The invention will now be described with reference to the accompanying drawings wherein:
FIG. 1 is a sectional view of a shell for a vacuum brake booster;
FIG. 2 is an enlarged view of circumscribed section 2 in FIG. 1 showing an opening in the shell;
FIG. 3 is a perspective view of a stud made according to the principals of this invention;
FIG. 4 is an enlarged section showing the stud of FIG. 3 located in the opening of FIG. 2;
FIG. 5 is an enlarged section showing the attachment of the stud of FIG. 3 with the shell of FIG. 2; and
FIG. 6 is an enlarged perspective view of a segment of the ribs located in a groove in the head of the stud;
FIG. 7 is an enlarged sectional view of the circumscribed section 7 in FIG. 6 showing the engagement of a rib with the shell.
The shell 10 shown in FIG. 1 is a thin shell stamped steel member which has an end member 12. End member 12 has a series of ribs or pleats 14 located therein which acts as stiffening members. A series of openings 16 and 18 are located in the same plane 20 on the end member 12. As best shown in FIG. 2 for opening 16 a reinforcing ring 22 is offset from plane 20 of the end member 12. The offset is selected such that it is less than the gauge thickness of the material of the end member 12.
While the openings 16 and 18 are illustrated for shell 10, under some circumstances more openings may be required to position the shell to a stationary member.
The stud 24 shown in FIG. 3 has a shaft 26 with threads 28 thereon that extend to a shank 30. Shank 30 has a first diameter section 32 and a second diameter section 34. A head member 36 attached to the second diameter 34 of the shank 30 has an interior face with a groove 38 located between the second diameter 34 and an arcuate surface 40 located adjacent the peripheral surface 42. A series of ribs 44 extend from the second diameter 34 on shank 30 toward the arcuate surface 40. The height of the ribs 44 is selected to be approximately equal to the offset selected for the reinforcing ring 22 in shell 10.
As best seen in FIG. 6, each rib 44 has a first surface 52 that extends in a perpendicular plane from the groove 38 to the apex 54 and a second surface 56 that slopes from the apex 54 to the groove 38.
Stud 24 is positioned in opening 16 (or any other opening) of shell 10. As best seen in FIG. 4, there is a gap 46 located between annular surface 40 and the end member 12 since the reinforcing ring 22 is located in groove 38 and held away from the bottom of the groove by ribs 44.
A backing fixture 48 is positioned adjacent head 36 and a staking or shearing fixture 50 is positioned over shaft 26. A series of blows are applied by the shearing fixture to the second diameter 34 causing a portion thereof to be sheared therefrom and define a third diameter 35. The sheared material flows into the offset area 21 of end member 12. The shearing blows continue until such time as the material sheared from the second diameter completely fills offset area 21 or is in the same plane 20 as end member 12. When the sheared material fills the offset area 21, a fluid seal is established for opening 16. In addition, material from the reinforcing ring 22 flow into groove 38 to surround serrations or ribs 44. The material from the reinforcing ring 22 engages the first surfaces 52 on the ribs 44 and in the space 45 forms a mechanical barrier that provides resistance to any torque that may be applied to shaft 26 as nuts are attached or removed thereto to fix the shell 10 to a stationary member.
From space 45 as shown in FIG. 6, the slope of the second surface 56 on first half of the ribs 44 is in one direction while the slope of the other second half ribs 44 is in the other or opposite direction. The material from reinforcing ring 20 flows to the bottom of groove 38 and in essence forms a minor image of the ribs. The material 35, as best shown in FIG. 5, holds the head 36 against the end member 12. Since the first surface 52 directly engages the flowed material from reinforcing ring 22, equal torque force would be required to shear the ribs 44 in either the attachment or removal of a nut from threads 28.
Thus with this attachment for the stud 24 to shell 10, sufficient torque resistance is achieved without the ribs 44 weakening the reinforcing ring 22 while at the same time the arcuate surface 40 on head 36 provides a broad base for resisting any lateral forces that may be applied to shaft 26 which could break the fluid seal for opening 16.