In the case of counterbalance spring hinges, OEMs are well served to provide as many of those parameters and specs as possible, ASAP. In other words, help us help you.
Detailed concepts and frequent communication will ensure your motion control solutions provider meets your standards in:
Let’s dig into several “must-know” counterbalance spring hinge design details you should provide to your manufacturer for an efficiency project.
There are 6 details you should never leave out when specifying a counterbalance hinge manufacturing job:
This is where most projects start and stop.
From both sales and design perspectives, it's helpful if any metal manufacturer knows your constraints:
That last one is an especially volatile cost -- it varies wildly from case to case. If the tooling price gives you sticker shock, keep the end cost in mind. Higher investment in tooling will make your per-piece price lower
Your vendor needs your full specifications so it can recommend the ideal counterbalance mechanism for your application.
These numbers include the lid or door’s:
Supplying the wrong measurements could cause your product to be unreliable or, worse, unsafe. And correcting these issues costs time and money. If you don’t know how to find these numbers, your counterbalance manufacturer may be able to get them for you. You can also check out this article.
Cycle life is totally customizable with counterbalance hinges. The material and design your hinge supplier uses will depend on how many cycles you expect the lid or cover to go through. Think in terms of cycles per day and total lifetime.
Product lifetime is another feature that will dictate tooling investment. You don't want to invest in $250,000 in tooling for a product you only want to last for 2 years. Conversely, you don’t want to invest $25,000 in tooling for a product that’s supposed to last a lifetime in rigorous applications.
“Location” means two things in motion control product design.
First, there’s geographic location. Will your product be outside in the cold or near the salty sea? Environmental factors will influence which type of material and finish your hinges should receive (which will also affect final price).
Then there’s the hinge’s location on the product. Will it be inside a cryogenic freezer? Right next to a source of heat, i.e. in a french door oven or heavy-duty smoker? Sources of heat and cold will also impact the type of spring needed. Also, do you want the hinge inside or outside the product? Hidden or in plain sight?
You can’t forget about space, either. Your manufacturer needs to know the available space it has to work within. Space limitations can impact the cost of your motion control design and may limit the solutions your manufacturer can offer.
Not having space and location limitations properly defined can cost precious development time as you try to get your new project to market.
Do you have certifications or standards you need to meet in your market? Make sure your manufacturer is taking them into account.
Sometimes, meeting standards requires product testing. Other times, you just want peace of mind that your grill or tanning bed won’t blow up in its end user’s face. Will you need the hinge manufacturer to conduct some of the testing? All of it? Don’t assume your manufacturer has all these capabilities without asking first.
Are you expecting a prototype from your counterbalance designer? We hope so -- there are numerous advantages to prototyping a motion control design. Some, but not all, vendors will automatically include prototyping in their services, so be sure to vet that out.
If you’re bringing in an existing product or one already in development, it’s great to hand over a physical sample. If it’s faulty or had some other liability issue, the engineering team can examine it firsthand.
Every project has its unique needs. Don’t be afraid to overcommunicate with your hinge solutions provider.
All of this communication is easier when you get your counterbalance supplier involved in the design process early and often. Work with a vendor that’s responsive to questions, but also demand the same of your own team.
If you’re ready to design right away, there’s another shortcut to getting the hinge you want: the Vectis DYO app. If you have your lid or cover calculations ready, you can input them in the app and play around with the parameters you need for your product. Try it out here:
(Editors note: This blog was originally produced in Nov, 2019 and was recently updated to reflect industry trends)