Fastener assembly

Claim 2

An assembly for fastening together work pieces having aligned holes therethrough of a first prescribed diameter with one side of the work pieces having limited accessibility while the opposite side is easily accessible including: a fastener having a head at one end, a support shank of a second prescribed diameter smaller than the first prescribed diameter and an engagement portion on the projecting end of said shank; an elongate flexible guide member receivable through the holes and attachable to said fastener to be used to pull said fastener into said holes, engagement portion first, from the side of limited accessibility; a sleeve member receivable over said support shank of said fastener and within the holes from the easily accessible side of the work pieces, said sleeve member dimensioned to fill the holes about said support shank; and, an enlarged diameter section on said shank adjacent said head of a diameter substantially equal to said first prescribed diameter and a length substantially less than the total thickness of the work pieces to concentrically locate said smaller diameter portion of said shank within the holes when fastener is pulled into and seated within the holes.

Claim 3

The assembly of claim 1 wherein said sleeve member includes a tubular side wall and a head flange about one end of said side wall, the length of said side wall substantially equal to the combined thickness of said work pieces and the thickness of said side wall substantially equal to one-half the difference between the diameter of said holes and the diameter of said support shank so that said head flange of said tubular member rests against the easily accessible side of the work pieces when said sleeve member is inserted over said fastener.

Claim 4

The assembly of claim 2 wherein said side wall is circumferentially grooved at spaced positions along the length thereof.

Claim 5

The assembly of claim 2 wherein the difference in diameter of said support shank and the holes is in the order of 0.016 inch and the thickness of said side wall is in the order of 0.008 inch.

Claim 6

The assembly of claim 1 wherein said guide member includes a central non-extendable support wire and a coil spring wire encircling said support, said support wire and said coil spring wire both being attachable to said fastener.

Claim 7

The assembly of claim 5 wherein said engagement portion of said fastener is externally threaded and internally threaded in the projecting end thereof oppositely to said external threads, and wherein said guide member further includes a threaded stud adapted to threadedly engage said internal threads in said fastener and to which said support wire and said coil spring wire are attached.

Claim 8

The assembly of claim 1 further including a secondary holding member and a nut internally threaded to threadedly engage said external threads of said engagement portion of said fastener to finally install same, said secondary holding member being internally threaded with substantially fewer threads than said nut to threadedly engage said engagement portion of said fastener prior to said nut to hold said fastener and said sleeve member in place until said nut is tightened, said threads on said holding member being sufficiently low in overall strength to allow said nut to deform said threads of said holding member when said nut is tightened.

Claim 9

The assembly of claim 1 wherein said enlarged diameter section includes a ring having an inside diameter substantially equal to said second prescribed diameter and an outside diameter substantially equal to said first prescribed diameter.

Claim 10

The assembly of claim 1 wherein said enlarged diameter section includes a boss integral with said shank and defining an outside surface concentrically oriented with respect to the smaller diameter outside surface of said shank and of a diameter substantially equal to the first prescribed diameter

Claim 11

An assembly for fastening together work pieces having aligned holes therethrough of a first prescribed substantially constant diameter with one side of the work pieces having limited accessibility while the opposite side is easily accessible including: a fastener having a head at one end, a support shank of a second prescribed substantIally constant diameter along its length smaller than the first prescribed diameter and engagement portion on the projecting end of said shanks; said engagement portion externally threaded and internally threaded in the projecting end thereof oppositely oriented to said external threads; an elongate flexible guide member receivable through the holes and attachable to said fastener to be used to pull said fastener into said holes, engagement portion first, from the side of limited accessibility, said guide member comprising a threaded stud adapted to threadedly engage said internal threads in said engagement portion of said fastener, a central non-extendable flexible support wire attached to said stud, and a coil spring wire encircling said support wire and attached to said stud to control the flexibility of said guide member; a sleeve member receivable over said support shank of said fastener and within the holes from the easily accessible side of the work pieces, said sleeve member comprising a tubular side wall with a substantially constant diameter along its length and a head flange about one end of said side wall, the thickness of said side wall substantially equal to one-half the difference between the diameter of said holes and the diameter of said support shank so that said sleeve member can be inserted over said support shank of said fastener and within the holes; a nut internally threaded to threadedly engage said external threads on said engagement portion of said fastener to finally install same; and a secondary holding member internally threaded with substantially fewer threads than said nut to threadedly engage said engagement portion of said fastener prior to installation of said nut to hold said fastener and said sleeve member in place until said nut is tightened, said threads on said holding member being sufficiently low in overall strength to allow said nut to deform said threads of said holding member when said nut is tightened.

Claim 12

An assembly for fastening together work pieces having aligned holes therethrough of a first prescribed substantially constant diameter with one side of the work pieces having limited accessibility while the opposite side is easily accessible including: a fastener having a head at one end, a support shank of a second prescribed substantIally constant diameter along its length smaller than the first prescribed diameter and engagement portion on the projecting end of said shanks; said engagement portion externally threaded and internally threaded in the projecting end thereof oppositely oriented to said external threads; an elongate flexible guide member receivable through the holes and attachable to said fastener to be used to pull said fastener into said holes, engagement portion first, from the side of limited accessibility, said guide member comprising a threaded stud adapted to threadedly engage said internal threads in said engagement portion of said fastener, a central non-extendable flexible support wire attached to said stud, and a coil spring wire encircling said support wire and attached to said stud to control the flexibility of said guide member; a sleeve member receivable over said support shank of said fastener and within the holes from the easily accessible side of the work pieces, said sleeve member comprising a tubular side wall with a substantially constant diameter along its length and a head flange about one end of said side wall, the thickness of said side wall substantially equal to one-half the difference between the diameter of said holes and the diameter of said support shank so that said sleeve member can be inserted over said support shank of said fastener and within the holes; a nut internally threaded to threadedly engage said external threads on said engagement portion of said fastener to finally install same; and a secondary holding member internally threaded with substantially fewer threads than said nut to threadedly engage said engagement portion of said fastener prior to installation of said nut to hold said fastener and said sleeve member in place until said nut is tightened, said threads on said holding member being sufficiently low in overall strength to allow said nut to deform said threads of said holding member when said nut is tightened.

Claim 13

The assembly of claim 10 wherein said side wall of said sleeve member has a length at least that of said shank portion of said fastener and circumferentially externally grooved at spaced positions along the length thereof so that the length of said side wall can be adjusted to the length of said shank portion of said fastener.