Spiral Spring Guide

Spiral springs, also known as clock springs, flat spiral springs or helical torsion springs, they are usually made of high carbon steel or stainless steel which are wound in a flat condition and characterized by their coils not touching during operation, the inner ends these springs are stationary and the other end is attached to other components that rotate the spring torque. This design provides reduced force and also reduces friction to zero , meaning no coil friction, when properly installed.


Spiral Springs Main Functions

Spiral springs are a type of springs that have been coiled into a flat spiral, made from rectangular metal strips. One of the most common types of spiral springs is fixed coil springs, so named because they exert an almost continuous restraining force to avoid unwinding. Therefore the internal friction opposes the load force as the belt is stretched, almost at a constant pace.

For smaller rotating angles, helical springs act as balancing springs. As a counterweight or self-adjusting torque, the energy collected is used. The growth in the elasticity curve is almost linear. Spiral springs are the most common type of flat spring and are often used as they spin in rotating motions in place of the conventional torsion spring. For the first 360 degrees, the torque they supply per revolution is linear, the coils begin to close on the spindle with a greater angular rotation, and the torque per revolution also increases sharply per revolution on a non-linear when closer to the axis, so this type of springs is ideal for applications requiring angular rotation of less than degrees.


Materials used for spiral springs

Spiral springs are usually made of stainless steel. The spring maker has the choice of either using pre-hardened steel before the spiral spring is formed, or it may also harden the spring during the shaping process. The most popular spring steels used are musical wire, stainless steel, chromium-plated silicon, oil-hardened and chrome vanadium wire. Various materials are sufficient for many different conditions.

As many products rely on the durability of spring elements, it is important to choose high-quality springs that will not fail prematurely. Premature spring failure can be due to several factors, such as poor design, the use of low-quality materials, or an inferior manufacturing method. While the spiral spring in a larger system can tend to be a minor part, a mechanical failure of the spring may cause the device to malfunction. Therefore you should consider the consistency of the spring products and the manufacturing process before purchasing.


Spiral Spring Types

Springs of a rectangular strip of material that has been wound flat about itself are referred to as spiral springs. To allow them to be attached or anchored in place, these springs have unique mounting holes or bends at both ends. Then the spring can behave similar to an expansion spring when a force is applied to pull or extend the free end of the spring.The torque and deflection characteristics of the helical spring are generally non-linear. This condition is caused by friction between the coils and the varying amount of material that activates as the spring is deflected.


Power Springs

These spiral springs are often sometimes referred to as clock springs because they are often used to provide strength in clock production. Via a pulley or cord, these springs provide rotational energy from the spindle, housing, or linear motion. With very little space requirement, these coil springs can provide high output power. With limited force accumulation, they also have long linear reach and can store power indefinitely when expanded.


The Hairsprings

Hairspings are open-wound spiral springs that have spaced coils at equal intervals. Usually, these coil springs are small and are usually found in the instrument market. They can for instance, be used between gears in timing systems, meters, or backlash mechanisms.


Brush springs

These spiral springs are so called because they have been used to apply pressure to carbon brushes in electric motors and generators for a long time. They are open-wound coil springs that are characterized by the fact that both coils are involved for most of the stroke.


Constant force springs

Constant force coil springs are a type of spiral springs shaped in such a way that the other is tightly wrapped by each coil. In use, the free end is taken out and the load is raised by the internal coils. Such coil springs can be any length and are built at zero value to have a constant load.

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