How to choose a circlip and a retaining ring?

　　Circlips, also called retaining rings or buckles, are a kind of hardware fasteners. There are many types of them. They are mainly installed in the shaft grooves or holes of machines and equipment. Many people often confuse circlips with retaining rings. So what is the difference between a circlip and a retaining ring?

　　Simply put, it acts to prevent the axial movement of the parts on the shaft or hole.

　　Circlip is an important part, it is a kind of small equipment parts, and the specifications are generally very small. The shape of the circlip is generally round, but there is a gap at one end. Put the circlip on the equipment that needs to be fixed, and then lock the gap with screws to keep the equipment stable. This is the function of the circlip. On CNC lathes, spindle circlips are commonly used as fixtures for clamping parts. Due to the better structure and accuracy of the spindle circlips, they are widely used in the manufacturing field. However, in the specific production process, the circlip lacks an axial positioning device and can only rely on the end face of the circlip and a specific tool for positioning. The specific operation is to move the tool to a fixed position set by the program, open the door of the machine tool to release the circlip, then pull the end face of the part to be processed until the tool surface fits, and then clamp the circlip of the spindle to close the machine door.

　　The current positioning method is complicated in operation and low in positioning accuracy. It cannot meet the accuracy of parts, the size difference of batches of parts is large, and it cannot meet the rapid switching and processing of various types of parts in the production process.

　　Due to the addition of process holes, the circlips are more convenient to disassemble and assemble, but the protrusions at the installation process holes occupy a larger space, and there is a problem of occupying a large space for the circlips for holes or shafts.

　　Compared with the circlip, the elastic retaining ring has a multi-layer structure. The commonly used ones are 2 layers and 3 layers. There are no protrusions. The elastic retaining ring is very similar to the keychain. The difference is that the end of the retaining ring wire is reserved for The blessed corner cut will not interfere with other adjacent parts during assembly, so it is more convenient to use. Now for occasions that do not need to be disassembled frequently, the advantages of the elastic retaining ring are more obvious. In addition, Smalley's elastic retaining ring is formed by winding a flat wire, and after heat treatment and surface treatment, it has excellent elasticity and toughness.

　　In short: the cross-section of the elastic retaining ring is equal, the force is uniform, and the stress concentration is reduced. The inner and outer edges are smooth and complete, there are no ear interference fittings, the inner and outer diameters have no burrs, and it is convenient to disassemble and assemble. It can meet different needs by increasing or decreasing the number of layers. It does not need to make a mold. By changing the thickness of the material, it can be easily made for light load. Type, medium load and heavy load. The production cycle is short, and the materials available are wide. Spring steel, stainless steel, copper and other metal materials can be easily produced.