Spring assemblies, applications of spring assemblies, and related methods
AssigneeBal Seal Engineering, Inc.
InventorsPatrick Whitford, Farshid Dilmaghanian
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A spring assembly with two or more springs, one inside another. The spring assembly can have two springs wherein one spring is located inside another spring, and the outer spring can be a helical ribbon spring and the inner spring can be a canted coil spring to provide support to the outer helical ribbon spring. Support is provided where the helical ribbon spring may have some limitations that the inner spring is able to overcome. Limitations of the helical ribbon spring may be a limited force versus deflection curve which the additional spring support of the secondary spring may overcome.
Claims20
A spring assembly comprising:
- an inner spring located inside an outer spring, a helical ribbon spring as the outer spring, said outer spring comprising a plurality of interconnected coils;
- wherein said outer spring comprises an outer cross-sectional profile;
- wherein said inner spring comprises an inner cross-sectional profile;
- wherein said inner cross-sectional profile is located within said outer cross-sectional profile and biased against interior surfaces of the plurality of interconnected coils;
- and
- wherein (1) the outer spring have two ends that are joined to form a spring ring, (2) the inner spring have two ends that are joined to form a spring ring, or (3) the outer spring have two ends that are joined to form a spring ring and the inner spring have two ends that are joined to form a spring ring.
A spring assembly comprising:
- an inner spring located inside an outer spring;
- a helical ribbon spring as the outer spring, said outer spring comprising a plurality of interconnected coils;
- wherein said outer spring comprises an outer cross-sectional profile;
- wherein said inner spring comprises an inner cross-sectional profile;
- wherein said inner cross-sectional profile is located within said outer cross-sectional profile;
- and
- wherein the outer spring has two spaced apart ends and the inner spring has two spaced apart ends.
A method of using a spring assembly comprising:
- obtaining a spring comprising inner spring located inside an outer spring, said outer spring being a ribbon spring comprising plurality of interconnected coils;
- wherein said outer spring comprises an outer cross-sectional profile;
- wherein said inner spring comprises an inner cross-sectional profile;
- wherein said inner cross-sectional profile is located within said outer cross-sectional profile and biased against interior surfaces of the plurality of interconnected coils;
- and
- wherein (1) the outer spring have two ends that are joined to form a spring ring, (2) the inner spring have two ends that are joined to form a spring ring, or (3) the outer spring have two ends that are joined to form a spring ring and the inner spring have two ends that are joined to form a spring ring;
- and
- placing the spring into or onto a component.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.