Rotary driver and swaging tool

Claim 1

A rotary driver and swaging tool for mechanically joining together threaded nut and bolt components of a fastener assembly joining workpieces, said nut having upper and lower axially contiguous portions, the lower portion being threaded for engaging the bolt and being externally circularly cylindrical, and said upper portion being given a polygonal shape defining apexes joined by flats to form a tool engageable configuration for turning, said tool comprising: a drive socket formed of a unitary body having upper and lower inner and axially contiguous portions therein, said lower portion extending the length of and surrounding the lower threaded portion of the nut and clear of contact therewith, and further provided with a land defining a floor for contacting and axially supporting the bottom of the nut as the same is positioned and driven onto the bolt, said upper portion having a dimension also spaced clear of contact with the polygonal portion of the nut, a plurality of swaging inserts being substantially circular in transverse cross-section, said upper portion including recesses for mounting the swaging inserts therein, the radially outer-most portion of said recesses supporting said inserts against radially outward thrust during swaging and in fixed radial and axial positions, said inserts protruding radially inward beyond said recesses and spaced to clear the flats of the nut so as to enable the socket to be slid over the nut with the socket and nut portions in respective axial correspondence, said socket and inserts being constructed and arranged to place the inserts close enough to interfere with the nut apexes when rotated about the tool axis so that, at first, the inserts drive the nut up to a predetermined tightness whereat less energy will be expended in swaging than tightening the nut, after which said inserts, while supported by the socket in said fixed positions swage the nut apexes and nut body into the shank of the bolt, the tool thereby intermittently driving the apexes of the nut portions of the nut body radially inward into locking engagement with the bolt after which the tool turns freely, the nut having been tightened to specification, the nut and bolt being thereby locked together by the swaging action into permanent engagement with each other and the tool engageable apexes of the nut having been swaged away so that the nut is no longer removable, and means at the lower portion adapted to be engaged by a rotary motion driving tool.