Category: News & Updates

Disc Springs, also known as ‘Belleville springs’ are conically-shaped and have been in use for over 150 years. 

Disc springs can be applied to a variety of products due to their stacking abilities. They can be statically loaded as a single spring or dynamically subjected to load cycling by stacking in multiples, parallels or a combination of both. 

Due to their resilient shape, disc springs can carry very large loads along the upper inner edge or lower outer edge of their axis.

This spring type doesn’t necessarily resemble a traditional spring which makes them a great example of the variety and durability that these clever mechanisms offer. 

As trusted disc spring manufacturers, in this blog, we take a closer look at what you can use them for, as well as the materials and technologies needed.

Disc Spring Applications 

Disc springs can be applied to many different products, including your vehicular clutch and brake mechanisms.

The dynamic of these springs can be either linear or regressive to suit your preference, and we can also fit glide washers to avoid unwanted friction. The trademark curves and diverse column length of disc springs means that you can stack them in almost limitless combinations.

Here at European Springs and Pressings, we always manufacture our products to the highest quality and tolerances. This follows our status as a premium member of The Institute of Spring Technology and the ISME, along with our registration with BSI to ISO9001.

Leading Disc Spring Manufacturers 

Being one of the leading spring manufacturers in the UK and across Europe, we take great pride in ensuring that we can meet our client’s requirements. 

Whether you’re looking for a specific diameter, thickness, spring force or finish, we can provide you with a range of spring dimensions.

Disc Spring Materials 

Our DIN 2093 and DIN 2092 disc springs are typically manufactured from stainless spring steel (due to their optimal properties). A more malleable material could cause the spring to be less effective in terms of tensile strength.

We can also protect any spring from corrosion by applying corrosive resistant coatings to guarantee a better resistance and longer life.

Our service is built on manufacturing bespoke springs to meet your needs, so if you have a specific request, we’ll be more than happy to create a suitable product for you. We help throughout the design phase, too, so that your product can attain its maximum potential. 

High-quality Design and Technology

We regularly train our experienced team, who ensure that we reach quality with every design. Whether your application requires a standard disc spring or a custom dimension, we can help you find the best solution.

We believe our range is exceptionally varied and technologically advanced. Our skilled design team can determine a suitable disc spring to solve any problem, even if you haven’t decided upon the exact specifications. 

Using a software package that has been developed in-house, we can simulate any type of application, which enables us to calculate the force required for your particular design.

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With over 70 years of experience as a spring manufacturer, we have the expertise to create a whole host of springs perfect for any application within any industry. 

We can also design and manufacture custom, made-to-order springs. For further information about our bespoke service, please contact European Springs Ireland directly.

Our gas spring range is unique and renowned for the diversity that we can produce. Our standard collection of gas springs comprises of over 900 different items that can be combined with approximately 100 end fittings and accessories.

We design and create a complete selection of springs that can be used for various applications, across virtually every industry, from aerospace to marine application.

This blog will look at exactly what a gas spring is and how we design these powerful mechanisms.

What is a Gas Spring? 

A gas spring is usually made up of a cylindrical body filled with nitrogen gas, a piston rod, a seal and a guiding function that allows the mechanism to extend and compress as required.

In contrast to most other spring types, gas springs have a built-in pre-tension force and a flat spring characteristic. This means that there is only a small difference in force between full extension and full compression.

The pushing force is powered as the nitrogen gas exerts pressure on the piston from inside the cylinder. The exact force is set by the dimensions of the spring and the specific internal pressure.

Due to gas springs’ versatility, they are regularly used for car hatches and hoods or other adjustable applications, including tables, chairs, ventilation openings, and hospital beds. 

Types of Gas Spring 

Gas springs are incredibly varied in form, and here at European Springs and Pressings, our standard range adds up to over 770 different products.

We’re proud to stock the highest quality conventional, lockable, standard and bespoke springs. If you can’t find what you’re looking for, we can design and manufacture bespoke items.

If you already know the type of gas spring you need, then take a look through our spring catalogue (PDF). From page 152, you’ll find a range of sizes, force and diameters.

Gas Spring Applications

The unique spring and dampening characteristics of our gas springs mean that they can be used for several applications.

One of the most common uses is lifting and unloading or controlled opening and closing of doors and hoods. Springs can also be installed to control parts of equipment, such as beds, windows, tools and machinery. Heavy items can also be lifted by hand with the help of a gas spring.

