Helical Flexure Technology
Make Your Part Flexible with Helical® Flexure Technology
As the old adage tells us, a chain is only as strong as its weakest link. While this bit of wisdom applies comfortably to a wide variety of situations, it rings particularly true for components in an engineered system. Each part has a role to play and an essential burden to bear. From medical machinery components to aerospace applications, one common weakness can create critical failure: EXCESSIVE RIGIDITY.
A universal problem calls for a universal solution; one that provides essential flexibility for all of your precisely designed components. This solution is our proprietary Heli-Cal® Flexure technology, implemented through our unique "Generate Only" product enhancement program.
The Dangers of Excess Rigidity in Couplings
Excessive rigidity has the potential to cause a number of issues for your engineered parts, including premature component wear, increased likelihood of damage, motor seizure, bearing failure, and lost time and resources while your equipment is unable to perform. At the root of the problems listed above, however, there is typically one of two root causes: misalignment or an incorrect spring rate.
The apparent solution is to simply add a flexible component to relieve the burden just a bit. However, there often is not room in the system for an additional part, especially when the design is long-standing and even a small alteration would cause a long list of ramifications. Our Generate Only program provides a way to address the problem at its source by enhancing your existing parts with our Heli-Cal Flexure technology.
The Nature and Application of Helical Flexure Technology
We specialize in engineered elasticity. This involves utilizing our proprietary technology to generate a flexure in a previously solid part, in order to optimize performance. There are three primary applications for this kind of improvement. The first is in relation to a specific part that has already been designed. In collaboration with our engineering team, you can implement a particular amount of torque or misalignment capability in an existing component. The second application is in the creation of a precision-machined spring, whether compression, extension, torsional, or lateral in nature. This kind of versatile spring performance can be achieved based on your coil configuration (OD and ID of the flexure, thickness, configuration, and the number of coils and coil starts) and material. Working with your material of choice, the appropriate strength, torsional flexibility, and rigidity can be achieved to match your specifications. Finally, we can implement this technology throughout an assembly of parts as well, meeting your exact performance requirements.
We specialize in engineered elasticity. This involves utilizing our proprietary technology to generate a flexure in a previously solid part, in order to optimize performance. There are three primary applications for this kind of improvement. The first is in relation to a specific part that has already been designed. In collaboration with our engineering team, you can implement a particular amount of torque or misalignment capability in an existing component. The second application is in the creation of a precision-machined spring, whether compression, extension, torsional, or lateral in nature. This kind of versatile spring performance can be achieved based on your coil configuration (OD and ID of the flexure, thickness, configuration, and the number of coils and coil starts) and material. Working with your material of choice, the appropriate strength, torsional flexibility, and rigidity can be achieved to match your specifications. Finally, we can implement this technology throughout an assembly of parts as well, meeting your exact performance requirements.
Our Generate Only product enhancement program is utilized across a broad spectrum of industries, including:
- Aerospace & Defense
- Medical Equipment
- Robotics & Automation
- Industrial Applications
- High-Performance Motor Sports
- Agriculture
- Machine Tools
While universal problems do not always have the benefit of enjoying a universal solution, our Generate Only program has proven itself to be the exception. Allowing you to maintain complete ownership of your expertise and specialized designs, we can accommodate nearly any product need or working environment, including those that are highly corrosive or experience drastic temperature extremes, and varying material types including Titanium, C300, C350, 17-4 and more.
Implementing Helical Flexure Technology Without Modifying Your Production
Many parts can be improved by the addition of carefully engineered flexibility, increasing the overall performance and integrity of the component you create. The logical difficulty for most manufacturing companies lies in how best to manufacture and implement this specialized proprietary flexure technology. To answer this unique need, we developed the Generate Only product enhancement program, to provide a way to include our proprietary Flexure technology in your design.
How does the Generate Only program operate? Our clients send us both small batch and large volume quantities of the specialized parts that they create and include the specifications relating to how the part needs to perform. After this flexure technology is added, each part is tested to ensure that the exact spring rate and flexibility are achieved to optimize performance and minimize avoidable strain.