Coil Spring End Geometry to Prevent Storage Entanglement
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional coil springs entangle when stored together, leading to reduced production efficiency and increased weight and cost due to the need for longer wire materials and densely winding portions.
Innovation Solution
A coil spring design featuring corresponding portions at the end, where the gap between wire materials is smaller than the active coil portion's wire height, preventing entanglement by ensuring the wire material in one coil spring interferes with the corresponding portion and adjacent wire material, thus preventing deep insertion and catching.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If densely winding portions are formed to prevent entanglement, then entanglement prevention is improved, but wire length and weight increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by creating a specific gap configuration only at the end portion of the coil spring, rather than uniformly modifying the entire spring. The gap between the corresponding portion and adjacent wire material is controlled to be smaller than the wire height, creating a localized anti-entanglement feature that prevents entanglement without adding weight throughout the entire spring structure.
2Reliability
If densely winding portions are formed to prevent entanglement, then entanglement prevention is improved, but manufacturing cost increases
Solution Approach 1:
The invention implements local quality by concentrating the anti-entanglement feature only at the end portion of the coil spring. This localized approach reduces the total amount of wire material needed compared to uniform dense winding, thereby lowering material costs while still achieving effective entanglement prevention through the strategically positioned gap configuration.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent extracts the anti-entanglement function from the main body of the coil spring and concentrates it at the end portion. By removing the need for dense winding throughout the entire spring and instead creating a specific gap structure only at the end, the invention reduces material usage and manufacturing complexity while maintaining entanglement prevention capability.
3Reliability
If longer wire material is used to form densely winding portions, then entanglement prevention is improved, but wire length increases
Solution Approach 1:
The invention extracts the essential anti-entanglement function from the extended wire length and concentrates it in a compact configuration at the end portion of the spring. The gap structure with controlled dimensions achieves entanglement prevention without requiring additional wire length, as the functional effect is derived from the geometric arrangement rather than increased material quantity.
Data Source
AI summary
The present invention provides a coil spring, in which a corresponding portion is provided at an end portion in a direction of a coil axis, the corresponding portion having a whole size in the direction of the coil axis of the plurality of wire materials adjacent to each other in the direction of the coil axis equal to a maximum value of a gap in the direction of the coil axis between wire materials adjacent to each other in the direction of the coil axis of the coil spring, a gap in the direction of the coil axis between the corresponding portion and a wire material adjacent to the corresponding portion on an inner side in the direction of the coil axis is smaller than a wire height in an active coil portion of the coil spring, and at the end portion of the direction of the coil axis, a gap in the direction of the coil axis between a portion extending around the coil axis from the corresponding portion to a distal end portion side of the wire material and a wire material adjacent to the portion on the inner side in the direction of the coil axis gradually decreases from the corresponding portion toward the distal end portion side of the wire material around the coil axis.