Archive for the ‘What You Didn’t Know About Rivets’ Category

Solar and Orlock Rivets Are Saving The Planet

Wednesday, November 16th, 2011

Solar farms are usually assembled in vary large flat outside areas. Solar is becoming more widely adopted too. Solar farms are assembled right on site. To set up a solar farm, a cement slab is laid and the brackets are put together right on location. The problem is that, traditionally, they have been assembled with nuts and bolts. Why? Because the concern of rivets pulling through the material is of major concern. The problem with a nut and bolt are many. For example, nuts and bolts require two pieces(naturally). Bolts and nuts are heavy and require tons of manual labor and time to install. Many world-class solar installation companies are discovering the “Orlock Rivet” fastening solution. Orlock, first and foremost, has a back-side flange that allows it to grip and hold the mating material together, without the threat of pulling through the material. Orlock is also amazingly easy and quick to install. Orlock is of coarse is a one piece blind fastener, so inventories are light and requires less total pieces of material. All of these reasons can help make Solar a more useful energy alternative for our planet. Orlock is helping to protect our planet… One rivet at a time.

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Peterbuilt Truck After-Market Grill Accessory Mock Up part 3of 3

Thursday, November 18th, 2010

This is the “After Pic “ of an Orlock rivet that is serving as a SOLUTION

to a troublesome rivet application(a look at the blind side):

Solution:LN48090P

All of the Pre-mentioned problems are solved(see part 2 for problems)

Cost: A bit more in hard dollars.

Benefits:

1. Dramatically increased customer satisfaction. Increased sales

2. Superior product quality.

3. Visual cosmetic improvement.

Justifications:

1. Although, in this case the per unit rivet price was bit higher, there is a

Small per-grill cost increase. This increase is inconsequential because
there is no competitor
comparison to this custom unit.

Bottom line: The manufacturer and the customer benefit from the conversion to the Orlock rivet even thought there is a small increase in price.
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Peterbuilt Truck After-Market Grill Accessory Mock Up Part 2 of 3

Thursday, November 18th, 2010

 This is the “before Pic “of a troublesome rivet application(a look at the blind side):

Before rivet solution: 3/16 stainless steel open end, non-structural blind rivets.

Problems:

1. Rivets are too loose, causing the louvers to flex and allow the grill to callapse

side-ways and come out of alignment. This creates the illusion to the customer that the grill does not fit

When they try to mount new grill.

2. Vibration causes rivets to pop out after a year or so of use(its a non-structural rivet).

3. Rivets dramatically loosen over time, starting after installation.

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Peterbuilt Truck After-Market Grill Accessory Mock Up part 1of 3

Thursday, November 18th, 2010

Here is a close-up look at the riveted louvers of a stainless steel grill accessory. This grill is an after-market piece designed to customize the look of a classic Peterbuilt truck grill. This is the first of three pictures that will illustrate how Orlock rivets have been re-designed into the application to solve some
assembly issues. Original issues that caused the grills not to function and wear optimally.

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Blind Rivet- Orlock Rivet Applications

Thursday, June 10th, 2010

This video shows a variety of Orlock and Blue Pneumatic Fastening Systems rivet applications.

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Blind Rivets-Designing-In Orlocks Rivets-What To Look For

Thursday, June 10th, 2010

This video is a teaching aid to help would-be product designers and Blue Pneumatic Fastening Systems distributors to gain a keen eye for applications that can be improved by using special rivets. This video focuses on Orlock rivets.

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Blind Rivets, Orlock Rivet the Total Installed Cost

Wednesday, June 9th, 2010

This video illustrates how to manage the cost of assembly. In this case, the use of Orlock rivets
help reduce the “total installed cost” of the assembly. This process usually improves the look and function of the product being assembled too.

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Orlock Rivets…Unique Features and Benefits

Wednesday, February 17th, 2010

If you are not sure how the Orlock rivet system works… Check out this video. You have to see it with you own eyes to appreciate it!

Orlock Rivets…Unique Features and Benefits

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“Orlock Rivet” Before and After Pics

Thursday, August 27th, 2009
Why Blue Pneumatic will make a difference: The story continues . . .
Recently, we set out to solve a rivet problem, that until 6 months ago, could not be solved. We were faced with
a reputable, internationally know, Bus manufacturer  who had major leaking in the “drip rail” of  the bus. Let me show you how we approached and solved the rivet problem. By the way, the problem started because the customer was using inferior, multi-grip ( Avex sylyle rivets) in this application.  A good rivet but incorrectly applied.

Transit Bus on assembly line.

Rain gutter riveted to frame of the Bus.

.

Mock up of “rain gutter” aka “drip rail” removed from Bus.

Before

Leaky inconsistant multi-grip rivets.
(Caused $14,000 in warranty
repairs)
After
Consistent “Orlock” rivets with backside
flange and positive pin retention sealed
out the water.
Positively retained pin can be visually inspected from outside the workpiece!

In short, this excerpt in an engineering summary. I invite you to share your stories relating engineering challenges that you may be facing, or are facing now!

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The Perfect Storm- Peterbuilt Truck Cab and Transfer Trailer; Huck Bolt Guns are Handy

Wednesday, May 14th, 2008

This is a pic of a peterbuilt hood that was just reassembled with Huck Bolts. The 3/16 stainless steel Huck Pins and collars were used here and installed using a BP-82E Lockbolt All-In-One tool (This style of tool is commonly referred to as a Huck Tool or Huck Gun). The second half of the perfect storm is this transfer trailer. This trailer hauls materials like trash and fertilizer and other materials. They usually have walking floors, also known as automatic unloading systems. They use 3/16 steel pins to hold the light-weight aluminum panels together.

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