Engineers and manufacturers looking for reliable workholding and positioning devices can now turn to norelem’s new range of lateral spring plungers. Using a one-piece plastic spring body design, the new workholding devices are ideally suited to harsh operating conditions such as painting or sandblasting.

There are three designs available from the global standard component specialist, which differ in terms of spring force — norelem’s range comprises a total of 42 designs with diameters of 6-16mm.

Lateral spring plungers are used wherever workpieces and components must be fixed or positioned to then process them further. They are often used, for example, in plant and mechanical engineering, the packaging industry, the automotive industry or the aerospace industry.

Marcus Schneck, CEO of norelem said, “Lateral spring plungers are practical and flexible clamping elements that take up little space and make complex structures unnecessary. With our new plastic-based lateral plungers, the plastic body is the spring - in contrast to ‘standard’ spring plungers, in which an extra spring is integrated in the body. As everything is made from one piece, no dirt can collect inside or in crevices and impair its function. Ultimately, this makes them more resistant to harsh operating conditions.”

With lateral spring plungers, the workholding force acts horizontally. They are mainly used in applications in which dirt or chips can accumulate on ‘standard’ spring plungers. Along with the higher resistance to swarf and drag out, the new lateral spring plungers are temperature resistant up to 100deg C.

The components are available in three main types – characterised by a light, medium and strong spring force and optically identified by the colors blue, red and green respectively. For the pins on the plungers, users can choose between hardened and burnished steel, stainless-steel and plastic (thermoplastic). The spring force should be selected according to the requirements of the respective application. Forces from 10N to 160N can be achieved.

The lateral spring plungers are assembled by pressing them into the counterpart. The location hole should have a tolerance of H8. norelem also provides special assembly tools for the lateral spring plungers, helping engineers and users assemble them quickly and easily. All components can be found in norelem’s The Big Green Book catalogue and reference manual.