Fasteners for thin metal assemblies

Paul Boughton

PEM R’ANGLE fasteners for thin metal assemblies and printed circuit boards create strong right-angle attachment points to enable tighter design control, reduced hardware counts, and associated production economies.

This family of fasteners consists of self-clinching types for permanent installation into metal sheets and ReelFast SMT surface mount versions for permanent installation onto printed circuit boards.

R’ANGLE clinch fasteners for metal can serve as replacements for conventional bent edge tabs, bent centre tabs, bent flanges, angle brackets, or tack welds. R’ANGLE surface mount fasteners for printed circuit boards eliminate the usual requirements for angle brackets or threaded right-angle blocks.

For metal assemblies Type RAA aluminium clinch fasteners install in aluminium sheets as thin as .040in /1mm and accept thread-forming screws in sizes #4-40, #6-32, #8-32, and M3 and M4. Type RAS steel threaded fasteners install in aluminium or steel sheets as thin as .040in/1mm and are available in thread sizes #4-40, #6-32, #8-32, and M3 and M4. A single mating screw completes the component attachment process. Holding power of the fastener will be unaffected by any tightening or loosening of the screw.

ReelFast SMT fasteners are designed to mount board to chassis, chassis to board, or component to board. They install at the edge or interior of boards (as thin as .040in/1mm) in the same manner and at the same time as other surface mount components prior to the automated reflow solder process.  Thread sizes for mating screws range from #2-56 through #8-32 and M2 through M4.