Well I’m an engineer….in old days rivets we’re shaped like a “T” so the vertical part stuck through a hole and someone whaled on it until it was flattened. With steel, this was done while the rivet was red hot and this is what holds the skyscrapers together.
Around WW II, the “pop” rivet was invented for the aircraft industry. It resembled a nail but wider at one end. A hole was drilled and the wide part was inserted in the hole intersecting the 2 layers to be fastened. A tool called …surprise! A. “pop rivet gun” grips the nail end, pulls and causes the interior wider part to mushroom until it tightens so far the nail breaks off and the 2 pieces are tightly fastened. Advantage..this can all be done from one side so you don’t have to seal little men inside every airplane wing.
LQMT rivet work from 6-7 years ago…also patented involved a non-circular hole and a rivet that was rotated 90 degrees to tighten while slightly elongating the BMG to create tension to hold the pieces together. Problem was the elongated holes needing special tooling which was a stumbling block.
I haven’t actually read the new patent (blame the ARMD) but I assume it addresses the shortcomings exposed from the first experience.
It also indicates there is still interest in specialty fasteners…a problem looking for a solution.
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