The main function of the spring
①Control the movement of machinery, such as valve springs in internal combustion engines and control springs in clutches.
② Absorb vibration and impact energy, such as buffer springs under cars and trains, and vibration-absorbing springs in couplings.
③Store and output energy as power, such as clock springs, springs in firearms, etc.
④Used as a force measuring element, such as a force measuring device, a spring in a spring scale, etc. The ratio of spring load to deformation is called spring stiffness. The greater the stiffness, the harder the spring. Spring is an elastic element widely used in the mechanical and electronic industries. The spring can produce greater elastic deformation when loaded, converting mechanical work or kinetic energy into deformation energy, and the deformation of the spring disappears and returns to its original shape after unloading. Deformation energy is converted into mechanical work or kinetic energy.
The invention of the spring
The spring is just an accumulator, it has the function of storing energy, but it cannot release the energy slowly. To realize the function of releasing slowly, it should be realized by the “spring + large transmission ratio mechanism”, which is common in mechanical watches. Springs have been used a long time ago, and ancient bows and crossbows are two broad springs. The inventor of the spring in the strict sense of the spring should be the British scientist Robert Hooke. Although helical compression springs have appeared and are widely used at that time, Hooke put forward the “Hooke’s law”-the elongation of the spring and the The amount of force is directly proportional.
Based on this principle, in 1776, a spring balance using a spiral compression spring came out. Soon, Hooke himself invented a spring specially designed for clocks and watches based on this principle. The spring that conforms to “Hooke’s Law” is the real spring. The disc spring was invented by the French Belleville. It is a washer spring with a truncated cone section made of sheet metal or forged blanks. After the emergence of modern industry, in addition to disc springs, new springs such as gas springs, rubber springs, scroll springs, mold springs, stainless steel springs, air springs, memory alloy springs, and battery springs have appeared.