Recently a customer approached us about a custom wire form that they required for their industrial application. This company is one of the largest manufacturers in their industry category. We jumped right into the project.
The wire form in particular was a torsion spring wire form that was needed to hold two parts together. The parts being held could not be scratched so we needed to apply some kind of coating to the torsion spring. The parts needed to go into a cure oven and needed to resist high temperatures. That meant a high temperature resistant coating would be required. They needed different size torsion springs for different size parts. Finally, the torsion springs needed to sit in racks so that they could be loaded into cure ovens.
First, we needed to decide on materials for the torsion spring. We would use spring wire for the torsion spring but we needed to decide on whether to use stainless steel spring wire or carbon steel spring wire. This would impact cost but also longevity of the part. Stainless steel will hold up better over time but it is a more expensive material.
This custom wire form had tight tolerances due to the specific application involved. After uploading drawings and modifying our CNC wire bender, we developed fixtures to test the parts and make sure that they would meet specifications.
Next, we needed to find a coating that would do the job. A nylon coating would certainly be a good option. Nylon is a high temperature resistant coating that could work well. However, nylon is expensive relative to other options. We ultimately found the right thermoplastic coating for this particular application. It satisfied the high temperature requirement and was reasonably priced.
The racks that would hold the torsion spring wire forms were relatively straightforward. We optimized the spacing based on the cure oven envelope that we had to work with. That way we could ensure that our customer could fit a maximum number of parts, held by the torsion springs, into the cure ovens. At Pronto, we always make wire forms geared toward ultimate so that our customers get efficient results.
This product challenged the Pronto engineering team due to the short lead time, tight tolerances, need for specialty coating, and customer cost constraints. By working closely with our customer, we were able to achieve excellent results. Subsequently, we have continued to work with this customer on several new projects.
For more information on custom wire forms, contact us now at [email protected].