What Is A Fastener? What Standard Parts Are Included In Fasteners?
As one of the leading fastener manufacturers in china, we can supply many kinds of fasteners, including but not limited to nuts, bolts, studs, rivets, etc. And next, we will introduce you to what fasteners are and the main categories of fasteners.
What are fasteners?
A fastener is a general term for a class of mechanical parts, used for fastening two or more parts (or components) together into a whole. It is characterized by a wide variety of specifications, different performances and uses, and the degree of standardization, serialization, and generalization is also extremely high. Therefore, it is also called the existing national standard of a class of fasteners for standard fasteners or referred to as standard parts.
What are the types of fasteners?
Fasteners usually include the following 12 kinds of parts: bolts, studs, screws, nuts, tapping screws, wood screws, washer rings, retaining rings, pins, rivets, assemblies, connecting pairs, and welding studs.
1. Bolt
A bolt is a type of fastener consisting of a head and a screw (a cylinder with external threads). It should be fitted with a nut for fastening and connecting two parts with a through-the-hole. This form of connection is called bolt connection. If the nut is removed from the bolt, the two parts can be separated, so the bolt connection is a detachable connection.
2. Stud
Stud, also known as threaded rod or threaded bar, is a kind of fastener with no head and only two ends with external threads. When a stud is used to make a connection, one end of it must be screwed into the part with an internally threaded hole, the other end must go through the part with a through the hole, and then the nut is screwed on so that the two parts can be fastened together into one piece. This form of connection is called a stud connection, which is also a detachable connection. Stud connection is mainly used in the following occasions: one of the connected parts is thick, requires a compact structure, or due to frequent disassembly, should not be bolted connection.
3. Screw
The screw is also a kind of fastener composed of two parts: head and screw. According to the purpose, it can be divided into three categories: machine screw, set screw, and special purpose screw. Machine screws are mainly used for a tight connection between a part with a tight threaded hole and a part with a through hole, without a nut fit. This connection form is called a screw connection, and also belongs to the detachable connection. It can also be fitted with a nut for a tight connection between two parts with a through hole. The set screw is mainly used to fix the relative position between two parts. Special-purpose screws such as lifting ring screws are used for lifting parts.
4. Nut
Nuts are fasteners with internally threaded holes, whose shapes are generally shown as a flat hexagon column, flat square column, or flat cylindrical fasteners. A nut with a bolt, stud, or machine screw is used to fasten two parts together into a whole.
As a professional fastener manufacturer, we offer different types of nuts, especially high-quality tee nuts.
5. Tapping screw
Tapping screws are similar to machine screws, but the threads on the screw of the tapping screw are for special tapping screw threads. Self-tapping screws are used to fasten and connect two thin metal components so that they become whole. The holes need to be made in advance on the components. Because of the high hardness of this screw, it can be directly screwed into the holes of the components, so that the internal threads in the component are formed in response.
6. Wood screw
Wood screws are also similar to machine screws, but the threads on the screw are specialized for wood screws. Wood screws can be screwed directly into a wood member (or part) and used to fasten a metal (or nonmetal) part with a through-hole to a wood member. This connection is also a removable connection.
7. Washer
The washer is a kind of fastener with an oblate annular shape. It is placed between the supporting surface of bolts, screws, or nuts and the connecting parts’ surface, playing a role in increasing the contact surface area of the connected parts, reducing the pressure per unit area, and protecting the surface of the connected parts from being damaged. Another type of elastic washer can also play a role in preventing the nut to loosen.
8. Retaining ring
The retaining ring is installed in the shaft groove or hole groove of steel structure and equipment, which plays the role of preventing the parts on the shaft or hole from moving around.
9. Pin
Pins are mainly used for positioning parts, and some can also be used for connecting parts, fixing parts, transferring power, or locking other fasteners.
10. Rivet
A rivet is a kind of fastener composed of two parts: the head and the nail rod. It is used to fasten the parts (or components) connecting two through holes to make it into a whole. This form of connection is called rivet connection, or riveting for short. Belongs to the non-removable connection. Because to separate the two parts that are joined together, you have to break the rivets on the parts.
11. Assemblies and connection pairs
Assembly is a kind of fastener that is supplied in combination, such as a certain machine screw (or bolt, self-supplied screw) and a flat washer (or spring washer, lock washer). Coupling pair refers to a class of fasteners that are supplied in combination with a special bolt, nut, and washer, such as high-strength large hexagon head bolt coupling pair for steel structures.
12. Welding nut
Welding studs belong to a fastener with high strength stiffness connection. Welding studs are short for Cheese head studs for arc stud welding.
The welding stud is a special fastener composed of a smooth rod and a nail head (or no nail head). Generally, it is required to be fixed and connected to a part (or component) by welding so that it can be connected with other parts.
Anji Xinchi Fastening Piece Co., Ltd is a one-stop solution company for fasteners and fixing, can offer a variety of t-nuts, screws, washers, sleeves, bolts, rivets, and so on. If you want to know more about fasteners or have any fastener purchase requirements, please contact us.