Spring Carrier

A spring carrier for receiving, retaining, and discharging of a coil spring in a manufacturing assembly process, the spring carrier comprising:

• an elongate hollow body defining an inner cavity configured to receive the coil spring;
• an opening at a first proximal end of the hollow body for insertion of the coil spring into the inner cavity and extraction of the coil spring from the inner cavity;
• the hollow body including a second distal end opposite to the first proximal end;
• and
• at least one deflectable member located proximate to the first proximal end of the hollow body and including a retaining portion which is configured to retain the coil spring when the coil spring is located within the inner cavity,
• wherein the at least one deflectable member is movable between a first unbiased position, whereby the retaining portion extends into the inner cavity to retain the coil spring within the inner cavity, and a second biased position, whereby the retaining portion is disposed outwardly to allow the coil spring to be extracted from the inner cavity through the opening.

An apparatus comprising:

• a spring carrier comprising:
• an elongate hollow body defining an inner cavity configured to receive a coil spring;
• an opening at a first proximal end of the hollow body for insertion of the coil spring into the inner cavity and extraction of the coil spring from the inner cavity;
• the hollow body including a second distal end opposite to the first proximal end;
• and
• at least one deflectable member located proximate to the first proximal end of the hollow body and including a retaining portion which is configured to retain the coil spring when the coil spring is located within the inner cavity,
• wherein the deflectable member is movable between a first unbiased position, whereby the retaining portion extends into the inner cavity to retain the coil spring within the inner cavity, and a second biased position, whereby the retaining portion is disposed outwardly to allow the coil spring to be extracted from the inner cavity through the opening;
• and
• an actuator configured for engagement with the at least one deflectable member and operable to move the at least one deflectable member from the first unbiased position to the second biased position.