Springs are crucial components in heavy machinery, garage doors and other applications across various industries. Springs exist in all shapes and sizes and consist of different materials. Whether you’re in the manufacturing industry or specialize in garage door installation, you rely on high-quality springs to produce a high-quality product.
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Many springs are custom-made to fit specific applications. Others are mass-produced with certain functions in mind. When your garage door or original machinery calls for a specific spring, you need to know exactly what kind to use. You want to make your customers happy, and sometimes it all comes down to using the right spring.
A spring is an elastic object that stores mechanical energy and releases it when the opposing force is removed. If you need to apply force to create movement or hold something in place without the use of engines or other powered means, springs could be the answer.
When you think of springs, you probably envision classic coil springs made of metal in a cylindrical shape. You can find them fitted into a spring mechanism to apply force against or away from an object. While metal coil springs like these are instantly recognizable, they only represent a portion of the springs that exist. To understand their versatility and functions, you should know more about the history of springs.
Springs have provided the mechanical solutions for many situations and needs for hundreds of years. They have taken on many forms. In fact, the coil spring is a modern invention compared to the first types of springs. One of the first ways humans used springs was to create the bow and arrow for hunting, protection and warfare. This type of spring is markedly missing any coils.
Coil springs were first introduced with the advent of door locks. The coil spring’s ability to take on various sizes and store mechanical energy gave locks the security and movement they needed. Soon after, inventors began using springs in clocks and pocket watches. Their customizable and consistent tension was crucial in keeping accurate time.
Today, people use springs in a vast array of applications and projects. They are an irreplaceable component of many devices that people rely on daily, from the smallest toys to the largest machines. Automobiles, construction equipment and garage doors all rely on the storage and release of mechanical energy that springs offer. Springs are important, but how exactly do they work?
Think back on the earliest example of a spring: the bow and arrow. An archer notches the arrow in the bow’s string and pulls back, applying backward tension. This stores mechanical energy in the bow, as the bow wants to return to its original state. When the archer releases the arrow, the string rapidly returns to its original position, sending the arrow flying forward. This is the release of the mechanical energy that the archer applied when pulling back.
If an archer pulls back on the bow with great force, the arrow will likewise shoot with great force. If the archer pulls back weakly, the arrow will shoot without much force and will fall to the ground. This relationship between applied force and mechanical energy is present in all springs throughout history. The energy that a spring releases is directly proportional to the amount of energy that someone applies to it. This is the defining characteristic of springs, and it’s also what makes them so useful.
The spring’s material also plays a role in the relationship between stored and released mechanical energy. If the aforementioned bow consists of flexible wood and a loose string, it will be easy for the archer to pull back. The archer will exert little force on the bow, resulting in the release of little force when he or she lets go.
People can make different bows for different purposes. A child might not be able to pull back on an adult’s bow because of the amount of initial mechanical energy it requires. The same child might flourish with a training bow that requires much less energy to draw.
The same principle applies to all springs. Coil springs come in various materials and strengths for different purposes. The spring that holds a battery in place within a remote is weaker than garage door springs that hold a heavy door in place. Both are coil springs. Both serve different functions.
There are three main types of coil springs: compression, torsion and extension. Each serves a different purpose and comes in handy in specific situations.
Coil springs that store mechanical energy through compression and release it outward are mechanical compression springs. These springs hold weight and shrink in size upon receiving that force. Remove the force and the spring will expand again, releasing its stored mechanical energy.
Compression springs are able to do this because of their pitch. A spring’s pitch is the distance between coils. When compressed, the spring’s pitch gets smaller, storing mechanical energy until it can expand to its original size once more.
Unlike compression springs which shrink when storing energy, torsion springs twist to transfer mechanical energy. Consider a door handle. When you apply force and twist the handle, there is a slight resistance against you as you turn. This stores mechanical energy in the torsion spring within the handle. Once you let go of the handle, it snaps back into its initial position according to the specifications of the torsion spring.
Torsion springs are common components of garage doors. Garage door torsion springs are essential in the door’s counterbalance system. They provide the resistance needed to keep the door opened or closed when you want it to be, while also making it easier to move when you apply the necessary force.
Mechanical extension springs are tightly wound coil springs with no pitch between coils. Extension springs extend as you apply force to them, pulling apart the coils. Their resistance against this force stores mechanical energy within the coil. When you remove the force, the spring releases its mechanical energy by snapping back into its original state with no pitch between coils.
Extension springs are an excellent choice when you need to move an object back to its original position after applying force to the spring. That is why garage door extension springs are a common component of garage door opening systems. They apply tension to the garage door and help it move within the pulley system.
Springs are an important part of the manufacturing and garage door industries. As you look for a company to produce the springs you need for your products, look no further than IDC Spring. With our own manufacturing plants in Minnesota, Ohio and Arizona, we can meet your need anywhere in the United States. We know that making your clients and customers happy is your end goal, and we want to help you achieve that with high-quality springs that will get the job done.
