The coils of a clock spring are formed by winding spring wire around a cylinder into helically shaped metal springs. There are two coil types for clock springs: tight coils and open coils. Clock springs with tight coils are, in normal applications, completely without friction. Tight coil clock springs are often used as locking mechanisms. Read More…
Leading Manufacturers
R & L Spring Company
Lake Geneva, WI | 262-249-7854R&L Spring Company manufactures custom spring and wire formed components for industries such as powersports, automotive, medical devices, and general industrial. Products include compression, extension, and torsion springs, as well as rings, wire forms, fourslide components, and long coils. Wire diameters available from .001" to .750" in both shaped wires and flat stocks. Their experienced team is able to meet the most demanding parts specifications. IATF16949 and ISO9001 certified.
All-Rite Spring Company
Spring Grove, IL | 815-675-1350All-Rite Spring Company specializes in quick-turn design, prototype, and manufacture of springs and wires of all shapes, sizes, and material types. Typical applications are: Automotive, Agricultural, Consumer Appliance, Industrial, Safety Critical, and other High Functional Value and/or Life Cycle.
Apex Spring & Stamping Corporation
Grand Rapids, MI | 616-591-9524Apex Spring & Stamping is a certified minority owned company that manufacturers springs, stampings, wire forms, clips, and fasteners. Our core industries include automotive, office furniture, medical, recreational, consumer goods, and appliances. We also specialize in value added assembly and prototyping. Our engineering team will ensure your part is both functional and cost-effective. IATF 16949 Certified.
Coiling Technologies, Inc.
Houston, TX | 713-849-4000Coiling Technologies, Inc. has the experience and expertise to design and engineer the custom springs to meet your specific requirements. We are a leading manufacturer of high-tech, specialized springs and we are committed to providing quality products with fast lead times. Our automated process allows us to produce the reliable springs you need.
Sterling Spring Corp.
Chicago, IL | 800-969-7884Sterling Spring has offered high-quality springs since 1953. Our product line includes compression springs, coil springs, torsion springs, extension springs and industrial springs. We offer just-in-time delivery and cost-effective prices, regardless of your ordering volume.
Diamond Wire Spring Company
Glenshaw, PA | 412-684-1201Diamond Wire Spring Company is a designer and manufacturer of precision springs. We have over 75 years of experience in stock and custom springs. Our founding principles of providing quality products and strong, personalized customer service help us earn the trust of our customers. We have more than 11,000 different springs available. We serve many industries including power and energy, agriculture and rail, and many others. Call us today!
Pa-Ted Spring Co., LLC
Bristol, CT | 860-582-6368Our springs are made of a variety of materials and can be used in many different applications. Pa-Ted manufactures custom designed springs for the automotive, electrical, medical, landscaping, pool covers, and original equipment manufacturers industries, and uses materials such steel, beryllium copper, music wire, brass, titanium, tungsten wire, oil tempered wire, and resistance wire. Call us for wire forms today!
Clock Springs - All-Rite Spring CompanyClock springs with open coils are the most common type and must be mounted in housings. Open coil clock springs offer a low increase of force and are often used in applications such as retractable reels, retracting seat belts, mechanical motors, tape measures, timing devices, vehicle suspensions, galvanometers and electrical switches.
Typical industries that utilize clock springs include military, medical, automotive, electronics, agricultural, commercial, industrial and utilities. Clock springs are most commonly made from a certain type of spring steel referred to as either blue steel or clock spring steel. Blue steel is tempered and polished spring steel, which has a very high carbon content and is generally dark blue in color.
Clock Springs - All-Rite Spring CompanyClock springs consist of a flat coil strip and are wound, either tightly or openly, similar to a snail shell in that each coil is nested within a larger coil. Flat coil strips provide a stronger spring than round wire, although round wire is more commonly used in springs. Often, clock springs are wound and mounted on an arbor, which is a piece of round stock that has one end formed to accept the inside end of the clock spring, while the outside end is attached to a stationary post.
The power spring is also housed within a cylindrical casing, or barrel. The clock spring is wound by turning the arbor, but it drives the object’s movement by the barrel; this arrangement allows the clock spring to continue powering the object while it is being wound. Winding the object turns the arbor, which tightens the clock spring, wrapping it closer around the arbor.
Clock springs are most commonly formed through the cold rolling process. A type of roll forming, cold rolling utilizes roll forming machines, which consist of sequences of calenders, or roller die pairs, positioned both above and below the metal coil that is being formed. As the metal moves through the machine, the rollers bend the material along the linear axis, pressing the metal into a more uniform grain flow while shaping the metal into flat coil strips.
Cold rolled clock springs are created at temperatures below the recrystallization point of the metal. The cold rolling process increases the tensile strength of the metal. The clock springs are then annealed, or made softer through heating, so that they can be wound or coiled. Next, the clock spring is heat treated in order to reduce stresses and fractures and thus further strengthen the spring.
