What is ITAR Compliance? Knowing and understanding the answer to these questions is important for any company involved in government contracting and international trade that’s related to the defense industry, whether directly or indirectly. Though not well known by firms outside of government contracting circles, ITAR is the acronym for International Traffic in Arms Regulations,… Read more »
Selecting the correct material for the design of a spring is one of the first and most important considerations in its application. Stainless steel used for springs, for example, has many advantages and favorable properties—above all, corrosion resistance—which makes the material ideal for many applications.
The history of the Slinky, and its humble origin, is one of innovation, imagination, and perseverance as much as it is chance. Richard James, the founder of James Spring & Wire Company, invented the much-loved precompressed helical spring toy in 1943 while serving as a naval engineer at the William Cramp & Sons shipyards in… Read more »
Specialty springs are custom-designed springs manufactured to fulfill a specific mechanical function in a particular mechanism. Specialty springs will vary in design in relation to the spring requirements and spring force—compressive, tensile, or torsion—needed for the application. Because specialty springs are uniquely designed for a specific application—they are not a stock item found on shelves—spring… Read more »
How do springs work in real-world applications? For manufacturers, the answer to that question is directly related to understanding the science of springs. In doing so, manufacturers such James Spring & Wire Company can accurately predict exactly how its extension, compression, or torsion springs will function within a mechanical device or mechanism even before the… Read more »
Wire forms or, more specifically, wire forming, is a fabrication technique that utilizes blanks of metal wire which is manipulated into standard or customized shapes for a variety of applications. The wire is typically drawn from blank strips or coiled spools of flat or round wire, rolled and tempered, and then formed into different configurations… Read more »
Knowing how to calculate a spring constant is essential in the design and manufacture of springs. Before a spring is produced for an application, engineers need to know how the spring will behave and function to determine whether the design is suitable for the application.
Constant-force springs are mechanical devices used in applications that typically require some kind of counterbalancing or retraction mechanism. In design and function, constant-force springs differ from the more common familiar types of wound springs. They exert a consistent linear force or torque that remains constant over a large range of motion.
Spiral torsion springs are mechanical devices that store and release mechanical energy through the exertion of rotational torque force. It is one of two basic torsion spring designs, the other being the more familiar helical or coiled torsion spring, the shape of which resembles the compression or extension spring, and operates in a radial direction… Read more »
Helical springs are those familiar elastic coiled mechanical devices that are used to store and release energy. As a mechanical device, they are integral components for applications in nearly every industrial sector. The sheer amount of applications of helical spring in all areas of modern life is staggering.