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High tension springs are helical coil extension springs that require a large pulling or tension load at the ends of the spring to extend the spring. High tension springs are sometimes referred to as heavy-duty tension springs. While no precise definition exists for high-tension springs, they are most commonly used in heavy-duty loading applications.
High tension springs generally have larger spring rates than those found in typical extension springs, meaning separating the coils of a high tension spring requires a significant force. They also generally have large wire sizes and small outside diameters and typically have fewer coils.
High tension springs are typically fabricated from a grade of spring steel or chrome silicon steel. Depending on your application's loading profile, stainless steel may be an option if additional corrosion resistance is required.
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We offer custom design and manufacturing services if you can’t find the exact high-tension spring in the wire diameter and free length your application requires.
Common custom high-tension extension spring options include large wire diameters, high-performance materials, protective surface finishes, and specialized heat treatments.
We are ready to partner with you in all stages of development, from initial concept to procurement, to help you develop high-tension spring solutions engineered to operate reliability in industrial environments.
Don’t waste another minute; reach out to our experts today!
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High tension springs are used in many machines where large forces are required to actuate equipment or where large impact forces must be absorbed. They are found in certain safety-critical aerospace systems, such as landing gear suspensions and door assemblies. They are also integrated into control surface actuation systems, providing the required tension between linkages so that the aircraft can maintain stable flight. They can also typically be found in industrial machinery, such as agricultural machinery like combine harvesters and tractors.
For more information on application-specific springs and secondary operations, check out our industry pages:
AerospaceConstructionMedicalIndustrial AutomationAgriculture DefenseElectronicsEnergy, Oil, & GasHeavy Truck & Bus
The high tension spring’s Spring Rate defines the force required to extend the spring by a designated length unit and is the primary parameter that defines high tension springs. It is typically denoted in units of lb/in, meaning the required force to create a spring extension of 1 inch. The spring rate defines the other geometric properties of the high tension spring, such as the Wire Diameter, Outside Diameter (OD), and Length inside Hooks (LIH).
Furthermore, the high tension spring’s initial tension is an important parameter for extension spring selection because it represents the force needed to move a helical coil just enough to observe light passing through the coils.
To select a high tension spring, first evaluate the load your spring will absorb and the space envelope you have in your application to accommodate the spring’s extension. Then, you can shop high tension springs by the spring rate you need to understand the available stock configurations that meet your design requirements. You can determine how the spring will fit within your application using properties such as the spring’s LIH and OD. Finally, you should also check the spring’s rated maximum deflection and load capacity when shopping for high tension springs to ensure your spring will not be overloaded in your application.
Check out our comprehensive extension spring selection guide for more general information on high tension spring selection.
How to Select an Extension Spring
High-tension extension springs are designed to accommodate larger loads than typical extension springs. They are typically fabricated from high-strength materials and feature small outer diameters and larger wire diameters (e.g., meaning the helical wires are thick and wound tightly together).
Standard high-tension springs with large wire diameters and spring rates are available in various sizes and specifications. However, if you need a custom-designed spring with a rated load capacity not found in our catalog, call us at 800-237- or fill out our Custom Quotation Form today!
Common high-tension spring materials include high-carbon steel (such as music wire), oil-tempered steel, chrome silicone, and stainless steel. To determine a suitable material for your high-tension spring, consider your application’s loading requirements, followed by environmental factors such as corrosion and temperature.
Our spring catalog lists every high tension spring's recommended maximum load capacity, including high tension springs. We also provide the recommended maximum deflection. We determine these values based on our rigorous testing and design standards.
Century Spring is a quality-first, ISO and ASD certified, industry-leading spring supplier specializing in stock and custom springs. We are the most trusted name in spring manufacturing and offer rapid delivery on over 40,000+ in-stock designs available to ship today. We are committed to getting products to you quickly because we understand your design scheduling constraints.
Our dedicated custom spring development and customer support teams help you navigate critical design criteria such as size, material, and surface treatment to find your application's optimal spring solution.
Our experienced product engineers, knowledgeable product quality team, and skilled manufacturing personnel always deliver the highest quality products to you faster than our domestic and international competitors.
All springs are always made in the USA.
We are ready to partner with you to solve your most pressing spring design challenges. Our experts work closely with our customers to create, refine, and optimize spring designs to fit specific tolerance, performance, and use case conditions.
We bring extensive design for manufacturability (DFM) expertise to your project. We also have dedicated, high-speed machines that can quickly scale high-quality spring production processes to large part volumes.
We also have cutting-edge computational equipment simulation and testing techniques, such as CNC compression self-monitoring and coiling machinery. These capabilities enable us to deliver durable, reliable products across many custom sizes and styles.
Our manufacturing services also include complete prototyping and tooling assistance.
If you can’t find the high tension spring you’re looking for in our catalog, you can always request a custom quotation and partner with us to design a custom spring specifically for your unique application.
We will follow up with a custom recommendation and resolve any additional follow-up questions you may have.