Nested canted coil springs, applications thereof, and related methods
AssigneeBal Seal Engineering, Inc.
InventorBrian Carter
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A spring assembly having at least two canted coil spring lengths nested together are disclosed. Two sections of coils of a canted coil spring length can each be positioned between two adjacent coils of another canted coil spring. Each section of the coils of the canted coil spring length includes at least one coil and up to several coils or a plurality of coils. The canted coil spring lengths are nested together to increase the deflection force of the overall spring assembly. The spring assembly having two or more nested spring lengths can be used in connector applications.
Claims23
A spring assembly comprising at least two canted coil springs including a first canted coil spring with a coil centerline and a second canted coil spring with a coil centerline, each canted coil spring comprising a plurality of coils, wherein at least two sections of coils of the first canted coil spring are each positioned between two adjacent coils of the second canted coil spring, wherein the section of the coils of the first canted coil spring and the second canted coil each comprises at least one coil, and wherein the coil centerline of the first canted coil spring and the coil centerline of the second canted coil spring are located side-by-side relative to a point of reference, are common relative to a point of reference, or the coil centerline of the first canted coil spring is located below the coil centerline of the second canted coil spring relative to a point of reference.
A spring assembly comprising at least one canted coil spring comprising a plurality of coils and at least one helical spring comprising a plurality of coils, wherein at least half of the coils of one of the at least one canted coil spring and at least one helical spring are each positioned between two adjacent coils of the other one of the at least one canted coil spring and the at least one helical spring.
A connector assembly comprising:
- a housing with a housing groove;
- a shaft with a shaft groove;
- the housing rove and the shaft groove define a common groove;
- and
- a spring assembly positioned in the common groove to latch the shaft to the housing, the spring assembly comprising:
- at least two canted coil springs including a first canted coil spring with a coil centerline and a second canted coil spring with a coil centerline, each canted coil spring comprising a plurality of coils, wherein at least two sections of coils of the first canted coil spring are each positioned between two adjacent coils of the second canted coil spring, wherein the section of the coils of the first canted coil spring and the second canted coil each comprises at least one coil, and wherein the coil centerline of the first canted coil spring and the coil centerline of the second canted coil spring are located side-by-side relative to a point of reference, are common relative to a point of reference, or the coil centerline of the first canted coil spring is located below the coil centerline of the second canted coil spring relative to a point of reference.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.