miniature compression springs

Without knowing and understanding spring lingo, it is difficult to provide the required information to manufacture a spring. Gaining an understanding of descriptive spring terms will enable you to develop an accurate set of specs to provide and help ensure the spring  is correct for your application.

Having been in the business of making springs for over a century, W.B. Jones is more than a little familiar with spring lingo. In order to share that knowledge with our customers, we have compiled an extensive glossary of spring terms, which can serve as a quick and handy reference for finding the meanings of the most widely used spring descriptors.

Below are a few examples of some commonly used spring terminology:

   Active Coils:    Those coils which are free to deflect under load.

         Buckling:    Bowing or lateral deflection of compression springs when compressed.

Close Wound:   Coiled with adjacent coils touching.

     Deflection:    Movement of spring ends or arms under the application or removal of an external load.

   Free Length:    The length of a compression spring in the unloaded position.

                 Load:    The force applied to a spring that causes a deflection.

                Pitch:    The distance from center to center of the wire in adjacent active coils.

                 Rate:    Change in load per unit of deflection, generally given in pounds per inch.