We have plenty of experience in choosing the right gas spring for various requirements. If you need a specific force or alterations to any other elements, we offer many custom variants, including adjusting the length and force, movement and dampening, connectors, as well as the tube colour and finish. 

Design and Technology

We regularly train our experienced team, who are not only designers but also act as problem solvers, ensuring we reach quality for every design. Whether your application requires a standard gas spring or a custom gas spring, we can help you find the best solution.

We’ve been designing gas springs for over 70 years, and so we believe our range is exceptionally varied and technologically advanced. Our skilled design team can determine a suitable gas spring to solve any problem, even if you haven’t decided upon the exact specifications. 

We have a proven history when it comes to problem-solving. So regardless of whether you need an almost conventional spring with slightly adjusted capabilities, a lockable gas spring, or a unique product, we’re able to cater to the needs of virtually any project.

Using a software package that has been developed in-house, we can simulate any type of application, which enables us to quickly calculate the force required for your particular design.

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If you’d like more information about our range of gas springs, please contact European Springs Ireland with your enquiry. Our experienced team will be happy to answer your questions.

Here at European Springs & Pressings Ireland, we have taken it upon ourselves to provide as much assistance as possible to those who need it during the pandemic. We believe in supporting those in need during tough times, and we’re extremely proud of our team’s efforts over the course of the last 12 months.

We’ve been looking at the work we have been doing to help produce ventilators, as well as exploring how we have helped SME manufacturing firms to keep on making products throughout the last year.

Providing Parts For Ventilators

In the first few months of the Coronavirus pandemic, there was inevitably a huge increase in demand for ventilators across the world, and European Springs & Pressings Ireland were delighted to play a role in ensuring manufacturers had access to vital springs and pressings for these machines. Prior to the pandemic, we supplied around 6,000 parts for ventilators every year, but with the increased demand, we saw a surge in orders.

Speaking of the spike in demand from one client, European Springs & Pressings Sales Manager, Simon Taylor, said: “They started to ramp up about four to five weeks ago, and we suddenly started to get larger orders from them. By the time they had finished their most recent ordering cycle, they had put in orders for 29,000 parts.”

Our team had forecasted a huge uptake in parts for ventilators and thankfully prepared a carefully considered plan to ensure we could cope with increased demand for our products. Ensuring we had access to the raw materials that are required to create a whole host of springs and pressings helped to guarantee we could fulfil orders with no issues.

We had a number of other businesses approach us looking to more than double their usual order of springs and pressings for ventilators – but could comfortably cope with demand, even with social distancing measures in place to keep our employees safe whilst at work.

Through a combination of innovative thinking, forward planning and an exceptionally driven team, we have comfortably met every challenge set out to us as we look to support the medical industry right around the world.

Helping SME Manufacturing Firms

It’s no surprise that many SME manufacturing firms have been hit hard by the pandemic, with the supply chain being adversely affected and customers pausing orders at the height of Covid-19. Despite the challenges faced over the past 12 months, manufacturers across the UK have remained resilient, and most have bounced back with relative ease.

To ensure manufacturing SMEs have access to the parts they require to begin operations again, European Springs & Pressings Ireland have taken steps to help other businesses out by providing as little or as many parts as required.

Our flexible approach to manufacturing springs and pressings has helped to alleviate pressures on manufacturers who rely on the supply chain to provide them with the parts they require. With issues still prevalent in the supply chain, especially those that involve overseas trips, it’s essential that manufacturers work together and help out how ever they can.

We will continue to provide a flexible level of service, providing parts as required to any business that requires them. We firmly believe in playing a part in all manufacturers’ growth, so no matter how big or small your company is, we want to help you achieve your goals by providing key components for your products.

European Springs & Pressings Ireland – Open For Business

Our team have worked tirelessly to ensure that operations have run as close to normal as possible throughout the pandemic. This means that those who have been able to work from home, are doing so; whilst our key workers are all taking the necessary precautions to continue providing high-quality products, whilst adhering to social distancing guidelines.

We know just how important it is that our high standards don’t slip, and that’s why we have taken extra precautions around our facilities in the UK, to ensure our staff are able to safely continue providing the products you have come to expect from us.

