History of Springs

Like most other basic mechanisms, metal springs have a long history dating back to the Bronze Age. Even metals, wood was used as a structural component for flexible bows and military launchers. During the Renaissance, precise clocks made precision springs inevitable for the first time. In the 14th century, revolutionary precise clocks for astronomical navigation were seen. The exploration of the world and the conquest of European colonial powers continued to provide power for clockmakers, combining "science and art". In another field of firearms, the development of springs was driven. At the onset of the Industrial Revolution in the 18th century, there was a demand for large, accurate, and inexpensive springs. Given that clockmakers often manufactured springs by hand, large-scale production of springs used materials such as piano wire or similar materials. Advanced manufacturing methods made springs ubiquitous. Computer-controlled wire and sheet metal bending machines allowed for customized processing of springs, clearly making it a specialized machine. Springs are merely energy storage devices; they have the function of storing energy, but cannot slowly release it.

Release it. To achieve the function of gradual release, it should be realized by "spring + large transmission ratio mechanism", which is commonly seen in mechanical watches. Springs have been used for a very long time. Ancient bows and crossbows are two examples of generalized springs. The inventor of the spring was strictly speaking Robert Hooke, an English scientist. Although spiral compression springs had already appeared and been widely used at that time, Hooke proposed the "Hooke's Law" - the elongation of the spring is proportional to the magnitude of the force it receives. Based on this principle, a spring scale using a spiral compression spring was introduced in 1776. Soon, the spring specifically for use in clocks, which was made according to this principle, was also invented by Hooke himself. And the spring that truly conforms to "Hooke's Law" is the real spring. The disc spring was invented by the Frenchman Belleville. It is a disc-shaped spring with a conical cross-section made of metal sheet or forged billet. After the emergence of modern industry, in addition to the disc spring, there were also air springs, rubber springs, coiled springs, mold springs, stainless steel springs, air springs, and memory alloy springs as new types of springs.

Industry landscape

For the spring industry, a passive situation has long existed where there is an oversupply of low-end ordinary springs and an unmet demand for high-end products (high-strength, high-stress, special-shaped parts, and special materials). The output of the spring industry in China has reached saturation. According to experts' statistics, the annual production of springs in China has reached 4 billion pieces. There are 21 major categories and over 1,600 varieties of spring products, including valve springs, suspension springs, diaphragm springs, shock absorption springs, hydraulic springs, oil pump springs, disc springs, high-temperature springs, lock washers, tension springs, torsion springs, compression springs, coiled springs, and special-shaped springs. The spring industry developed rapidly during the "Eight Five" and "Nineteen Nine" periods, especially in regions such as Shanghai, Tianjin, Guangzhou, Shandong, Changchun, and Chongqing, where development was particularly rapid. Other regions also developed to varying degrees. Overall, it performed better than other industries. The development of automobiles, motorcycles, mopeds, internal combustion engines, electrical appliances, and instruments is still needed. The development of these industries will drive the development of the spring industry. Facing the macroeconomic situation, the contradictions accumulated over a long period of time, such as low product quality, loose organizational structure, and weak development capabilities, have become more prominent. In-depth analysis reveals that the main problems lie in the market, system, and mechanism. Industry insight researchers believe that as the national economy shifts from a seller's market to a buyer's market, some deep-seated contradictions, especially the structural contradictions accumulated over the years, have become increasingly prominent. The current unreasonable industrial structure is manifested as: some industries have overcapacity in production capacity and unreasonable product structures; the technical structure is unreasonable, with low main industrial equipment levels; enterprises have small and scattered organizational scales, lacking competitiveness and advantages, and regional structures are convergent, failing to reflect comparative advantages and collaborative benefits.

Development

Although the spring industry is a small sector within the entire manufacturing industry, its role is by no means underestimated. For the country's industrial manufacturing and automotive industries to accelerate their development, the spring industry, as one of the basic components and parts, needs to have a development lead-up stage to be able to adapt to the rapid development of the entire national industry. Additionally, the expansion of the scale and variety of spring products, as well as the improvement of quality levels, are also necessary for the renewal and upgrading of mechanical equipment and the improvement of the performance of supporting main machines. Therefore, the development of the entire national industry is greatly influenced by spring products. In the daily goods industry and the hardware industry, including lighters, toys, locks, door hinges, fitness equipment, mattresses, sofas, etc., in terms of quantity, the demand for springs is the largest, amounting to tens of billions of pieces. The technical requirements are not high and the prices are very low. Generally, they are produced by small spring factories scattered across the country. They have unique advantages in terms of cost. Large spring factories find it difficult to compete with them. Thus, new spring enterprises are constantly emerging. In the future, the market demand will grow at a rate of 7% to 10% per year. After China joined the WTO, the export volume of daily-use hardware products has significantly increased, and the demand for springs has been stimulated accordingly. However, affected by international market demand and trade barriers, the international market has its uncertain aspects.