Nowadays many sheet metal or thin walled components are so thin that they require nut elements to hold them in place during assembly. That’s why Böllhoff Group has developed the QUICK FLOW® Plus thin sheet screw – so users no longer require these additional elements.
QUICK FLOW® Plus is a self-tapping fastener designed specifically for use in thin walled components. Self-tapping
screws are thread forming fasteners that create the female thread by themselves when being installed. The female thread is created with the forming zone of the male thread, which is usually done by grooving. This process requires the male thread to have higher strength than the workpiece material and for the material to have sufficient ductility. By using self-tapping screws, time-consuming process steps such as thread cutting or cleaning the thread can be omitted.
The distinctive geometry of the tip, in combination with a high case hardness, enables self-tapping fastening without drilling a hole beforehand. The QUICK FLOW® Plus thin sheet screw, with its specially designed screw tip, creates a hole in the sheet metal during the fastening process and pulls the material through to the underside of the sheet, generating a pull-through element. At the same time, the screw tip forms a female thread. By eliminating these process steps, time is saved in the manufacturing process, increasing productivity and reducing fastening costs.
With the growing trend towards lightweight design, this can pose a challenge in applications where sheet parts are thinner than the pitch of the self-tapping screw, according to DIN EN ISO 1478. In this instance, it is usually unavoidable to use additional elements to lock the joint, but by using QUICK FLOW® Plus, this necessity is eliminated. Due to the generated pull-through, the female thread is longer than the sheet thickness. Furthermore, the thread pitch of QUICK FLOW® Plus is finer than the pitch of conventional sheet screws, which means that there is sufficient overlap of the formed thread flanks to create a stable joint.
Another advantage of the QUICK FLOW® Plus thin sheet screw is a double thread, which additionally increases the surface area of the engaged thread flanks. This double thread enables shorter cycle and process times, resulting in increased efficiency while also allowing for the possibility of automated assembly.
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