{
  "patent_number": "US 12734657",
  "country": "US",
  "title": "How a Tool Automatically Installs Blind Rivet Nuts",
  "original_title": "Blind rivet nut-setting tool",
  "summary": "This patent describes a method for a tool to automatically install a blind rivet nut by first pushing it against a surface, then rotating it, and finally pulling it back to deform and secure it.",
  "what_it_does": "This patent describes a method for operating a blind rivet nut-setting tool. The process begins by pressing a blind rivet nut, which is held on the tool's output shaft, against a workpiece. This action applies an external force that pushes the output shaft backward along its longitudinal axis, moving it from a first position to a second position. Upon reaching this second position, the output shaft activates a limit switch. This activation triggers a first motor, which rotates the output shaft, causing the blind rivet nut to undergo plastic deformation. Following this, a second motor is activated to pull the output shaft further backward along the longitudinal axis, causing additional plastic deformation and permanently setting the blind rivet nut on the workpiece.",
  "what_it_does_not_cover": [
    "Does not cover manual blind rivet nut installation tools that rely solely on operator force.",
    "Does not cover tools that only rotate or only translate the output shaft, but not both in the described sequence.",
    "Does not cover tools where the initial movement of the output shaft is not caused by pressing the nut against a workpiece.",
    "Does not cover tools that do not use a limit switch to trigger the first motor's rotation.",
    "Does not cover tools that perform the rotation and translation steps simultaneously rather than sequentially."
  ],
  "filed": "2024-12-16",
  "granted": "2026-09-15",
  "expires": null,
  "status": "active",
  "holder": null,
  "holder_url": null,
  "inventors": [],
  "times_cited": 0,
  "tags": [
    "automotive",
    "aerospace",
    "manufacturing",
    "mechanical",
    "robotics",
    "industrial_equipment"
  ],
  "abstract": "A method of operating a blind rivet nut-setting tool includes pressing a blind rivet nut on an output shaft of the tool against a workpiece, thereby applying an external force to the output shaft to move the output shaft in a rearward direction along a longitudinal axis from a first position to a second position, activating a first motor to rotate the output shaft about the longitudinal axis in response to the output shaft activating a limit switch after reaching the second position, thereby rotating the output shaft relative to the blind rivet nut causing plastic deformation of the blind rivet nut, and activating a second motor to translate the output shaft along the longitudinal axis in the rearward direction, causing further plastic deformation of the blind rivet nut and permanently setting the blind rivet nut on the workpiece.",
  "url": "https://patentbrief.org/patent/us/12734657/blind-rivet-nut-setting-tool",
  "markdown_url": "https://patentbrief.org/patent/us/12734657/blind-rivet-nut-setting-tool/md",
  "google_patents_url": "https://patents.google.com/patent/US12734657",
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