There are a wide variety of ways to fasten device components together. One common fastening approach is to use screws, particularly where the ability to disassemble the device components is desirable. This can often mean that the components to be fastened together need to have threaded holes or other features in order to accommodate the screws. In many cases, each of the components or items to be fastened together can have holes that are sized and threaded for a particular screw. The screw can then be inserted into aligned corresponding holes in each component.
In mass produced devices such as portable electronic devices, such threaded holes are often built into an integrated portion of the component material itself. Multiple matching holes in corresponding components can be used to provide secure fastening of the components. For example, screws and holes can be strategically placed in portions of the outer housing components of a portable electronic device or other consumer product such that they can be fastened together in a secure fashion. However, the use multiple screws and screw holes can make it difficult to position the holes reliably such that they are align correctly with holes in a corresponding part. As such, the use of multiple screws and screw holes spaced apart on mating components often results in the need for relatively tight tolerances with respect to the size and location of the screw holes. Any introduction of relatively tight part tolerances in the context of mass production tends to increase costs, part rejection rates and production times. In addition, the use of threaded holes in a device component itself can result in the need to replace the entire device component if the threads become stripped, damaged or otherwise unusable in conjunction with a suitable fastening screw.