Written by Sam Kerr-Smiley (Freelance Writer and Editor)
Fast-turn Noise Shield Fastener
The quick acting fastener is making a comeback. Market forces are causing OEM’s to rethink fastening strategy by reviving a system that had for years been thought of as too expensive for general commercial use.
The quarter turn was originally developed in 1932 when William Dzus created his famous fastener for use in the fledgling US aviation industry; although, at that time, its use was primarily military.
Designed for fastening panels over areas where regular servicing or frequent access was required the quarter-turn became a widely used standard with many applications; indeed it’s remained in production ever since – at the time of Dzus’ death in 1964 there were around 6000 variations – but although many tried to develop it to reduce overall in-place-cost, the quarter turn, with its expensively, separately milled external spiral cam has, until recently, been unable to bridge the cost gap caused by Far Eastern bulk production of nuts, bolts and screws, therefore remaining an expensive proposition for OEM’s.
Which is really just what they want to avoid, particularly in these constrained times – but show an OEM a way they can demonstrably improve the benefits available to their customers and they will pay attention. This is exactly what Unifast did when it was given the opportunity to design a fastening system to secure gearbox noise shields for commercial vehicle giant Iveco – taking the quarter turn principle, re-developing it for cost effective high volume production into the Fast-turn quick acting system.
Fast-turn, as the child of both demand and innovation, uses new production techniques, which combined with advances in materials and tooling, allows Unifast to manufacture the system on high speed, fully automated processes and deliver a product that is capable of beating the in-place-cost (IPC) of traditional systems by, in many cases, as much as 60 per cent.
Design and production
The traditional quarter turn fastener has been re-designed and re-engineered into a thoroughly modern joining system, and while the research and development outlay was significant it has ultimately delivered an integrated fastening solution with benefits across production and application.
Luca Bergadano, Unifast’s spokesman explains, “Advanced manufacturers are now able to use a cold forming process to make the entire stud, significantly reducing waste and time, and most importantly, completing it without needing to mill on the external spiral cam.”
Cold forming delivers near, or absolute, net shape, eliminating the need for secondary operations and as it uses 100 per cent of the metal it leaves no scrap or swarf, generating significant savings in materials cost, as well as through the production process by reducing down time needed for cleaning and maintenance. Larger volumes, especially over longer production runs, will clearly demonstrate improved throughput and significant savings on materials usage.
“We employ cold forming”, Bergadano continued, “not only because it delivers cost savings, but also because it adds to the quality of the manufactured component.”
“Machining a part from metal bar can disrupt and break its crystalline structure, which could introduce weakness into the part. Cold forming is done under huge pressures, which make the grain in the metal flow into the contours of the product, enhancing the grain structure and according to a US study strengthening the part by as much as 18 per cent compared to a milled part.”
Controlling IPC
While cold forming has allowed Unifast to cut production cost, the key to the real savings its Fast-turn delivers is in the stage beyond fastener production and even beyond the OEM, where the end user is befitting from the OEM’s choice to use a quick acting fastener.
These days it is harder to differentiate manufacturers by their products so instead customer choice is driven more by the ability to provide the added value of pre and after sales services.
Look at any automotive manufacturer’s website and alongside the photos of their latest gleaming product what’s their biggest selling point? That’s right, it’s customer service.
The importance of this probably can’t be over-emphasised – it’s this improved ability to offer customers benefits that lead Iveco to a select hand operated version of Unifast’s Fast-turn quick acting fastener.
“The fastening system had to allow for easy removability for regular servicing, quick and secure re-attachment, heavy-duty usage and match Iveco’s expectations on cost”, commented Unifast’s Bergadano, “no system then available exactly matched these requirements, but we knew it could be done.”
In the Industrial Fasteners Handbook (3rd edition) in-place-cost (IPC) is defined as “the total cost of a component starting with the purchase and ending with the assembly and proper function”.
On average the cost of the fastener itself forms only 15 per cent of the IPC, so economies achieved in the assembly, and vitally, proper function become an essential developmental factor for the fastener manufacturer and potentially a point of significant savings for the OEM.
Proper function for a quick release fastening system is defined, in part anyway, by the number of times it is operated and the ease of use, including manpower, when operated. If this is true then the economic efficacy of a fastening system must be determined by testing its entire performance in a commercial environment.
For more information on the Fast-turn range call Unifast on +44 (0)1420 563333 or email sales@unifast.co.uk
