Product category:
Fabrication Subcontracting Services
News Release from: William Hughes | Subject: Special springs
Edited by the Manufacturingtalk Editorial
Team on 26 August 2005
Special springs solved car seat problem
When a car seats manufacturer was experiencing problems with a spring mechanism, a spring supplier offered special spring made from hexagonal section material.
When a major manufacturer of seats for passenger cars was experiencing problems with the spring mechanism used to raise the driver's seat, it contacted William Hughes, the specialist spring and bent wire manufacturer, to see how its knowledge and expertise could be used to improve the operation of the spring William Hughes has many years of experience solving engineering problems and, after considering a number of alternative designs, they decided to take an innovative approach using a special spring made from hexagonal section material
This article was originally published on Manufacturingtalk on 20 Aug 2001 at 8.00am (UK)
Related stories
Machine bends and coils spring steels
William Hughes has added a GBP140,000 Wafios BMS2 CNC wire bending and coiling machine to its wire shape production plant in Dorset.
Wire frame design change speeds car seat assembly
When a wire former was asked to quote for the supply of a bent wire assembly for car seats, its engineers re-designed the component to speed assembly on the production line.
This type of material is not widely available so William Hughes had to determine a specification and locate suitable suppliers.
By tightly controlling the manufacturing tolerances and specification of the hexagonal material, the new spring can be manufactured very accurately.
This has resulted in consistent batches of products that perform reliably in the seats and can be assembled by the automated machinery in the factory.
The spring is based on a 400mm length of special alloy spring steel, 7mm across the flats with a hook formed on one of the ends.
Each piece is checked to an accuracy of +/-2 deg to ensure there is no twist in the material which could affect the forces it can generate.
The new hexagonal spring replaces a design-in round bar which was suffering from assembly inconsistencies.
This meant that some seats that could not be lowered easily, while others were unable to deliver the necessary lift.
Having to rework many of these mechanisms was proving time consuming and costly so clearly a reliable solution had to be found.
William Hughes and the seat manufacturer worked together on this project to provide a robust and reliable mechanism that is capable of raising and lowering drivers of different weights over years of use covering many thousands of miles.
In fact, this design of spring works so well that the seat manufacturer is extending the technology to other types of vehicle.
William Hughes is much more than just a spring supplier.
It offers its customers the benefits of many years of design and manufacturing experience as well as a rapid design and prototyping service.
Once a final design is agreed, quality systems to ISO 9002 ensure consistency and accuracy of supply.
By investing in the latest CNC machines and quality procedures, continuity of supply is assured.
• William Hughes: contact details and other news
• Email this article to a colleague
• Register for the free Manufacturingtalk email newsletter
• Manufacturingtalk Home Page
Search the Pro-Talk network of sites
