Smalley now offers a new nested Spirawave wave spring series. Smalley has been producing nested wave springs as customs for over 30 years, but this will mark the first standard series on the market. These multiple turn, flat wire wave springs are coiled in parallel to produce two to three times as much force as […]
Springs + Rings + Seals
What are rotary unions and how are they used in motion applications?
Rotating components are common in motion applications — robot arms, winders, spools, spindles, and rotary tables are just a few examples. And while creating rotary motion is easy, when air or liquids need to be transferred from a stationary supply to a rotating component for cooling, heating, lubricating, or transmitting fluid power, the task becomes […]
Common challenges that wave springs address
Updated November 2018 || Springs are flexible mechanical components to store and release energy or apply and release forces on machine axes. Wave springs combine flat (non-coiled) bow springs (as their waves) with traditional compression-spring coil geometry. For the design’s compactness (as a high force-to-work height ratio) and other benefits, some motion systems have migrated […]
Updated: Basics of compression springs for motion designs
Engineers incorporate compression springs in motion designs that need linear compressive forces and mechanical energy storage — designs such as pneumatic cylinders and push-button controls, for example. The most conventional compression spring is a round metallic wire coiled into a helical form. The most common compression spring, the straight metal coil spring, bends at the […]
Wave spring basics video: Spring force, work height, materials, and installations
Within mechanical designs, tension, compression, and torsion springs take numerous forms to store and release energy. A wave spring is a type of compression springs made of flat wire. They are called wave springs because they have multiple waves per turn. The flat wire, along with the multiple waves per turn, combine to create the […]
Retaining rings basics video: Stamped, eared, e-clip, and constant section
As with other joining hardware (such as cotter pins, screws, and bolts) retaining rings prevent mating components from excessive moving. In short, they create a removable shoulder preventing components from migrating out of proper position during operation. Retaining rings are thin, circular, metal components that can be either stamped from a sheet or coiled from […]
What limits wave-spring working height and axial force?
Wave springs are core to myriad gear, actuator, clutch, and consumer-grade motion assemblies. They are load bearing — included in designs to address play or compensate for dimensional variations. Wave springs apply load in axially — so are specified by working height (and other parameters). All springs are either for applying load in tension, compression, […]
Rotor Clip now offers interlocking spiral retaining rings to run at higher rpm
Rotor Clip engineers regularly design custom parts and tools. Now one new iteration is an interlocking spiral retaining ring based on the manufacturer’s standard DCR non-interlocking spiral ring. The new Rotor Clip ring is made with a custom tooling process for producing DCR-LS interlocking spiral retaining ring. DCR-LS advantages over standard DCR spiral rings are […]
Power-transmission components and mechanical systems see three new trends
Power-transmission (PT) components include essentials such as chain, springs, seals, and retaining devices, to name a few. There are three main trends that have dominated recent innovation in their design and application. New materials in mechanical parts continue to expand the applications in which all components operate effectively. Compression and wave springs are specified in […]
Download the PDF: Metal shims brochure from SPIROL
A new brochure from SPIROL details the breadth of the SPIROL metal shims product line … as well as value-added services and quality certifications. Download the shims brochure at this spirolshims.com deep link — www.spirolshims.com/SPIROL-Precision-Metal-Shims-brochure_us.pdf. SPIROL specializes in quick turnaround delivery of precision-engineered shims ranging from simple OD/ID shapes to complex geometries — particularly in low to medium volumes. […]
