Examples of Tokai Spring achievements

Tokai Spring Industries possesses unique manufacturing technology based on many years of experience of delivering products to customers in the sluice gate and bridge industry. Our springs are used in long-term applications in corrosive environments such as sluice gates.

Problems and challenges

We received an inquiry from a sluice gate manufacturer who worked on a sluice gate overload detection device called “Gate Robo”. The customer asked us about springs used in the side rollers that open and close the gates. The large size of the sluice gate required spring that should be both large and corrosion resistant, but there was no manufacturer that could produce such large springs.

Solution

The side rollers had to be made of stainless steel to ensure corrosion resistance since they are used in or near water and are subject to corrosion. Our company also manufactures huge springs with a wire diameter of about 90φ from ordinary spring steel, but the size of stainless steel springs is limited and there were issues with the manufacturing facilities. As a result of discussions between the spring manufacturers and the design team, we decided to take on the challenge and made a prototype. We were able to produce a stainless steel coil spring with a wire diameter of over 40φ.

Results

We are now able to stably manufacture large diameter stainless steel coil springs, and we have gained the ability to solve one more spring problem in the world. The manufactured springs are still operating today without any problems, and our customer is pleased with the reduction in maintenance time due to the longer service life of the springs.