EoW July 2009

Wire products for the automotive industry

Springs for interiors In a modern car interior there are springs in the centre console, glove box, cup holders, grab handles, sun visors and door mechanisms, all with different characteristics to be taken into account, with such factors as tactility and strength, available space and operational life. William Hughes offers a design service to engineer individual springs that provide the most cost effective solution for each purpose. Torsion springs provide a perfect solution for many automotive applications. They can be either single, which gives a higher force in a smaller space, or double, which provides a balanced force or torque. To overcome friction, a problem in some applications, springs

can be coated with special materials or the spring geometry can be optimised to minimise the effect. Other options include tension or compression springs in a range of sizes and materials. In modern vehicles, each part of the car interior needs to impart the right ‘feel’ to the driver. When design engineers at William Hughes were asked to develop a special torsion spring to release an armrest catch on a central console, ergonomics were the primary consideration. The catch mechanism had to be designed to slow the movement of the console to make it open gently; it also needed to be easy to operate with minimum effort. The team at William Hughes was provided with a complete set of parameters for the operation. In order to provide the best solution, the design engineer needed to fully understand every aspect of the application to ensure that the proposed design would be both economical and fully compatible with the plastics and fabrics also used in the assembly. The designer needed to consider how the unit could be assembled quickly and easily.

▲ ▲ Single and double torsion springs from William Hughes will be found in many car interiors

Automotive U-bolts Since 1973 Videx Machine Engineering has manufactured machinery for U-bolts and other bent parts for the automotive industry, working directly from wire coil. Two years ago, Videx introduced a new bending system with a slide bending die and an integral stripper mechanism. With this new line, the VAS-DBQ range of machines, users no longer need to make bending dies for each part: the machines are supplied with a floating bending die, that covers the entire range of round and square bottom U-bolts, enabling new sizes of U-bolts to be made in minutes. With the help of the latest computer aided design software and specialised spring data, William Hughes used knowledge and experience to develop a spring that was optimised for the application. In this instance a single torsion spring provided the best solution and William Hughes was able to quickly produce prototype springs for evaluation before the design was finalised for volume production. In addition to special springs for car interiors, William Hughes can also manufacture a wide range of bent wire forms and sub assemblies for car seats and trim panels. William Hughes Ltd – UK Fax : +44 1963 363640 Email : sales@wmhughes.co.uk Website : www.wmhughes.co.uk

VAS-DBQ models are equipped with a positive stripper system that allows the machines to run at maximum speed without the risk of jammed parts. The VAS machines pull wire from coil, straighten, cut to length, chamfer and thread both ends and bend to shape. They can also perform cold forming operations, such as heading and extrusion, and material removing operations such as drilling and pointing. Chamfer cutting or rolling, thread or form rolling, knurling, collaring, grooving and flattening are among the other operations that can be performed by the machines in any sequence.

▲ ▲ A chamfered U-bolt made on a Videx machine

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Videx Ltd – Israel Fax : +972 3536 4802 Email : videx@videx.co.il Website : www.videx.co.il

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EuroWire – July 2009