We have introduced several Covid-19 safety measures around our offices and factories, to help minimise unnecessary contact between employees, whilst also installing several hand cleaning stations around our premises. In areas where close contact cannot be avoided, we have installed Perspex windows to help protect our engineers, who can still work together to produce high-quality springs and pressings for all of your needs.

As one of the leading spring manufacturers in Europe, we take our commitment to providing the very best service extremely seriously. No matter what world events are going on around us, our sole focus is on keeping our employees safe, but also providing our customers with a service that is second to none.

You can rest assured that we will continue to refine our processes, invest in the latest technology and keep servicing all of our clients to the very best of our ever-growing capabilities. Please do feel free to get in touch with us today to discuss your requirements, our experts would love to help!

The environment is an incredibly hot talking point these days. With growing concerns about the impact of climate change on the planet, the conversation often steers towards the matter of gas-guzzling vehicles, and how long we can really sustain our current lifestyles while the carbon emissions pumped out by cars cause further damage.

Electric cars have been creeping into the mainstream for many years now, and this is only set to keep increasing as the vehicles become cheaper and more charging points are installed across the country. But how long before we can expect every vehicle on the road to be completely clean and free of carbon emissions?

Petrol and Diesel Car Ban

One of the most extreme acts to come into force in the UK regarding changes to vehicles is the ban on new cars and vans that are wholly powered by petrol or diesel.

The ban is set to come into effect in 2030 – five years earlier than the previous plan of a ban by 2035 – and excludes some hybrid models. It’s part of what the Prime Minister is calling a “green industrial revolution”, with £4 billion being set aside for the project. Some critics of the plan claim the amount is too small for the scale of the challenge.

Business Secretary Alok Sharma, also president of the COP26 international climate summit, said that the funds would support the creation of 250,000 green jobs, 60,000 of which will be in offshore wind.

With the 2030 deadline in place, the UK has bumped up to second place in rising to the challenge of cleaning up motoring. First place belongs to Norway, which has their own fossil fuel abolition date set for 2025.

Car manufacturers in the UK have been warned of the upcoming changes. Still, the Prime Minister insists that forcing them to change will give them a competitive edge and that the plan will support and protect hundreds of thousands of green jobs. All in a bid to strive for the UK’s target of having net zero emissions by 2050.

Demand for Electric

There’s growing evidence to suggest that electric cars are the future of transportation, while it was at one time considered a race between electric and hydrogen-powered vehicles, electric has clearly won the race.

The National Grid has predicted that there will be 36 million electric vehicles on UK roads by 2040, with the market growing more quickly than ever. More than 164,100 pure-electric cars were on UK roads by the end of September 2020, and over 373,600 plug-in models including hybrids.

According to Zap-Map, there are over 30,000 charging connectors in the UK across 10,000 locations, and research suggests that around 43,000 charging points will be needed by 2030. At current rates with 200 charging points being added in 30 days, this demand could be easily met. Of course, the implementation of home charging points will also be required to cope with the growing demand for electric vehicles.

How Long Until Electric Ousts Petrol and Diesel?

So, we have seen how electric vehicles are increasing in popularity and petrol, and diesel vehicles are set to be banned in the new decade, but how long will the process take? When can we reasonably expect electric cars to take over the roads entirely?

According to research, electric cars could become as cheap to manufacture as conventional cars by 2024, which should help to accelerate the shift away from fossil fuels. The current difference in costs for manufacturing is cited as the biggest reason why some car manufacturers have been reluctant to shift production away from internal combustion engines to electric models. The car batteries account for a quarter to two-fifths of the cost of the entire vehicle.

The reduction in battery costs is set to trigger a faster switch to electric vehicles, as their sales continue to boom across the UK. Attitudes are also beginning to shift, with a 2018 survey finding that 30% of Brits would consider buying an electric car, compared to just 25% in the previous year. However, research by Ford suggests that Brits are also hesitant about electric vehicles, worried about their affordability, access to charging points and the number of miles they can run on a single charge.

The transition to electric vehicles is set to be a slow one, though as battery technology improves, electric vehicles could become the preference for many people. The battery life and charging times will improve, and costs for these vehicles will reduce, meaning more people have access to electric cars in time for the petrol and diesel ban.

But the growth of electric vehicle sales is just one part of the step to reducing emissions. Real change depends on individuals, businesses and policymakers working in tandem to create more sustainable practices that are still accessible to the everyday driver.

