The spring is mainly a part made of elastic materials such as spring steel, which changes the shape under the action of external force, and the shape will return to the original shape if we removed the external force. Springs can be used to stretch, compress, support, twist, and lift working machine parts. Springs are usually installed in some industrial machinery and equipment, such as the opening and closing mechanism of the machine tool, the valve that attacks, etc. We can find them. In industrial applications, we can find many types of springs, which can be divided into compression springs, extension springs, and torsion springs according to their shapes.
Types of spring
Generally, the materials we use to construct springs are mostly made of alloy spring steel, carbon spring steel, stainless spring steel, some copper alloys, and so on. Because these materials have good heat treatment performance, elasticity, impact toughness, etc. Usually, we will use a hot-rolling method or a cold-rolling method to manufacture. We use the hot rolling method for the larger diameter and the cold rolling method for the smaller diameter.
Torsion Spring
The design of the torsion spring is mainly used to withstand the torsional deformation of the spring. It uses the principle of leverage to spirally rotate and twist materials that are softer, more elastic, and more resilient, similar to a spring formed by the process of compression or stretching. The working part of this type of spring is also formed by tightly surrounding the coils, and the pitch can also be used to reduce the friction between the coils. The end structure of the torsion spring needs to be processed to form torsion arms of various shapes, from single to double torsion, and even the deformation of various torsion bars, we can shape them according to customize design. We connect the ends of the torsion spring to the mechanical components. When these components rotate around the spring, the spring will return all of their components to their original positions. This is the function of the torsion spring. Torsion springs are often widely used in various motion control components, balance mechanisms in machinery, and industrial production of automobiles, machine tools, and electrical appliances. There are also some of the most common torsion springs, which appear in our daily lives such as clothespins, garage doors, etc.
Extension Spring
The extension spring is generally a helical spring that bears the axial tension. Such springs are made of materials with round cross-sections. When not bearing any load, the coils of the tension spring are generally tight and there is no gap. When we stretch the extension spring, the spring itself will try to return to its original shape, and a "tension" will be generated at this time. The end of the tension spring has a loop or hook so that we can easily connect the spring to another component. The difference between an extension spring and a compression spring is the load at zero deformation. Under the relationship of initial tension, the extension spring needs to bear the load of zero deflection. In the case of zero deflection, the load of the compression spring is zero. Extension springs are widely used in the door mechanisms on machines, meters, medical equipment, and automatic equipment. We mainly use the tension of the extension spring to control the moving parts, measure the size of the force, and store energy.
Compression Spring
The compression spring is mainly a helical coil that can withstand axial pressure and will provide an opposite reaction force when compressed by an external force. Most of the materials used in it are circular in cross-section, but there are also rectangular and multi-stranded steel coils. Such springs can generally be divided into equal-pitch springs and variable-pitch springs. The main shapes include conical, cylindrical, convex, concave, and a few non-circular shapes. The coils of the compression spring will exist with a certain gap among them. When we continuously increase the load on the compression spring, the distance between the coils of the spring will gradually close and contract, and the deformation energy will be stored at the same time. When the compression spring tries to return to its original length and shape, it releases this energy and pushes back against the direction of the load.
Other springs including progressive spring, linear spring, air spring and so on.
Progressive Spring
The design of progressive spring adopts inconsistent thickness and density on the coils. Due to the difference of the coil distance, the stiffness of the spring will change with the force and compression. But this kind of spring is not directly controlled, which leads to its accuracy being worse than that of ordinary springs.
Linear Spring
The main characteristic of the linear spring is that its elastic coefficient is fixed because the thickness and density from top to bottom are unchanged. The distance between each coil is equal. This kind of spring is suitable for making the movement of the vehicle more stable, which helps us to better control the vehicle.
Air Spring
Air spring is mainly a kind of spring that uses the compressibility of air to achieve elasticity. This kind of spring has an excellent shock absorption effect and is suitable for use in automobiles and railway locomotives so that they can run smoothly. Besides, the air spring also has shock isolation performance, which can be used for compression or lifting purposes.
In our daily life, springs have different shapes and serve us everywhere. The main function of the spring is to be used as a measuring function and a pressing function. If you want to buy a spring, please contact our MecHero now at 011-7000 7687 or send your enquiry to my.mechero@gmail.com. Beside that, MecHero also provides a wide range of mechanical hardware products such as steel products, mechanical components, plumbing accessories, and other engineering works.