Application Technology

A customer contacted Rotor Clip Company Inc and asked if it was possible to increase the thickness of the DSR-24 since the ring was having trouble holding current thrust loads. To satisfy the customer’s request for a thicker ring, Rotor Clip would have had to produce new tooling, which would result in cost increases or the use of laser cutting. Increasing the thickness beyond the DSR standard would have also required changes to the maximum and minimum section to maintain a proper aspect ratio. These changes would have produced a ring that would not have proper spring properties and would not have sat tight in the groove after expansion over the shaft.

Instead, Rotor Clip engineers suggested the customer use two DSR-24s in an extra wide groove. However, using two separate rings might have caused quality issues if rings were left out during assembly. The engineers then offered a custom spiral retaining ring with 4 turns total, rather than the standard 2 turns – doubling the thrust load attainable compared to the standard spiral ring. There was also no need for custom tooling, which kept costs down.

This enabled the customer to receive a single part that did not have any tooling charges, helped avoid quality complaints due to improper installation, and ensured a quality part that would satisfy the customer’s application.