A Closer Look at How Metal Spring Clips Are Made

Metal spring clips are integral parts of many products we rely on daily, such as brakes and coffee makers – these miniature but important components work hard in providing safety when in use.

Spring clip fasteners feature an iconic U-shape with an extended base attached by screw, and can hold cylindrical objects of various thicknesses securely. Their grip strength varies based on thickness. Additionally, stainless steel spring clips may come equipped with protective coatings like vinyl or neoprene that help prevent scraped spots and abrasion damages while zinc plating adds visual allure.

Wire Coiling

Though spring clips might appear to be small components within larger devices, they can have a significant effect on functional performance. Any failure could potentially cause device malfunction, so the quality of materials and manufacturing process must be kept in mind when choosing parts to include within these small assemblies.

Beginning the manufacturing process involves coiling metal wire or rod. This can be accomplished either cold coiling (when steel is coiled at room temperature) or hot coiling, which involves heating metal prior to coiling for increased ductility and design flexibility.

Custom metal spring clips are commonly used for attaching ID cards to lanyards or badge reels for easy access, featuring dart shapes with expandable bases to securely grip items being held. You may also find these clips used on tool boards to hold circular handles such as screwdrivers and hammers or for hanging pagers and phones upright.

Heat Treatment

Heat treatment not only enhances the strength and durability of metal spring clips, but it can also achieve other desirable properties. For instance, it reduces their susceptibility to environmental changes or long-term hydrogen embrittlement.

This process involves heating a steel clip until its molecular structure begins to change, then rapidly cooling (known as quenching ) it to ensure the resultant, more resilient clip can withstand repeated use without becoming worn-out or damaged.

Spring button clips can be found everywhere from construction sites and farms to car engines to secure two-part sliding tube components securely. They also help secure manufacturing parts like refrigerator door seals and liners as well as picture frames to their backboards. Heavy-duty terry clips can hold tools with circular handles such as screwdrivers or hammers on tool boards or to hang window safety screens safely while flat terry clips lack this distinctive U-shape to secure thin components, card or paper.

Shot Peening

Shot peening converts tensile surface stresses into compressive residual stresses, improving fatigue strength and resistance to stress corrosion cracking – two essential qualities when treating spring clips.

Shot peen equipment employs an abrasive blast stream composed of steel, stainless steel or glass media to generate surface dents and strain hardening, producing compressive residual surface stresses which help improve part quality by creating surface dents, strain hardening and compressive residual surface stresses that provide compression-induced residual surface stresses that improve quality, finish and reduce frictional friction levels.

Shot peening can be conducted both inside a facility and remotely in the field with proper air filters and dust collectors in place to contain blast media and safeguard operators’ health from any health hazards posed by intense abrasion of shot peening process, including skin or eye injury, while dust produced must be contained to avoid breathing disorders or other health problems for operators. It’s wise to wear protective clothing and gloves during treatment sessions; shot peening intensity and coverage can be controlled depending on part size and material specifications.

Setting

Metal spring clips secure all of the components of a picture frame – including mount board, artwork and glazing – into place within its frame. These tiny pieces of metal work like puzzle pieces to ensure all pieces fit together seamlessly like pieces in a puzzle.

Holders are also used to secure lightweight objects like ID cards, keys, lanyards, jackets and clipboards to walls and boards – making them highly sought-after by military and security applications.

Clips designed to protect their contents often come equipped with protective coatings like vinyl and neoprene to lessen scraped spots and abrasion on objects held. Zinc plating also gives these small clips an appealing aesthetic while increasing corrosion resistance.

These clips are used to securely fasten two-part sliding tube components during engineering activities, consisting of an inner tube button which clicks into a tube hole to secure them. Heavy-duty Terry clips are also commonly found at construction sites, farms and vehicle engine bays where brackets or pipes need fastening; and manufacturing components like refrigerator door seals and liners.