From the Rolls-Royce experimental archive: a quarter of a million communications from Rolls-Royce, 1906 to 1960's. Documents from the Sir Henry Royce Memorial Foundation (SHRMF).
Scheme of electrical riveting observed at the Watford Magneto Factory.
| Identifier | ExFiles\Box 76\2\ scan0078 | |
| Date | 1st July 1923 | |
| TO R.{Sir Henry Royce} FROM E.{Mr Elliott - Chief Engineer} ELECTRICAL RIVETING. During my visit to the Watford Magneto Factory on Thursday last, I was shown a scheme of electrical riveting in operation. The pieces thus riveted were said to give every satisfaction in use, and the riveting is uniform, and appears to make a tight joint. The rim of the half time wheel of the Watford magneto is riveted by this process to it's aluminium web, and the spark gap contact is riveted similarly to the cover plate. The apparatus used was very simple and so far as I could observe was home made. The rivets after being driven into their holes were placed in turn under a hand operated contact punch which on making contact passed a heavy current through the rivet. The shank of the rivet quickly became red hot and a further movement of the hand lever squashed the metal into the prepared countersunk hole, leaving the head of the riveting about 20 thous. above the surrounding surface. Possibly the machine was arranged with an adjustable stop to limit the stroke of the plunger. The rivets I saw were of brass. Whether this scheme can be successfully used with steel rivets I do not know. E.{Mr Elliott - Chief Engineer} | ||