.

Assembly Showrooms

ASSEMBLY Showrooms

STAY CONNECTED

Facebook Twitter  LinkedIn  YouTube