Segmented Spiral Spring Assembly Design
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing spiral spring designs face challenges in achieving high fatigue strength, accurate geometry, and cost-effective manufacturing due to their one-piece construction, which restricts finishing processes and increases production costs, while also limiting the use of high-strength materials and precise alignment features.
Innovation Solution
A spiral spring design where the inner and outer hubs, along with resilient connecting arms, are formed as physically separate elements, allowing for improved finishing processes like super-finishing and stamping, and enabling the use of high-strength materials with enhanced alignment features for increased stiffness and accuracy.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If spiral springs are manufactured as one-piece construction using photo-etching, then manufacturing cost is reduced and simplicity is maintained, but manufacturing precision and surface finish quality deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The spring is divided into multiple separate components (inner hub, outer hub, resilient connecting arms) that are manufactured independently using different processes optimized for each component's requirements, then assembled together. This allows high-precision components to be made with superior surface finish while maintaining cost-effectiveness for less critical parts.
2Strength
If high-strength materials are used with enhanced finishing processes, then fatigue strength is improved, but manufacturing cost increases
Solution Approach 1:
Different materials and finishing processes are applied to different parts of the spring assembly based on their specific functional requirements. High-strength materials and enhanced finishing processes are used only where stress concentrations occur or where surface quality is critical, while less critical areas use standard materials and processes, optimizing the balance between fatigue strength and manufacturing cost.
3Manufacturing precision
If alignment features are enhanced for precise geometry, then manufacturing precision is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The spring is segmented into separate components with standardized alignment features (such as dowel pins, precision holes, or keyed interfaces) that enable accurate assembly. The complexity is distributed across multiple simple components rather than concentrated in one complex piece, allowing precise alignment through modular construction.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This design enhances fatigue strength, reduces manufacturing costs, and improves alignment accuracy, enabling the production of springs with higher stiffness and longer lifespan while maintaining material properties effectively.
Implementation Method 1
Axial movement between the inner 102/302 and outer 104/304 attachment areas causes the resilient connecting arms 101/301 to flex and providing that the material does not yield this movement is both reversible and repeatable
Data Source
AI summary
Various arrangements are disclosed based on springs formed from a plurality of individual resilient arms, including a spring having a substantially planar form in an unloaded state and rotational symmetry of at east order two about a symmetry axis perpendicular to the plane of the spring, the spring comprising: an inner hub and an outer hub, the inner hub being radially inward with respect to the outer hub; a plurality of resilient connecting arms each connected at an inner end to the inner hub and at an outer end to the outer hub, the plurality of resilient connecting arms being configured to provide a restoring force parallel to the symmetry axis when the inner and outer hubs are displaced relative to each other along the symmetry axis; wherein the inner hub, the outer hub and each of the plurality of resilient connecting arms are formed as physically separate elements and are connected to each other during assembly to form the spring.