At European Springs & Pressings Ireland, we like to keep our finger on the pulse of the latest developments in the manufacturing industry. We are expert spring manufacturers leading the field in spring and high-speed press technology. Contact us today to find out more about our bespoke design and manufacture service.

We’re keeping our finger on the pulse of the very latest industry news. If you’re looking for information on the direction of our sector to help you plan for the future of your business, you can find it here.

Scottish Manufacturing in Front

In the last few months, the BBC has reported two stories on Scotland’s manufacturing front. In June, they reported the First Signs of Slump Show in Scotland’s Official Figures. According to the Scottish government economists, their economy fell by 18.9% in April overall. In the first quarter of the year, their biggest declines were in transport, manufacturing, oil and gas production and hospitality.

Since this report, more optimistic figured have been published for August, in an article titled ‘Scottish Economy ‘Approaching Stabilisation’:

‘The latest Royal Bank of Scotland purchasing managers index (PMI) found the coronavirus-related downturn “eased noticeably” in July.’

There are still worries that local lockdowns could delay further recovery, but nevertheless, these signs of growth are a blessing during the current confusion. The report’s Business Activity Index – a measure of combined manufacturing and service sector output – registered 49.3 in July, up from 37.1 in June. Manufacturing is back on the rise, which is great news for employers and workers nationwide.

UK Manufacturing Front

It’s not only Scotland that’s experiencing gains after great loss during the pandemic. The BCC’s survey of 7,700 firms, representing 580,000 employees across the UK, found that economic conditions in the April-June quarter “deteriorated at an unprecedented rate”.

Looking towards the future, however, one focus is on securing apprenticeship places for young people during the approaching recession. The BCC is calling for wage subsidies for apprenticeships and work experience to support this goal.

It is important that the manufacturing sector is protected during the pandemic. The NewStatesman published an article detailing their thoughts on why manufacturing is key to post-pandemic recovery, and we agree.

Expanding Businesses in Manufacturing – Blends

Not every company has experienced the dramatic falls that are recorded by the media, there have been some successes during these tough times. Blends is one such company.

As a manufacturer of food colouring, Blends has created 70 new jobs to bolster the company’s rapid expansion during difficult times. As well as it’s 70 new jobs, this North West company is fundamentally changing the way their business is run as a result of the pandemic.

Plans include a £5000 investment on a new video conferencing room. They recognise the benefits that a more digital approach to business will afford them in the post-pandemic future, but the pandemic has made them ever more vital.

Here’s what Blends said about increasing their digital reliance:

“Don’t get me wrong, face-to-face meetings are still preferable when you’re negotiating, but having video conferencing equipment makes it easier to stay in touch with customers, suppliers and anyone working from home.”

This perspective could become more common in a post-pandemic UK.

Sustainable Businesses in Manufacturing – SeaMorgens

The pandemic has seen an increase in plastic waste with the nation’s reliance on single-use face masks, gloves, and similar equipment. Considering the sad but necessary environmental impact of all this plastic, it is good to see that more sustainable industries are succeeding in their goals to make things better for our planet.

Created by two sisters dedicated to saving the world’s shores, their eco-friendly designs are crafted from plastic bottles and fishing nets.

“What excites me most is launching a business that is going to have a positive impact on the ocean and the environment.” (Business Live)

High-Quality Tools in Manufacturing – Longcliffe

Other companies like Longcliffe Quarries are using the downtime of the pandemic to fundamentally improve their business. This company have invested no less than £3.5m on state-of-the-art equipment. Their new equipment will enable them to boost their efficiency as well as to achieve their environmental goals better.

Longcliffe Quarries are an example of how companies can rely on technology to improve their efficiency as well as reduce environmental costs. As the fourth industrial revolution grows ever closer, an understanding and willingness to embrace new technologies is vital. Longcliffe have shown time and again that they are willing to make those changes, the real question is whether the rest of the manufacturing sector in our nation can say the same about themselves.

The second quarter has been a tough one, but it’s certain that we’ll be wiser for it. The changes that we’ve had to make will have created important data that will ensure a smarter, more efficient future. For more manufacturing news, be sure to check back to our blog. As spring manufacturers with high hopes for the future of industry, we will always do our best to aid the wider sector in any way possible.