West Coast Lockwasher - Click Nuts | Click Nut Products

Click Nut™

Press Release from the manufacturer:

The unique, self-retained Click Nut™, just introduced by the Glenview, Illinois based ITW Global Product Development Group, resolves the uncertainties often associated with other self-retained nuts, such as the clinch nut or weld nut.

Locking tabs, formed on the perimeter of the nut's washer face, snap securely into cupped projections formed around the fastening hole in a panel. A simple twist of the nut snaps it positively and securely into place.

The simple fact that the nut is in place assures maximum performance. There are no worries about the quality of any mating between the nut and the hole wall that is associated with clinch nuts. The need for skilled installers and the additional need for testing verification of weld quality when weld nuts are used are completely eliminated.

Click Nuts™ cannot rotate when snapped in place. They absorb high installation torques and resist high pull out forces. A strong, secure assembly is assured. The cupped projections that hold the nut in place can be formed in the panel when the fastening hole is formed.

Nuts can be snapped into place immediately and the panel can be shipped as a ready-to-install modular unit. The nuts can also be installed after the panel is plated or coated, assuring clean mating threads. The simple twist-in installation means that the nuts can easily be put in place at the point of assembly if that is preferred.

In summary, Click Nuts™ are consistently and securely anchored in place with a fast, simple twist. Nut installation can be done at any time - where the panels are formed or at the point of assembly. Special testing procedures to verify the joining of nut to panel are completely eliminated.

M-12 & M-6 Click Nut™ Preliminary Test Data

The Click Nut™ has been designed to compete with the weld nut and the press-in nut markets. The design intent of this project is:

A. Provide a nut that can be installed in a prepared panel by hand or automation.
B. The assembled nut shall be capable or resisting the maximum assembly torque that is applied to the bolt.

The following tests have been performed to establish the feasibility of this design:

1. Torque required to snap nut into panel - Clockwise
2. Torque required for system failure - Counterclockwise
3. Torque required system failure - Clockwise
4. Push out force (pressure required to push the nut out of the panel from the back side)

Note: the nut can be designed for a clockwise or a counterclockwise installation.

All the test were preformed on prototype nuts and prototype panels the following results are intended to demonstrate design ability, not production part performance.

M-12 Test .060 panel thickness 45 HRB
Sample	Insertion	Torque #1	Torque #2	Push-Out #4 Newton
A	18 Nm	40 Nm	180 Nm	5900 N
B	14 Nm	34 Nm	175 Nm	5000 N
C	15 Nm	36 Nm	178 Nm	5200 N
D	13 Nm	35 Nm	175 Nm	5400 N
E	16 Nm	32 Nm	180 Nm	5500 N

M-6 Test .025 panel thickness 67 HRB
Sample	Insertion	Torque #1	Torque #2	Push-Out #4 Newton
A	3 Nm	8 Nm	33 Nm	1300 N
B	2 Nm	6 Nm	33 Nm	1250 N
C	2 Nm	5 Nm	33 Nm	1320 N
D	3 Nm	5 Nm	33 Nm	1300 N
E	3 Nm	6 Nm	32 Nm	1280 N